UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


to 


V, 


1? 


< 


/ 


PICTORIAL    HISTORY 


OF 


THE  UNITED   STATES. 


FROM    THE 


EARLIEST  PERIOD   TO   THE   PRESENT   TIME. 


BY 

BENSON    J.    LOSSING. 


flhtfixxitb    bg    £>efreral    punbreb    <B  rc  g  r  a  frt  K 


BY    LOSSING-   AND   BARRITT. 


HARTFORD: 
T.     BELKNAP,     PUBLISHER 

1868. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1SG7, 

BY  BENSON  J.  L03SING, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for   the   Southern- 
District  of  New  York.  '  • 


ELECTROTYPES    BY  PRINTED    BY 

THOMAS  B.   SMITH  C.   A.   ALYORD, 

82  &  84  Beekman  Street,  N.  T.  15  Vandewater-st. ,  N  T. 


PREFACE. 

THIS  work  has  been  prepared  with  great  care,  for  the  purpose  of  supply 
ing  a  want  long  felt  by  the  reading  public,  and  especially  by  Heads  of  Fam 
ilies.  Every  important  event  in  the  history  of  the  United  States,  from  the 
Aboriginal  period  to  the  present  time,  is  presented  in  a  concise,  but  perspic 
uous  and  comprehensive  manner,  without  giving  those  minute  and  often 
tedious  details,  which  are  valuable  to  the  student,  but  irksome  to  the  common 
reader.  The  History  of  our  Republic  is  herein  popularized,  and  adapted  to 
the  use  of  those  who  may  not  find  leisure  to  peruse  more  extensive  works 
upon  the  subject.  The  materials  have  been  drawn  from  the  earlier,  most 
elaborate,  and  most  reliable  historians  and  chroniclers  of  our  continent.  The 
work  is  constructed  upon  a  new  plan,  which,  it  is  believed,  will  be  found  to 
be  the  most  acceptable  yet  offered  to  the  public,  for  obtaining,  with  facility, 
and  fixing  in  the  memory,  a  knowledge  of  the  great  events  of  our  truly  won 
derful  history.  And  having  visited  a  greater  portion  of  the  localities  made 
memorable  by  important  occurrences  in  our  country,  the  writer  claims,  in 
that  particular,  an  advantage  over  his  predecessors  in  this  special  field,  for 
he  has  been  able  to  correct  errors  and  give  truthful  impressions  of  things  and 
events.  An  endeavor  has  also  been  made  to  show  the  cause  of  every  import 
ant  event,  and  thus,  by  developing  the  philosophy  of  our  history,  to  make  it 
more  attractive  and  instructive  than  a  bald  record  of  facts.  And  wherever 
the  text  appeared  to  need  further  elucidation,  additional  facts  have  been  given 
in  foot-notes. 

The  arrangement  of  the  work  is  new.  It  is  in  six  Periods,  each  com 
mencing  where  the  history  naturally  divides  into  distinct  epochs.  The  first 
Period  exhibits  a  general  view  of  the  Aboriginal  race  who  occupied  the  con 
tinent  when  the  Europeans  came.  The  second  is  a  record  of  all  the  Discov 
eries  and  preparations  for  settlement,  made  by  individuals  and  governments. 
The  third  delineates  the  progress  of  all  the*  Settlements  until  colonial  gov 
ernments  were  formed.  The  fourth  tells  the  story  of  these  Colonies  from 
their  infancy  to  maturity,  and  illustrates  the  continual  development  of  Dem 
ocratic  ideas  and  Republican  tendencies  which  finally  resulted  in  a  political 


vi  PREFACE. 

confederation.  The  fifth  has  a  full  account  of  the  important  events  of  the 
War  for  Independence^  and  the  sixth  gives  a  concise  history  of  the  Re 
public,  from  its  formation  to  the  present  time.  The  Supplement  contains 
the  Articles  of  Confederation  and  the  National  Constitution.  The  former 
shows  the  final  result  of  the  efforts  of  the  people  of  the  Colonies,  who  had 
struggled  together  for  general  independence,  to  form  a  national  organization, 
but  which  signally  failed,  because  in  that  League  of  States  the  supremacy 
of  each  was  recognized,  and  the  vitality  of  unity,  which  is  essential  to  the 
existence  of  a  nation,  was  wanting.  The  National  Constitution  is  given  in 
its  original  form,  and  with  all  of  the  amendments  since  adopted,  accompanied 
by  explanatory  notes. 

The  system  of  concordance  interwoven  with  the  notes  throughout  the 
entire  work,  is  of  great  importance  to  the  reader.  When  a  fact  is  named 
which  bears  a  relation  to  another  fact  elsewhere  recorded  in  the  volume,  a 
reference  is  made  to  the  page  where  such  fact  is  mentioned,  A  knowledge 
of  this  relationship  of  separate  events  is  often  essential  to  a  clear  view  of  the 
subject,  and  without  this  concordance,  a  great  deal  of  time  would  be  spent  in 
searching  for  that  relationship.  With  the  concordance  the  matter  may  be 
found  in  a  moment.  Favorable  examples  of  the  utility  of  this  new  feature 
may  be  found  on  page  289.  If  strict  attention  shall  be  given  to  these  refer 
ences,  the  whole  subject  will  be  presented  to  the  mind  of  the  reader  in  a 
comprehensive  aspect  of  unity  not  to  be  obtained  by  any  other  method. 

The  engravings  are  introduced  not  for  the  sole  purpose  of  embellishing 
the  volume,  but  to  enhance  its  utility  as  an  instructor.  Every  picture  is 
intended  to  illustrate  a  fact,  not  merely  to  beautify  the  page.  Great  care 
has  been  taken  to  secure  accuracy  in  all  the  delineations  of  men  and  things, 
so  that  they  may  not  convey  false  instruction.  Geographical  maps  have  been 
omitted,  because  they  must  necessarily  be  too  small  to  be  of  essential  service. 
History  may  be  read  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  general  information  on  the 
subject,  without  maps,  but  it  should  never  be  studied  without  the  aid  of  an 
accurate  Atlas. 

The  author  has  endeavored  to  make  this  work  essentially  a  FAMILY 
HISTORY,  attractive  and  instructive;  and  the  Publishers  have  generously 
co-worked  with  him  in  producing  a  volume  that  may  justly  claim  to  be 
excellent  in  every  particular.  With  these  few  observations  concerning  the 
general  plan  and  merits  of  the  work,  it  is  presented  to  the  public,  with  an 
entire  willingness  to  have  its  reputation  rest  upon  its  own  merits. 

POUGHKEEPSIE,  N.  Y.,  June,  1867. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


STEEL    PLATES. 


1.  PORTRAIT  OF  WASHINGTON  
-2.  DE  SOTO  ON  THE  MISSISSIPPI  

Frontispiece. 
to  face  page       44 

7.  WASHINGTON  P.ESIGNING  HIS  COMMISSION  

.to  face  page     352 
.     "                   410 

4.   DEATH  OF  WOLFE  
o.  WASHINGTON  AT  KIP'S  BAY  

"          ';         253 

11.  FARRAGUT  IN  THE  RIGGING  OF  THE  HARTFORD. 

.     "          "         646 
.     "          "         710 
•'         720 

PAGE 

202 

20° 

1    Sioux  Indians 

E  N  G  E  A  V  I  N  G 

PAGE 
9 

9 

S     O  N     W  0  0  D  . 

S7.  Military  Operations  at  Quebec  
88.  Monument  to  Wolfe  and  Montcalm  

3.  A  Wigwam  

13 

89.  Pairick  Henry  before  the  Virginia  Assembly  . 

207 

4.  Wampum  

5.   Indian   Hicnvlviiliics  

13 

91.  Portrait  of  Benjamin  West  
92.  Portrait  of  David  Rittenhouae. 

207 
210 

211 

6    Indi-in   Weapons 

14 

14 

214 
<215 
216 

15 

94.  A  Stamp  

95    Portrait  of  Cadwallaiier  Colden 

15 

10    Profile  of  Black  Hwk 

...       18 

96.  Portraitof  William  Pitt  

217 
219 
221 

.11.   Uncas's  Monument  
12    Portrait  of  S   Kirkland 

97.  Portrait  of  John  Dickenson  
98.  Portrait  of  Samuel  Adams  

25 

.30 

99.  Portrait  of  Lord  North  
100.  Faneuil  Hall  

224 

225 

•34.  Columbus  before  tlie  Council  

34 

34 

101    Snake  Device 

226 

16.  Northman  

34 

102.  Portrait  of  Charles  Thomson  
103.  Carpenter's  Hall.... 

227 

35 

35 

104    John  Hancock 

230 

36 

105.  Plan  of  Bunker  Hill  Battle  
106    Bunker  Hill  Monument. 

235 

235 

20.  Portrait  of  Isabella  
•21    The  Fleet  of  Columbus 

38 
39 

107.  Portrait  of  Joseph  Warren  

237 

40 

108.  Portrait  of  Philip  Si-hnvler  
109    Plan  of  the  Walls  of  Quebec 

239 

242 

42 

44 

110.  Portrait  of  General  Montgomery  
111.  Culpepper  Flag  
112.  Union  Fla«- 

242 
243 

245 

25.  Portrait  of  Cabot  
26.  Portrait  of  Verazani  
27    Cartier's  Ship 

46 

47 

..       48 

1  13.  Continental  Monev  
114.  Portrait  of  General  Lee 

245 

248 

48 

29.  French  Nobleman,  1540  
30    Rale'gh's   Expedition 

49 

115.  Portraitof  General  Moultrie  

249 

53 

116.  State  House,  Philadelphia  
117.  Portrait  of  Benjamin  Rush  

250 
251 

31.  Portrait  of  Raleigh  

55 

33.  English  Gentleman    1580 

57 

119.  Plan  of  the  Battle  on  Long  Island  
12ft  Plan  of  Fort  Washington  
121.  Retreat  from  Long  Island  

254 
256 
257 
259 

263 

34.  Portrait  of  Henry  Hudson  
35   The  Half-  Moon 

59 
59 

61 

122.  The  Jersey  Prison-Ship  

37.  Portrait  of  Captain  j.  Smith  

61 
66 

124.  Portrait  of  Robert  Morris  
125.  Portrait  of  Silas  Deane 

264 

266 

39.  Seal  of  New  Netherlaml  
40    A  Puritan 

73 

75 
77 

126.  'Portrait  of  Benjamin  Franklin  

267 

127.  Plan  of  the  Battle  at  Princeton.*  
128.  Portrait  of  La  Favette  
129.  Plan  of  the  Battle  at  ihe  Brandywine  
130.  Chevaux-de-Frise 

269 
273 
273 
274 

42.  Governor  Carver's  Chair  

79 
81 

83 

45.  First  Meet  ng-House  in  Connecticut  
46    Portrait  of  Roger  Williams 

86 
90 

131.  Plan  of  the  Battle  at  Get  mantown  

275 

132.  Portrait  of  General  St.  Clair  
133.  Portrait  of  Kosciuszko 

276 

277 

95 

48    The  Assembly  House 

97 

.     101 

134.  Portrait  of  Joseph  Brant  
135.  Portrait  of  General  Burgoyne 

278 

278 

50.  Embarkation  of  the  Pilgrims  

104 
104 

136.  A  Treaty  

278 

137.  Burgoyne's  Surrender.  

279 

281 

112 

53.  First  Colony  Seal,  Massachusetts:  

117 
...     117 

139.  Portrait  of  Francis  Hopkinson  

284 

140.  Encampment  at  Valley  Forge  

285 

287 

55.  First  Monev  Coined  in  the  United  States. 
56    Portrait  of  'Kinc  Philip 

12-' 

124 

142.  Plan  of  the  Battle  at  Mon  mouth  
143.  Portrait  of  Count  D'Estaing  
144.  Portrait  of  Baron  Steuben  .  .   

288 
289 
291 

57.  Palisaded  Building  
58.  Portrait  of  Captain  Church  

127 
128 
133 

145.  Portrait  of  General  Lincoln  .  .    
146.  Plan  of  Stony  Point 

294 

'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.     299 
300 

135 

61    Plan  of  the  Sieu-e  of  Lottisbur*               .    .. 

137 

147.  Portrait  of  General  Wayne  
148.  Portrait  of  Daniel  Boone  
149    Portrait  of  George  R  Clarke 

.     142 

144 

145 
156 
162 

..      ..     166 

150.  Clarke's  Expedition                   

301 

65.  The"  Charter  Oak.  .    
67*  Plan  of  Charleston  'in'  1680 

151.  Portraitof  General  Sullivan  

304 
..     305 

153.  Portrait  of  Count  Pulaski                          

305 

68    Earlv  New  Engl-ind  House 

3u7 

69.  Dutchman,  1660  

176 

186 

.  .   .     307 

156    Portrait  of  Admiral  Hopkins               

308 

71.  Portrait  of  Braddoc-k  
72    Burial  of  Braddock 

186 
1S7 

190 

157.  Cipher  Alphabet  
158.  Portrait  of  Governor  Rutledge  

309 
310 

73    Plan  of  Fort  Edward 

159    Portrait  of  Commodore  W  hippie        

310 

74.  Portrait  of  Sir  W.  Johnson  
75.  Plan  of  Fort  William  Henry  
76.  Portrait  of  Abercrombie  
77.  Plans  of  Forts  at  Oswego  
78:  Block  House 

190 
190 

'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.     192 

192 

160.  Plan  of  the  Siege  of  Charleston  
161.  Portrait  of  David  Ramsav  
162.  Portrait  of  General  Gates".  
163.  Portrait  of  General  Suinter  
164    Plan  of  Battle  at  Sanders  's  Creek  

311 
312 
314 
315 
315 
316 
316 
317 
318 

."]'."..'.     323 

79.  Map  of  Lake  George.   
80.  Portrait  of  Lord  Ainherst 

194 
196 

196 

165.  Portrait  <  f  Baron  De  Kalb  
166.  Portrait  of  Colonel  Tar'eton  

82.  Ruins  of  Ticonderoga  
83.  Portrait  of  Lord  Howe 

197 

197 

16$.  Po'  trait  of  Lord  Cornwall!.?  
169.  Marion's  Encampment  on  the  Peciee.  
170.  Portrait  of  Gi  vernor  Trumbull  

84.  Plan  of  Crown  Point 

•'00 

85    Plan  of  Fort  Niagara 

200 

..     201 

325 
327 

S6.  General  Wolfe  

17i'.  The  Captors'  Medal  

Vlll 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


173.  Portrait  of  General  Greene 

174.  Portrait  of  General   Morgan 

175.  Portrait  of  Colonel  Washington 

176.  Portrait  of  Colonel  Henry  Lee 

177    Plan  of  the  Battle  at  Guilford 

178.  Plan  of  the  Battle  at  Hobkirk's  Hill.  

179    Portrait  of  Rebecca  Motte 

ISO.  Plan  of  Fort  Ninety-Six 

181    Portrait  of  General  Pickens 

18i.  Portrait  of  Count  de  Rochambeau 

183.  Portrait  of  Count  de  Grasse 

184.  Plan  of  the  Siege  of  Yorktown 

185.  Portrait  of  Benjamin  Thompson 

1S6.  Portrait  of  James  Jackson 

187.  Portrait  of  George  Clinton 

188.  Portrait  of  John  Marshall 

189.  Portrait  of  General  Mifflin 

190.  Order  of  the  Cincinnati 

191.  Portrait  of  Bishop  Carroll 

192.  Franklin  before  the  Convention 

193.  Portrait  of  Oliver  Ellswonh 

194.  Portrait  of  Alexander  Hamilton 

195.  Portrait  of  Rufus  Putnam 

196.  Inauguration  of  Washington.. 

197.  Portrait  of  Gouverneur  Morris. 

198.  Portrait  of  Washington 

199.  Portrait  of  Robert  R.  Livingston 

200.  Portrait  of  Tench  Coxe 

201.  Portrait  of  General   Knox 

202.  Wayne's  Defeat  of  the  Indians 

203.  Portrait  of  John  Jay 

204.  Portrait  of  Fisher  Ames 

205.  Portrait  of  John  Adams 

206.  Portrait  of  C.  C.  Pinckney 

207.  Portrait  of  Martha  Washington 

208.  Portraitof  Thomas  Jefferson.. 

209.  Portrait  of  Commodore  Bambndge 

210.  United  States  Frigate 

211.  Portraitof  Lieutenant  Decatur 

•212.  Mohammedan  Soldier : 

213.  Burning  of  the  Philadelphia  at  Tripoli 

214.  Portrait  of  Rufus  King 

215.  Portra;t  of  Aaron  Burr 

216.  Portraitof  Robert  Fulton 

217.  Fulton's  first  Steamboat 

218.  Portraitof  William  Pmkney 

219.  A  Felucca  Gun-Boat 

220.  Portrait  of  John  Randolph 

221.  Portrait  of  James  Madison 

222.  Portrait  of  General  Dearborn 

223.  Portrait  of  S.  Van  Rennsselaer 

2-24.  Sloop-of-War 

225.  Portrait  of  Governor  Shelby 

226.  Plan  of  Fort  Meigs 

227.  Plan  of  Fort  Sandusky 

228.  Major  Croghan 

'229.  Perry  on  Lake  Erie 

230.  Portrait  of  Commodore  Perry 

231.  Portrait  of  General  Pike 

232.  Fort  Niagara  in  1813 

233.  Portrait  of  Captain  Lawrence 

234.  Portrait  of  Commodore  Porter 

235.  Portrait  of  General  Brown; 

236.  Map  of  the  Niagara  Frontier 

237.  Portraitof  Commodore  .Manlonougn 

238.  Plan  of  the  Battle  of  New  Orleans 

239.  Poi  trait  of  W.  C.  C.  Claiborne 

£40.  Jackson  at  New  Orleans 

241.  Portrait  of  James  Monroe 

242.  Capture  of  Pensacola 

243.  Portrait  of  Edward  Livingston 

244.  Portrait  of  John  Quincy  Adams 

245.  Portrait  of  Dewitt  Clinton 

246.  Portrait  of  J  ohn  C.  Calhoun 

247.  Portrait  of  General  Jackson • 

248.  Portrait  of  Robert  Y.  Hayne 

249.  Portrait  of  Osceola •  • 

250.  Map  of  the  Seat  of  the  Seminole  W  ar. . . . 

251.  Portraitof  Martin  Van   Buren 

252.  Portrait  of  William  H.  Harrison 

253.  Portrait  of  John  Tyler 

254.  Portrait  of  James  K.  Polk 

255.  Portrait  of  General  Scott 

256.  The  Region  of  Taylor's  Operations 

257    Portrait  of  John  C.  Fremont 

25S!  Plan  of  Intrenchments  at  Vera  Cruz 

259.  The  Route  of  Scott's  Army  in  Mexico 

260.  Bombardment  of  Vera  Cruz 

261.  Operations  near  Mexico 

262.  General  Scott  Entering  the  City  of  Mexic 

263.  Portrait  of  General  Taylor 

264    Portrait  of  Henry  Clay 

285    Portraitof  Millard  Fillmove 

266.  Portraitof  !>a:.iei  Webster 

267.  Portrait  of  Joseph  Smith 

268.  Mormon  Emigration 

269.  Portrait  of  S.  F.  B.  Morse 

270.  Portraitof  E.  K.  Kane 

271.  Portraitof  Franklin  Pierce 

272.  Portrait  of  Santa  Anna 

273.  An  Ocean  Steamship 

274.  Crystal  Palace,  New  York 

275.  Portrait  of  James  M.  Mason 

276.  Portrait  of  James  Buchanan 

277.  Portrait  of  John  Slidell 

878.  South  Carolina  Institute 

279.  "  Wigwam  "  at  Chicago. 

280.  Palmetto  Cockade 


831 
821 

;;:;•.' 
833 
383 
884 
835 
336 
:;:;••> 
339 
840 
::-il 
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841 
850 
851 
854 
859 
854 
857 
:;r,(i 
361 
:;>;>•-> 
8M 
;;<U 
365 
tM 
:;0!) 
876 
:;::, 
811 
380 

384 
387 
389 
391 
391 
392 
392 
393 
395 
396 
398 
399 
400 
,  401 
403 
40 

.  41 
.  41 
.  41 
.  41 
.  41 
.  41 
.  4-2 
.  4-2 
.  42 
.  42 
.  42 
.  42 
.  43 
.  43 
.  43 
.  43 


4 
-1 
4 

4 

4 

4 

476 

479 

485 

486 

4S8 

489 

490 

491 

493 

495 

493 

500 

502 

503 

504 

5D5 

507 

109 

513 

514 

515 

516 

522 

531 

535 

540 

543 

546 


1.  Portrait  of  Jefferson  Davis 

•2.  Portrait  of  Robert  Anderson 

3.  Fort  Sumter  in  1861 

4.  The  Confederate  flag 

5.  Harper's  Ferry  in  1361 

6.  Portrait  of  Salmon  P.  Chase 

7.  Seal  of  West  Virginia 

8.  Portrait  of  R.  E.  Lee 

9.  Ellsworth  Zouave 

0.  Arsenal  at  St.  Louis 

1.  Portrait  of  S.  Price 

rtrait  of  Winfield  Scott 

3.  Ruins  of  the  Stone-bridge 

4.  Defenses  of  Washington 

5.  Portrait  of  Leonidas  Polk 

6.  Fort  Hatteras 

7.  Fort  Pickens >, 

13.  Portrait  of  S.  F.  Dupont 

99.  Port  Roval  Ferry 

10.  Fort  Lafayette 

01.  Portrait  of  C.  Wilkes 

02.  Portrait  of  W.  H.  Seward 

03.  Portrait  of  A.  E.  Burnside 

04.  Portrait  of  S.  A.  Curtis 

05.  Texas  Ranger 

06.  Portrait  of  H.  W.  Halleck 

07.  View  at  Fort  Donelson 

0*.  Portrait  of  Lewis  Wallace 

J9.  Island  Number  Ten 

10.  Portrait  of  U.  S.  Grant 

11.  Burning  horses  at  Shiloh 

12.  Portrait  of  Beauregard 

13.  A  Mortar  Boat 

14.  Portrait  of  O.  M.  Mitchel 

15.  Colyer's  Head-Quarters 

16.  Fort  Pulaski  breached 

17.  Portrait  of  D.  D.  Porter 

18.  Ram  Manassas 

19.  The  Levee  at  New  Orleans 

•20.  Portrait  of  G.  B.  McClellan 

21.  Monitor  and  Merrimack 

22.  Portrait  of  J.  E.  Johnston 

23.  Portrait  of  T.  J.  Jackson 

324.  View  on  the  Chickahominy 

325.  Harrison  Mansion 

326.  Thoroughfare  Gap 

327.  Monument  at  Groveton 

328.  Portrait  of  Philip  Kearney 

329.  Battle-Field  of  South  Mountain... 

330.  Antietam  Battle-ground 

331.  Fredericksburg  on  fire 

J32.  View  ut  Nashville 

333.  Portraitof  D.  C.  Buell 

334.  Graves  at  luka 

j:;5.  Confederate  flag 

336.  Portrait  of  D.  G.  Farragut 

337.  For.  rait  of  W.  S.  Rosecrans 

;>;>8.   Monument  at  Stone's  River 

339.  Portrait  of  R.  Semmes 

:;40.  Portrait  of  J.  C.  Pemberton 

341.  A  Louisiana  Swamp 

34-2.  Cave-Life  in  Vicksburg 

343.  Corps  Badges  

:;44.   Portrait  of  .1.  Hooker 

345.  Ruins  of  Chancellorsville 

346.  Portrait  of  G.  G.  Meade 

347.  Scene  near  Gettysburg 

343.  Drafting 

349.  Abatis 

350.  Libby  Prison 

351.  Pack"  Mules 

352.  Portrait  of  G.  H.  Thomas 

353.  The  Chattanooga. 

354.  Pulpit  Rock 

35f>.   Missionaries'  Ridge 

356.  Portrait  of  J.  Longstreet 

357.  A  Parrott  Gun 

358.  Torpedo 

3o9.  The  Swamp  Angel 

360.  Fort  de  Russy • 

361.  NewKra 

362.  Red  River  Dam ;'.;,"," 

363.  Place  where  Sedgwick  was  killed. 

364.  Portrait  of  P.  H.  Sheridan 

365.  Pontoon  Bridge 

366.  Belle  Isle 

3S7.  The  Butler  Medal 

368.  View  at  Cedar  Crnek 

369.  Portrait  of  W.  T.  Sherman 

370.  Kenesaw  Mountain 

371.  Portraitof  J.B.  Hood.      ....... 

372.  Sherman's  Quarters  in  Atlanta... 

373.  Sherman's  Quarters  in  Savannah.. 

374.  The  Albemarle 

375.  Franklin   Battle-ground 

376.  Portrait  of  J.  A.  Winslow 

377.  Blockade-Runner. 

378.  Portrait  of  C.  L.  Vallandigham .. 

379.  Interior  of  Fort  Fisher 

3-sO.  Interior  of  Fort  Steadman 

331.  Capitol  at  Richmond 

3<*-2.  McLean's  House 

333.  Portrait  of  A.  Johnson.. 

384    Davis's  Prison,  Fortress  Monroe. 


PAGB 

.  548 
.  550 

,  552 
.  555 
.  557 
.  560 
.  562 
.  564 
.  565 
.  566 
.  566 
.  568 
.  569 
.  572 
577 

.  580 
.  531 
.  582 
.  583 
.  586 
.  588 
.  588 
.  589 
.  591 
.  593 
.  595 
.  596 
.  597 

.  599 

.  601 
.  603 
..  604 
..  605 
..  606 
..  607 
608 
..  609 

.  610 
..  611 
..  612 
..  614 
616 
..  617 

.  620 
..  622 
..  625 

.  626 
6'27 

'. '.  628 
630 

..  631 

. .  632 

633 

..  635 

.   635 
636 

..  637 

..  638 
641 

. . .  64'2 

.  644 

. . .  645 

..  647 

649 

'...  651 

..  653 


387.  Founding  New  States. 

388.  Portrait  of  Judge  Story 


..  657 

.  660 

. .  662 

..  664 
665 

..  667 

.  669 

. . .  669 

..  670 

.  673 

673 

..  674 

...  677 

. . .  68'2 

. . .  685 

.  690 

. . .  692 

..  694 

.  688 

..  696 


698 
700 
700 
702 
703 
704 
706 
708 
709 
711 
713 
717 
'  719 
720 
721 
722 


733 
78< 

743 


HISTORY 


OF 


THE  UNITED  STATES. 


FIRST  PERIOD. 
THE     ABORIGINALS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

EVERY  cultivated  nation  had  its  heroic 
age — a  period  when  its  first  physical  and 
moral  conquests  were  achieved,  and  when 

rude  society,  with  all  its  impurities,  was  fused  and  refined  in  the  crucible  of 
progress.  When  civilization  first  set  up  its  standard  as  a  permanent  ensign,  in 
the  western  hemisphere,  northward  of  the  Bahamas  and  the  great  Gulf,  and 


RED   JACKET. 


10  THE    ABORIGINALS. 

the  contests  for  possession  began  between  the  wild  Aboriginals,  who  thrust  no 
spade  into  the  soil,  no  sickle  into  ripe  harvests,  and  those  earnest  delvers  from 
the  Old  World,  who  came  with  the  light  of  Christianity,  to  plant  a  new 
empire,  and  redeem  the  wilderness  by  cultivation — then  commenced  the  heroic 
age  of  America.  It  ended  when  the  work  of  the  Revolution  in  the  eighteenth 
century  was  accomplished — when  the  bond  of  vassalage  to  Great  Britain  was 
severed  by  her  colonies,  and  when  thirteen  confederated  States  ratified  a  Fed 
eral  Constitution,  and  upon  it  laid  the  broad  foundation  of  our  Republic.1 

Long  anterior  to  the  advent  of  Europeans  in  America,  a  native  empire, 
little  inferior  to  old  Rome  in  civilization,  flourished  in  that  region  of  our  Con 
tinent  which  now  forms  the  south-western  portion  of  our  Republic,  and  the 
adjoining  States  of  Central  America.  The  Aztec  Empire,  which  reached  the 
acme  of  its  refinement  during  the  reign  of  Montezuma,  and  crumbled  into  frag 
ments  beneath  the  heel  of  Cortez,  when  he  dethroned  and  destroyed  that  mon 
arch,3  extended  over  the  whole  region  from  the  Rio  Grande  to  the  Isthmus  of 
Darien ;  and  when  the  Spaniards  came,  it  was  gradually  pushing  its  conquests 
northward,  where  all  was  yet  darkness  and  gloom.  To  human  apprehension, 
this  people,  apparently  allied  by  various  ties  to  the  wild  nations  of  North 
America,  appeared  to  be  the  most  efficient  instruments  in  the  hands  of  Provi 
dence,  for  spreading  the  light  of  dawning  civilization  over  the  whole  Continent. 
Yet,  they  were  not  only  denied  this  glorious  privilege,  but,  by  the  very  race 
which  first  attempted  to  plant  the  seeds  of  European  society  in  Florida,  and 
among  the  Mobilian  tribes,3  and  to  shed  the  illumination  of  their  dim  Chris 
tianity  over  the  dreary  region  of  the  North,  was  their  own  bright  light  extin 
guished.  The  Aztecs  and  their  neighbors  were  beaten  into  the  dust  of 
debasement  by  the  falchion  blows  of  avarice  and  bigotry,  and  nothing  remains 
to  attest  their  superiority  but  the  magnificent  ruins  of  their  cities  and  temples, 
and  their  colossal  statuary,  which  has  survived  the  fury  of  the  Spanish  icono 
clast  and  the  tooth  of  decay.  They  form,  apparently,  not  the  most  insignificant 
atom  of  the  chain  of  events  which  connects  the  history  of  the  Aboriginal  nations 
of  America  with  that  of  our  Republic.  The  position  of  the  tribes  of  the 
North  is  different.  From  the  beginning  of  European  settlements,  they  have 
maintained,  and  do  still  maintain,  an  important  relation  to  the  white  people. 

The  first  inhabitants  of  a  country  properly  belong  to  the  history  of  all  sub 
sequent  occupants  of  the  territory.  The  several  nations  of  red  or  copper- 
colored  people  who  occupied  the  present  domain  of  the  United  States,  when 
Europeans  first  came,  form  as  necessary  materials  for  a  portion  of  the  history 
of  our  Republic,  as  the  Frenchmen4  and  Spaniards,6  by  whom  parts  of  the 
territory  were  settled,  and  from  whom  they  have  been  taken  by  conquest  or 
purchase. 

The  history  of  the  Indian6  tribes,  previous  to  the  formation  of  settlements 
among  them,  by  Europeans,7  is  involved  in  an  obscurity  which  is  penetrated 

1  Page  360.  2  Page  43.  3  Page  29.  4  Page  180. 

*  Page  51.  6  Page  40.  7  Before  the  year  1607. 


THE     ABORIGINALS.  ;Q 

only  by  vague  traditions  and  uncertain  conjectures.  Whence  came  they  ?  is  a 
question  yet  unanswered  by  established  facts.  In  the  Old  World,  the  monu 
ments  of  an  ancient  people  often  record  their  history.*  In  North  America, 
such  intelligible  records  are  wanting.  Within  almost  every  State  and  Terri 
tory  remains  of  human  skill  and  labor  have  been  found,1  which  seem  to  attest 
the  existence  here  of  a  civilized  nation  or  nations,  before  the  ancestors  of  our 
numerous  Indian  tribes  became  masters  of  the  Continent.  Some  of  these 
appear  to  give  indisputable  evidence  of  intercourse  between  the  people  of  the 
Old  World  and  those  of  America,  centuries,  perhaps,  before  the  birth  of  Christ, 
and  at  periods  soon  afterward.2  The  whole  mass  of  testimony  yet  discovered 
does  not  prove  that  such  intercourse  was  extensive;  that  colonies  from  the 
eastern  hemisphere  ever  made  permanent  settlements  in  America,  or  remained 
long  enough  to  impress  their  character  upon  the  country  or  the  Aboriginals,  if 
they  existed ;  or  that  a  high  degree  of  civilization  had  ever  prevailed  on  our 
Continent. 

The  origin  of  the  Indian  tribes  is  referred  by  some  to  the  Phoenicians  and 
other  maritime  nations,  whose  extensive  voyages  have  been  mentioned  by 
ancient  writers,  and  among  whom  tradition  seemed  to  cherish  memories  of  far- 
off  lands  beyond  the  sea,  unknown  to  the  earlier  geographers.  Others  per 
ceive  evidences  of  their  Egyptian  or  Hindoo  parentage ;  and  others  find  their 
ancestors  among  the  "lost  tribes  of  Israel,"  who  "took  counsel  to  go  forth 
into  a  further  country  where  never  mankind  dwelt,"3  and  crossed  from  north 
eastern  Asia  to  our  Continent,  by  way  of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  or  by  Beh- 
ring's  Straits.4  These  various  theories,  and  many  others  respecting  settlements 
of  Europeans  and  Asiatics  here,  long  before  the  time  of  Columbus,  unsupported 
as  they  are  by  a  sufficiency  of  acknowledged  facts,  have  so  little  practical  value 

• ____ 

1  Remains'  of  fortifications,  similar  in  form  to  those  of  ancient  European  nations,  have  been 
discovered.     An  idol,  composed  of  clay  and  gypsum,  representing  a  man  without  arms,   and  in 
all  respects  resembling  one  found  in  Southern  Russia,  was  dug  up  near  Nashville,  in  Tennessee. 
Also  fireplaces,  of  regular  structure  ;  weapons  and  utensils  of  copper ;  catacombs  with  mummies ; 
ornaments  of  silver,  brass,  and  copper;  walls  efforts  and  cities,  and  many  other  things  which  only 
a  people  advanced  in  civilization  could  have  made.     The  Aboriginals,  themselves,  have  various 
traditions  respecting  their  origin — each  nation  having  its  distinct  records  in  the  memory.     Nearly 
all  have  traditional  glimpses  of  a  great  and  universal  deluge ;  and  some  say  their  particular  pro 
genitor  came  in  a  bark  canoe  after  that  terrible  event.     This  belief,  with  modifications,  was  current 
among  most  of  the   northern  tribes,  and  was  a  recorded  tradition  of  the  half-civilized  Aztecs. 
The  latter  ascribed  all  their  knowledge  of  the  arts,  and  their  religious  ceremonies,  to  a  white  and 
bearded  mortal  who  came  among  them ;  and  when  his  mission  was  ended,  was  made  immortal  by 
the  Great  Spirit 

2  A  Roman  coin  was  found  in  Missouri ;  a  Persian  coin  in  Ohio ;  a  bit  of  silver  in  Genesee 
county,  New  York,  with  the  year  of  our  Lord,  600,  engraved  on  it;  split  wood  and  ashes,  thirty 
feet  below  the  surface  of  the  earth,  near  Fredonia,  New  York;    and  near  Montevideo,   South 
America,  in  a  tomb,  were  found  two  ancient  swords,  a  helmet  and  shield,  with  Greek  inscriptions, 
showing  that  they  were  made  in  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great,  330  years  before  Christ.     Near 
Marietta,  Ohio,  a  silver  cup,  finely  gilded  within,  was  found  in  an  ancient  mound.     Traces  of  iron 
utensils,  wholly  reduced  to  rust,  mirrors  of  isinglass,  and  glazed  pottery,  have  also  been  discovered 
in  these  mounds.     These  are  evidences  of  the  existence  of  a  race  far  more  civilized  than  the  tribes 
found  by  modern  Europeans. 

s  2  Esdras,  xiii.  40^5. 

The  people  of  north-eastern  Asia,  and  on  the  north-west  coast  of  America,  have  a  near 
resemblance  in  person,  customs,  and  languages ;  and  those  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  present  many 
of  the  characteristics  of  both.  Ledyard  said  of  the  people  of  Eastern  Siberia,  "Universally  and 
circumstantially  they  resemble  the  Aborigines  of  America." 


12  THE    ABORIGINALS. 

for  the  student  of  our  history,  that  we  will  not  occupy  space  in  giving  a  deline 
ation  of  even  their  outlines.  There  are  elaborately-written  works  specially 
devoted  to  this  field  of  inquiry,  and  to  those  the  curious  reader  is  referred. 
The  proper  investigation  of  such  subjects  requires  the  aid  of  varied  and  exten 
sive  knowledge,  and  a  far  wider  field  for  discussion  than  the  pages  of  a  ^olume 
like  this.  So  we  will  leave  the  field  of  conjecture  for  the  more  useful  and 
important  domain  of  recorded  history. 

The  New  World,  dimly  comprehended  by  Europeans,  afforded  materials  for 
wonderful  narratives  concerning  its  inhabitants  and  productions.  The  few 
natives  who  were  found  upon  the  seaboard,  had  all  the  characteristics  common 
to  the  human  race.  The  interior  of  the  Continent  was  a  deep  mystery,  and 
for  a  long  time  marvelous  stories  were  related  and  believed  of  nations  of  giants 
and  pigmies ;  of  people  with  only  one  eye,  and  that  in  the  centre  of  the  fore 
head  ;  and  of  whole  tribes  who  existed  without  eating.  But  when  sober  men 
penetrated  the  forests  and  became  acquainted  with  the  inhabitants,  it  was  dis 
covered  that  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  country  north  of  the  chain  of 
great  lakes  which  divide  the  United  States  and  the  British  possessions,  the 
people  were  not  remarkable  in  persons  and  qualities,  and  that  a  great  similarity 
in  manners  and  institutions  prevailed  over  that  whole  extent  of  country. 

The  Aboriginals  spoke  a  great  variety  of  dialects,  but  there  existed  not 
more  than  eight  radically  distinct  languages  among  them  all,  from  the  Atlan 
tic  to  the  Mississippi,  and  westward  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  namely :  AL 
GONQUIN,  HURON-IROQUOIS,  CHEROKEE,  CATAWBA,  UCHEE,  NATCHEZ, 
MOBILIAN,  and  DAHCOTAH  or  Sioux.  These  occupied  a  region  embraced 
within  about  twenty-four  degrees  of  latitude  and  almost  forty  degrees  of  longi 
tude,  and  covering  a  greater  portion  of  the  breadth  of  the  north  temperate 
zone. 

All  the  nations  and  tribes  were  similar  in  physical  character,  moral  senti 
ment,  social  and  political  organization,  and  religious  belief.  They  were  all  of 
a  copper  color ;  were  tall,  straight,  and  well-proportioned ;  their  eyes  black 
and  expressive;  their  hair  black,  long,  coarse,  and  perfectly  straight;  their 
constitutions  vigorous,  and  their  powers  of  endurance  remarkable.  Bodily 
deformity  was  almost  unknown,  and  few  diseases  prevailed.  They  were  indo 
lent,  taciturn,  and  unsocial ;  brave,  and  sometimes  generous  in  war ;  unflinch 
ing  under  torture;  revengeful,  treacherous,  and  morose  when  injured  or 
offended ;  not  always  grateful  for  favors  ;  grave  and  sagacious  in  council ;  often 
eloquent  in  speech ;  sometimes  warm  and  constant  in  friendship,  and  occasion 
ally  courteous  and  polite. 

The  men  were  employed  in  war,  hunting  and  fishing.  The  women  per 
formed  all  menial  services.  In  hunting  and  fishing  the  men  were  assiduous 
and  very  skillful.  They  carried  the  knowledge  of  woodcraft  to  the  highest 
degree  of  perfection ;  and  the  slightest  indication,  such  as  the  breaking  of  a 
twig,  or  the  bending  of  grass,  was  often  sufficient  to  form  a  clew  to  the  pathway 
of  an  enemy  or  of  game.  The  women  bore  all  burdens  during  journeys  ; 
spread  the  tents ;  prepared  food ;  dressed  skins  for  clothing ;  wove  mats  for 


THE     ABORIGINALS. 


13 


A  WIGWA::. 


beds,  made  of  the  bark  of  trees  and  the  skins  of  animals  ;  and  planted  and 
gathered  the  scanty  crops  of  corn,  beans,  peas,  potatoes, 
melons,  and  tobacco.  These  constituted  the  chief  agri 
cultural  productions  of  the  Aboriginals,  under  the  most 
favorable  circumstances.  In  these  labors  the  men  never 
engaged ;  they  only  manufactured  their  implements  of 
war.  Their  wigwams,  or  houses,  were  rude  huts,  made 
of  poles  covered  with  mats,  skins,  or  bark  of  trees ;  and 
all  of  their  domestic  arrangements  were  very  simple. 

And  simple,  too,  were  their  implements  of  labor.     They  were  made  of  stones, 
shells,  and  bones,  with  which  they  prepared  their  food,  made  their  clothing  and 
habitations,  and  tilled  their  lands.     Their  food  consisted  of  a  few  vegetables, 
and   the  meat  of   the  deer,   buffalo,  and    bear,   generally  roasted  upon    tho 
points  of  sticks;    sometimes  boiled  in   water   heated   by    hot 
stones,  and  always  eaten  without  salt.     Their  dress  in  summer 
was  a  slight  covering  around  the  loins.     In  winter  they  were 
clad  in  the  skins  of  wild  beasts,1  often  profusely  ornamented 
with  the  claws  of  the  bear,  the  horns  of  the  buffalo,  the  feathers 
of  birds,  and  the  bones  of  fishes.     Their  faces  were  often  tat 
tooed,    and   generally   painted   with  bright  colors   in   hideous 
devices.     Their  money  was  little  tubes  made  of  shells,  fastened 
upon  belts  or  strung  in  chains,  and  called  wampum?     It  was 
used  in  traffic,  in  treaties,  and  as  a  token  of  friendship  or  alliance.     Wampum 
belts  constituted  records  of  public  transactions  in  the  hands  of  a  chief. 

There  was  no  written  language  in  all  the 
New  World,  except  rude  hieroglyphics,  or 
picture  writings.  The  history  of  the 
nations,  consisting  of  the  records  of  warlike 
achievements,  treaties  of  alliance,  and 
deeds  of  great  men,  was,  in  the  form  of 
traditions,  carefully  handed  down  from 
father  to  son,  especially  from  chief  to  chief. 


WAMPUM. 


INDIAN   HIEROGLYPHICS.3 


Children  were  taught  the  simple 


1  The  engraving  at  the  head  of  this  chapter  represents  some  Sioux  Indians,  in  their  winter  and 
fanciful  costumes. 

8  Wampum  is  yet  in  use,  as  money,  among  some  of  the  "Western  tribes,  and  is  manufactured, 
we  believe,  as  an  article  of  commerce  on  the  sea-shore  of  one  of  the  counties  of  New  Jersey.  It  is 
made  of  the  clear  parts  of  the  common  clam-shell.  This  part  being  split  off,  a  hole  is  drilled  in  it, 
and  the  form,  which  is  that  of  the  bead  now  known  as  the  bugle,  is  produced  by  friction.  They  are 
about  half  an  inch  long,  generally  disposed  in  alternate  layers  of  white  and  bluish  black,  and 
valued,  when  they  become  a  circulating  medium,  at  about  two  cents  for  three  of  the  black  beads, 
or  six  of  the  white.  They  were  strung  in  parcels  to  represent  a  penny,  three  pence,  a  shilling, 
and  five  shillings,  of  white;  and  double  that  amount  in  black.  A  fathom  of  white  was  worth 
about  two  dollars  and  a  half,  and  black  about  five  dollars.  They  were  of  less  value  at  the  time  of 
our  war  for  independence.  The  engraving  shows  a  part  of  a  string  and  a  belt  of  wampum. 

3  This  is  part  of  a  record  of  a  war  expedition.  The  figures  on  the  right  and  left- — one  with  a 
gun  and  the  other  with  a  hatchet — denote  prisoners  taken  by  a  warrior.  The  one  without  a  head, 
and  holding  a  bow  and  arrow,  denotes  that  one  was  killed;  and  the  figure  with  a  shaded  part 
below  the  cross  indicates  a  female  prisoner.  Then  he  goes  in  a  war  canoe,  with  nine  companions, 
denoted  by  the  paddles,  after  which  a  council  is  held  by  the  chiefs  of  the  Bear  and  Turtle  tribes, 
indicated  by  rude  figures  of  these  animals  on  each  side  of  a  fire. 


14 


THE     ABORIGINALS. 


INDIAN   WEAPONS.3 


CALUMETS. 


arts  practiced  among  them,  such  as  making  wampum,  constructing  bows, 
arrows,  and  spears,  preparing  matting  and  skins  for  domestic  use,  and  fashion 
ing  rude  personal  ornaments. 

Individual  and  national  pride  prevailed  among  the  Aboriginals.  They 
were  ambitious  of  distinction,  and  therefore  war  was  the  chief  vocation,  as  we 
have  said,  of  the  men.1  They  generally  went  forth  in  parties  of  about  forty 
bowmen.  Sometimes  a  half-dozen,  like  knights- 
errant,3  went  out  upon  the  war-path  to  seek  renown  in 
combat.  Their  weapons  were  bows  and  arrows,  hatch 
ets  (tomahawks)  of  stone,  and  scalping-knives  of  bone. 
Soon  after  they  became  acquainted  with  the  Euro 
peans,  they  procured  knives  and  hatchets  made  of 
iron,  and  this  was  a  great  advance  in  the 
increase  of  their  power.  Some  wore 
shields  of  bark ;  others  wore  skin  dresses 

for  protection.  They  were  skillful  in  stratagem,  and  seldom  met 
an  enemy  in  open  fight.  Ambush  and  secret  attack  were  their 
favorite  methods  of  gaining  an  advantage  over  an  enemy.  Their 
close  personal  encounters  were  fierce  and  bloody.  They  made 
prisoners,  and  tortured  them,  and  the  scalps4  of  enemies  were 
their  trophies  of  war.  Peace  was  arranged  by  sachems5  in  council ; 
and  each  smoking  the  same  "pipe  of,  peace,"  called  calumet*  was 
a  solemn  pledge  of  fidelity  to  the  contract. 

With  the  Indians,  as  with  many  oriental  nations,  women  were  regarded  as 
inferior  beings.  They  were  degraded  to  the  condition  of  abject  slaves,  and  they 
never  engaged  with  the  men  in  their  amusements  of  leaping,  dancing,  target- 
shooting,  ball-playing,  and  games  of  chance.  They  were  allowed  as  spectators, 
with  their  children,  at  war-dances  around  fires,  when  the  men  recited  the  feats 
of  their  ancestors  and  of  themselves.  Marriage,  among  them,  was  only  a  tem 
porary  contract — a  sort  of  purchase — the  father  receiving  presents  from  the 

1  It  was  offensive  to  a  chief  or  warrior  to  ask  him  his  name,  be'cause  it  implied  that  his  brave 
deeds  were  unknown.  Red  Jacket,  the  great  Seneca  chief  (whose  portrait  is  at  the  head  of  this 
chapter),  was  asked  his  name  in  court,  in  compliance  with  a  legal  form.  He  was  very  indignant, 
and  replied,  "  Look  at  the  papers  which  the  white  people  keep  the  most  carefully" — (land  cession 
treaties) — "  they  will  tell  you  who  I  am."  Red  Jacket  was  born  near  Geneva,  New  York,  about 
1750,  and  died  in  1830.  He  was  the  last  great  chief  of  the  Senecas.  For  a  biographical  sketch  of 
him,  see  Lossing's  "  Eminent  Americans." 

8  Knights-errant  of  Europe,  six  hundred  years  ago,  were  men  clothed  in  metal  armor,  who 
went  from  country  to  country,  to  win  fame  by  personal  combats  with  other  knights.  They  also 
engaged  in  wars.  For  about  three  hundred  years,  knights-errant  and  their  exploits  formed  the 
chief  amusement  of  the  courts  of  Europe.  It  is  curious  to  trace  the  connection  of  the  spirit  of 
knighthood,  as  exhibited  by  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  orders  that  have  existed,  at 
various  times,  in  the  Old  World,  with  some  of  the  customs  of  the  rude  Aboriginals  of  North 
America 

3  a,  bow  and  arrow;  6,  a  war  club;  c,  an  iron  tomahawk;  d,  a  stone  one;    e,  a  scalping- 
knife. 

4  They  seized  an  enemy  by  the  hair,  and  by  a  skillful  use  of  the  knife,  cut  and  tore  from  the 
top  of  the  head  a  large  portion  of  the  skin. 

6  Sachems  were  the  civil  heads  of  nations  or  tribes ;  chiefs  were  military  leaders. 

6  Tobacco  was  in  general  use  among  the  Indians  for  smoking,  when  the  white  men  came.  The 
more  filthy  practice  of  chewing  it  was  invented  by  the  white  people.  The  calumet  was  made  of 
pipe-clay,  and  was  often  ornamented  with  feathers. 


THE    ABORIGINALS.  ^5 

husband,  in  exchange  for  the  daughter,  who,  generally,  after  being  fondled  and 
favored  for  a  few  months,  was  debased  to  the  condition  of  a  domestic  servant,  at 
best.  The  men  had  the  right  to  take  wives  and  dismiss  them  at  pleasure ;  and, 
though  polygamy  was  not  very  common,  except  among  the  chiefs,  it  was  not 
objectionable.  Every  Indian  might  have  as  many  wives  as  he  could  purchase 
and  maintain.  The  husband  might  put  his  wife  to  death  if  she  proved  unfaithful 
to  him.  The  affections  were  ruled  by  custom,  and  those  decorous  endearments 
and  attentions  toward  woman,  which  give  a  charm  to  civilized  society,  were 
wholly  unknown  among  the  Indians  ;  yet  the  sentiment  of  conjugal  love  was 
not  always  wanting,  and  attachments  for  life  were  frequent.  There  was  no 
society  to  call  for  woman's  refining  qualities  to  give  it  beauty,  for  they  had  but 
few  local  attachments,  except  for  the  burial-places  of  their  dead. 

From  the  frozen  North  to  the  tropical  South,  their  funeral  ceremonies 
and  methods  of  burial  were  similar.     They  laid  their  dead,  wrapped  in  skins, 
upon  sticks,  in  the  bottom  of  a  shallow  pit,  or  placed 
them  in  a  sitting  posture,  or  occasionally  folded  them 
in  skins,  and  laid  them  upon  high  scaffolds,  out  of  the 
reach  of  wild   beasts.       Their   arms,  utensils,  paints, 
and  food,  were  buried  with  them,  to  be  used  on  their 
long  journey  to  the  spirit-land.     By  this  custom,  the 
doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  was  clearly  and 

r.      .          .  .    .  ,J  BURIAL-PLACE. 

forcibly  taught,  not  as  distinctively  spiritual,  but  as 

possessing  the  two-fold  nature  of  matter  and  spirit.  Over  their  graves  they 
raised  mounds,  and  planted  beautiful  wild-flowers  upon  them.  The  Algon- 
quins,  especially,  always  lighted  the  symbolical  funeral  pyre,  for  several  nights, 
upon  the  grave,  that  the  soul  might  perceive  and  enjoy  the  respect  paid  to  the 
body.  Relatives  uttered  piercing  cries  and  great  lamentations  during  the 
burial,  and  they  continued  mourning  many  days. 

Like  that  of  the  earlier  nations  of  the  world,  their  religion  was  simple,  with 
out  many  ceremonies,  and  was  universally  embraced.  They  had  no  infidels 
among  them.  The  duality  of  God  is  the  most  ancient  tenet  of  Indian  faith — 
a  prominent  tenet,  it  will  be  observed,  in  the  belief  of  all  of  the  more  advanced 
oriental  nations  of  antiquity.  They  believed  in  the  existence  of  two  Great 
Spirits :  the  one  eminently  great  was  the  Good  Spirit,1  and  the  inferior  was  an 
Evil  one.  They  also  deified  the  sun,  moon,  stars,  meteors,  fire,  water,  thun 
der,  wind,  and  every  thing  which  they  held  to  be  superior  to  themselves,  but 

1  They  believed  every  animal  to  have  had  a  great  original,  or  father.  The  first  buffalo,  the  first 
bear,  the  first  beaver,  the  first  eagle,  etc.,  was  the  Manitou  of  the  whole  race  of  the  different  crea 
tures.  They  chose  some  one  of  these  originals  as  their  special  Manitou,  or  guardian,  and  hence 
arose  the  custom  of  having  the  figure  of  some  animal  for  the  arms  or  symbol 
of  a  tribe,  called  totum.  For  example,  each  of  the  FIVE  NATIONS  (see  page  12) 
was  divided  into  several  tribes,  designated  The  Wolf,  The  Bear,  The  Turtle, 
etc.,  and  their  respective  totums  were  rude  representations  of  these  animals. 
When  they  signed  treaties  with  the  white  people,  they  sometimes  sketched 
outlines  of  their  totums.  The  annexed  cut  represents  the  totum  of  Teyenda- 
gages,  of  the  Turtle  tribe  of  the  Mohawk  nation,  as  affixed  by  him  to  a  deed.  xoxmr. 

It  would  be  a  curious  and  pleasant  task  to  trace  the  intimate  connection  of 
this  totemic  system  with  the  use  of  symbolical  signet-rings,  and  other  seals  of  antiquity,  and,  by  suc 
cession,  the  heraldic  devices  of  modern  times. 


16  THE    ABORIGINALS. 

they  never  exalted  their  heroes  or  prophets  above  the  sphere  of  humanity. 
They  also  adored  an  invisible,  great  Master  of  life,  in  different  forms,  which 
they  called  Manitou,  and  made  it  a  sort  of  tutelar  deity.  They  had  vague 
ideas  of  the  doctrine  of  atonement  for  sins,  and  made  propitiatory  sacrifices  with 
great  solemnity.  All  of  them  had  dim  traditions  of  the  creation,  and  of  a  great 
deluge  which  covered  the  earth.  Each  nation,  as  we  have  observed,  had  crude 
notions,  drawn  from  tradition,  of  their  own  distinct  origin,  and  all  agreed  that 
their  ancestors  came  from  the  North. 

It  can  hardly  be  said  that  the  Indians  had  any  true  government.  It  was  a 
mixture  of  the  patriarchal  and  despotic.  Public  opinion  and  common  usage 
were  the  only  laws  of  the  Indian.1  All  political  power  was  vested  in  a  sachem 
or  chief,  who  was  sometimes  an  hereditary  monarch,  but  frequently  owed  his 
elevation  to  his  own  merits  as  a  warrior  or  orator.  While  in  power,  he  was 
absolute  in  the  execution  of  enterprises,  if  the  tribe  confided  in  his  wisdom. 
Public  opinion,  alone,  sustained  him.  It  elevated  him,  and  it  might  depose 
him.  The  office  of  chief  was  often  hereditary,  and  its  duties  were  sometimes  exer 
cised  even  by  women.  Unlike  the  system  of  lineal  descent  which  prevails  in 
the  Old  World,  the  heir  to  the  Indian  throne  of  power  was  not  the  chief's  own 
son,  but  the  son  of  his  sister.  This  usage  was  found  to  be  universal  through 
out  the  continent.  Yet  the  accident  of  birth  was  of  little  moment.  If  the 
recipient  of  the  honor  was  not  worthy  of  it,  the  title  might  remain,  but  the  in 
fluence  passed  into  other  hands.  This  rule  might  be  followed,  with  benefit,  by 
civilized  communities.  Every  measure  of  importance  was  matured  in  council, 
which  was  composed  of  the  elders,  with  the  sachem  as  umpire.  His  decision 
was  final,  and  wherever  he  led,  the  whole  tribe  followed.  The  utmost  decorum 
prevailed  in  the  public  assemblies,  and  a  speaker  was  always  listened  to  with 
respectful  silence. 

We  have  thus  briefly  sketched  the  general  character  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  territory  of  the  United  States,  when  discovered  by  Europeans.  Although 
inferior  in  intellectual  cultivation  and  approaches  to  the  arts  of  civilization,  to 
the  native  inhabitants  of  Mexico2  and  South  America,  and  to  a  race  which 
evidently  occupied  the  continent  before  them,  they  possessed  greater  personal 
manliness  and  vigor  than  the  more  southern  ones  discovered  by  the  Spaniards. 
They  were  almost  all  wanderers,  and  roamed  over  the  vast  solitudes  of  a  fertile 
continent,  free  as  the  air,  and  unmindful  of  the  wealth  in  the  soil  under  their 
feet.  The  great  garden  of  the  western  world  needed  tillers,  and  white  men 
came.  They  have  thoroughly  changed  the  condition  of  the  land  and  the  people. 
The  light  of  civilization  has  revealed,  and  industry  has  developed,  vast  treas 
ures  in  the  soil,  while  before  its  radiance  the  Aboriginals  are  rapidly  melting 
like  snow  in  the  sunbeams.  A  few  generations  will  pass,  and  no  representa 
tive  of  the  North  American  Indian  will  remain  upon  the  earth. 

1  It  was  said  of  McGillivray,  the  half-breed  emperor  of  the  Creeks,  who  died  in  1793,  that,  not 
withstanding  he  called  himself  "  King  of  kings,"  and  was  idolized  by  his  people,  "  he  could  neither 
restrain  the  meanest  fellow  of  his  nation  from  the  commission  of  a  crime,  nor  punish  him  after  he 
had  committed  it.     He  might  persuade,  or  advise — all  the  good  an  Indian  king  or  chief  can  do." 

2  Page  43. 


THE     ALGONQUINS.  37 

.? 

CHAPTER    II. 

THE    ALGONQUINS. 

THE  first  tribes  of  Indians,  discovered  by  the  French  in  Canada,1  wfcre  in 
habitants  of  the  vicinity  of  Quebec,  and  the  adventurers  called  them  Mon- 
tagners,  or  Mountain  Indians,  from  a  range  of  high  hills  westward  of  that  city. 
Ascending  the  St.  Lawrence,  they  found  a  numerous  tribe  on  the  Ottawa 
River,  who  spoke  an  entirely  different  dialect,  if  not  a  distinct  language. 
These  they  called  ALGONQUINS,  and  this  name  was  afterward  applied  to  that 
great  collection  of  tribes  north  and  south  of  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  who  spoko 
dialects  of  the  same  language.  They  inhabited  the  territory  now  included  in 
all  of  Canada,  New  England,  a  part  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  the 
States  of  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Maryland,  and  Virginia,  eastern  North  Car 
olina  above  Cape  Fear,  a  large  portion  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  and  all  north 
and  west  of  these  States,  eastward  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  ALGONQUIN  nation  was  composed  of  several  powerful  tribes,  the  most 
important  of  which  were  the  Knisteneaux  and  Athapascas,  in  the  far  north,  the 
Ottawas,  Chippewas,  Sacs  and  Foxes,  Menomonees,  Miamies,  Piankeshaws, 
Pottowatomies,  Kickapoos;  Illinois,  Shawnees,  Powhatans,  Corees,  Nanticokes, 
Lenni-Lenapes,  or  Dela wares,  Mohegans,  the  New  England  Indians,  and  the 
Abenakes.  There  were  smaller,  independent  tribes,  the  principal  of  which 
were  the  Susquehannocks,  on  the  Susquehanna  in  Pennsylvania ;  the  Manna- 
hoacks,  in  the  hill  country  between  the  York  and  Potomac  Rivers,  and  the 
Monocans,  on  the  head  waters  of  the  James  River  in  Virginia.  All  of  these 
tribes  were  divided  into  cantons  or  clans,  sometimes  so  small  as  to  afford  only  a 
war  party  of  forty  bowmen. 

The  KNISTENEAUX  yet  [1867]  inhabit  a  domain  extending  across  the  con 
tinent  from  Labrador  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  are  the  hereditary  ene 
mies  of  the  ESQUIMAUX,  their  neighbors  of  the  Polar  Circle.  The  Athapascas 
inhabit  a  belt  of  country  from  Churchill's  River  and  Hudson's  Bay  to  within  a 
hundred  miles  of  the  Pacific  coast,  and  combine  a  large  number  of  tribes  who 
speak  a  similar  language.  They,  too,  are  the  enemies  of  the  Esquimaux.  The 
extensive  domain  occupied  by  these  tribes  and  the  Esquimaux,  is  claimed  by 
the  British,  and  is  under  the  control  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  The 
orginal  land  of  the  OTTAWAS  was  on  the  west  side  of  Lake  Huron,  but  they 
were  seated  upon  the  river  in  Canada  bearing  their  name,  when  the  French  dis 
covered  them.  They  claimed  sovereignty  over  that  region,  and  exacted  tribute 
from  those  who  passed  to  or  from  the  domain  of  the  Hurons.2  They  assisted 


1  Page  48. 

2  Between  the  Ottawas  and  Hurons,  was  a  tribe  called  Mississaguies,  who  appear  to  have  left  the 
ALGONQUINS,  and  joined  the  FIVE  NATIONS,  south  of  Lake  Ontario.     Remnants  of  this  tribe  are 
still  found  in  Canada. 


18  THE    ABORIGINALS. 

the  latter  in  a  war  with  the  FIVE  NATIONS'  in  1650,  and  suffered  much.  The 
Hurons  were  almost  destroyed,  and  the  OTTAWAS  were  much  reduced  in  num 
bers.  Some  of  them,  with  the  Huron  remnant,  joined  the  Chippewas,  and, 
finally,  the  whole  tribe  returned  to  their  ancient  seat  [1680]  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  Michigan  peninsula.  Under  their  great  chief,  Pontiac.  they  were 
confederated  with  several  other  ALGONQUIN  tribes  of  the  north-west,  in  an 
attempt  to  exterminate  the  white  people,  in  1763.-  Within  a  fortnight,  in  the 
summer  of  that  year,  they  took  possession  of  all  the  English  garrisons  and 
trading  posts  in  the  West,  except  Detroit,  Niagara,3  and  Fort  Pitt.4  Peace  was 
restored  in  1764-5,  the  confedei^tion  was  dissolved,  and  Pontiac  took  up  his 
abode  with  the  Illinois,  where  he  was  murdered.5  "  This  murder,''  says  Nicol- 
let,  "which  roused  the  vengeance  of  all  the  Indian  tribes  friendly  to  Pontiac, 
brought  about  the  successive  wars,  and  almost  extermination  of  the  Illinois  na 
tion."  His  broken  nation  sought  refuge  with  the  French,  and  their  descendants 
may  yet  [1867]  be  found  in  Canada. 

Those  two  once  powerful  tribes,  the  CHIPPEWAS  and  POTTAWATOMIES,  were 
closely  allied  by  language  and  friendship.  The  former  were  on  the  southern 
shores  of  Lake  Superior ;  the  latter  occupied  the  islands  and  main  land  on  the 
western  shores  of  Green  Bay,  when  first  discovered  by  the  French  in  1761. 
These  afterward  seated  themselves  on  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Michigan 
[1701],  where  they  remained  until  remoAred,  by  treaty,  to  lands  upon  the  Little 
Osage  River,  westward  of  Missouri.  They  are  now  [1867]  the  mpst  numerous 
of  all  the  remnants  of  the  ALGONQUIN  tribes.  The  Chippewas  and  the  Sioux, 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  were,  for  a  long  time,  their  deadly  enemies. 

The  Sacs  and  Foxes  are  really  one  tribe.  They  were  first  discovered  by  the 
French  at  the  southern  extremity  of  Green  Bay,  in  1680.  In  1712  the  French 
garrison  of  twenty  men  at  Detroit,6  was  attacked  by  the  Foxes.  The  French 
repulsed  them,  with  the  aid  of  the  Ottawas,  and  almost  destroyed  the  assailants. 
They  joined  the  Kickapoos  in  1722,  in  driving  the  Illinois  from  their  lands  on 
the  river  of  that  name.  The  Illinois  took  refuge  with  the  French,  arid  the 
Kickapoos  remained  on  their  lands  until  1819,  when  they  went 
to  the  west  bank  of  the  Missouri  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Leav- 
enworth.  The  Sacs  and  Foxes  sold  their  lands  to  the  United 
States  in  1830.  Black  Hawk,  a  Sac  chief,  who,  with  his 
people,  joined  the  English  in  our  second  war  with  Great  Brit 
ain,7  demurred,  and  commenced  hostilities  in  1832.8  The  In 
dians  were  defeated,  and  Black  Hawk,9  with  many  of  his  war- 

,  '.  BLACK    HAWK. 

nors,  were  made  prisoners. 

Among  the  very  few  Indian  tribes  who  have  remained  upon  their  ancient 


1  Chapter  III,  p  23.  2  Page  205.  3  Page  200.  4  Page  198. 

5  He  was  buried  on  the  site  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  in  Missouri.  "  Neither  mound  nor  tablet,1' 
says  Parkman,  "  marked  the  burial-place  of  Pontiac.  For  a  mausoleum,  a  city  has  risen  above  the 
forest  hero,  and  the  race  whom  he  hated  with  such  burning  rancor,  trample  with  unceasing  foot 
steps  over  his  forgotten  grave." 

e  Page  180.  7  Page  409.  8  Page  463. 

9  This  picture  is  from  a  plaster-cast  of  the  face  of  Black  Hawk,  taken  when  he  was  a  prisoner  in 
New  York,  in  1832.  See  page  463. 


THE    ALOONQUINS.  19 

territory,  during  all  the  vicissitudes  of  their  race,  are  the  MENOMONEES,  who 
were  discovered  by  the  French,  upon  the  shores  of  Green  Bay,  in  1699.  They 
yet  [1867]  occupy  a  portion  of  their  ancient  territory,  while  their  southern 
neighbors  and  friends,  the  Winnebagoes,  have  gone  westward  of  the  Mississippi.1 

The  MIAMIES  and  PIANKESHAWS  inhabited  that  portion  of  Ohio  lying  be 
tween  the  Maumee  River  of  Lake  Erie,  and  the  ridge  which  separates  the  head 
waters  of  the  Wabash  from  the  Kaskaskias.  They  were  called  Twightwees  by 
the  FIVE  NATIONS,  and  English.  Of  all  the  Western  tribes,  these  have  ever 
been  the  most  active  enemies  of  the  United  States.2  They  have  ceded  their 
lands,  and  are  now  [1867]  far  beyond  the  Mississippi. 

The  ILLINOIS  formed  a  numerous  tribe,  twelve  thousand  strong,  when  dis 
covered  by  the  French.  They  were  seated  upon  the  Illinois  River,  and  consisted 
of  a  confederation  of  five  families,  namely,  Kaskaskias,  Cahokias,  Tamaronas, 
Michigamias,  and  Peorias.  Weakened  by  internal  feuds,  the  confederacy  was 
reduced  to  a  handful,  by  their  hostile  neighbors.  They  ceded  their  lands  in 
1818,  when  they  numbered  only  three  hundred  souls.  A  yet  smaller  remnant 
are  now  [1867]  upon  lands  west  of  the  Mississippi.  It  can  not  properly  be  said 
that  they  have  a  tribal  existence.  They  are  among  the  many  extinct  commun 
ities  of  our  continent. 

The  once  powerful  SHAWNOESE  occupied  a  vast  region  west  of  the  Alleghan- 
ies,3  and  their  great  council-house  was  in  the  basin  of  the  Cumberland  River. 
At  about  the  time  when  the  English  first  landed  at  Jamestown4  [1607],  they 
were  driven  from  their  country  by  more  southern  tribes.  Some  crossed  the 
Ohio,  and  settled  on  the  Sciota,  near  the  present  Chilicothe ;  others  wandered 
eastward  into  Pennsylvania.  The  Ohio  division  joined  the  Eries  and  Andastes 
against  the  FIVE  NATIONS  in  1672.  Suffering  defeat,  the  Shawnoese  fled  to 
the  country  of  the  Catawbas,  but  were  soon  driven  out,  and  found  shelter  with 
the  Creeks.5  They  finally  returned  to  Ohio,  and  being  joined  by  their  Penn 
sylvania  brethren,  they  formed  an  alliance  with  the  French  against  the  En 
glish,  and  were  among  the  most  active  allies  with  the  former,  during  the  long 
contest  known  in  America  as  the  French  and  Indian  War.  They  continued 
hostilities,  in  connection  with  the  Delawares,  even  after  the  conquest  of  the 
Canadas  by  the  English.6  They  were  subdued  by  Boquet  in  1763,7  and  again 
by  Virginians,  at  Point  Pleasant,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Kenawha,  in  1774.s 
They  aided  the  British  during  the  Revolution,  and  continued  to  annoy  the 
Americans  until  1795,  when  permanent  peace  was  established.9  They  were 
the  enemies  of  the  Americans  during  their  second  war  with  Great  Britain,  a 
part  of  them  fighting  with  the  renowned  Tecumtha,  Now  [1867]  they  are  "but 

1  The  Winnebagoes  are  the  most  dissolute  of  all  the  Indian  remnants.    In  August,  1853,  a  treaty 
was  made  with  them  to  occupy  the  beautiful  country  above  St.  Paul,  westward  of  the  Mississippi, 
between  the  Crow  and  Clear  Water  Rivers. 

2  Page  408. 

3  The  Alleghany  or  Appalachian  Mountains  extend  from  the  Catskills,  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
in  a  south-west  direction,  to  Georgia  and  Alabama,  and  have  been  called  "the  backbone  of  the 
country."     Some  geographers  extend  them  to  the  White  Mountains  of  New  Hampshire. 

4  Page  64.  6  Page  30.  6  Page  203. 
7  Note  7,  page  205.                                 8  Note  4,  page  237.                                  9  Page  374. 


20  THE     ABORIGINALS. 

a  miserable  remnant,  and  occupy  lands  south  of  the  Kansas  River.  The  road 
from  Fort  Independence1  to  Santa  Fe  passes  through  their  territory.2 

The  POWHATANS  constituted  a  confederacy  of  more  than  twenty  tribes,  in 
cluding  the  Accohannocks  and  Accomacs,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Chesa 
peake  Bay.  Powhatan  (the  father  of  Pocahontas3),  was  the  chief  sachem  or 
emperor  of  the  confederacy,  when  the  English  first  appeared  upon  the  James 
River,  in  1607.  He  had  arisen,  by  the  force  of  his  own  genius,  ffrom  the  po 
sition  of  a  petty  chief  to  that  of  supreme  ruler  of  a  great  confederacy.  He  gov 
erned  despotically,  for  no  man  in  his  nation  could  approach  him  in  genuine 
ability  as  a  leader  and  counselor.  His  court  exhibited  much  barbaric  state. 
Through  fear  of  the  English,  and  a  selfish  policy,  he  and  his  people  remained 
nominally  friendly  to  the  white  intruders  during'  his  lifetime,  but  after  his 
death,  they  made  two  attempts  [1622,  1644]  to  exterminate  the  English.  The 
Powhatans  were  subjugated  in  1644, 4  and  from  that  time  they  gradually  di 
minished  in  numbers  arid  importance.  Of  all  that  great  confederacy  in  Lower 
Virginia,  it  is  believed  that  not  one  representative  on  earth  remains,  or  that 
one  tongue  speaks  their  dialect. 

On  the  Atlantic  coast,  south  of  the  Powhatans,  were  the  Corees,  Cheraws. 
and  other  small  tribes,  occupying  the  land  once  inhabited  by  the  powerful  Hat- 
teras  Indians.5  They  were  allies  of  the  Tuscaroras  in  1711,  in  an  attack  upon 
the  English,0  suffered  defeat,  and  have  now  disappeared  from  the  earth.  Their 
dialect  also  is  forgotten. 

Upon  the  great  peninsula  between  the  Chesapeake  and  Delaware  Bays,  were 
the  NANTICOKES.  They  were  early  made  vassals,  and  finally  allies,  on  com 
pulsion,  of  the  FIVE  NATIONS.  They  left  their  ancient  domain  in  1710,  occu 
pied  lands  upon  the  Susquehanna,  in  Pennsylvania,  until  the  Revolutionary 
War  commenced,  when  they  crossed  the  Alleghanies,  and  joined  the  British  in 
the  west.  They  are  now  [1867]  scattered  among  many  tribes. 

The  Original  People,7  as  the  LENNI-LEXAPES  (who  are  frequently  called  Del- 

1  United  States  fort  on  the  Missouri.     Santa  Fe  is  in  New  Mexico,  765  miles  south-west  of  Fort 
Independence. 

2  One  of  the  most  eminent  of  the  Shawnoe  chiefs,  was  Cornstalk,  who  was  generally  friendly  to 
the  Americans,  and  was  always  ready  to  assist  in  negotiating  an  honorable  peace  between  them  and 
his  own  people.     But  he  cordially  united  with  Logan,  the  Mingo  chief,  against  the  white  people  in 
1774;  and  during  the  same  battle  at  Point  Pleasant,  his  voice,  stentorian  in  volume,  was  frequently 
heard,  calling  to  his  men,  "Be  strong!  be  strong!"     He  made  his  warriors  fight  without  wavering, 
and  actually  sunk  his  tomahawk  deep  into  the  head  of  one  who  endeavored  to  escape.     He  was 
murdered  by  some  exasperated  soldiers  at  Point  Pleasant.     When  he  perceived  their  intent,  he 
calmly  said  to  his  son,  who  had  just  joined  him,  "  My  son,  the  Great  Spirit  has  seen  fit  that  we 
should  die  together,  and  has  sent  you  hither  for  that  purpose.     It  is  His  will ;  let  us  submit." 
Turning  to  the  soldiers,  he  received  the  fatal  bullets,  and  his  son,  who  was  sitting  near  him,  was 
shot  at  the  same  time.     The  celebrated  Tecumth a — meaning  a  tiger  crouching  for  his  prey — who 
endeavored  to  confederate  all  the  Western  tribes  in  opposition  to  the  white  people,  was  also  a 
Shawnoe  chief.     See  page  408. 

3  Page  66.  4  Page  108. 

5  This  tribe  numbered  about  three  thousand  warriors  when  Raleigh's  expedition  landed  on 
Roanoke  Island  in  1584;  when  the  English  made  permanent  settlements  in  that  vicinity,  eighty 
years  later,  they  were  reduced  to  about  fifteen  bowmen.  6  Page  168. 

7  This  name  has  been  applied  to  the  whole  ALGONQUIN  nation.  The  Lenni-Lenapes  claimed  to 
have  come  from  beyond  the  Mississippi,  conquering  a  more  civilized  people  on  the  way,  who 
inhabited  the  great  valleys  beyond  the  Alleghany  Mountains. 


THE     ALGX)N  QUINS.  21 

awares)  named  themselves,  comprised  two  powerful  nations,  namely,  the  Minsi 
and  the  Delawares  proper.  The  former  occupied  the  northern  part  of  New 
Jersey,  and  a  portion  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  latter  inhabited  lower  New  Jer 
sey,  the  banks  of  the  Delaware  below  Trenton,  and  the  whole  valley  of  the 
Schuylkill.  The  FIVE  NATIONS  subjugated  them  in  1650.  and  brought  them 
under  degrading  vassalage.  They  gradually  retreated  westward  before  the  tide 
of  civilization,  and  finally  a  portion  of  them  crossed  the  Alleghanies,  and  settled 
in  the  land  of  the  Hurons,1  on  the  Muskingum,  in  Ohio.  Those  who  remained 
in  Pennsylvania  joined  the  Shawnoeser  and  aided  the  French  against  the  En 
glish,  during  the  French  and  Indian  War.3  In  1768,  they  all  went  over  the 
mountains,  and  the  great  body  of  them  became  friends  of  the  British  during  the 
Revolution.  They  were  at  the  head  of  the  confederacy  of  Western  tribes  who 
were  crushed  by  Wayne  in  1794,4  and  the  following  year  they  ceded  all  their 
lands  on  the  Muskingum,  and  seated  themselves  near  the  Wabash.  In  1819, 
they  ceded  those  lands  also,  and  the  remnant  now  [1867]  occupy  a  territory 
north  of  the  Kansas  River,  near  its  mouth. 

The  MOHEGANS  were  a  distinct  tribe,  on  the  Hudson  River,  but  the  name 
was  given  to  the  several  independent  tribes  who  inhabited  Long  Island,  and  the 
country  between  the  Lenni-Lenapes  and  the  New  England  Indians.5  Of  this 
family,  the  Pequods,6  inhabiting  eastern  Connecticut,  on  the  shores  of  Long 
Island  Sound,  were  the  most  powerful.  They  exercised  authority  over  the 
Montauks  and  twelve  other  tribes  upon  Long  Island.  Their  power  was  broken 
by  the  revolt  of  Uncas  against  his  chief,  Sassacus,7  a  short  time  before  the  ap 
pearance  of  the  white  people.  The  Manhattans  were  seated  upon  the  Hudson, 
in  lower  Westchester,  and  sold  Manhattan  Island,  whereon  New  York  now 
stands,  to  the  Dutch.3  The  latter  had  frequent  conflicts  with  these  and  other 
River  Indians.9  The  Dutch  were  generally  conquerors.  The  Mohawks,  one 
of  the  FIVE  NATIONS,10  were  pressing  hard  upon  them,  at  the  same  time,  and 
several  of  the  Mohegan  tribes  were  reduced  to  the  condition  of  vassals  of  that 
confederacy.  Peace  was  effected,  in  1665,  by  the  English  governor  at  New 
York.  In  the  mean  while,  the  English  and  Narragansets  had 
smitten  the  Pequods,11  and  the  remaining  independent  Mohe- 
gans,  reduced  to  a  handful,  finally  took  up  their  abode  upon  the 
west  bank  of  the  Thames,  five  miles  below  Norwich,12  at  a  place 
still  known  as  Mohegan  Plain.  Their  burial-place  was  at  Nor 
wich,  and  there  a  granite  monument  rests  upon  the  grave  of 
f?  Uncas.  The  tribe  is  now  almost  extinct  —  "the  last  of  the 


Page  23.  a  Page  19.  3  Fourth  Period,  Chap.  XII.  4  Page  374. 

5  Page  22.  6  Page  86.  7  Page  87.  8  Page  139. 

9  Page  140.  10  Page  23.  »  Page  87.  12  Note  4,  page  340. 

13  The  last  known  lineal  descendant  of  Uncas,  named  Mazeon,  was  buried  in  the  Indian  cemetery, 
at  Norwich,  in  1827,  when  the  remnant  of  the  Mohegan  tribe,  then  numbering  about  sixty,  were 
present,  and  partook  of  a  cold  collation  prepared  for  them  by  a  lady  of  that  city.  The  most  noted 
leaders  among  the  New  England  Indians  known  to  history,  are  Massasoit,  the  father  of  the  ro- 
nowned  King  Philip;  Caunbitant,  a  very  distinguished  captain;  Hobomok;  Canonicus;  Miai:to- 
nomoh  ;  Ninigret,  his  cousin  ;  King  Philip,  the  last  of  the  Wampanoags  ;  Canonchet,  and  Anna- 
wan.  We  shall  meet  them  in  future  pages. 


22  THE     ABORIGINALS. 

The  Aboriginals  who  inhabited  the  country  from  Connecticut  to  the  Saco 
River,  were  called  the  NEW  ENGLAND  INDIANS.  The  principal  tribes  were  the 
Narragansets  in  Rhode  Island,  and  on  the  western  shores  of  Narraganset  Bay ; 
the  Pokonokets  and  Wampanoags  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  same  bay,  and  in 
a  portion  of  Massachusetts ;  the  Nipmucs  in  the  center  of  Massachusetts ;  the 
Massachusetts  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston  and  the  shores  southward;  and  the 
Pawtuckets  in  the  north-eastern  part  of  Massachusetts,  embracing  the  Penna- 
cooks  of  New  Hampshire.  These  were  divided  into  smaller  bands,  having 
petty  chiefs.  The  Pokonokets,  for  example,  were  divided  into  nine  separate 
cantons  or  tribes,  each  having  its  military  or  civil  ruler,  but  all  holding  alle 
giance  to  one  Grand  Sachem.  They  were  warlike,  and  were  continually 
engaged  in  hostilities  with  the  FIVE  NATIONS,  or  with  the  Mohegans.  The 
English  and  Dutch  effected  a  general  peace  among  them  in  1673.  Two  years 
afterward  [1675],  Metacomet  (King  Philip)  aroused  most  of  the  New  England 
tribes  against  the  English.  A  fierce  war  ensued,  but  ended  in  the  subjugation 
of  the  Indians  and  the  death  of  Philip,  in  1676. 1  The  power  of  the  New 
England  Indians  was  then  completely  broken.  Some  joined  the  more  eastern 
tribes,  and  others  took  refuge  in  Canada,  from  whence  they  frequently  came  to 
the  border  settlements  on  errands  of  revenge.2  These  incursions  ceased  when 
the  French  dominion  in  Canada  ended  in  1763.'  When  the  Puritans  came* 
[1620],  the  New  England  Indians  numbered  about  ten  thousand  souls;  now 
[1867]  probably  not  three  hundred  representatives  remain;  and  the  dialects 
of  all,  excepting  that  of  the  Narragansets,  are  forgotten. 

Eastward  of  the  Saco  River  were  the  Abenakes.  The  chief  tribes  were  the 
Penobscots,  Norridgewocks,  Androscoggins,  and  Passamaquoddies.  These, 
with  the  more  eastern  tribes  of  the  Micmacs  and  Etchemins.  were  made  nom 
inal  Christians  by  the  French  Jesuits  ;6  and  they  were  all  firm  allies  of  the 
French  until  the  conquest  of  Canada  by  the  English,  in  1760.6  Most  of  the 
ABENAKES,  except  the  Penobscots,  withdrew  to  Canada  in  1754.  A  few 
scattered  families  of  the  latter  yet  [1867]  dwell  upon  the  banks  of  the  Penob- 
scot  River,  and  wanderers  are  seen  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  Like  other  New 
England  tribes,  they  are  rapidly  fading,  and  will,  doubtless,  be  extinct  before 
the  dawn  of  another  century. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE      HTJRON-IROQITOIS. 

WE  now  come  to  consider  the  most  interesting,  in  many  respects,  of  all  the 
aboriginal  tribes  of  North  America,  called  IROQUOIS  by  the  French.  The  pre 
fix  "Huron"  was  given,  because  that  people  seemed,  by  their  language,  to  form 

'•  Page  128.       a  Page  130.       8  Page  202.        *  Page  114.       6  Page  130.       fl  Page  20H. 


THE    HURON-IROQUOIS.  23 

a  part  of  the  IROQUOIS  nation,  and  like  them,  were  isolated  in  the  midst  of  the 
ALGONQUINS,  when  discovered  by  the  Europeans.  The  great  body  of  the 
IROQUOIS  occupied  almost  the  whole  territory  in  Canada,  south-west  of  the 
Ottowa  River,  between  Lakes  Ontario,  Erie  and  Huron ;  a  greater  portion  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  a  part  of  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  along  the  south 
ern  shores  of  Lake  Erie.  They  were  completely  surrounded  by  the  ALGOX- 
QUINS,  in  whose  southern  border  in  portions  of  North  Carolina  and  Virginia, 
were  the  Tuscaroras  and  a  few  smaller  Iroquois  tribes.1  The  Hurons  occupied 
the  Canadian  portions  of  the  territory,  and  the  land  on  the  southern  shore  of 
Lake  Erie,  and  appeared  to  be  a  distinct  nation ;  but  their  language  was  found 
to  be  identical  with  that  of  the  Iroquois.  The  Hurons  consisted  of  four  smaller 
tribes,  namely,  the  Wyandots  or  Hurons  proper,  the  Attiouandirons,2  the 
Eries,  and  the  Andastes.  The  two  latter  tribes  were  south  of  the  lake,  and 
claimed  jurisdiction  back  to  the  domains  of  the  Shawnoese.3 

Those  "Romans  of  the  Western  World,"  the  FIVE  NATIONS,  or  IROQUOIS 
proper,  formed  a  confederacy  composed  of  the  Seneca,  Cayuga,  Onondaga, 
Oneida,  and  Mohawk  tribes,  all  occupying  lands  within  the  present  State  of  New 
York.  They  fancifully  called  their  confederacy  the  Long  House.  The  eastern 
door  was  kept  by  the  Mohawks ;  the  western  by  the  Senecas ;  and  the  Great 
Council  fire  was  with  the  Onondagas,  at  the  metropolis,  or  chief  village,  near 
the  present  city  of  Syracuse.  The  French,  as  we  have  observed,  gave  them 
the  name  of  Iroquois ;  the  ALGONQUINS  called  them  Mingoes.4  At  what  time 
the  confederacy  was  formed,  is  not  known.  It  was  strong  and  powerful  when 
the  French  discovered  them,  in  1609,  and  they  were  then  engaged  in  bloody 
wars  with  their  kinsmen,  the  Wyandots.5 

1  The  Southern  Iroquois  were  the  Tuscaroras,  Chowans,  Meherrins,  and  Nottoways.  The  three 
latter  were  upon  the  rivers  in  lower  Virginia,  called  by  their  respective  names,  and  were  known 
under  the  general  title  of  Tuscaroras. 

3  Neutral  Nation.  "When  the  Hurons  and  FIVE  NATIONS  were  at  war,  the  Attiouandirons  fled 
to  the  Sandusky,  and  built  a  fort  for  each  of  the  belligerents  when  in  that  region.  But  their  neu 
trality  did  not  save  them  from  internal  feuds  which  finally  dismembered  the  tribe.  One  party 
joined  the  Wyandots ;  the  other  the  Iroquois. 

3  Page  19. 

4  Mingoes,  Minquas,  and  Maquas,  were  terms  more  particularly  applied  to  the  Mohawk  tribe, 
who  called  themselves  Kayingehaga,  "possessors  of  the  flint"     The  confederation  assumed  the 
title  of  Aquinuschioni,  "united  people;"  or  as  some  say,  Konoshioni,  "cabin  builders." 

s  The  time  of  the  formation  of  the  confederation  is  supposed  to  have  been  at  about  the  year 
1539.  According  to  their  own  tradition,  it  was  about  two  generations  before  the  white  people 
came  to  trade  with  them.  Clarke,  in  his  history  of  Onondaga  county,  has  given,  from  the  lips  of  an 
old  chief  of  the  Onondaga  tribe,  that  beautiful  legend  of  the  formation  of  the  great  confederacy, 
which  forms  the  basis  of  Longfellow's  Indian  Edda,  "  HI-A-WAT-HA."  Centuries  ago,  the  story 
runs,  the  deity  who  presides  over  fisheries  and  streams,  came  from  his  dwelling-place  in  the  clouds, 
to  visit  the  inhabitants  of  earth.  He  was  delighted  with  the  land  where  the  tribes  that  afterward 
formed  the  confederacy,  dwelt ;  and  having  bestowed  many  blessings  on  that  land,  he  laid  aside  his 
Divine  character,  and  resolved  to  remain  on  earth.  He  selected  a  beautiful  residence  on  the  shore 
of  Te-ungk-too  (Cross  lake),  and  all  the  people  called  him  Hi-a-wat-ha,  "the  wise  man."  After  a 
while,  the  people  were  alarmed  by  the  approach  of  a  ferocious  band  of  warriors  from  the  country 
north  of  the  great  lakes.  Destruction  seemed  inevitable.  The  inhabitants  thronged  around  the 
lodge  of  Hi-a-wat-ha,  from  all  quarters,  craving  his  wise  advice  in  this  hour  of  great  peril.  After 
solemn  meditation,  he  told  them  to  call  a  grand  council  of  all  the  tribes.  The  chiefs  and  warriors 
from  far  and  near,  assembled  on  the  banks  of  Lake  Oh-nen-ta-ha  (Onondaga).  The  council-fire 
blazed  three  days  before  the  venerable  Hi-a-wat-ha  arrived.  He  had  been  devoutly  praying,  in 
silence,  to  the  Great  Spirit,  for  guidance.  Then,  with  his  darling  daughter,  a  virgin  of  twelve 
years,  he  entered  his  white  canoe,  and,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  people,  he  appeared  on  the  Oh-uen- 


24  THE     ABORIGINALS. 

In  the  year  1649,  the  FIVE  NATIONS  resolved  to  strike  a  final  and  decisive 
blow  against  their  western  neighbors,  and,  gathering  all  their  warriors,  they 
made  a  successful  invasion  of  the  Wyandot,  or  Huron  country.  Great  num 
bers  of  the  Wyandots  were  slain  and  made  prisoners,  and  the  whole  tribe  was 
dispersed.  Some  of  the  fugitives  took  refuge  with  the  Chippewas ;  others 
fled  to  Quebec,  and  a  few  were  incorporated  into  the  Iroquois  confederacy. 
Yet  the  spirit  of  the  Wyandots  was  not  subdued,  and  they  claimed  and  exer 
cised  sovereignty  over  almost  the  whole  of  ,the  Ohio  country.  They  had  great 
influence  among  the  ALGONQUIN  tribes.1  and  even  as  late  as  the  treaty  of 
Greenville,  in  1795,  the  principal  cession  of  lands  in  Ohio  to  the  United 
States  was  made  by  the  Wyandot  chiefs  in  council.2  They,  too,  are  reduced  to 
a  mere  remnant  of  less  than  five  hundred  souls,  and  now  [1867]  they  occupy 
lands  on  the  Neosho  River,  a  chief  tributary  of  the  Arkansas. 

Being  exceedingly  warlike,  the  FIVE  NATIONS  made  hostile  expeditions 
against  the  New  England  Indians3  in  the  East,  the  Eries,  Andastes,  and 


ta-ha.  A  great  shout  greeted  him,  and  as  he  landed  and  walked  up  the  bank,  a  sound  like  a 
rushing  wind  was  heard ;  a  dark  spot,  every  moment  increasing  in  size,  was  descending  from  the 
clear  sky.  Fear  seized  the  people ;  but  Hi-a-wat-ha  stood  unmoved.  The  approaching  object  was 
an  immense  bird.  It  came  swiftly  to  earth,  crushed  the  darling  daughter  of  Hi-a-wat-ha — was  itself 
destroyed,  but  the  wise  man  was  unharmed.  Grief  for  his  bereavement  prostrated  him  in  the  dust 
for  three  days.  The  council  anxiously  awaited  his  presence.  At  length  he  came :  the  subject  of 
the  peril  from  invaders  was  discussed,  and  after  deliberating  a  day,  the  venerable  Hi-a-wat-ha 
arose  and  said: 

"Friends  and  Brothers — You  are  members  of  many  tribes  and  nations.  You  have  come  here, 
many  of  you,  a  great  distance  from  your  homes.  We  have  met  for  one  common  purpose — to  pro 
mote  one  common  interest,  and  that  is,  to  provide  for  our  mutual  safety,  and  how  it  shall  best  be 
accomplished.  To  oppose  these  foes  from  the  north  by  tribes,  singly  and  alone,  would  prove  our 
certain  destruction.  We  can  make  no  progress  in  that  way.  We  must  unite  ourselves  into  ono 
common  band  of  brothers ;  thus  united,  we  may  drive  the  invaders  back ;  this  must  be  done,  ana 
we  shall  be  safe. 

"You,  the  MOHAWKS,  sitting  under  the  shadow  of  the  'Great  Tree,'  whose  roots  sink  deep 
into  the  earth,  and  whose  branches  spread  over  a  vast  country,  shall  be  the  first  nation,  because 
you  are  warlike  and  mighty. 

"And  you,  ONEIDAS,  a  people  who  recline  your  bodies  against  the  'Everlasting  Stone,'  that 
can  not  be  moved,  shall  be  the  second  nation,  because  you  give  wise  counsel. 

"And  you,  ONONDAGAS,  who  have  your  habitation  at  the  'Great  Mountain,1  and  are  over 
shadowed  by  its  crags,  shall  be  the  third  nation,  because  you  are  greatly  gifted  in  speech,  and 
mighty  in  war. 

"And  you,  CAYUGAS,  a  people  whose  habitation  is  the  'Dark  Forest,'  and  whose  home  is  every 
where,  shall  be  the  fourth  nation,  because  of  your  superior  cunning  in  hunting. 

"And  you,  SENEGAS,  a  people  who  live  in  the  'Open  Country,'  and  possess  much  wisdom, 
shall  be  the  fifth  nation,  because  you  understand  better  the  art  of  raising  corn  and  beans,  and 
making  cabins. 

"  You,  five  great  and  powerful  nations,  must  unite  and  have  but  one  common  interest,  and  no 
foe  shall  be  able  to  disturb  or  subdue  you.  If  we  unite,  the  Great  Spirit  will  smile  upon 
us.  Brothers,  these  are  the  words  of  Hi-a-wat-ha — let  them  sink  deep  into  your  hearts.  I  have 
said  it." 

They  reflected  for  a  day,  and  then  the  people  of  the  "Great  Tree,"  the  "Everlasting  Stone," 
the  "Great  Mountain,"  the  "Dark -Forest,"  and  the  "  Open  Country,"  formed  a  league  like  that  of 
the  Amphyctioni  of  Greece.  The  enemy  was  repulsed,  and  the  FIVE  NATIONS  became  the  terror 
of  the  Continent.  Then  Hi-a-watha  said, 

"  The  Great  Master  of  Breath  calls  me  to  go.  I  have  patiently  waited  his  summons.  I  am 
ready — farewell !" 

Myriads  of  singing  voices  burst  upon  the  ears  of  the  multitude,  and  the  whole  air  seemed  filled 
with  music.  Hi-a-wat-ha,  seated  in  his  white  canoe,  rose  majestically  above  the  throng,  and  as  all 
eyes  gazed  in  rapture  upon  the  ascending  wise  man,  he  disappeared  forever  in  the  blue  vault  of 
heaven.  The  music  melted  into  low  whispers,  like  the  soft  summer  breeze ;  and  there  were 
pleasant  dreams  in  every  cabin  of  the  FIVE  NATIONS  on  that  blessed  night. 

J  Page  17.  2  Page  374.  3  Page  22. 


THE    HURON-IROQUOIS. 


25 


Miamies  in  the  West,1  and  penetrated  to  the  domains  of  the  Catawbas2  and 
Cherokees3  in  the  South.  They  subjugated  the  Eries  in  1655,  and  after  a  con 
test  of  twenty  years,  brought  the  Andastes  into  vassalage.  They  conquered 
the  Miamies4  and  Ottawas5  in  1657,  and  made  incursions  as  far  as  the  Roanoke 
and  Cape  Fear  Rivers  to  the  land  of  their  kindred  in  language,  the  Tuscaroras, 
in  1701.6  Thirty  years  afterward,  having  been  joined  by  the  Tuscaroras,  and 
the  name  of  the  confederacy  changed  to  that  of  the  Six  NATIONS,  they  made 
war  upon  the  Cherokees  and  Catawbas.7  They  were  led  on  by  Hi-o-ka-too,  a 
Seneca  chief.  The  Catawbas  were  almost  annihilated  by  them,  after  a  battle 
of  two  days.  So  determined  were  the  FIVE  NATIONS  to  subdue  the  southern 
tribes,  that  when,  in  1744,  they  ceded  a  part  of  their  lands  to  Virginia,  they 
reserved  a  perpetual  privilege  of  a  war-path  through  the  territory. 

In  the  year  1712,  the  Tuscaroras  having  been  signally  defeated  by  the 
Carolinians,6  came  northward,  and  in  1714  joined  the  FIVE  NATIONS.  From 
that  time  the  confederacy  was  known  as  the  Six  NATIONS.  They  were  gen 
erally  the  sure  friends  of  the  English  -and  inveterate  foes  of  the  French.9 


They  were  all  friends  of  the  British  during  the  Revolution,  except  a  part  of 
the  Oneidas,  among  whom  the  influence  of  the  Rev.   Samuel  Kirkland10  was 

1  Page  17.  2  Page  26.  3 'Page  27.  «  Page  17.  5  Page  17 

6  Page  168.  ?  Page  17.  »  Page  168.  9  Page  192. 

10  Samuel  Kirkland  was  one  of  the  most  laborious  and  self-sacrificing  of  the  earlier  missionaries, 
who  labored  among  the  tribes  of  the  Six  NATIONS.  He  was  born  at  Norwich,  Connecticut,  in 
December,  1741.  He  was  educated  at  Dr.  Wheelock's  school,  at  Lebanon,  where  he  prepared  for 
that  missionary  work  in  which  he  labored  forty  years.  His  efforts  were  put  forth  chiefly  among 


26  THE    ABORIGINALS. 

very  powerful,  in  favor  of  the  Republicans.  The  Mohawks  were  the  most 
active  enemies  of  the  Americans ;  and  they  were  obliged  to  leave  the  State  and 
take  refuge  in  Canada  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution.  The  others  were  allowed 
to  remain,  and  now  [1867]  mere  fragments  of  that  great  confederation  exist, 
and,  in  habits  and  character,  they  are  radically  changed.  The  confederacy 
was  forever  extinguished  by  the  sale  of  the  residue  of  the  Seneca  lands  in 
1838.  In  1715,  the  confederacy  numbered  more  than  forty  thousand  souls : 
now  [1867]  they  are  probably  less  than  four  thousand,  most  of  whom  are 
upon  lands  beyond  the  Mississippi.1 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE    CATAWBAS. 

IN  that  beautiful,  hilly  region,  between  the  Yadkin  and  Catawba  Rivers,  on 
each  side  of  the  boundary  line  between  North  and  South  Carolina,  dwelt  the 
CATAWBA  nation.  They  were  south-westward  of  the  Tuscaroras,  and  were 
generally  on  good  terms  with  them.  They  were  brave,  but  not  warlike,  and 
their  conflicts  were  usually  in  defense  of  their  own  territory.  They  expelled 
the  fugitive  Shawnoese  in  16 72,2  but  were  overmatched  and  desolated  by  the 
warriors  of  the  FIVE  NATIONS'  in  1701.  They  assisted  the  white  people  of 
South  Carolina  against  the  Tuscaroras  and  their  confederates  in  1712;4  but 
when,  three  years  afterward,  the  southern  tribes,  from  the  Neuse  region  to  that 
of  the  St.  Mary's,  in  Florida,  and  westward  to  the  Alabama,  seven  thousand 

the  Oneidas ;  and,  during  the  Revolution,  he  was  active  in  restraining  them  from  an  alliance  with 
the  rest  of  the  confederacy  against  the  Patriots.  He.  was  exceedingly  useful  in  treaty-making ;  for 
he  had  the  entire  confidence  of  the  Indians.  He  died  at  Paris,  in  Oneida  county,  in  February, 
1808,  in  the  67th  year  of  his  age.  See  Lossing's  ''Eminent  Americans"  for  a  more  elaborate  sketch. 
1  The  chief  men  of  the  FIVE  NATIONS,  known  to  the  white  people,  are  Garangula,  who  was 
distinguished  toward  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  for  his  wisdom  and  sagacity  in  council, 
and  was  of  the  Onondaga  tribe.  Logan,  whose  celebrated  reply  to  a  white  messenger  has  been 
preserved  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  was  of  the  Cayuga  tribe.  To  the  messenger  he  said:  "I  appeal  to  any 
white  man  to  say  if  he  ever  entered  Logan's  cabin  hungry,  and  he  gave  him  no  meat ;  if  ever  he 
came  cold  and  naked  and  he  clothed  him  not."  Then  speaking  of  the  cruelty  of  the  white  people, 
who,  in  cold  blood  had  murdered  his  family,  he  said  :  "They  have  murdered  all  the  relations  of 
Logan — not  even  sparing  my  women  and  children.  This  called  on  me  for  revenge ;  I  have  sought 
it.  I  have  killed  many.  I  have  fully  glutted  my  vengeance.  For  my  country,  I  rejoice  at  the 
beams  of  peace.  But  do  not  harbor  the  thought  that  mine  is  the  joy  of  fear.  Logan  never  felt 
fear.  He  will  not  turn  on  his  heel  to  save  his  life.  Who  is  there  to  mourn  for  Logan  ?  Not 
one !"  Joseph  Brant  (Thayendanega),  was  the  most  celebrated  of  the  Mohawk  tribe ;  and  Red 
Jacket  (Sagoyewatha),  was  a  very  renowned  Seneca,  greatly  distinguished  for  his  eloquence. 
Cornplanter,  who  lived  till  past  a  century  in  age,  was  also  a  distinguished  Seneca  chief.  Red  Jacket 
was  very  intemperate  toward  the  latter  part  of  his  life.  On  one  occasion  a  lady  inquired  after  his 
children.  He  had  lost  fourteen  by  consumption.  Bowing  his  head,  he  said :  "  Red  Jacket  was 
once  a  great  man,  and  in  favor  with  the  Great  Spirit.  He  was  a  lofty  pine  among  the  smaller  trees 
of  the  forest.  But  after  years  of  glory,  he  degraded  himself  by  drinking  the  fire-water  of  the  white 
man.  The  Great  Spirit  has  looked  upon  him  in  anger,  and  His  lightning  has  stripped  the  pine  of 
its  branches!"  2  page  19.  3  Page  23.  4  Page  168. 


THE     CHEROKEES  27 

strong,  confederated  in  an  attempt  to  exterminate  the  Carolinians,1  the  Cataw- 
bas  were  among  them. 

They  were  again  the  active  allies  of  the  Carolinians  in  1760,  when  the 
Cherokees  made  war  upon  them,2  and  they  remained  true  friends  of  the  white 
people  afterward.  They  joined  the  Americans  during  the  Revolution,  and 
have  ever  since,  experienced  the  fostering  care  of  the  State,  in  some  degree.3 
Their  chief  village  was  upon  the  Catawba  River,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Fishing 
Creek,  in  Yorkville  district,  South  Carolina;  and  there  the  remnant  of  the 
nation,  numbering  less  than  a  hundred  souls,  were  living  upon  a  reservation,  a 
few  miles  square,  when  the  late  Civil  War  began. 


CHAPTER   Y. 

THE       CHEROKEES. 

OF  all  the  Indian  tribes,  the  CHEROKEES,  who  dwelt  westward  and  adjoining 
the  Tuscaroras4  and  Catawbas,5  among  the  high  hills  and  fertile  valleys,  have 
ever  been  the  most  susceptible  to  the  influences  of  civilization.  They  have  been 
properly  called  the  mountaineers  of  the  South.  Their  beautiful  land  extended 
from  the  Carolina  Broad  River  on  the  east,  to  the  Alabama  on  the  west,  includ 
ing  the  whole  of  the  upper  portion  of  Georgia  from  the  head  waters  of  the  Ala- 
tamaha,  to  those  of  the  Tennessee.  It  is  one  of  the  most  delightful  regions  of 
the  United  States. 

These  mountaineers  were  the  determined  foes  of  the  Shawnoese,6  and  after 
many  conflicts,  they  finally  drove  them  from  the  country  south  of  the  Ohio 
River.  They  joined  with  the  Catawbas  and  the  white  people  against  the  Tus 
caroras  in  1712, 7  but  were  members  of  the  great  confederation  against  the 
Carolinians  in  1715,s  which  we  shall  consider  hereafter. 

The  FIVE  NATIONS  and  the  Cherokees  had  bloody  contests  for.  a  long  time. 
A  reconciliation  was  finally  effected  by  the  English  about  the  year  1750,  and 
the  Cherokees  became  the  allies  of  the  peace-makers,  against  the  French. 
They  assisted  in  the  capture  of  Fort  Du  Quesne  in  1758, 9  but  their  irregular 
ities,  on  their  return  along  the  border  settlements  of  Virginia,  gave  the  white 
people  an  apparent  excuse  for  killing  two  or  three  warriors.  Hatred  was  en 
gendered,  and  the  Cherokees  soon  afterward  retaliated  by  spreading  destruction 

1  Page  170.  2  page  204. 

In  1822,  a  Catawba  warrior  made  an  eloquent  appeal  to  the  legislature  of  South  Carolina  for 
aid.  "I  pursued  the  deer  for  subsistence,"  he  said,  "but  the  deer  are  disappearing,  and  I  must 
starve.  God  ordained  me  for  the  forests,  and  my  ambition  is  the  shade.  But  the  strength  of  my 
arm  decays,  and  my  feet  fail  me  in  the  chase.  The  hand  that  fought  for  your  liberties  is  now  open 
to  you  for  relief"  A  pension  was  granted. 

1  Page  25.  s  pao-e  204.  6  Page  19. 

7  Page  168.  a  pao-e  ^^  9  page  186. 


28  THE     ABORIGINALS. 

along  the  frontiers.1     Hostilities  continued  a  greater  portion  of  three  years, 
when  peace  was  established  in  1761,  and  no  more  trouble  ensued. 

During  the  Revolution  the  Cherokees  adhered  to  the  British ;  and  for  eight 
years  afterward  they  continued  to  annoy  the  people  of  the  upper  country  of  the 
Carolinas.  They  were  reconciled  by  treaty  in  1791.  They  were  friends  of  the 
United  States  in  1812.  and  assisted  in  the  subjugation  of  the  Creeks.2  Civili 
zation  was  rapidly  elevating  them  from  the  condition  of  roving  savages,  to  agri 
culturists  and  artisans,  when  their  removal  west  of  the  Mississippi  was  required. 
They  had  established  schools,  a  printing  press,  and  other  means  for  improve 
ment  and  culture,  when  they  were  compelled  to  leave  their  farms  for  a  new 
home  in  the  wilderness.3  They  are  in  a  fertile  country,  watered  by  the 
Arkansas  and  its  tributaries,  and  now  [1867]  number  about  fourteen  thousand 
souls.  They  were  in  a  prosperous  condition  when  the  late  Civil  War  began.4 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE    UCHEES. 

IN  the  pleasant  country  extending  from  the  Savannah  River,  at  Augusta, 
westward  to  Milledgeville,  and  along  the  banks  of  the  Oconee  and  the  head 
waters  of  the  Ogeechee  and  Chattahooche.  the  Europeans  found  a  remnant  of 
the  once  powerful  nation  of  the  UCHEES.  Their  language  was  exceedingly 
harsh,  and  totally  unlike  that  of  any  other  people  on  the  continent.  They 
claimed  to  be  descendants  of  the  most  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  country,  and 
took  great  pride  in  the  fact ;  and  they  had  no  tradition  of  their  ever  occupy 
ing  any  other  territory  than  the  domain  on  which  they  were  found.  They, 
too,  have  been  driven  beyond  the  Mississippi  by  the  pressure  of  civilization, 
and  have  become  partially  absorbed  by  the  Creeks,  with  whom  less  than  a 
thousand  souls  yet  [1867]  remain.  They  are,  in  fact,  an  extinct  nation,  and 
their  language  is  almost  forgotten. 


1  Page  204.  *  Page  428. 

3  A  native  Cherokee,  named  by  the  white  people,  George  Guess  (Sequoyah),  who  was  ignorant 
of  every  language  but  his  own,  seeing  books  in  the  missionary  schools,  and  being  told  that  the 
characters  represented  the  words  of  the  spoken  English  language,  conceived  the  idea  of  forming  a 
written  language  for  his  people.  He  first  made  a  separate  character  for  each  word,  but  this  made 
the  whole  matter  too  voluminous,  and  lie  formed  a  syllabic  alphabet  of  eighty-five  characters.  It 
was  soon  ascertained  that  this  was  sufficient,  even  for  the  copious  language  of  the  Cherokees,  and 
this  syllabic  alphabet  was  soon  adopted,  in  the  preparation  of  books  for  the  missionary  schools.  In 
1826,  a  newspaper,  called  the  Cherokee  Phoenix,  printed  in  the  new  characters,  was  established. 
Many  of  the  native  Cherokees  are  now  well  educated,  but  the  great  body  of  the  natives  are  in  ig 
norance. 

*  Note  4.  page  32. 


THE     MOBILIAN     TRIBES.  29 

CHAPTER   VII. 

THE     NATCHEZ. 

OF  this  once  considerable  nation,  who  inhabited  the  borders  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  where  a  modern  city  now  perpetuates  their  name,  very  little  is  known. 
When  first  discovered  by  the  French,  they  occupied  a  territory  about  as  large 
as  that  inhabited  by  the  lichees.  It  extended  north-easterly  from  the  Missis 
sippi  along  the  valley  of  the  Pearl  River,  to  the  upper  waters  of  the  Chickasa- 
haw.  For  a  long  time  they  were  supposed  to  belong  to  the  nation  of  Mobilian 
tribes,  by  whom  they  were  surrounded,  but  their  language  proved  them  to  be  a 
distinct  people.  They  were  sun-worshippers ;  and  from  this  circumstance, 
some  had  supposed  that  they  had  once  been  in  intimate  communication  w^ith 
the  adorers  of  the  great  luminary  in  Central  and  South  America.  In  many 
things  they  were  much  superior  to  their  neighbors,  and  displayed  signs  of  the 
refinement  of  a  former  more  civilized  condition.  They  became  jealous  of  the 
French  on  their  first  appearance  upon  the  Mississippi,  and  finally  they  con 
spired,  with  others,  to  drive  the  intruders  from  the  country.  The  French  fell 
upon,  and  almost  annihilated  the  nation,  in  1730.  They  never  recovered  from 
the  shock,  and  after  maintaining  a  feeble  nationality  for  almost  a  century,  they 
have  become  merged  into  the  Creek  confederacy.  They  now  [186YJ  number 
less  than  three  hundred  souls,  and  their  language,  in  its  purity,  is  unknown. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE     MOBILIAN     TRIBES. 

LIKE  the  Algonquins  and  Iroquois  nations,  the  MOBILIAN  was  composed  of 
a  great  number  of  tribes,  speaking  different  dialects  of  the  same  language. 
Their  territory  was  next  in  extent  to  that  of  the  Algonquins.1  It  stretched 
along  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi,  more  than  six 
hundred  miles  ;  up  the  Mississippi  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  ;  and  along 
the  Atlantic  to  Cape  Fear.  It  comprised  a  greater  portion  of  the  present  State 
of  Georgia,  the  whole  of  Florida,  Alabama,  and  Mississippi,  and  parts  of  South 
Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  Kentucky.  The  nation  was  divided  into  three  grand 
confederacies  of  tribes,  namely,  Muscogees  or  Creeks  Choctaws,  and  Chick- 
asaws. 

1  Page  17. 


30  THE    ABORIGINALS. 

The  Creek  Confederacy  extended  from  the 
Atlantic  westward  to  the  high  lands  which  sep 
arate  the  waters  of  the  Alabama  and  Tombigbee 
Rivers,  including  a  great  portion  of  the  States  of 
Alabama  and  Georgia,  and  the  wrhole  of  Florida. 
Oglethorpe's  first  interviews1  with  the  natives  at 
Savannah,  were  with  people  of  this  confederacy. 

SOUTHERN  INDIANS.  ^       ^  .          J 

The  Yamassees,  or  Savannahs  of  Georgia  and 

South  Carolina,  and  the  Seminoles  of  Florida,  were  of  the  Creek  confederacy. 
The  latter  were  strong  and  warlike.  They  were  at  the  head  of  the  Indian 
confederacy,  to  destroy  the  white  people,  in  1715.2  When  the  general  dis 
persion  followed  that  abortive  attempt,  the  Yamassees  took  refuge  with  the 
Spaniards  of  Florida.  Small  bands  often  annoyed  the  white  frontier  settle 
ments  of  Georgia,  but  they  were  not  engaged  in  general  hostilities  until  the 
Revolution,  when  the  whole  Creek  confederacy3  took  part  with  the  British. 

The  most  inveterate  and  treacherous  enemy  of  the  white  people,  have  ever 
been  the  Seminoles.  Bands  of  them  often  went  out  upon  the  war-path,  with 
the  Yamassees,  to  slay  the  pale-faces.  They  joined  the  British  in  1812-14; 
and  in  1817  they  renewed  hostilities.4  They  were  subdued  by  General  Jack 
son,  and  afterward  remained  comparatively  quiet  until  1835,  when  they  again 
attacked  the  white  settlements.5  They  were  subjugated  in  1842,  after  many 
lives  and  much  treasure  had  been  sacrificed.6  A  few  of  them  yet  [1867] 
remain  in  the  everglades  of  Florida,  but  a  greater  portion  of  the  tribe  have 
gone  west  of  the  Mississippi,  with  the  other  members  of  the  Creek  confederacy. 
The  Creeks  proper  now  [1867]  number  about  fifteen  thousand  souls.  The 
number  of  the  whole  confederacy  is  about  twenty-four  thousand.  They 
occupy  lands  upon  the  Arkansas  and  its  tributaries,  and  are  among  the  most 
peaceable  and  order-loving  of  the  banished  tribes. 

In  the  beautiful  country  bordering  upon  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  extending 
west  of  the  Creeks  to  the  Mississippi,  lived  the  Choctaws.  They  were  an  agri 
cultural  people  when  the  Europeans  discovered  them ;  and,  attached  to  home 
and  quiet  pursuits,  they  have  ever  been  a  peaceful  people.  Their  wars  have 
always  been  on  the  defensive,  and  they  never  had  public  feuds  with  either  their 
Spanish,  French,  or  English  neighbors.  They,  too,  have  been  compelled  to 
abandon  their  native  country  for  the  uncultivated  wilderness  west  of  Arkansas, 
between  the  Arkansas  and  Red  Rivers.  They  now  [1867]  number  about  thirteen 
thousand  souls.  They  retsun  their  peaceable  character  in  their  new  homes. 

The  Chickasaw  tribe  inhabited  the  country  along  the  Mississippi,  from  the 
borders  of  the  Choctaw  domain  to  the  Ohio  River,  and  eastward  beyond  the  Ten 
nessee  to  the  lands  of  the  Cherokees7  and  Shawnees.8  This  warlike  people  were 
the  early  friends  of  the  English,  and  the  most  inveterate  foes  of  the  French, 

1  Page  102.  2  page  170. 

3  This  confederacy  now  [1867]  consists  of  the  Creeks  proper,  Seminoles,  Natchez,  Hichitties, 
and  Alabamas.     The  Creeks,  like  many  other  tribes,  claim  to  be  the  Original  People. 

4  Page  448.  6  Page  466.     '  «  page  468.  7  Page  27.  8  Page  19. 


THE     DAHCOTAH   .OR    SIOUX    TRIBES.  31 

who  had  twice  [1736-1740]  invaded  their  country.  They  adhered  to  the 
British  during  the  Revolution,  but  since  that  time  they  have  held  friendly  rela 
tions  with  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  The  remnant,  about  four 
thousand  in  number,  are  upon  lands  almost  a  hundred  leagues  westward  of  the 
Mississippi. 

Thus,  with  almost  chronological  brevity,  we  have  given  an  outline  sketch 
of  the  history  of  the  Aboriginal  nations  with  whom  the  first  European  settlers 
in  the  United  States  became  acquainted.  They  have  now  no  legal  habitation 
eastward  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  the  fragments  of  those  powerful  tribes  who 
once  claimed  sovereignty  over  twenty-four  degrees  of  longitude  and  twenty 
degrees  of  latitude,  are  now  [1867]  compressed  within  a  quadrangle  of  about 
nine  degrees,  between  the  Red  and  Missouri  Rivers.1  Whether  the  grave  of 
the  last  of  those  great  tribes  shall  be  within  their  present  domain,  or  in  some 
valley  among  the  crags  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  expediency  will  hereafter 
determine. 


CHAP  TEE    IX. 

THE    DAHCOTAH    OR    SIOUX    TRIBES. 

THE  French  were  the  earliest  explorers  of  the  regions  of  the  Middle  and 
Upper  Mississippi,  and  they  found  a  great  number  of  tribes  wrest  of  that  river 
who  spoke  dialects  of  the  same  language.  They  occupied  the  vast  domain  from 
the  Arkansas  on  the  south,  to  the  western  tributary  of  Lake  Winnipeg  on  the 
north,  and  westward  to  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  These 
have  been  classed  into  four  grand  divisions,  namely,  the  WINNEBAGOES,  who 
inhabited  the  country  between  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Mississippi,  among  the 
Algonquins  ;2  the  ASSINNIBOINS  and  Sioux  proper,  the  most  northerly  nation ; 
the  MINETAREE  GROUP  in  the  Minnesota  Territory,  and  the  SOUTHERN  Sioux, 
who  dwelt  in  the  country  between  the  Arkansas  and  Platte  Rivers,  and  whose 
hunting-ground  extended  to  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

The  most  uneasy  of  these  tribes  were  the  Winnebagoes,  who  often  attacked 
the  Sioux  west  of  the  Mississippi.  They  generally  lived  on  friendly  terms 
with  the  Algonquins,  after  their  martial  spirit  was  somewhat  subdued  by  the 
Illinois,  who,  in  1640,  almost  exterminated  them.  They  were  enemies  to  the 

1  Mr.  Bancroft  [II.,  253]  after  consulting  the  most  reliable  authorities  on  the  subject,  makes  the 
following  estimate  of  the  entire  Aboriginal  population  in  1650-  Algonquins,  90,000;  Eastern 
Sioux,  less  than  3,000  ;  Iroquois,  including  their  southern  kindred,  about  17,000;  Catawbas,  3,000, 
Cherokees  (now  more  numerous  than  ever),  12,000;  Mobilian  tribes,  50,000;  Uchees,  1,000: 
Natchez,  4,000 — in  all,  180,000.  These  were  the  only  nations  and  tribes  then  known.  With  the 
expansion  of  our  territory  westward  and  southward,  we  have  embraced  numerous  Indian  nations, 
some  of  them  quite  populous,  until  the  number  of  the  estimate  above  given  has  been  almost 
doubled,  according  to  the  late  census 

3  Page  17. 


32  THE     ABORIGINALS 

United  States  during  the  second  war  with  Great  Britain,1  and  they  confeder 
ated  with  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  in  hostilities  against  the  white  people,  under 
Black  HaAvk,  in  1832.2  The  tribe,  now  [1867]  less  than  four  thousand  strong, 
are  seated  upon  the  Mississippi,  about  eighty  miles  above  St.  Paul,  the  capital 
of  Minnesota.  Fear  of  the  white  people  keeps  them  quiet. 

In  the  cold,  wet  country  of  the  North,  the  Assiniboins  yet  inhabit  their  na 
tive  land.  Having  separated  from  the  nation,  they  are  called  "  rebels."  Their 
neighbors,  the  Sioux  proper,  were  first  visited  by  the  French  in  1660,  and 
have  ever  been  regarded  as  the  most  fierce  and  warlike  people  on  the  continent. 
They  also  occupy  their  ancient  domain,  and  are  now  [1867]  about  fifteen 
thousand  strong. 

Further  westward  are  the  Minetarees.  Mandans,  and  Crows,  who  form  the 
MINETAREE  GROUP.  They  are  classed  with  the  Dahcotahs  or  Sioux,  although 
the  languages  have  only  a  slight  affinity.  The  Minetarees  and  Mandans  num 
ber  about  three  thousand  souls  each.  They  cultivate  the  soil,  and  live  in  vil 
lages.  The  Crows  number  about  fifteen  hundred,  and  are  wanderers  and 
hunters.  The  Mandans  are  very  light-colored.  Some  suppose  them  to  be 
descendants  of  a  colony  from  Wales,  who,  it  is  believed,  came  to  America 
under  Madoc,  the  son  of  a  Welsh  prince,  in  the  twelfth  century.3 

There  are  eight  in  number  of  the  SOUTHERN  Sioux  tribes,  namely,  the 
Arkansas,  Osages,  Kansas,  lowas,  Missouries,  Otoes,  Omahas,  and  Puncahs. 
They  are  cultivators  and  hunters.  They  live  in  villages  a  part  of  the  year, 
and  are  abroad  upon  their  hunting-grounds  during  the  remainder.  Of  these 
tribes,  the  Osages  are  the  most  warlike  and  powerful.  All  of  the  Southern 
Sioux  tribes  are  upon  lands  watered  by  the  Missouri  and  the  Platte,  and  their 
tributaries. 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE    EXTREME    WESTERN    TRIBES. 

WITHIN  a  few  years,  our  domain  has  been  widely  expanded,  and  in  our 
newly-acquired  possessions  on  the  borders  of  Mexico  and  the  Pacific  coast,  and 
the  recently  organized  Territories  in  the  interior  of  the  continent,  are  numer 
ous  powerful  and  warlike  tribes,4  of  whom  little  is  known,  and  whose  history 


1  Page  260.  2  page  287. 

3  It  is  said  that  Madoc,  son  of  Prince  Owen  Gwignedd,  sailed  from  Wales,  with  ten  ships  and 
three  hundred  men,  at  about  the  year  1170,  on  an  exploring  voyage,  and  never  returned.     Many 
learned  conjectures  have  been  expressed,  and  among  them  the  belief  that  the  expedition  reached 
the  American  continent,  and  became  the  progenitors  of  the  Mandans,  or  White  Indians,  of  our 
western  plains. 

4  The  whole  number  of  Indians  within  the  present  limits  of  the  United  States,  in  1867,  accord 
ing  to  official  estimates,  was  a  little  more  than  300,000.    There  are  about  15,000  in  the  States  east 
ward  of  the  Mississippi,  principally  in  New  York,  Michigan,  and  Wisconsin;  the  remainder,  consist 
ing  of  Cherokecs,  Choctaws,  and  Seminolos,  being  in  North  Carolina,  Mississippi,  and  Florida.    The 


THE    EXTREME    WESTERN    TRIBES.  33 

has  no  connection  with  that  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  except  the  fact 
that  they  were  original  occupants  of  the  soil,  and  that  some  of  them,  especially 
the  California  and  Oregon  Indians,  yet  [1867]  dispute  our  right  to  sovereignty. 
Of  these,  the  Comanches  and  Apaches  of  California  are  the  most  warlike.  The 
Pawnees  upon  the  Great  Plains  toward  the  Rocky  Mountains  are  very  numer 
ous,  but  not  so  warlike ;  and  the  Utahs,  among  the  Wasatch  and  neighboring 
ranges,  are  strong  in  numbers.  Further  northward  and  westward  are  the 
Blackfeet,  Crow,  Snake,  Nezperces,  and  Flathead  Indians,  and  smaller  clans, 
with  petty  chiefs,  whose  domains  stretch  away  toward  the  Knisteneaux  and 
Esquimaux  on  the  extreme  north. 

These  tribes  are  rapidly  fading  in  the  light  of  modern  civilization,  and  are 
destined  to  total  annihilation.  The  scythe  of  human  progress  is  steadily  cut 
ting  its  swathes  over  all  their  lands  ;  and  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the 
foot-prints  of  the  Indians  will  be  no  more  known  within  the  domain  of  our  Re 
public.  In  future  years,  the  dusky  son  of  an  exile,  coming  from  the  far-off 
borders  of  the  Slave  Lake,  will  be  gazed  at  in  the  streets  of  a  city  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Yellow  Stone,  with  as  much  wonder  as  the  Oneida  woman,  with  her  blue 
cloth  blanket  and  bead-work  merchandize  is  now  [186T]  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  So  the  Aboriginals  of  our  land  are  passing  away,  and  even  now  they 
may  chant  in  sorrow  : 

"We,  the  rightful  lords  of  yore, 
Are  the  rightful  lords  no  more ; 
Like  the  silver  mist,  we  fail, 
Like  the  red  leaves  on  the  gale — 
Fail,  like  shadows,  when  the  dawning 
"Waves  the  bright  flag  of  the  morning." 

J.  MCLELLAN,  JR. 

"  I  will  weep  for  a  season,  in  bitterness  fed, 
For  my  kindred  are  gone  to  the  hills  of  the  dead ; 
But  they  died  not  of  hunger,  or  lingering  decay — 
The  hand  of  the  white  man  hath  swept  them  away." 

HENRY  ROWE  SCHOOLCRAFT. 


number  in  Minnesota  and  along  the  frontiers  of  the  Western  States  and  Texas  (most  of  them  emi 
grants  from  the  country  eastward  of  the  Mississippi),  is  estimated  at  80,000.  Those  on  the  Plains 
and  among  the  Rocky  Mountains,  not  within  any  organized  Territory,  at  50,000;  in  Texas,  at 
25,000;  in  New  Mexico,  at  30,000;  in  California,  at  78,000;  in  Utah,  at  10,000;  in  Oregon  and 
Washington  Territories,  at  20,000 ;—  total,  308,000.  For  more  minute  accounts  of  the  Indians, 
see  Heckewelder's  "History  of  the  Indian  Nations;"  Schoolcraft's  "Algic  Researches;" 
M'Kinney's  "History  of  the  Indian  Tribes;"  Drake's  "Book  of  the  Indians;"  Catlin's  "Letters 
and  Notes;"  Schoolcraft's  "Notes  on  the  Iroquois." 

To  the  Department  of  the  Interior  of  the  National  Government  is  intrusted  the  administration 
of  Indian  affairs.  At  this  time  [1867]  the  stocks  and  bonds  held  by  the  Department  in  trust  for 
the  Indians,  from  the  income  of  which  annuities  are  paid  to  them,  amount  to  more  than  three 
millions  of  dollars. 


w^     /^.f^iCxi     I'M  i^\i.-''    '^ay".    ''<il 


COLUMBUS   BEFORE   THE   COUNCIL   OF   SALAMANCA. 


AMERIGO  VESPUCCI. 


SECOND  PERIOD. 
DISCOVERIES. 

CHAPTER  I. 

SCANDINAVIAN    VOYAGES    AND    DISCOVERIES. 

ONE  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  un 
solved  problems  of  history,  is  that  which  re 
lates  to  the  alleged  discovery  o?  America  by  mariners  of  north 
ern  Europe,  almost  five  hundred  years  before  Columbus  left 
Palos,  in  Spain,  to  accomplish  that  great  event.  The  tales  and 
poetry  of  Iceland  abound  with  intimitions  of  such  discoveries ; 
and  records  of  early  voyages  from  Iceland  to  a  continent  south- 
westward  of  Greenland,  have  been  found.  These,  and  the  re 
sults  of  recent  investigations,  appear  to  prove,  by  the  strongest 
circumstantial  evidence,  that  the  New  England1  coast  was  vis 
ited,  and  that  settlements  thereon  were  attempted  by  Scandi 
navian  navigators,2  almost  five  centuries  before  the  great  Genoese 
undertook  his  first  voyage  in  quest  of  a  western  passage  to 
India. 


NORTHMAN. 


1  The  States  of  our  Union  eastward  of  New  York  are  collectively  called  New  England.    P.  74. 

2  The  ancients  called  the  territory  which  contains  modern  Norway,  Sweden,  Denmark,  Lapland, 
Iceland,  Finland,  etc.,  by  the  general  name  of  Scandinavia. 


SCANDINAVIAN    VOYAGES    AND    DISCOVERIES. 


35 


NORMAN  SHIP. 


The  navigators  of  northern  Europe  were  remarkable  for  their  boldness  and 
perseverance.  They  discovered  Iceland  in  the  year  860,  and  colonized  it. 
In  890  they  colonized  Greenland,  and  planted  colonies  there  also.  There  was 
traffic,  friendly  and  lucrative,  between  the  colonists  of  Iceland  and  Greenland, 
and  the  parent  Norwegians  and  Danes,  as  early  as  the  year  950,  and  no  mar 
iners  were  so  adventurous  as  these  Northmen.  In 
the  year  1002,  according  to  an  Icelandic  chronicle,  a 
Norwegian  vessel,  commanded  by  Captain  Lief,  sailed 
from  Iceland  for  Greenland.  A  gale  drove  the  voy 
agers  to  the  coast  of  Labrador.  They  explored  the 
shores  southward  to  the  region  of  a  genial  climate, 
where  they  found  noble  forests  and  abundance  of 
grapes.  This,  it  is  supposed,  was  the  vicinity  of 
Boston.  Other  voyages  to  the  new-found  land  were  ' 

afterward  made  by  the  adventurous  Scandinavians,  and  they  appear  to  have 
extended  their  explorations  as  far  as  Rhode  Island — perhaps  as  far  south  a3 
Cape  May. 

It  is  further  asserted  that  settlements  in  that  pleas 
ant  climate  were  attempted,  and  that  the  child  of  a  Scan 
dinavian  mother  was  born  upon  the  shore  of  Mount  Hope 
Bay,  in  Rhode  Island.1  In  the  absence  of  actual  charts 
and  maps,  to  fix  these  localities  of  latitude  and  longitude, 
of  course  they  must  be  subjects  of  conjecture  only,  for 
these  explorers  left  no  traces  of  their  presence  here,  un 
less  it  shall  be  conceded  that  the  round  tower  at  New 
port,2  about  the  origin  of  which  history  and  tradition  are 
silent,  was  built  by  the  Northmen. 

The  period  of  this  alleged  discovery  was  that  of  the  dark  ages,  when  ig 
norance  brooded  over  Europe,  like  thick  night.  Information  of  these  voyages 
seems  not  to  have  spread,  and  no  records  of  intercourse  with  a  western  conti 
nent  later  than  1120,  have  been  found.  The  great  discovery,  if  made,  was  for 
gotten,  or  remembered  only  in  dim  traditionary  tales  of  the  exploits  of  the  old 
"  Sea-Kings"3  of  the  North.  For  centuries  afterward,  America  was  an  un- 


TOWER   AT   NEWPORT. 


1  The  old  chronicle  referred  to  says  that  Gudrida,  wife  of  a  Scandinavian  navigator,  grave  birth 
to  a  child  in  America,  to  whom  she  gave  the  name  of  Snorre ;  and  it  is  further  asserted  that  Ber- 
tel  Thorwalsden,  the  great  Danish  sculptor,  was  a  descendant  of  this  early  white  American.     The 
records  of  these  voyages  were  compiled  by  Bishop  Thorlack,  of  Iceland,  who  was  also  a  descendant 
of  Snorre. 

2  This  structure  is  of  unhewn  stone,  laid  in  mortar  made  of  the  gravel  of  the  soil  around,  and 
oyster-shell  lime.    It  is  a  cylinder  resting  upon  eight  round  columns,  twenty-three  feet  in  diameter, 
and  twenty-four  feet  in  height      It  was  originally  covered  with  stucco.     It  seems  to  have  stood 
there  when  the  white  people  first  visited  Rhode  Island,  and  the  Narraganset  Indians,  it  is  as 
serted,  had  no  tradition  of  its  origin.     There  can  be  little  doubt,  all  things  considered,  of  its  having 
been  constructed  by  those  northern  navigators,  who  made  attempts  at  settlement  in  that  vicinity. 

3  This  name  was  given  to  bold  adventurers  of  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Denmark,  who  rebelled 
against  Gorm  the  Old  of  Norway,  and  Harold  Fairhair  of  Denmark,  their  conquerors,  forsook  their 
country,  settled  upon  the  islands  of  the  North  Sea,  and  Greenland,  and  from  thence  went  forth 
upon  piratical  expeditions,  even  as  far  south  as  the  pleasant  coasts  of  France.     They  trafficked,  as 
well  as  plundered;  and  finally  sweeping  over  Denmark  and  Germany,  obtained  possession  of  some 


36  DISCOVERIES.  [1492. 

known  region.  It  had  no  place  upon  maps,  unless  as  an  imaginary  island 
without  a  name,  nor  in  the  most  acute  geographical  theories  of  the  learned. 
When  Columbus  conceived  the  grand  idea  of  reaching  Asia  by  sailing  westward, 
no  whisper  of  those  Scandinavian  voyages  was  heard  in  Europe. 


CHAPTER    II. 

SPANISH    VOYAGES    AND    DISCOVERIES. 

THE  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  century  was  distinguished  for  great  commer 
cial  activity.  Sluggish  Europe  was  just  awaking  from  its  slumber  of  centuries, 
and  maritime  discoveries  were  prosecuted  with  untiring  zeal  by  the  people 
inhabiting  the  great  south-western  peninsula  covered  by  Spain,  Portugal,  and 
France.  The  incentives  to  make  these  discoveries  grew  out  of  the  political 
condition  of  Europe,  and  the  promises  of  great  commercial  advantages.  The 
rich  commerce  of  the  East  centered  in  Rome,  when  that  empire  overshad 
owed  the  known  world.  When  it  fell  into  fragments,  the  Italian  cities  con 
tinued  their  monopoly  of  the  rich  trade  of  the  Indies.  Provinces  which  had 
arisen  into  independent  kingdoms,  became  jealous  of  these  cities,  so  rapidly 
outstripping  them  in  power  and  opulence ;  and  Castile  and  Portugal,  in  par 
ticular,  engaged  in  efforts  to  open  a  direct  trade  with  the  East.  The  ocean  was 
the  only  highway  for  such  commerce,  toward  which  the  rivals  could  look  with 
a  hope  of  success.  The  errors  of  geographical  science  interposed  great  obsta 
cles.  Popular  belief  pictured  an  impassable  region  of  fire  beyond  Cape  Baja- 
dor,  on  the  coast  of  Africa ;  but  bold  navigators,  under  the  auspices  of  Prince 
Henry  of  Portugal,  soon  penetrated  that  dreaded  latitude,  crossed  the  torrid 
zone,  and,  going  around  the  southern  extremity  of  Africa,  opened  a  pathway 
to  the  East,  through  the  Indian  Ocean. 

The  Portuguese  court  at  Lisbon  soon  became  a 
point  of  great  attraction  to  the  learned  and  adven 
turous.  Among  others  came  Christopher  Columbus, 
the  son  of  a  wool-carder  of  Genoa,  a  mariner  of 
great  experience  and  considerable  repute,  and  then 
in  the  prime  of  life.  In  person  he  was  tall  and 
commanding,  and,  in  manners,  exceedingly  winning 
and  graceful,  for  one  unaccustomed  to  the  polish  of 
courts,  or  the  higher  orders  in  society.  The  rudi- 
COLUMBUS.  ments  of  geometry,  which  he  had  learned  in  the 


of  the  best  portions  of  Gaul.  They  finally  invaded  the  British  Islands,  and  placed  Canute  upon 
the  throne  of  Alfred.  It  was  among  these  people  that  chivalry,  as  an  institution,  originated ;  and 
back  to  those  "  Sea-Kings"  we  may  look  for  the  hardiest  elements  of  progress  among  the  people 
of  the  United  States. 


1609.]  SPANISH    VOYAGES    AND    DISCOVERIES.  37 

university  of  Pavia,  had  been  for  years  working  out  a  magnificent  theory  in 
his  mind,  and  he  came  to  Lisbon  to  seek  an  opportunity  to  test  its  truth. 

Fortune  appeared  to  smile  beneficently  upon  Columbus,  during  his  early 
residence  in  Lisbon.  He  soon  loved  and  married  the  daughter  of  Palestrello, 
a  deceased  navigator  of  eminence,  and  he  became  possessed  of  nautical  papers 
of  great  value.  They  poured  new  light  upon  his  mind.  His  convictions 
respecting  the  rotundity  of  the  earth,  and  the  necessity  of  a  continent  in  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  to  balance  the  land  in  the  eastern  hemisphere ;  or  at  least  a 
nearer  approach  of  eastern  Asia  to  the  shores  of  western  Europe,  than  geo 
graphical  science  had  yet  revealed,  assumed  the  character  of  demonstrated 
realities.  He  was  disposed  to  credit  the  narratives  of  Plato  and  other  ancient 
writers,  respecting  the  existence  of  a  continent  beyond  the  glorious,  but  long- 
lost,  island  of  Atlantis,  in  the  waste  of  waters  westward  of  Europe.  He  was 
convinced  that  Asia  could  be  reached  much  sooner  by  sailing  westward,  than 
by  going  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.1  He  based  his  whole  theory  upon 
the  fundamental  belief  that  the  earth  was  a  terraqueous  globe,  which  might  be 
traveled  round  from  east  to  west,  and  that  men  stood  foot  to  foot  at  opposite 
points.  This,  it  should  be  remembered,  was  seventy  years  before  Copernicus 
announced  his  theory  of  the  form  and  motion  of  the  planets  [1543],  and  one 
hundred  and  sixty  years  [1633]  before  Galileo  was  compelled,  before  the 
court  of  the  Inquisition  at  Rome,  to  renounce  his  belief  in  the  diurnal  revolu 
tion  of  the  earth. 

A  deep  religious  sentiment  imbued  the  whole  being  of  Columbus,  and  he 
became  strongly  impressed  with  the  idea  that  there  were  people  beyond  the 
waste  of  waters  westward,  unto  whom  he  was  commissioned  by  heaven  to 
carry  the  Gospel.2  With  the  lofty  aspirations  which  his  theory  and  his  faith 
gave  him,  he  prosecuted  his  plans  with  great  ardor.  He  made  a  voyage  to 
Iceland,  and  sailed  a  hundred  leagues  beyond,  to  the  ice-fields  of  the  polar  cir 
cle.  He  probably  heard,  there,  vague  traditions  of  early  voyages  to  a  western 
continent,3  which  gave  strength  to  his  own  convictions ;  and  on  his  return,  he 
kid  his  plans  first  before  his  countrymen,  the  Genoese  (who  rejected  them), 
and  then  before  the  monarchs  of  England4  and  Portugal. 

The  Portuguese  monarch  appeared  to  comprehend  the  grand  idea  of  Colum 
bus,  but  it  was  too  lofty  for  the  conceptions  of  his  council  and  the  pedantic 
wise  men  of  Lisbon.  For  a  long  time  Columbus  was  annoyed  by  delays  on  the 
part  of  those  to  whose  judgment  the  king  deferred;  and  attempts  were  meanly 
and  clandestinely  made  to  get  from  Columbus  the  information  which  he  pos 
sessed.  While  awaiting  a  decision,  his  wife  died.  The  last  link  that  bound 
him  to  Portugal  was  broken,  and,  taking  his  little  son  Diego  by  the  hand,  he 

1  This  point  was  first  discovered  by  Diaz,  a  Portuguese  navigator,  who  named  it  Stormy  Cape. 
But  King  John,  believing  it  to  be  that  remote  extremity  of  Africa  so  long  sought,  named  it  Cape 
of  Good  Hope.     Vasco  do  Gama  passed  it  in  1497,  and  made  his  way  to  the  East  Indies  beyond. 

2  His  name  was  suggestive  of  a  mission.     Christo  or  Christ,  and  Colombo,  a  pigeon — carrier- 
pigeon.     By  this  combination  of  significant  words  in  his  name,  he  believed  himself  to  be  a  Christ, 
or  Gospel-bearer,  to  the  heathen,  and  he  often  signed  his  name  Christo-ferens,  or  Christ-bearer. 

3  Page  34.  ^S^v    4  Page  46' 

&?-  o*Tini'**^V 

/  ffUinVERSITTl 


38  DISCOVERIES.  [1492. 

departed  on  foot  to  lay  his  proposition  before  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,1  the 
monarchs  of  Spain — occupants  of  the  united  thrones  of  Arragon  and  Castile. 

Very  poor,  and  greatly  dispirited,  Columbus  arrived  at  the  gate  of  the 
monastery  of  Rabida,  near  the  little  port  from  whence  he  afterward  sailed,  and 
begged  food  and  shelter  for  himself  and  child.  The  good  Father  Marchena 
received  him  kindly,  entered  warmly  into  his  plans,  and  was  of  essential  service 
to  him  afterward.  Through  him  Columbus  obtained  access  to  the  court ;  but 
the  war  with  the  Moors,  then  raging,  delayed  an  opportunity  for  an  audience 
with  the  monarchs  for  a  long  time.  Yet  he  was  not  idle.  He  employed  him 
self  in  the  alternate  pursuits  of  science,  and  engagements  in  some  of  the  military 
campaigns.  He  was  continually  treated  with  great  deference  by  the  court  and 
nobility,  and  at  length  his  importunities  were  heeded.  A  council  of  the  learned 
men  of  the  nation  was  convened  at  Salamanca,  to  consider  his  plans  and  propo 
sitions.2  The  majority  pronounced  his  scheme  vain  and  impracticable,  and 
unworthy  of  the  support  of  the  government.  But  a  minority  of  the  council, 
wiser  than  the  rest,  did  not  acquiesce  in  this  decision,  and,  with  Cardinal  Men- 
doza  and  other  officers  of  government,  they  encouraged  the  navigator  by  prom 
ises  of  their  continual  support.  But  he  became  disgusted  by  procrastination, 
and  abandoning  the  hope  of  royal  aid,  he  applied  to  two  wealthy  dukes  for 
assistance.  They  refused,  and  he  left  with  a  determination  to  lay  his  plans  before 
the  King  of  France. 

Columbus  had  been  encouraged  by  Father  Mar 
chena  (who  had  been  Isabella's  confessor),3  and  through 
his  intercession,  the  navigator  was  recalled  before  he 
had  entered  France.  He  sought  and  obtained  a  per 
sonal  interview  with  the  queen.  To  her  he  revealed 
all  his  plans ;  told  her  of  the  immense  treasures  that 
lay  hidden  in  that  far  distant  India4  which  might  be 
easily  reached  by  a  shorter  way,  and  pleaded  eloquently 
for  aid  in  his  pious  design  of  carrying  the  Gospel  to  the 
heathen  of  unknown  lands.  The  last  appeal  aroused 
ISABELLA.  the  religious  zeal  of  Isabella,  and  with  the  spirit  of  the 

Crusaders,5  she  dismissed  Columbus  with  the  assurance 

1  Isabella  was  a  sister  of  the  profligate  Henry  the  Fourth  of  Castile  and  Leon.     She  was  a  pious, 
virtuous,  and  high-minded  woman,  then  almost  a  phenomenon  in  courts.     She  was  of  middle  size, 
and  well  formed,  with  a  fair  complexion,  auburn  hair,  and  clear,  blue  eyes. 

2  See  the  picture  at  the  head  of  this  chapter.     The  Council  was  composed  of  the  professors  of 
the  university,  various  dignitaries  of  the  Church,  and  learned  friars.     They  were  nearly  all  preju 
diced  against  the  poor  navigator,  and  he  soon  discovered  that  ignorance  and  bigotry  would  defeat 
his  purposes. 

3  All  Roman  Catholics  are  obliged  to  confess  their  sins  to  a  priest.     Rich  and  titled  persons 
often  had  a  priest  confessor  for  themselves  and  their  families  exclusively. 

*  Marco  Polo  and  other  travelers  had  related  wonderful  stories  of  the  beauty  and  wealth 
of  a  country  beyond  the  limits  of  geographical  knowledge,  and  had  thus  inflamed  the  avarice  and 
ambition  of  the  rich  and  powerful.  The  country  was  called  Zipangi,  and  also  Cathay.  It  included 
China  and  adjacent  islands. 

5  About  700  years  ago,  the  Christian  powers  of  Europe  fitted  out  expeditions  to  conquer 
Palestine,  with  the  avowed  object  of  rescuing  the  sepulcher  of  Jesus,  at  Jerusalem,  from  the  hands 
of  the  Turks.  These  were  called  crusades — holy  ivars.  The  lives  of  two  millions  of  people  were 
lost  in  them. 


2609.]  SPANISH    VOYAGES    AND    DISCOVERIES.  39 

that  he  should  have  her  aid  in  fitting  out  an  exploring  expedition,  even  if  it  should 
require  the  pawning  of  her  crown  jewrels  to  obtain  the  money.  And  Isabella  was 
faithful  to  her  promise.  She  fitted  out  two  caravels  (light  coasting  ships),  and 
Columbus,  by  the  aid  of  friends,  equipped  a  third  and  larger  one.  With  this  little 
fleet,  bearing  one  hundred  and  twenty  persons,  he  left  Palos,  on  the  Tinto  River, 
in  Andalusia,  on  Friday,  the  3d  of  August,  1492,  to  explore  the  stormy  Atlantic.1 

Columbus  started  on  that  perilous  voyage  without  a  reliable  chart  for  his 
guidance,  and  no  director  in  his  course  but  the  sun  and  stars,  and  the  imperfect 
mariner's  compass,  then  used  only  by  a  few  in  navigating  the  pleasant  seas  of 
the  Old  "World.  After  various  delays  at  the  Canary  Islands,  they  left  them  in 
the  dim  distance  behind,  on  Sunday,  the  9th  of  September.  The  broad  At 
lantic,  mysterious  and  unknown,  was  before  them.  A  voyage  of  great  trial  for 
the  navigator  was  now  fairly  entered  upon.  His  theory  taught  him  to  believe 
that  he  would  reach  Asia  in  the  course  of  a  few  days.  But  weeks  wore  away  • 
the  needle2  became  unfaithful;  alarm  and  discontent  prevailed,  and  several 
times  his  followers  were  on  the  point  of  compelling  him  to  turn  back. 

One  pleasant  evening  (the  llth  of  October),  the  perfumes  of  flowers  came 
upon  the  night  breeze,  as  tokens  of  approach  to  land.  The  vesper  hymn  to  the 
Virgin  was  sung,  and  Columbus,  after  recounting  the  blessings  of  God  thus  far 
manifested  in  the  voyage,  assured  the  crews  that  he  confidently  expected  to  sec 
land  in  the  morning.  Yet  they  hesitated  to  believe,  for  twice  before  they  had 
been  mocked  by  other  indications  of  land 
being  near.3  On  the  high  poop  of  his 
vessel  the  great  navigator  sat  watching 
until  midnight,  when  he  saw  the  glim 
mer  of  moving  lights  upon  the  verge  of 
the  horizon.  He  called  others  to  con- 
firm  his  vision,  for  he  was  fearful  of 
mistake.  They,  too,  perceived  blazing 
torches,  and  at  dawn  the  next  morning 

their  delighted  eyes  saw  green  forests  Tns  rLEET  Qp  COLIDIBD& 

stretching  along  the    horizon ;    and   as 

they  approached,  they  were  greeted  by  the  songs  of  birds  and  the  murmur  of 
human  voices. 


1  Columbus  was  appointed  high-admiral  of  all  seas  which  he  might  discover,  with  the  attendant 
honors.     Also  viceroy  of  all  lands  discovered.     He  was  to  have  one-tenth  of  all  profits  of  the  first 
voyage,  and  by  contributing  an  eighth  of  the  expense  of  future  voyages,  was  to  have  an  eighth  of 
all  the  profits.     Although  Isabella  paid  the  whole  expense,  the  contract  was  signed,  also,  by  her 
husband. 

2  Needle,  or  pointer,  of  the  mariner's  compass.     This  instrument  was  first  known  in  Europe,  at 
Amalfi,  about  1302.     The  Chinese  claim  to  have  possessed  a  knowledge  of  it  more  than  1100  years 
before  the  birth  of  Christ.     The  needle  was  supposed  to  point  toward  the  north  star  at  all  times. 
There  is  a  continual  variation  from  this  line,  now  easily  calculated,  but  unknown  until  discovered 
by  Columbus.     It  perplexed,  but  did  .not  dismay  him. 

3  They  had  seen  birds,  but  they  proved  to  be  the  petrel,  an  ocean  fowl.     Bits  of  wood  and  sea 
weeds  had  also  been  seen.     These  had  undoubtedly  been  seen  on  the  outer  verge  of  the  Gulf 
Stream,  north-east  of  the  Bahamas,  where,  according  to  Lieutenant  Maury  [Physical  Geography  of 
the  Sea],  there  may  always  be  found  a  drift  of  sea-weed,  and  sometimes  objects  that  have  flouted 
from  the  land. 


40 


DISCOVERIES. 


[1492. 


BANNER   OF   THE 
EXPEDITION. 


Arrayed  in  scarlet,  and  bearing  his  sword  in  one  hand, 
and  the  banner  of  the  expedition  in  the  other,  Columbus 
landed,  with  his  followers,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  gorgeous 
scenery  and  the  incense  of  myriads  of  flowers,  they  all  knelt 
clown  and  chaunted  a  hymn  of  thanksgiving  to  God.  The 
natives  had  gathered  in  wonder  and  awe,  in  the  grove  near 
by,  regarding  the  Europeans  as  children  of  their  great 
deity,  the  Sun.1  Little  did  they  comprehend  the  fatal  signif 
icance  to  them,  of  the  act  of  Columbus,  when,  rising  from 
the  ground,  he  displayed  the  royal  standard,  drew  his  sword, 
set  up  a  rude  cross  upon  the  spot  where  he  landed,  and  took 
formal  possession  of  the  beautiful  country  in  the  name  of 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella.2  The  land  first  discovered  by  Colum 
bus  was  one  of  the  Bahamas,  called  by  the  natives  Guana- 
hama,  but  since  named  by  the  English,  Cat  Island.  The 
navigator  named  it  San  Salvador  (Holy  Saviour)  ;  and  believing  it  to  be  near 
the  coast  of  further  India,  he  called  the  natives  Indians.  This  name  was  after 
ward  applied  to  all  the  natives  of  the  adjacent  continent,3  and  is  still  retained. 

The  triumph  of  Columbus  was  now  complete.  After  spending  some  time 
in  examining  the  island,  becoming  acquainted  with  the  simple  habits  of  the 
natives,  and  unsuccessfully  searching  for  "the  gold,  and  pearls,  and  spices  of 
Zipangi,"4  he  sailed  southward,  and  discovered  several  other  small  islands.  He 
finally  discovered  Cuba  and  St.  Domingo,  where  he  was  told  of  immense  gold- 
bearing  regions  in  the  interior.  Impressed  with  the  belief  that  he  had  dis 
covered  the  Ophir  of  the  ancients,  he  returned  to  Spain,  where  he  arrived  in 
March,  1493.  He  was  received  with  great  honors,5  but  considerations  of  State 
policy  induced  the  Spanish  government  to  conceal  the  importance  of  his  dis 
covery  from  other  nations.  This  policy,  and  the  jealousy  which  the  sudden 
elevation  of  a  foreigner  inspired  in  the  Spaniards,  deprived  him  of  the  honor 
of  having  the  New  World  called  by  his  name.  Americus  Vespucius,p  a  Flor 
entine,  unfairly  won  the  prize.  In  company  with  Ojeda,  a  companion  of  Colum- 


1  Almost  all  the  natives  of  the  torrid  zone  of  America  worshiped  the  sun  as  the  chief  visible 
deity.     The  great  temples  of  the  sun  in  Mexico  and  Peru  were  among  the  most  magnificent  struc 
tures  of  the  Americans,  when  Europeans  came. 

2  It  was  a  common  practice  then,  as  now,  for  the  discoverer  of  new  lands  to  erect  some  monu 
ment,  and  to  proclaim  the  title  of  his  sovereign  to  the  territories  so  discovered.     The  banner  of  the 
expedition,  borne  on  shore  by  Columbus,  was  a  white  one,  with  a  green  cross.     Over  the  initials 
F.  and  Y.  (Ferdinand  and  Ysabella)  were  golden  mural  crowns. 

3  Chapter  I,  page  9.  4  Note  4,  page  38. 

5  Columbus  carried  back  with  him  several  of  the  natives,  and  a  variety  of  the  animals,  birds, 
and  plants  of  the  New  World.     They  excited  the  greatest  astonishment.     His  journey  from  Palo:* 
to  Barcelona,  to  meet  the  sovereigns,  was  like  the  march  of  a  king.     His  reception  was  still  more 
magnificent.     The  throne  of  the  monarch  was  placed  in  a  public  square,  and  the  great  of  the  king 
dom  were  there  to  do  homage  to  the  navigator.     The  highest  honors  were  bestowed  upon  Colum 
bus:  and  the  sovereigns  granted  him  a  coat  of  arms  bearing  royal  devices,  and  the  motto,  "To 
Castile  and  Leon  Columbus  gave  a  new  world." 

6  See  the  protrait  of  Vespucius  at  the  head  of  this  Chapter.    The  Italians  spell  his  name  Amer 
igo  Vespucci  [Am-e-ree-go  Ves-pute-se].     He  died  while  in  the  service  of  the  king  of  Spain,  in 
1514.     He  had  made  several  voyages  to  South  America,*and  explored  the  eastern  coast  as  far 
southward  as  the  harbor  of  Rio  Janeiro. 


1609.]  SPANISH    VOYAGES    AND    DISCOVERIES.  41 

bus  during  1m  first  voyago,  Americus  visited  the  West  Indies,  and  discovered 
and  explored  the  eastern  coast  of  South  America,  north  of  the  Oronoco,  in 
1499.  In  1504,  he  published  a  glowing  account  of  the  lands  he  had  visited,1 
and  that  being  the  first  formal  announcement  to  the  world  of  the  great  discov 
ery,  and  as  he  claimed  to  have  first  set  foot  upon  the  Continent  of  the  West, 
it  was  called  AMERICA,  in  honor  of  the  Florentine.  This  claim  was  not 
founded ,  on  truth,  for  Columbus  had  anticipated  him ;  and  two  years  earlier, 
Cabot,  in  command  of  an  expedition  from  England,  discovered  Labrador,  New 
foundland,  and  portions  of  the  New  England  coast. 

Columbus  made  three  other  voyages  to  the  West  Indies,2  established  settle 
ments,  and  in  August,  1498,  he  discovered  the  continent  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Oronoco.  This,  too,  he  supposed  to  be  an  island  near  the  coast  of  Asia,  and  he 
lived  and  died  in  ignorance  of  the  real  grandeur  of  his  discoveries.  Before 
departing  on  his  third  voyage,  he  was  appointed  Viceroy  and  High  Admiral  of 
the  New  World.  During  his  absence,  jealous  and  unscrupulous  men  poisoned 
the  minds  of  the  king  and  queen  with  false  statements  concerning  the  ambitious 
designs  of  Columbus,  and  he  was  sent  back  to  Spain  in  chains.  The  navigator 
was  guilty  of  serious  wrongs,  but  not  against  his  sovereign.  He  made  slaves 
of  the  natives,  and  this  offended  the  conscientious  Isabella.  But  she  was  soon 
undeceived  concerning  his  alleged  political  crimes,  and  he  was  allowed  to  depart 
on  a  fourth  voyage.  When  he  returned,  the  queen  was  dead,  his  enemies  were 
in  power,  and  he  who  had  shed  such  luster  upon  the  Spanish  name,  and  added  a 
new  hemisphere  to  the  Spanish  realm,  was  allowed  to  sink  into  the  grave  in 
obscurity  and  neglect.  He  died  at  Valladolid  on  the  20th  of  May,  1506. 
His  body  was  buried  in  a  convent,  from  whence  it  was  afterward  carried  to  St. 
Domingo,  and  subsequently  to  Havana,  in  Cuba,  where  it  now  remains. 

It  was  an  unlucky  hour  for  the  nations  of  the  New  World  when  the  eyes  of 
Europeans  were  first  opened  upon  it.  The  larger  islands  of  the  West  India 
group  were  soon  colonized  by  the  Spaniards ;  and  the  peaceful,  friendly,  gen 
tle,  and  happy  natives,  were  speedily  reduced  to  slavery.  Their  Paradise  was 
made  a  Pandemonium  for  them.  Bending  beneath  the  weight  of  Spanish 
cruelty  and  wrong,  they  soon  sunk  into  degradation.  The  women  were  com 
pelled  to  intermarry  with  their  oppressors,  and  from  this  union  came  many  of 
the  present  race  of  Creoles,  who  form  the  numerical  strength  of  Cuba  and  other 
West  India  Islands. 

The  wonderful  stories  of  gold-bearing  regions,  told  by  the  natives,  and  ex 
aggerated  by  the  adventurers,  inflamed  the  avarice  and  cupidity  of  the  Span 
iards,  and  exploring  voyages  from  Cuba,  St.  Domingo,  and  Porto  Rico,  were 
undertaken.  The  eastern  coast  of  Yucatan  was  discovered  in  1506 ;  and 
in  1510,  Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa,  with  a  colony,  settled  upon  the  Isthmus 


First  in  a  letter  to  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  arid  then  [1507]  in  a  volume,  dedicated  to  the  Duke  of 
Lorraine.  These  publications  revealed  what  the  Spanish  Government  wished  to  conceal.  Note  4. 
page  47. 

2  in  his  second  voyage  [1493],  Columbus  took  with  him  several  horses,  a  bull,  and  some  cows. 
These  were  the  first  animals  of  the  kind  taken  from  Europe  to  America. 


42  DISCOVERIES.  [1491 

of  Darien.  This  was  the  first  colony  planted  on  the  continent  of  America. 
Crossing  the  Isthmus  in  search  of  gold  in  1513,  Balboa  saw  the  Pacific 
Ocean  in  a  southerly  direction  from  the  top  of  a  high 
mountain,  and  he  called  it  the  "  South  Sea."  In  full 
costume,  and  bearing  the  Spanish  flag,  he  entered  its 
waters  and  took  possession  of  the  "seas,  lands,"  etc.,  "of 
the  South,"  in  the  name  of  his  sovereign. 

In  the  year  1512  Florida  was  discovered  by  Juan  Ponce 
de  Leon,  an  old  visionary,  who  had  been  governor  of 
Porto  Rico.  With  three  ships  he  sailed  for  the  Bahamas 
in  search  of  a  fountain  which  unlettered  natives  and 
wise  men  of  Spain  believed  to  exist  there,  and  whose 
waters  possessed  the  quality  of  restoring  old  age  to  the 
bloom  of  youth,  and  of  making  the  recipient  immortal. 
It  was  on  Easter  Sunday,2  March  27,  1512,  the  Pasquas  de  Flores3  of  the 
Spaniards,  when  the  adventurer  approached  the  shores  of  the  great  southern 
peninsula  of  the  United  States  and  landed  near  the  site  of  St.  Augustine.4  The 
forests  and  the  green  banks  were  laden  with  flowers :  and  when,  soon  after 
landing,  Ponce  de  Leon  took  possession  of  the  country  in  the  name  of  his  sov 
ereign,  this  fact  and  the  holy  day  were  regarded,  and  he  called  the  beautiful 
domain,  FLORIDA.  He  continued  his  searches  for  the  Fountain  of  Youth  all 
along  the  coast  of  the  newly-discovered  country,  and  among  the  Tortugas  (Tor 
toise)  Islands,  a  hundred  miles  from  its  southern  cape,  but  without  success ; 
and  he  returned  to  Porto  Rico,  an  older  if  not  a  wiser  man.  He  soon  afterward 
went  to  Spain,  where  he  remained  several  years. 

While  Ponce  de  Leon  was  absent  in  Europe,  some  wealthy  owners  of  plant 
ations  and  mines  in  St.  Domingo,  sent  Lucas  Yasquez  d'Ayllon,  one  of  their 
number,  with  two  vessels,  to  seize  natives  of  the  Bermudas,  and  bring  them 
home  for  laborers.  It  was  an  unholy  mission,  and  God's  displeasure  was  made 
manifest.  A  storm  drove  the  voyagers  into  St.  Helen's  Sound,  on  the  coast  of 
South  Carolina,  and  after  much  tribulation,  they  anchored  [1520]  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Combahee  River.  The  natives  were  kind  and  generous  •  and,  judging 
their  visitors  by  their  own  simple  standard  of  honor,  they  unsuspectingly  went 
upon  the  ship  in  crowds,  to  gratify  their  curiosity.  While  below,  the  hatches 
were  closed,  the  sails  were  immediately  spread,  and  those  free  children  of  the 
forest  were  borne  away  to  work  as  bond-slaves  in  the  mines  of  St.  Domingo. 
But  the  perpetrators  of  the  outrage  did  not  accomplish  their  designs.  One  of 
the  vessels  was  destroyed  by  a  storm ;  and  almost  every  prisoner  in  the  other 
refused  to  take  food,  and  died.  The  fruit  of  this  perfidy  was  a  feeling  of  hos 
tility  to  white  people,  which  spread  throughout  the  whole  of  the  Mobilian 
tribes,5  and  was  a  source  of  much  trouble  afterward. 

1  This  little  picture  gives  a  correct  representation  of  those  armed  Spaniards  who  attempted  con 
quests  in  the  New  World.  Balboa's  fellow-adventurers  became  jealous  of  his  fame,  and  on  their 
accusations  he  was  put  to  death  by  the  Governor  of  Darien,  in  1517. 

"  The  day  in  which  is  commemorated  in  the  Christian  Church  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ. 

3  Feast  of  flowers.  4  Page  51.  5  Chapter  VI IT.,  page  29. 


1609.]  SPANISH    VOYAGES    AND    DISCOVERIES.  43 

Ponce  de  Leon  returned  to  the  West  Indies  soon  after  D'Ayllon's  voyage, 
bearing  the  commission  of  Governor  of  Florida,  with  instructions  to  plant  settle 
ments  there.  In  his  attempts  to  do  so,  the  angry  natives,  who  had  heard  of  the 
treachery  of  the  Spaniards,  attacked  him  furiously.  He  was  mortally  wounded, 
and  almost  all  of  his  followers  were  killed.  D' Ayllon  was  then  appointed  governor 
of  the  country  which  he  had  discovered  and  named  Chicora.  He  went  thither 
to  conquer  it,  and  was  received  with  apparent  friendship  by  the  natives  on  the 
banks  of  the  Combahee,1  near  the  spot  where  his  great  crime  of  man-stealing 
had  been  perpetrated.  Many  of  his  men  were  induced  to  visit  a  village  in  the 
interior,  when  the  natives  practiced  the  lesson  of  treachery  which  D' Ayllon  had 
taught  them,  and  massacred  the  whole  party.  The  commander  himself  was 
attacked  upon  his  own  ship,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  he  escaped.  He  died 
of  his  wounds  at  St.  Domingo. 

Another  important  discovery  was  made  in  1517,  by  Francisco  Fernandez 
de  Cordova,  who  commanded  an  expedition  from  Cuba  :  the  rich  and  populous 
domain  of  Mexico'was  revealed  to  the  avaricious  Spaniards.  Cordova's  report 
of  a  people  half  civilized,  and  possessing  treasures  in  cities,  awakened  "the  keen 
est  cupidity  of  his  countrymen  ;  and  the  following  year  Velasquez,  the  governor 
of  Cuba,  sent  another  expedition  to  Mexico,  under  Juan  de  Grijalva.  That 
captain  returned  with  much  treasure,  obtained  by  trafficking  with  the  Mex 
icans.  The  avarice,  cupidity,  and  ambition  of  Velasquez  were  powerfully 
aroused,  and  lie  determined  to  conquer  the  Mexicans,  and  possess  himself 
of  their  sources  of  wealth.  An  expedition,  consisting  of  eleven  vessels,  and 
more  than  six  hundred  armed  men,  was  placed  under  the  command  of  Fernando 
Cortez,  a  brave  but  treacherous  and  cruel  leader.  He  landed  first  at  Tobasco, 
and  then  at  San  Juan  de  TJlloa,2  near  Vera  Cruz  [April  12.  1519],  where  he 
received  a  friendly  deputation  from  Montezuma,  the  emperor  of  the  nation.3 
By  falsehood  and  duplicity,  Cortez  and  his  armed  companions  were  allowed  to 
march  to  Mexico,  the  capital.  By  stratagem  and  boldness,  and  the  aid  of 
native  tribes  who  were  hostile  to  the  Mexican  dynasty.  Cortez4  succeeded,  after 
many  bloody  contests  during  almost  two  years,  in  subduing  the  people.  The 
city  of  Mexico  surrendered  to  him  on  the  23d  of  August,  1521,  and  the  vast 
and  populous  empire  of  Montezuma  became  a  Spanish  province. 

Florida  continued  to  command  the  attention  of  the  Spaniards,  in  whose 
minds  floated  magnificent  dreams  of  immense  wealth  in  cities  and  mines  within 
its  deep  forests;  and  seven  years  after  the  conquest  of  Mexico  [1528],  Pamphilo 


1  D' Ayllon  named  this  river,  Jordan,  for  he  regarded  the  country  as  the  new  Land  of  Promise. 

2  Pronounced  San-whahn-da-Ooloo-ah. 

3  The  Mexicans  at  that  time  were  making  rapid  advances  in  the  march  of  civilization.     They 
were  acquainted  with  many  of  the  useful  arts  of  enlightened  nations,  and  appear  to  have  been  as 
far  advanced  in  science,  law,  religion,  and  domestic  and  public  social  organization,  as  were  the 
Romans  at  the  close  of  the  Republic. 

4  Born  at  Medellon,  in  Estramadura,  Spain,  in  1485.     He  went  to  St.  Domingo  in  1504,  and 
in  1511  accompanied  Velasquez  to  Cuba.     He  committed  many  horrid  crimes  in  Mexico.     Yet  he 
had  the  good  fortune,  unlike  the  more  noble  Columbus,  to  retain  the  favor  of  the  Spanish  monarch 
until  his  death.     When,  on  his  return  to  Spain,  he  urged  an  audience  with  the  emperor,  and  was 
asked  who  he  was,  the  bold  adventurer  replied,  "  I  am  the  man  who  has  given  you  more  provinces 
than  your  father  left  you  towns."     He  died  in  Estramadura,  in  1554,  at  the  age  of  69  years. 


44  DISCOVERIES.  [1492. 

de  Narvaez  having  been  appointed  governor  of  that  region,  went  from  Cuba, 
with  three  hundred  men,1  to  conquer  it.  Hoping  to  find  a  wealthy  empire, 
like  Mexico,  he  penetrated  the  unknown  interior  as  far  as  the  southern  borders 
of  Georgia.  Instead  of  cities  filled  with  treasures,  he  found  villages  of  huts, 
and  the  monarch  of  the  country  living  in  a  wigwam.2  Disappointed,  and  con 
tinually  annoyed  by  hostile  savages,  who  had  heard  of  the  treachery  at  the  Com- 
bahee,3  he  turned  southward,  and  reaching  the  shores  of  Apallachee  Bay,  near 
St.  Marks,  he  constructed  rude  boats  and  embarked  for  Cuba.  The  commander 
and  most  of  his  followers  perished  ;  only  four  escaped,  and  these  wandered  from 
tribe  to  tribe  for  several  years  before  reaching  a  Spanish  settlement  in  Mexico. 
Yet  the  misfortunes  of  Narvaez  did  not  suppress  the  spirit  of  adventure,  and 
Florida  (the  name  then  applied  to  all  North  America)  was  still  regarded  by 
the  Spaniards  as  the  new  Land  of  Promise.  All  believed  that  in  the  vast 
interior  were  mines  as  rich,  and  people  as  wealthy  as  those  of  Mexico  and  Yu 
catan.  Among  the  most  sanguine  of  the  possessors  of  such 
an  opinion,  wras  Ferdinand  de  Soto,  a  brave  and  wealthy 
cavalier,  who  had  gained  riches  and  military  honors,  with 
Pizarro,  in  Peru.4  He  obtained  permission  of  the  Spanish 
emperor  to  conquer  Florida  at  his  own  expense,  and  for  that 
purpose,  was  appointed  governor  of  Cuba,  and  also  of  Flor 
ida.  With  ten  vessels  and  six  hundred  men,  all  clad  in 
armor,  he  sailed  for  the  New  World  early  in  1539.  Leav- 
DE  SOTO.  ing  his  wife  to  govern  Cuba,  he  proceeded  to  Florida,  and 

on  the  10th  of  June  landed  on  the  shores  of  Tampa  Bay. 
He  then  sent  most  of  his  vessels  back,  and  made  his  way,  among  hostile  sav 
ages,  toward  the  interior  of  the  fancied  land  of  gold.5  He  wintered  on  the 
banks  of  the  Flint  River,  in  Georgia,  and  in  the  spring  crossed  the  Appal- 
lachian  Mountains,  and  penetrated  the  beautiful  country  of  the  Cherokees.6 

This,  all  things  considered,  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  expeditions  on 
record.  For  several  months,  De  Soto  and  his  followers  wandered  over  the  hills 
and  valleys  of  Alabama,  in  vain  searches  for  treasure,  fighting  the  fierce  Mo- 
bilian  tribes,7  and  becoming  continually  diminished  in  number  by  battle  and 
disease.  They  passed  the  winter  of  1541  on  the  banks  of  the  Yazoo  River,  in 
the  land  of  the  Chickasaws.8  In  May  of  that  year,  they  discovsred  and  crossed 
the  Mississippi  River,  probably  not  far  below  Memphis ;  and  there,  in  the  pres 
ence  of  almost  twenty  thousand  Indians,  De  Soto  erected  a  cross  made  of  a 
huge  pine  tree,  and  around  it  imposing  religious  ceremonies  were  performed. 

1  They  took  with  them  about  forty  horses,  the  first  ever  landed  upon  the  soil  of  the  present 
United  States.     These  all  perished  by  starvation,  or  the  weapons  of  the  Indians. 

2  Page  13.  3  Page  42. 

4  Pizarro  was  a  follower  of  Balboa.     He  discovered  Peru  m  1524,  and  in  connection  with  Al- 
magro  and  Lucque,  he  conquered  it  in  1532,  after  much  bloodshed.     He  was  born,  out  of  wedlock, 
in  Estramadura,  Spain,  in  1475.     He  could  neither  read  nor  write,  but  seemed  eminently  fitted  for 
the  field  of  effort  in  which  he  was  engaged.    He  quarreled  with  Almagro,  civil  war  ensued,  and  he 
was  murdered  at  Lima,  in  Peru,  in  1541. 

5  De  Soto  had  a  large  number  of  horses.     He  also  landed  some  swine.    These  rapidly  increased 
in  the  forests.     They  were  the  first  of  their  species  seen  in  America. 

e  Page  27.  7  Chapter  VIII.,  p.  29.  §  page  30. 


Drawn  ty  H  L  Stephens 


UD1E  S©TC  m  SffidDHOE  ©IP  ME 


1609.]  ENGLISH    AND    FRENCH    DISCOVERIES.  45 

To  De  Soto  belongs  the  honor  of  first  discovering  that  mighty  river  of  our  wide 
continent.  After  resting  two  days,  the  adventurers  went  up  the  western  shore 
of  the  Mississippi  as  far  as  New  Madrid.  The  ensuing  summer  and  winter 
were  spent  by  them  in  the  wilderness  watered  by  the  Arkansas  and  its  tributa 
ries,  and  in  the  spring  of  1542  they  returned  to  the  Mississippi,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Wachita,  where  De  Soto  sickened  and  died,  after  appointing  his  succes 
sor.1  In  these  painful  and  perilous  journey  ings,  they  had  marched  full  three 
thousand  miles. 

The  death  of  their  leader  was  a  terrible  blow  to  the  followers  of  De  Soto. 
They  were  now  reduced  to  half  their  original  number ;  and,  abandoning  all 
hopes  of  finding  gold,  or  a  wealthy  people,  they  sought  for  Spanish  settlements 
in  Mexico.  For  many  months  they  wandered  over  the  prairies,  and  among  the 
tributary  streams  of  the  Red  River,  as  far  as  the  land  of  the  Comanches,2  when 
impassable  mountain  ranges  compelled  them  to  retrace  their  steps  to  the  Mis 
sissippi.  At  a  little  below  Natchez  they  remained  until  the  following  July 
[1543],  engaged  in  constructing  several  large  boats,  in  which  they  embarked. 
Reaching  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  they  crept  cautiously  along  its  coast ;  and,  on  the 
20th  of  September,  the  little  remnant  of  De  Soto's  proud  army,  half  naked  and 
starving,  arrived  at  a  Spanish  settlement  near  the  mouth  of  the  Panuco,  thirty 
miles  north  of  Tarnpico.  This  was  the  last  attempt  of  the  Spanish  cotcmpo- 
raries  of  Columbus  to  explore,  or  to  make  settlements  within  the  present  terri 
tory  of  the  United  States,  previous  to  the  appearance  of  the  English3  in  the 
same  field.  They  were  impelled  by  no  higher  motive  than  the  acquisition  of 
gold,  and  treachery  and  violence  were  the  instruments  employed  to  obtain  it. 
They  were  not  worthy  to  possess  the  magnificent  country  which  they  coveted 
only  for  its  supposed  wealth  in  \  recious  metals  ;  and  it  was  reserved  for  others, 
who  came  afterward,  with  loftier  aims,  better  hearts,  and  stronger  hands,  to 
cultivate  the  soil,  and  to  establish  an  empire  founded  upon  truth  and  justice. 
The  Spaniards  did  finally  become  possessors  of  the  southern  portion  of  the  Con 
tinent  ;  and  to  this  day  the  curse  of  moral,  religious,  and  political  despotism 
rests  upon  those  regions. 


CHAPTER    III. 

ENGLISH    AND    FRENCH    DISCOVERIES. 

WITH  all  its  zealous  vigilance,  the  Spanish  court  could  not  conceal  the  fact 
that  a  New  World  had  been  discovered,4  and  over  Continental  Europe  and  the 

1  De  Soto's  followers  sunk  the  body  of  their  leader  deep  in  the  Mississippi,  so  that  the  Indians 
should  not  find  it.  2  page  33. 

3  Page  46.  "While  De  Soto  was  engaged  in  this  expedition,  another,  no  less  adventurous,  was 
undertaken  by  Coronada,  at  the  command  of  Mendoza,  Viceroy  of  Mexico.  He  took  with  him, 
from  the  south-eastern  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  California,  three  hundred  and  fifty  Spaniards,  and  eight 
hundred  Indians.  He  penetrated  the  country  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Rio  del  Norte,  and  onward 
into  the  great  interior  desert,  as  far  as  the  fortieth  degree  of  north  latitude.  It  was  a  perilous,  but 
fruitless  expedition.  •*  Page  40. 


46  DISCOVERIES.  [1492. 

British  Isles,  were  spread  the  most  extravagant  tales  of  gold-bearing  regions 
beyond  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  By  means  of  a  papal  bull,1  Portugal  and  Spain 
vainly  attempted  to  secure  to  themselves  a  monopoly  of  oceanic  navigation. 
But  in  all  maritime  countries,  cupidity  and  curiosity  urged  men  to  brave  both 
the  perils  of  the  sea  and  the  thunders  of  the  Vatican,  in  search  of  the  western 
paradise  and  the  regions  of  gold.  Monarchs  and  wealthy  subjects  projected 
new  expeditions.  Among  those  whose  zeal  in  the  cause  of  maritime  discovery 
was  newly  awakened,  was  Henry  the  Seventh  of  England,  who  had  turned  a 
deaf  car  to  the  appeals  of  Columbus  before  his  great  first  voyage.2 

The  town  of  Bristol,  in  the  west  of  England,  was 
then  one  of  the  most  important  sea-ports  in  the  realm  ; 
and  among  its  adventurous  mariners  who  had  pene 
trated  the  polar  waters,  probably  as  far  as  Greenland, 
was  Sebastian  Cabot,  son  of  a  wealthy  Venetian  mer 
chant  of  Bristol,  whose  father  sought  the  aid  of  the 
king  in  making  a  voyage  of  discovery.  Willing  to 
secure  a  portion  of  the  prize  lie  had  lost,  Henry  read 
ily  yielded  to  the  solicitations  of  Cabot,  and  gave  him 
SEBASTIAN 'CABOT.  an(^  I"3  sons  a  commission  of  discovery,  dated  March 

16,  1496,  which  was  similar,  in  some  respects,  to  that 

which  Columbus  had  received  from  Ferdinand  and  Isabella;3  but  unlike  his 
Spanish  cotemporaries,  the  English  monarch  did  not  bear  the  expenses  of  the 
voyage.  The  navigators  were  permitted  to  go,  at  their  own  expense,  "  to  search 
for  islands  or  regions  inhabited  by  infidels,  and  hitherto  unknown  to  Christen 
dom,"  and  take  possession  of  them  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  England.  They 
were  to  enjoy  the  sole  right  of  trading  thither — paying  to  the  King,  "in  lieu 
of  all  customs  and  imposts,"  a  fifth  of  all  net  profits,  and  the  same  proportion 
of  the  products  of  all  mines. 

According  to  recent  discoveries  made  in  searching  the  ancient  records  of 
England,  it  appears  to  be  doubtful  whether  the  elder  Cabot,  who  was  a  mer 
chant  and  a  scientific  man,  ever  voyaged  to  America.  It  is  certain,  however, 
that  his  son,  Sebastian,  accompanied,  and,  doubtless,  commanded,  the  first 
expedition,  which  consisted  of  two  vessels  freighted  by  his  father  and  others  of 
Bristol  and  of  London,  and  which  sailed  from  the  former  port  in  May,  1497. 
They  steered  north-westerly  until  they  encountered  immense  fields  of  ice  west 
ward  of  Cape  Farewell,  when  they  turned  to  the  south-west,  and  on  the  3d  of 
July,  of  that  year,  discovered  the  rugged  coast  of  Labrador.  Passing  Cape 
Charles,  they  saw  Newfoundland ;  and,  after  touching  at  several  points,  prob 
ably  as  far  southward  as  the  coast  of  Maine,  they  hastened  to  England  to 
announce  the  fact  that  they  had  first  discovered  a  great  western  continent. 


1  This  is  the  name  of  special  edicts  issued  by  the  Pope  of  Rome.  They  are  written  on  parch 
ment,  and  have  a  great  seal  attached,  made  of  wax,  lead,  silver,  or  gold.  The  name  is  derived  from 
the  seal,  bulla.  On  one  side,  are  the  heads  of  Peter  and  Paul,  arid  on  the  other,  the  name  of  the  Pope 
and  the  year  of  his  pontificate.  The  seal  of  the  celebrated  golden  butt  of  the  Emperor  Charles  IV., 
was  made  of  gold.  That  bull  became  the  fundamental  law  of  the  German  Empire,  at  the  Diet  of 
Nuremburg-,  A.  i>.  153G.  2  Page  37.  3  Note  1,  pa^3  39. 


1609.]  ENGLISH    AND    FRENCH    DISCOVERIES.  47 

The  skill  and  energy  of  young  Cabot  secured  the  confidence  of  his  father 
and  friends  in  his  ability  to  command  successfully ;  and  the  following  year, 
although  he  was  only  twenty-one  years  of  age,  he  was  placed  in  charge  of 
another  expedition,  fitted  out  by  his  family  and  some  Bristol  merchants,  for  the 
purpose  of  traffic,  and  of  discovering  a  north-west  passage  to  India,  a  desire  for 
which  had  now  taken  hold  upon  the  minds  of  the  commercial  world.  Ice  in  the 
polar  seas  presented  an  impassable  barrier,  and  he  was  compelled  to  go  south 
ward.  He  explored  the  coast  from  the  frozen  regions  of  Labrador  to  the  sunny 
land  of  the  Carolinas.  Nineteen  years  afterward  [1517]  he  navigated  the 
northern  waters,  as  far  as  the  entrance  to  Hudson's  Bay ;  and  nine  years  later 
[1526],  while  in  the  service  of  the  monarch  of  Spain,1  he  explored  the  coast  of 
Brazil,  discovered  and  named  the  great  Rio  de  la  Plata,  and  penetrated  the 
southern  continent,  in  boats,  upon  the  bosom  of  that  river,  almost  four  hundred 
miles.  To  the  Cabots,  father  and  son,  belong  the  imperishable  honor  of  first 
discovering  the  coast  of  the  United  States,  through  at  least  ten  degrees  of  lati 
tude.  Italy  may  claim  the  glory  of  having  given  birth  to  the  two  great  discov 
erers,  Columbus  and  Americus  Vespucius,  whose  name  our  continent  now 
bears ;  while  Sebastian  Cabot  dreAV  his  first  breath  in  England.  ~ 

The  immense  numbers  and  commercial  importance  of  the  cod  fishes  in  the 
vicinity  of  Newfoundland,  were  first  discovered  and  made  known  by  the  Cabots ; 
and  within  five  or  six  years  after  their  first  voyages,  many  fishermen  went 
thither  from  England,  Brittany,  and  Normandy,  for  those  treasures  of  the  deep. 
Every  French  vessel  that  went  to  America*,  was  on  a  com 
mercial  errand  only,  until  1523,  when  Francis  the  first  fitted 
out  four  ships,  for  the  purpose  of  exploring  the  coasts  of  the 
New  World.     He  gave  the  command  to  John  Verrazani,  an 
eminent  Florentine  navigator.     Verrazani  sailed  in  Decem 
ber,  1523,  but  a  tempest  disabled  three  of  his  ships,  and  he 
was  compelled  to  go  with  only  one.     He  proceeded  due  west 
from  the  Madeiras  on  the  27th  of  January,  1524,  and  first 
touched  the  American  Continent,  in  March  following,  near          VERRAZANI 
the  mouth  of  the  Cape  Fear  River,  in  North  Carolina.     After 
seeking  a  good  harbor  for  fifty  leagues  further  south,  he  sailed  northward,  and 

1  Sebastian  Cabot  was  born  at  Bristol,  in  14G7.     He  was  invested  with  the  honorable  title  of 
ChiefJr'ilot  of  both  England  and  Spain :  and  to  him  England  is  indebted  for  her  first  maritime  con 
nection  with  Russia,  by  the  establishment'  of  the  Russian  Trading  Company,  of  which  he  was 
appointed  governor  for  life.     He  published  a  map  of  the  world,  and  also  an  account  of  his  southern 
voyages.     He  died  in  1557,  at  the  age  of  90  years. 

2  King  John  of  Portugal,  like  Henry  of  England,  had  refused  to  aid  Columbus,  and  lost  the 
great  prize.      After  the  return  of  the  navigator,  he  felt  a  desire  to  fit  out  an  expedition  for  dis 
coveries  in  the  New  World,  but  the  Pope  having  given  to  Spain  the  whole  region  westward, 
beyond  an  imaginary  line  three  hundred  leagues  west  from  the  Azores,  he  dared  not  interfere  with 
the  Spanish  mariners.     But  when  the  northern  voyages  of  the  Cabots  became  known,  King  John 
dispatched  an  expedition  in  that  direction,  under  Gasper  Cortoreal,  toward  the  close  of  the  year 
1500,  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  seeking  a  north-west  passage  to  India.     Cortoreal  coasted  along 
tho  shores  of  Labrador  several  hundred  miles,  and  then  freighting  his  ship  with  fifty  natives  whom 
lie  had  caught,  he  returned  to  Portugal,  and  sold  his  living  cargo,  for  slaves.     Finding  the  adven 
ture  profitable,  he  sailed  for  another  cargo,  but  he  was  never  heard  of  afterward.     Almost  sixty 
years  later  some  Portuguese  settled  in  Newfoundland  and  Nova  Scotia,  and  first  imported  cattle 
r.nd  swmo  there. 


48 


DISCOVERIES. 


[1492. 


CAR-TIER'S   SHIP. 


explored  the  coast  from  the  Carolinas  to  Newfoundland.     He  anchored  in  the 
Bays  of  Delaware  and  New  York,1  the  harbor  of  Newport,  and  probably  that 
of  Boston,  and  held  intercourse  with  the  natives,  who  were  sometimes  friendly 
and  sometimes  hostile.     Verrazani  gave  the  name  of  NEW  FRANCE  to  the  vast 
regions  within  the  latitudes  of  the  coasts  which  he  had  discovered.     But  at  that 
time  the  French  King  was  too  much  engrossed  and  impoverished  by  war  with 
the    Spanish   monarch,   to   pay  much    attention  to  the 
important  discoveries  of  Yerrazani,  or  to  listen  to  plans 
for  future  expeditions.     Ten  years  elapsed  before  Admi 
ral  Chabon  induced  Francis  to  encourage  another  explor 
ing  enterprise,  wlien  a  plan  for  making  settlements  in 
NEW  FRANCE  was  arranged  [1534],  and  James  Cartier,  a 
mariner  of  St.  Malo,  was  appointed  to  the  command  of 
an   expedition.       He   reached   Newfoundland   early   in 
June,  1534.     After  exploring  its  coasts, 
he  passed  through  the  Straits  of  Belle- 
isle,  into  the  Gulf  beyond,  planted  a 

cross  with  the  arms  of  France  upon  it,  on  the  shore  of  Gaspo 
inlet,  and  took  possession  of  the  whole  country  in  the  name  of 
his  king.  After  discovering  the  mouth  of  the  great  river  of 
Canada,  he  sailed  for  France,  in  time  to  avoid  the  autumn 
storms  on  the  American  coast. 

There  was  great  joy  at  the  French  court,  in  the  capital, 
and  throughout  the  whole  kingdom,  because  of  the  success  of 
Cartier.  He  was  commissioned  for  another  voyage  ;  and  in 
May  following  [1535]  he  sailed  for  Newfoundland  wTith  three 
ships,  accompanied  by  several  young  noblemen  of  France. 
They  passed  the  Straits  of  Belleisle,  and  entered  the  Gulf  on  the  day  dedicated 
to  St.  Lawrence ;  and,  on  that  account,  Cartier  gave  the  name  of  the  martyr  to 
the  broad  sheet  of  water  over  which  they  wrere  sailing.  They  passed  up  the 
river  which  afterward  received  the  same  name,  and  mooring  their  ships  at  Que 
bec,2  proceeded  in  a  pinnace  and  boats  to  Hochelaga,  where  Montreal  now 
stands,  then  the  capital  of  the  Huron  king.3  The  natives  were  everywhere 
friendly  and  hospitable. 

The  land  in  all  that  region  was  very  level,  except  a  high  mountain  in  the 
rear  of  the  Indian  town.  Cartier  ascended  to  its  summit,  and  was  so  impressed 
with  the  glorious  view  that  he  called  it  Mont-Real  (royal  mountain),  which 
name  the  fine  city  at  its  base  yet  retains.  After  exchanging  presents  and 
friendly  salutations  with  the  Indians,  they  returned  to  Quebec,  and  passed  the 
severe  winter  on  board  their  ships.  In  the  spring,  after  setting  up  a  cross,  and 


ARMS  OF  FRANCE. 


1  Some  authors  say  that  Verrazani  landed  where  the  lower  extremity  of  New  York  city  is,  and 
giving  the  natives  some  spirituous  liquors,  made  many  of  them  drunk.  The  Indians  called  the 
place  Manna-Jia-ta,  or  "place  of  drunkenness,"  and  they  were  afterward  called  Manna-ha-tans. 
But  this  scene  of  intoxication  probably  occurred  on  board  the  Half-Moon,  the  exploring  ship  of 
Hendrick  Hudson.  See  page  59.  2  Pronounced  Ke-bec.  3  page  93. 


FRENCH  NOBLE-MAN 


1609.]  ENGLISH    AND    FRENCH    DISCOVERIES.  49 

taking  formal  possession  of  the  country,  they  returned  to  France,  having  lost 
twenty-five  seamen  with  the  scurvy,  a  disease  until  then  unknown.  Their  de 
parture  was  disgraced  by  an  act  of  treachery,  which  planted  the  seeds  of  hatred 
of  the  white  people  among  the  natives  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  Cartier,  under 
pretense  of  friendship,  decoyed  the  hospitable  Huron  king  on  board  one  of  his 
vessels  and  carried  him  off  to  France. 

The  results  of  this  voyage  were  little  else  than  a  series 
of  disappointments.  Carrier's  report  of  the  rigors  of  the  win 
ter  and  the  barrenness  of  the  land  in  precious  stones  and 
metals,  was  discouraging,  and  four  years  elapsed  before  an 
other  expedition  was  planned.  At  length,  Francis  de  la 
Roque,  better  known  as  lord  of  Robertval,  in  Picardy,  ob 
tained  permission  of  the  king  to  make  further  discoveries,  and 
to  plant  settlements  in  NEW  FRANCE.1  The  king  invested 
him  with  the  empty  title  of  Viceroy  of  the  whole  country. 
Cartier's  services  being  indispensable,  he,  too,  was  commis 
sioned,  but  for  subordinate  command.  He  was  ready  long 
before  RobertvaVs  extensive  preparations  were  completed,  IX  1540. 

and  being  unwilling  to  bow  to  the  new  Viceroy's  authority, 
he  sailed,  with  five  ships,  in  June,  1541,  some  months  before  the  departure  of 
his  official  superior.  He  had  intended  to  take  the  Huron  king  back  with  him, 
but  the  broken-hearted  monarch  had  died  in  France.  It  was  an  unfortunate 
occurrence.  The  natives  received  Cartier  first  with  coldness,  and  then  showed 
open  hostility.  Fearing  the  Indians,  the  French  built  a  fort  upon  the  island 
of  Orleans,  a  little  below  Quebec.  There  they  passed  the  winter  without 
accomplishing  any  important  achievement,  and  in  June  following  [1542],  de 
parted  for  France,  just  as  Robertval  arrived  at  Newfoundland,  with  two  hun 
dred  persons.  Robertval  passed  up  the  St.  Lawrence,  built  two  more  forts 
near  Quebec,  endured  a  winter  of  great  distress,  and,  abandoning  the  idea  of 
settlement,  returned  to  France  in  the  spring  of  1543.  Six  years  afterward,  he 
again  sailed  for  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  was  never  heard  of  again.  The  discov 
eries  of  Verrazani  and  Cartier,  and  also  of  French  fishermen,  served  as  the  found 
ation  for  a  claim  by  France  to  the  northern  portion  of  the  American  continent. 

France  was  now  convulsed  by  the  conflicts  of  religious  opinions.  It  was 
the  era  of  the  Reformation  there.2  The  doctrines  and  the  teachings  of  Calvin 
and  others,  in  opposition  to  the  faith  and  practice  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  had  already  arrayed  great  masses  of  the  people  in  violent  hostility  to 
each  other.  The  religious  war  was  an  absorbing  idea,  and  for  fifty  years  the 
French  government  made  no  further  attempts  at  discovery  or  colonization. 
But  private  enterprise  sought  to  plant  a  French  settlement  in  the  land  discovered 
by  D' Ay  lion.3  The  Huguenots,  or  French  Protestants,  who  maintained  the 
faith  of  early  Christianity,  were  the  weaker  party  in  number,  and  felt  the  heavy 
heel  of  oppression.  They  had  a  powerful  friend  in  Jasper  Coligny,  admiral  of 
France,  but  a  weak  protector  in  the  reigning  monarch.  Charles  the  Ninth. 

1  Page  48.  2  Note  14,  page  62.  3  Page  42. 


50  DISCOVERIES.  [1492. 

The  fires  of  persecution  were  continually  burning,  and  at  length  Coiigny 
conceived  the  noble  idea  of  providing  a  place  of  refuge  for  his  Protestant 
brethren,  beyond  the  Atlantic.  The  king  granted  him  a  commission  for  that 
purpose ;  and  early  in  1562  [Feb.  28],  a  squadron,  under  John  Ribault, 
sailed  for  America.  The  little  Huguenot  fleet  touched  first  near  the  harbor 
of  St.  Augustine,  in  Florida.1  Sailing  northward,  they  saw  the  mouth  of  the 
beautiful  St.  John's  River  [May,  1562],  and,  it  being  the  fifth  month  of  the 
year,  they  named  it  the  "  River  of  May."  Making  their  way  along  the  coast, 
they  discovered  Port  Royal  entrance,  were  charmed  with  the  beauty  of  the 
scene,  chose  the  spot  for  their  future  home,  and  built  a  small  fort,  which  they 
named  Carolina,  in  honor  of  the  king.  Leaving  a  garrison  of  twenty-six  men 
to  defend  it,  Ribault  went  back  to  France  with  the  ships,  for  reinforcements. 
Bitter  disappointment  ensued.  Civil  war  was  raging  in  France,  and  Coiigny 
was  almost  powerless.  The  reinforcements  were  not  supplied,  and  the  little 
garrison,  though  treated  with  hospitality  by  the  Indians,  became  very  discon 
tented.  Despairing  of  relief,  they  built  a  frail  vessel,  and,  with  insufficient 
stores,  they  embarked  for  France.  Tempests  assailed  them,  and  famine  was 
menacing  them  with  death,  when  they  were  picked  up  by  an  English  bark,  and 
conveyed  to  Great  Britain.  Thus  perished  the  first  seeds  of  religious  freedom 
which  the  storms  of  persecution  bore  to  the  New  World. 

The  noble  Coiigny  was  not  discouraged  ;  arid,  during  a  lull  in  the  tempest 
of  civil  commotion,  another  expedition  was  sent  to  America,  under  the  com 
mand  of  Laudonniere,  who  had  accompanied  Ribault  on  his  first  voyage. 
They  arrived  in  July,  1564,  pitched  their  tents  on  the  banks  of  the  St.  John's 
Hiver  (River  of  May),  and  built  another  Fort  Carolina.  But  there  were  ele 
ments  of  dissolution  among  these  immigrants.  Many  were  idle,  vicious,  and 
improvident ;  and  provisions  soon  became  scarce.  Under  pretext  of  returning 
to  France,  to  escape  famine,  quite  a  large  party  sailed;  in  December,  in  one  of 
the  vessels.  They  turned  pirates,  and  depredated  extensively  upon  Spanish 
property  in  the  West  Indies.  The  remainder  became  discontented,  and  were 
about  to  embark  for  France,  when  Ribault  arrived  with  immigrants  and  sup 
plies,  and  took  command.2 

Spanish  jealousy  and  bigotry  were  now  aroused,  and  when  the  monarch  of 
Spain,  the  narrow  Philip  the  Second,  heard  of  the  settlement  of  the  French 
Protestants  within  his  claimed  territory,  and  of  the  piracies  of  some  of  the 
party,  he  adopted  measures  for  their  expulsion  and  punishment.  Pedro  Melen- 
dez,  a  brave  but  cruel  military  chief,  was  appointed  Governor  of  Florida,  on 
condition  that  he  would  expel  the  Frenchmen  from  the  soil,  conquer  the  natives, 
and  plant  a  colony  there  within  three  years.  That  was  an  enterprise  exactly 
suited  to  the  character  of  Melendez.  He  came  with  a  strong  force,  consisting 
of  three  hundred  soldiers  furnished  by  the  king,  and  twenty-two  hundred  vol- 

1  Page  42. 

2  James  Le  Moyne,  a  skillful  painter,  was  sent  with  this  expedition,  with  instructions  to  make 
colored  drawings  of  every  object  worthy  of  preservation.     His  illustrations  of  the  costume  and  cus 
toms  of  the  natives  are  very  interesting,  because  authentic. 


2609.J  ENGLISH   AND    FRENCH    DISCOVERIES.  51 

unteers — priests,  sailors,  mechanics,  laborers,  women,  and  children.  The  fleet 
was  scattered  by  storms,  and  with  only  one  third  of  his  original  number,  Me- 
lendez  landed  in  a  fine  harbor  on  the  coast  of  Florida.  There  he  laid  the 
foundations  of  a  city,  which  he  named  St.  Augustine  [Sept.  17,  1565],  and 
formally  proclaimed  the  king  of  Spain  to  be  monarch  of  all  North  America. 
On  hearing  of  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards,  a  large  party  of  the  French,  under 
Ribault,  proceeded  from  the  St.  John's,  by  water,  to  attack  them.  A  tempest 
wrecked  every  vessel ;  and  most  of  the  survivors,  who  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Spaniards,  were  put  to  death.  In  the  mean -while,  Melendez  made  his  way 
through  the  swamps  and  forests  with  a  strong  force,  to  the  defenseless  French 
settlement,  where  he  massacred  about  nine  hundred  men,  women,  and  children, 
and  over  their  dead  bodies  placed  an  inscription,  avowing  that  he  slew  them,  not 
"because  they  were  Frenchmen,  but  Lutherans."1  Upon  that  field  of  blood 
the  monster  erected  a  cross,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a  Christian  church  to 
commemorate  the  deed ! 

Charles  the  Ninth  of  France  was  not  only  a  weak  monarch,  but  an  enemy 
to  the  Huguenots.  He  therefore  took  no  steps  to  avenge  the  outrage,  per 
petrated  under  the  sanction  of  the  bigot  of  Spain.  But  one  of  his  subjects,  a 
fiery  soldier  of  Gascony,  named  Dominic  de  Gourges,  obtained  permission  to 
inflict  retribution.  He  had  suffered  Spanish  bondage  and  Spanish  cruelty,  and 
panted  for  revenge.  He  fitted  out  three  ships  at  his  own  expense,  and  with  one 
hundred  and  fifty  men,  sailed  for  Florida.  He  attacked  the  Spaniards  upon  the 
St.  John's,  surprised  and  captured  Fort  Carolina,  which  they  occupied,  made 
two  hundred  prisoners,  and  hanging  his  captives  upon  the  trees  almost  upon  the 
spot  where  his  countrymen  had  been  murdered,  he  placed  over  them  the  inscrip 
tion — "I  do  not  this  as  unto  Spaniards  or  mariners,  but  unto  traitors,  robbers, 
and  murderers."  Too  weak  to  brave  the  vengeance  of  Melendez,  who  was  at  St. 
Augustine,  De  Gourges  immediately  left  the  coast,  and  returned  to  France. 
The  natives  were  delighted  at  seeing  their  common  enemies  thus  destroy 
ing  each  other.  The  Spaniards,  however,  held  possession,  and  a  Spanish 
settlement  was  ever  afterward  maintained  at  St.  Augustine,  except  during  a 
few  years. 

It  was  now  more  than  three  quarters  of  a  century  since  Columbus  discov 
ered  the  West  India  Islands,  and  yet  no  real  progress  toward  a  permanent 
European  settlement,  writhin  the  domain  of  the  United  States,  had  been  made. 
Although  the  English  seem  not  to  have  wholly  relinquished  the  idea  of  plant 
ing  settlements  in  America,  it  was  not  until  the  twentieth  year  of  the  brilliant 
reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  almost  eighty  years  after  the  discovery  of  the 
continent  by  Cabot,2  that  healthy  efforts  to  found  colonies  in  the  New  World, 
were  made.  Sir  Martin  Frobisher3  (an  eminent  navigator)  and  others  had 

1  The  Protestants  were  often  called  by  the  general  name  of  Lutherans,  because  the  later  Reform 
ation  was  commenced  by  the  bold  opposition  of  Martin  Luther  to  the  corrupt  practices  of  the  Romish 
Church.  Note  14,  page  62.  2  page  46. 

3  Born  in  Yorkshire,  England ;  was  trained  in  the  navigator's  art ;  made  several  voyages  for 
discovery ;  and  died  of  wounds  received  in  a  naval  battle  near  Brest,  on  the  French  coast,  in 
1594. 


52  DISCOVERIES.  [1492. 

explored  the  north-western  coast  of  North  America,  to  the  dreary  region  north 
of  Hudson's  Bay,1  in  search  of  precious  metals  arid  a  north-west  passage  to 
India,2  but  without  beneficial  results.  Newfoundland  was  visited  every  year 
by  numerous  English  and  French  fishing- vessels,  and  the  neighboring  continent 
was  frequently  touched  by  the  hardy  mariners.  Yet  no  feasible  plans  for  col 
onization  wTere  matured.  Finally,  when  the  public  mind  of  England  was  turned 
from  the  cold  regions  of  Labrador  and  the  fancied  mineral  wealth  in  its  rugged 
mountains,  to  the  milder  South,  and  the  more  solid  benefits  to  be  derived  from 
plantations  than  mims,  a  new  and  brilliant  era  in  the  history  of  civilization 
began.  This  change  was  produced  incidentally  by  the  Huguenot  adventurers.3 
The  remnant  of  Coligny's  first  colony,  who  were  picked  up  at  sea  and  taken  to 
England,  informed  the  queen  of  the  glory  of  the  climate,  and  the  fertility  of 
the  soil  of  Carolina.  When  De  Gourges  returned  from  his  foray  upon  the 
Spaniards,4  Walter  Raleigh,  then  a  young  man  of  much  promise,  was  learning 
the  art  of  war  with  Coligny,  in  France,  and  he  communicated  to  his  friends  in 
England  that  chevalier's  account  of  Florida,  which  was  yet  a  wilderness  free 
for  the  sons  of  toil.  Enterprise  was  powerfully  aroused  by  the  promises  of  that 
warm  and  beautiful  land,  and  the  Protestant5  feeling  of  England  was  strongly 
stirred  by  the  cruelties  of  Melendez.  These  dissimilar,  but  auxiliary  causes, 
produced  great  effects,  and  soon  many  minds  were  employed  in  planning 
schemes  for  colonizing  the  pleasant  middle  regions  of  North  America.  The 
first  healthy  plan  for  settlement  there  was  proposed  by  the  learned  Sir  Humph 
rey  Gilbert,  a  step-brother  of  Walter  Raleigh.  He  had  served  with  honor  in 
the  wars  of  Ireland,  France,  and  the  Low  Countries,  and  then  was  not  only  prac 
tically  engaged  in  maritime  affairs,  but  had  written  and  published  a  treatise  on 
the  north-west  passage  to  India.  Having  lost  money  in  a  vain  endeavor  to 
transmute  baser  metals  into  gold,  he  resolved  to  attempt  to  retrieve  his  fortune 
by  planting  a  colony  in  the  New  World.  In  June,  1578,  he  obtained  a  liberal 
patent  or  grant  from  the  queen.  Raleigh  gave  him  the  aid  of  his  hand  and  for 
tune  ;  and  early  in  1579,  Gilbert  sailed  for  America,  with  a  small  squadron, 
accompanied  by  his  step-brother.  Heavy  storms  and  Spanish  war- vessels  com 
pelled  them  to  return,  and  the  scheme  was  abandoned  for  a  time.  Four  years 
afterward  [1583]  Gilbert  sailed  with  another  squadron  ;  and  after  a  series  of 
disasters,  he  reached  the  harbor  of  St.  John's,  Newfoundland.  There  he  set  up 
a  pillar  with  the  English  arms  upon  it,8  proclaimed  the  sovereignty  of  his 
queen,  and  then  proceeded  to  explore  the  coast  southward.  After  being  ter 
ribly  beaten  by  tempests  off  the  shores  of  Nova  Scotia  and  Maine,  and  losing 
his  largest  ship,  he  turned  his  vessel  toward  England.  At  midnight,  in  Sep 
tember,  during  a  gale,  his  own  little  bark  of  ten  tons  went  down,  with  all  on 
board,  and  only  one  vessel  of  the  expedition  returned  to  England  to  relate  the 
dreadful  narrative. 

The  melancholy  fate  of  the  second  expedition  did  not  dismay  the  heart  of 

1  Note  8,  page  59.  "  Page  47.  8  Pago  50. 

*••  Page  51.  6  Note  14,  page  62.  6  Note  2,  page  40. 


- 


^"^ 

RALEIGH'S  EXPEDITION  AT  ROANOKE. 


1609.] 


ENGLISH    AND    FRENCH    DISCOVERIES. 


55 


RALEIGH. 


Raleigh.  He  was  a  young  man  of  great  spirit,  "the  most  restless,  and  am 
bitious,  as  he  was  the  most  versatile  and  accomplished,  of  all  Elizabeth's  court 
iers."  He  now  obtained  a  patent  for  himself  [April, 
1584],  which  made  him  lord  proprietor  of  all  lands 
that  might  be  discovered  by  him  in  America,  be 
tween  the  Santee  and  Delaware  Rivers.  He  dis- 
patohed  Philip  Amidas  and  Arthur  Barlow,  with 
two  well-furnished  ships,  to  explore  the  American 
coast.  They  approached  the  shores  of  Carolina1 
in  July,  and  landing  upon  the  islands  of  Wocoken 
and  Roanoke,  which  separate  the  waters  of  Pamlico 
and  Albemarle  Sounds  from  the  Atlantic,  they  took 
possession  of  the  country  in  the  name  of  Elizabeth. 
They  remained  a  few  weeks,  exploring  the  Sounds  and  trafficking  with  the 
natives,  and  then  returned  to  England  w^th  two  sons  of  the  forest.2  The  glow 
ing  accounts  of  the  newly-discovered  country  filled  Raleigh's3  heart  with  joy ; 
and  the  queen  declared  the  event  to  be  (what  it  really  was)  one  of  the  most 
glorious  of  her  reign.  In  memorial  of  her  unmarried  state,  she  gave  the  name 
of  VIRGINIA  to  the  enchanting  region.  Raleigh  was  knighted,  his  patent  was 
confirmed  by  act  of  Parliament,  and  the  queen  gave  him  a  monopoly  in  the  sale 
of  sweet  wines,  as  a  means  for  enriching  him. 

The  ardent  and  ever  hopeful  Raleigh  now  indulged 
in  brilliant  dreams  of  wealth  and  power  to  be  derived 
from  the  New  World,  and  he  made  immediate  prepar 
ations  for  planting  settlements  on  his  trans- Atlantic 
domains.  He  dispatched  a  fleet  of  seven  vessels  on 
the  19th  of  April,  1585,  under  the  command  of  Sir 
Richard  Grenville.  He  was  accompanied  by  Ralph 
Lane,  the  appointed  governor  of  the  colony,  with 
learned  companions ;  and  also  by  Manteo,  the  native 
chief.  They  narrowly  escaped  shipwreck  on  the  Caro 
lina  coast,  in  June,  and  in  consequence  of  that  danger, 
they  named  the  land  where  their  peril  was  greatest,  Cape  Fear.  Entering 
Ocracock  Inlet,  they  landed  upon  the  island  of  Roanoke,  in  Albemarle  Sound, 
and  there  prepared  for  a  permanent  residence.4 


RALEIGH'S  SHIPS. 


1  The  French  Protestants  had  given  the  name  of  Carolina  to  the  region  where  they  attempted 
settlement,  and  it  has  ever  since  retained  it.     See  page  50. 

2  Manteo  and  Wanchese,  natives  of  the  adjacent  continent :  probably  of  the  Hatteras  tribe. 

3  Born  in  Devonshire,  England,  1552.     He  was  one  of  the  most  illustrious  men  of  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  which  was  remarkable  for  brilliant  minds.     His  efforts  to  plant  colonies  in  Amer 
ica,  were  evidences  of  a  great  genius  and  indomitable  courage  and  perseverance.     He  was  also  a 
fine  scholar,  as  well  as  a  statesman,  mariner,  and  soldier.     His  name  will  ever  be  held  in  reverence 
by  all  who  can  appreciate  true  greatness.     He  wrote  a  History  of  the  World,  while  in  prison  under 
a  false  charge  of  high  treason,  and  was  beheaded  in  London,  October  29,  1628. 

4  The  picture  of  the  meeting  of  the  English  and  natives  of  Roanoke,  on  page  53,  exhibits 
truthful  delineations  of  the  persons  and  costumes  of  the  Indians  found  there.     They  were  copied 
and  grouped  from  Harriot's  "  Brief  and  True  Report  of  the  new  found  land  of  Virginia,"  which  was 
published  in  1590.     Harriot  accompanied  the  expedition  as  historian  and  naturalist,  remained  a 


56  DISCOVERIES.  [1492. 

The  English  made  some  fatal  mistakes  at  the  outset.  Instead  of  looking  to 
the  fruition  of  seed-time  for  true  riches,  they  turned  from  the  wealthy  soil  upon 
which  they  stood,  and  went  upon  vain  searches  for  gold  in  the  forests  of  the 
adjoining  continent.  Instead  of  reciprocating  the  hospitable  friendship  of  the 
natives,  they  returned  harshness  for  kindness,  and  treachery  for  confidence, 
until  a  flame  of  revenge  was  kindled  among  the  Indians  which  nothing  but  the 
blood  of  Englishmen  could  quench.  Schemes  for  the  destruction  of  the  white 
intruders  were  speedily  planned,  and  tribes  in  the  interior  stood  ready  to  aid 
their  brethren  upon  the  seaboard.  As  soon  as  Grenville  departed  with  the 
ships,  for  England,  the  natives  withheld  supplies  of  food,  drew  the  English  into 
perilous  positions  by  tales  of  gold-bearing  shores  along  the  Roanoke  River,  and 
finally  reduced  the  colony  to  the  verge  of  ruin.  At  that  moment,  Sir  Francis 
Drake  arrived  from  the  West  Indies,  with  his  fleet,  and  afforded  them  relief. 
But  misfortune  and  fear  made  them  anxious  to  leave  the  country,  and  the  emi 
grants  were  all  conveyed  to  England ^in  June,  1586,  by  Drake.  A  few  days 
after  their  departure,  a  well-furnished  vessel,  sent  by  Raleigh,  arrived  ;  and  a 
fortnight  later,  Grenville  entered  the  inlet  with  three  ships  well  provisioned. 
After  searching  for  the  departed  colony,  Grenville  sailed  for  England,  leaving 
fifteen  men  upon  Roanoke. 

The  intrepid  Raleigh  was  still  undismayed  by  misfortune.  He  adopted  a 
wise  policy,  and  instead  of  sending  out  mere  fortune-hunters,1  he  collected  a 
band  of  agriculturists  and  artisans,  with  their  families,  and  dispatched  them 
[April  26,  1587],  to  found  an  industrial  State  in  Virginia.  He  gave  them  a 
charter  of  incorporation  for  the  settlement ;  and  John  White,  who  accompanied 
tjiem,  was  appointed  governor  of  the  colony.  They  reached  Roanoke  in  July  : 
but  instead  of  the  expected  greetings  of  the  men  left  by  Grenville,  they  encoun 
tered  utter  desolation. .  The  bones  of  the  fifteen  lay  bleaching  on  the  ground. 
Their  rude  tenements  were  in  ruins,  and  wild  deer  were  feeding  in  their  little 
gardens.  They  had  been  murdered  by  the  Indians,  and  not  one  was  left. 
Manteo2  did  not  share  in  the  Indian  hatred  of  the  white  people,  and  like  Massa- 
soit  of  New  England,3  he  remained  their  friend.  By  command  of  Raleigh,  he 
received  Christian  baptism,  and  was  invested,  by  White,  with  the  title  of  Lord 
of  Roanoke,  the  first  and  last  peerage  ever  created  in  America.  Yet  Manteo 
could  not  avert  nor  control  the  storm  that  lowered  among  the  Indian  tribes,  and 
menaced  the  English  with  destruction.  The  colonists  were  conscious  that  fear 
ful  perils  were  gathering,  and  White  hastened  to  England  toward  the  close  of 
the  year  for  reinforcements  and  provisions,  leaving  behind  him  his  daughter, 
Eleanor  Dare  (wife  of  one  of  his  lieutenants),  who  had  just  given  birth  to  a 
child  [August  18,  1587],  whom  they  named  Virginia.  VIRGINIA  DARE  was 
the  first  offspring  of  English  parents  born  within  the  territory  of  the  United 
States.4 


year  in  Yirginia,  and  had  correct  drawings  made  of  the  inhabitants,  their  dwellings,  their  gardens, 
and  every  thing  of  interest  pertaining  to  their  costumes,  customs,  and  general  characteristics.  The 
picture  may  be  accepted  as  historically  correct.  J  Page  52.  2  Note  2,  page  55. 

3  Page"ll4.  4  Note  6,  page  78. 


1G09.] 


ENGLISH    AND    FRENCH    DISCOVERIES. 


57 


'*  MAN  1580 


The  great  Spanish  Armada1  was  preparing  for  an  invasion  of  Great  Britain, 
when  White  reached  England ;  and  Raleigh,  Grenville,  and  others,  were  deeply 
engaged  in  public  affairs.  It  was  not  until  the  following  May 
[1589],  that  White  departed,  with  two  ships,  for  Virginia. 
According  to  custom,  he  went  by  the  way  of  the  West  Indies, 
and  depredated  upon  Spanish  property  found  afloat.  He  was 
beaten  in  «an  engagement,  lost  one  of  his  vessels,  and  was 
obliged  to  return  to  England.  Raleigh's  fortune  being  mate 
rially  impaired  by  his  munificence  in  efforts  at  colonization,  he 
assigned  his  proprietary  rights  to  others ;  and  it  was  not  until 
1590  that  White  was  allowed  to  return  to  Roanoke  in  search 
of  his  daughter  and  the  colony  he  had  left.  Both  had  then 
disappeared.  Roanoke  was  a  desolation ;  and,  though  Raleigh, 
who  had  abandoned  all  thoughts  of  colonization,  had  five  times 
sent  mariners,  good  and  true,  to  search  for  the  emigrants, 
they  were  never  found.2  Eighty  years  later,  the  Corees3  told 
the  English  settlers  upon  the  Cape  Fear  River,  that  their  lost  kindred  had  been 
adopted  by  the  once  powerful  Hatteras  tribe,4  and  became  amalgamated  with 
the  children  of  the  wilderness.  The  English  made  no  further  attempts  at  colo 
nization  at  that  time ;  and  so,  a  century  after  Columbus  sailed  for  America, 
there  was  no  European  settlement  upon  the  North  American  Continent.  Sir 
Francis  Drake  had  broken  up  the  military  post  at  St.  Augustine  [1585],  and 
the  Red  Men  were  again  sole  masters  of  the  vast  domain. 

A  dozen  years  after  the  failure  of  Raleigh's  colonization  efforts,  Bartholo 
mew  Gosnold,  who  had  been  to  America,  and  was  a  friend  of  the  late  proprietor 
of  Virginia,  sailed  in  a  small  bark  [March  26,  1602]  directly  across  the  Atlan 
tic  for  the  American  coast.  After  a  voyage  of  seven  weeks,  he  discovered  the 
Continent  near  Nahant  [May  14,  1602],  and  sailing  southward,  he  landed 
upon  a  sandy  point  which  he  named  Cape  Cod,  on  account  of  the  great  number 
of  those  fishes  in  that  vicinity.  Continuing  southward,  he  discovered  Nan- 
tucket,  Martha's  Vineyard,  and  the  group  known  as  Elizabeth  Islands.  Upon 
one  of  them,  which  he  named  Elizabeth,  in  honor  of  his  sovereign,  Gosnold  and 
his  company  prepared  to  found  a  settlement.  Upon  an  islet,  in  a  tiny  laise, 
they  built  a  fort  and  store-house.5  Becoming  alarmed  at  the  menaces  of  the 
Indians  and  the  want  of  supplies,  they  freighted  their  vessel  with  sassafras 

1  This  was  a  great  naval  armament,  fitted  out  by  Spain,  for  the  invasion  of  England,  in  the 
summer  of  1588.     It  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  ships,  two  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty 
great  guns,  and  thirty  thousand  soldiers  and  sailors.     It  was  defeated  [July  20]  by  Admirals 
Drake  and  Howard. 

2  While  Raleigh  was  making  these  fruitless  searches,  the  Marquis  de  la  Roche,  a  wealthy 
French  nobleman,  attempted  to  plant  a  French  colony  in  America.     He  was  commissioned  by  the 
King  of  France  for  the  purpose,  and  in  1598  sailed  for  America  with  a  colony,  chiefly  drawn  from 
the  prisons  of  Paris.     Upon  the  almost  desert  island  of  Sable,  near  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  La 
Roche  left  forty  men,  while  he  returned  to  France  for  supplies.     He  died  soon  afterward,  and  for 
seven  years  the  poor  emigrants  were  neglected.     "When  a  vessel  was  finally  sent  for  them,  only 
twelve  survived.     They  were  taken  to  France,  their  crimes  were  pardoned  by  the  knig,  and  their 
immediate  wants  were  supplied.  3  page  20.  4  Note  5,  page  20. 

'  Dr.* Jeremy  Belknap,  the  historian  of  New  Hampshire,  discovered  the  cellar  of  this  storehouse, 
in  1797. 


58  DISCOVERIES.  [1492. 

roots,  and  returned  to  England  in  June,  1602.  The  glowing  accounts  of  the 
country  which  Gosnold  gave,  awakened  the  enterprise  of  some  Bristol  mer 
chants,1  and  the  following  year  [1603]  they  fitted  out  two  vessels  for  the  pur 
pose  of  exploration  and  traffic  with  the  natives.  The  command  was  given  to 
Martin  Pring,  a  friend  of  both  Raleigh  and  Gosnold.  Following  the  track  of 
the  latter,  he  discovered  the  shores  of  Maine,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Penobscot 
[June],  and  coasting  westward,  he  entered  and  explored  several  of, the  larger 
rivers  of  that  State.  He  continued  sailing  along  the  coast  as  far  as  Martha? s 
Vineyard,  trading  with  the  natives  ;  and  from  that  island  he  returned  to  En 
gland,  after  an  absence  of  only  six  months.  Pring  made  another  voyage  to 
Maine,  in  1606,  and  more  thoroughly  explored  the  country.  Maine  was  also 
visited  in  1605,  by  Captain  George  Wey mouth,  who  had  explored  the  coast  pf 
Labrador,  in  search  of  a  north-west  passage  to  India.2  He  entered  the  Saga- 
dahock,  and  took  formal  possession  of  the  country  in  the  name  of  King  James. 
There  he  decoyed  five  natives  on  board  his  vessel,  and  then  sailed  for  England. 
These  forest  children  excited  much  curiosity ;  and  the  narratives  of  other  mari 
ners  of  the  west  of  England,  wrho  visited  these  regions  at  about  the  same  time, 
gave  a  new  stimulus  to  colonizing  efforts. 

The  French  now  began  to  turn  their  attention  toward  the  New  World 
again.  In  1603,  De  Monts,  a  wealthy  French  Huguenot,3  obtained  a  commission 
of  viceroyalty  over  six  degrees  of  latitude  in  New  France,4  extending  from  Cape 
May  to  Quebec.  He  prepared  an  expedition  for  settlement,  and  arrived  at 
Nova  Scotia,5  with  two  vessels,  in  May,  1604. 6  He  passed  the  summer  there, 
trafficking  with  the  natives ;  and  in  the  autumn  he  crossed  over  to  the  mouth 
of  the  St.  Croix  (the  eastern  boundary  of  Maine),  and  erected  a  fort  there.  He 
had  left  a  few  settlers  at  Port  Royal  (now  Annapolis),  under  Poutrincomt. 
These  De  Monts  joined  the  following  spring  [1605],  and  organized  a  perma 
nent  colony.  He  named  the  place  Port  Royal ;  and  the  territory  now  included 
in  Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  and  the  adjacent  islands,  he  called  ACADIE.T 
His  efforts  promised  much  success ;  but  he  was  thwarted  by  jealous  men.  In 
1608,  he  was  deprived  of  his  vice-royal  commission,  when  he  obtained  a  grant 
of  the  monopoly  of  the  fur  trade  upon  the  St.  Lawrence,  for  one  year,  and 
another  commission,  to  plant  a  colony  elsewhere  in  New  France.  The  new 
expedition  was  placed  under  the  command  of  Samuel  Champlain  (who  accom 
panied  the  viceroy  on  his  first  voyage),  and  on  the  3d  of  June,  1608,  he 
arrived,  with  two  vessels,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Saguenay,  on  the  St.  Lawrence. 
They  ascended  the  great  river,  and  on  the  site  of  Quebec,  near  where  Cartier 
built  his  fort  almost  seventy  years  before,8  they  planted  the  first  permanent 

1  Page  46.  2  Page  510.  3  page  49.          4  page  48.          *  Note  2.  page  80. 

6  De  Monts  first  brought  swine,  and  other  domestic  animals,  into  this  portion  of  America. 
Some  were  also  taken  from  thence  to  French  settlements  planted  in  Canada  a  few  years  later.  The 
company  of  which  he  was  chief,  fitted  out  four  vessels.  De  Monts  commanded  the  two  here  men 
tioned,  assisted  by  Champlain  and  Poutrincourt. 

"'  In  1613,  Samuel  Argall  made  a  piratical  visit  to  these  coasts,  under  the  direction  of  the  gov 
ernor  of  the  Virginia  colony.  He  destroyed  the  remnant  of  De  Monts'  settlement  at  St.  Croix, 
broke  up  the  peaceful  colony  at  Port  Royal,  and  plundered  the  people  of  every  thing  of  value.  Seo 
pnge  72.  3  Page  49. 


1609.J 


ENGLISH    AND    FRENCH    DISC  0V  ERIE  S. 


59 


HENRY    HUDSON. 


French  settlement  in  the  New  World.  The  following  summer,  Champlain 
ascended  the  Richelieu  or  Sorel  River,  the  outlet  of  Lake  Champlain,  with  a 
war  party  of  Huron1  and  Algonquin2  Indians,  and  discovered  the  beautiful  lake 
which  bears  his  name,  in  the  north-eastern  part  of  the  State  of  New  York.3 

The  English  were  not  idle  while  the  French  were 
exploring,  and  making  efforts  at  settlement  in  the 
direction  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  Several  private  enter 
prises  were  in  progress,  among  the  most  important  of 
which  was  that  of  a  company  of  London  merchants 
who  sent  Henry  Hudson,  an  intimate  friend  of  Captain 
Smith,4  to  search  for  a  supposed  north-eastern  ocean 
passage  to  India.  He  made  two  unsuccessful  voyages 
to  the  regions  of  polar  ice  [1607-8],  when  the  attempt 
was  abandoned.  Anxious  to  win  the  honor  of  first 
reaching  India  by  the  northern  seas,  Hudson  applied 

to  the  Dutch  East  India  Company5  for  aid.  The  Amsterdam  directors  afforded 
it,  and  on  the  4th  of  April,  1609,  Hudson  departed  from  Amsterdam,  in  com 
mand  of  the  Half-Moon,  a  yacht  of  eighty  tons.  He 
sought  a  north-eastern  passage ;  but  after  doubling  the 
capes  of  Norway,  the  ice  was  impassable.  Turning  his 
prow,  he  steered  across  the  Atlantic,  and  first  touching 
the  continent  on  the  shores  of  Penobscot  Bayr  he 
arrived  in  sight  of  the  capes  of  Virginia  in  August, 
1609.  Proceeding  northward,  he  entered  the  mouths 
of  several  large  rivers,  and  finally  passed  the  Narrows0 
and  anchored  in  New  York  Bay.  He  proceeded  almost 
sixty  leagues  up  the  river  that  bears  his  name,  and 
according  to  the  formula  of  the  age,  took  possession  of  the  country  in  the  name 
of  the  States  General  of  Holland.7  He  returned  to  Europe8  in  November 

1  Page  22.  2  pag0  17. 

3  Champlain  penetrated  southward  as  far  as  Crown  Point ;  perhaps,  south  of  Ticonderoga,  It 
was  at  about  the  same  time  that  Hudson  went  up  the  river  that  bears  his  name,  as  far  as  Water- 
ford  ,  so  that  these  eminent  navigators,  exploring  at  different  points,  came  very  near  meeting  in  the 
wilderness.  Six  years  afterward  Champlain  discovered  Lake  Huron,  and  there  he  joined  some 
Huron  Indians  in  an  expedition  against  one  of  the  Five  Nations  in  Western  New  York.  They  had 
a  severe  battle  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  present  village  of  Canandaigua  Champlain  published 
an  account  of  his  first  voyage,  in  1613,  and  a  continuation  in  1620.  He  published  a  new  edition 
of  these  in  1632,  which  contains  a  history  of  New  France,  from  the  discovery  of  Verrazani  to  ths 
year  1631.  Champlain  died  in  1634.  <  Page  65. 

5  Dutch  mariners,  following  the  track  of  the  Portuguese,  opened  a  successful  traffic  with  East 
ern  Asia,  about  the  year  1594.     The  various  Dutch  adventurers,  in  the  India  trade,  were  united  in 
one  corporate  body  in  1602,  with  a  capital  of  over  a  million  of  dollarsr  to  whom  were  given  the 
exclusive  privilege  of  trading  in  the  seas  east  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.     This  was  the  Dutch 
East  India  Company. 

6  Entrance  to  New  York  Bay  between  Long  and  Staten  Islands. 

7  This  was  the  title  of  the  Government  of  Holland,  answering,  in  a  degree,  to  our  Congress. 

8  Hudson,  while  on  another  voyage  in  search  of  a  north-west  passage,  discovered  the  great  Bay 
in  the  northern  regions,  which  bears  his  name.     He  was  there  frozen  in  the  ice  during  the  winter 
of  1610-11.     While  endeavoring  to  make  his  way  homeward  in  the  spring,  his  crew  became  muti 
nous.     They  finally  seized  Hudson,  bound  his  arms,  and  placing  him  ana  his  sou,  and  seven  sick 
companions,  in  an  open  boat,  set  them  adrift  upon  the  cold  waters.     They  were  never  heard  of 
afterward 


THE   HALF-MOOX. 


60  DISCOVERIES.  LU92. 

1609,  and  bis  report  of  the  goodly  land  he  bad  discovered  set  in  motion  those 
commercial  measures  which  resulted  in  the  founding  of  a  Dutch  empire  in  the 
New  World. 

With  these  discoveries  commenced  the  epoch  of  settlements.  The  whole 
Atlantic  coast  of  North  America  had  been  thoroughly  or  partially  explored,  the 
general  character  and  resources  of  the  soil  had  become  known,  and  henceforth 
the  leading  commercial  nations  of  Western  Europe — England,  France,  Spain, 
and  Holland — regarded  the  transat.  intic  continent,  not  as  merely  a  rich  garden 
without  a  wall,  where  depredators  Irom  every  shore  might  come,  and,  without 
hinderance,  bear  away  its  choicest  fruit,  but  as  a  land  where  the  permanent 
foundations  of  vast  colonial  empires  might  be  laid,  from  which  parent  states 
would  receive  almost  unlimited  tribute  to  national  wealth  and  national  glory. 

When  we  contemplate  these  voyages  across  the  stormy  Atlantic,  and  con 
sider  the  limited  geographical  knowledge  of  the  navigators,  the  frailty  of  their 
vessels1  and  equipments,  the  vast  labors  and  constant  privations  endured  by 
them,  and  the  dangers  to  which  they  were  continually  exposed,  we  can  not  but 
feel  the  highest  respect  and  reverence  for  all  who  were  thus  engaged  in  opening 
the  treasures  of  the  New  World  to  the  advancing  nations  of  Europe.  Although 
acquisitiveness,  or  the  desire  for  worldly  possessions,  was  the  chief  incentive  to 
action,  and  gave  strength  to  resolution,  yet  it  could  not  inspire  courage  to 
encounter  the  great  dangers  of  the  deep  and  the  wilderness,  nor  fill  the  heart 
with  faith  in  prophecies  of  success.  These  sentiments  must  have  been  innate  : 
and  those  who  braved  the  multitude  of  perils  were  men  of  true  courage,  and  their 
faith  came  from  the  teachings  of  the  science  of  their  day.  History  and  Song, 
Painting  and  Sculpture,  have  all  commemorated  their  deeds.  If  Alexander  the 
Great  was  thought  worthy  of  having  the  granite  body  of  Mount  Athos  hewn 
into  a  colossal  image  of  himself,2  might  not  Europe  and  America  appropriately 
join  in  the  labor  of  fashioning  some  lofty  summit  of  the  Alleghanies3  into  a  huge 
monument  to  the  memory  of  the  NAVIGATORS  who  lifted  the  vail  of  forgetful- 
ness  from  the  face  of  the  New  World  ?* 


1  The  first  ships  were  generally  of  loss  than  one  hundred  tons  burden.     Two  of  the  vessels  of 
Columbus  were  without  decks ;  and  the  one  in  which  Frobisher  sailed  was  only  twenty-five  tons 
burden. 

2  Dinocrates,  a  celebrated  architect,  offered  to  cut  Mount  Athos  into  a  statue  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  so  large,  that  it  might  hold  a  city  in  its  right  hand,  and  in  its  left  a  basin  of  sufficient  capa 
city  to  hold  all  the  waters  that  poured  from  the  mountain.  3  Note  3,  page  19. 

4  Page  47  There  has  been  much  discussion  concerning  the  claims  of  certain  navigators,  to  the 
honor  of  first  discovering  the  Continent  of  America.  A  "  Memoir  of  Sebastian  Cabot,1'  illustrated  by 
documents  from  the  Rolls,  published  in  London  in  1832,  appears  to  prove  conclusively  that  he,  and 
not  his  father,  was  the  navigator  who  discovered  North  America.  John  Cabot  was  a  man  of  science, 
and  a  merchant,  and  may  have  accompanied  his  son,  in  his  first  voyage  in  1497.  Yet,  in  the  patent 
of  February,  1498,  in  which  the  first  voyage  is  referred  to,  are  the  words,  "the  land  and  isles  of  late 
found  by  the  said  John,  in  our  name,  and  by  our  commandment'*  The  first  commission  being  issued 
in  the  name  of  John  Cabot,  the  discoveries  made  by  those  employed  by  him,  would  of  course  be  in 
his  name.  A  little  work,  entitled  "Researches  respecting  Americus  Vespucius,  and  his  Voyages," 
prepared  by  Viscount  Santarem,  ex-prime  minister  of  Portugal,  casts  just  doubts  upon  the  statements 
of  Vespucius,  concerning  his  command  on  a  voyage  of  discovery  when,  he  claims,  he  discovered 
South  America  [page  41]  in  1499.  He  was  doubtless  an  officer  under  Ojeda;  and  it  is  quite  cer 
tain  that  he  got  possession  of  the  narratives  of  Ojeda  and  published  them  as  his  own.  The  most, 
accessible  works  on  American  discoveries,  are  Irving's  "Life  of  Columbus;"  Prescott's  "Ferdinand 
and  Isabella;"  Lives  of  Cabot  and  Hudson,  in  Sparks's  "American  Biography,"  arid  Histories  of  thu 
United  States  by  Graham,  Bancroft  and  Hildrefh. 


CHAPTER    I. 


THERE  is  a  distinction  to  be  observed 
JOHN  SMITH.  in    considering   settlements    and    colonies. 

The  act  of  forming  a  settlement  is  not 

equivalent  to  the  establishment  of  a  colony  or  the  founding  of  a  State.  It  is 
the  initiatory  step  toward  such  an  end,  and  may  or  may  not  exhibit  permanent 
results.  A  colony  becomes  such  only  when  settlements  assume  permanency, 
and  organic  laws,  subservient  to  those  of  a  parent  government,  are  framed  for 
the  guidance  of  the  people.  It  seems  proper,  therefore,  to  consider  the  era  of 
settlements  as  distinct  from  that  of  colonial  organization. 

The  period  of  settlements  within  the  bounds  of  the  thirteen  original  colonies 
which  formed  the  Confederacy  in  the  War  for  Independence,1  extends  from  1607 
to  1733.  For  fifty  years  previous  to  the  debarkation  [1607]  at  Jamestown,2 
fishing  stations  had  been  established  at  various  points  on  the  Atlantic  coast : 
and  at  St.  Augustine,3  the  Spaniards  had  kept  a  sort  of  military  post  alive. 
Yet  the  time  of  the  appearance  of  the  English  in  the  James  River,  is  the  true 
point  from  which  to  date  the  inception  or  beginning  of  our  great  confederacy  of 


Page  229. 


2  Page  64. 


3  Page  51. 


£2  SETTLEMENTS.  [1607. 

free  States,  fwelvc  years  [1607  to  1619]  were  spent  by  English  adven 
turers  in  efforts  to  plant  a  permanent  settlement  in  Virginia.1  For  seventeen 
years  [1609  to  1623J  Dutch  traders  were  trafficking  on  the  Hudson  River, 
before  a  permanent  settlement  was  established  in  New  York.2  Fourteen  years 
[1606  to  1620]  were  necessary  to  effect  a  permanent  settlement  in  Massachu 
setts  ;3  and  for  nine  years  [1622  to  1631]  adventurers  struggled  for  a  foothold 
in  New  Hampshire.4  The  Roman  Catholics  were  only  one  year  [1634-5]  in 
laying  the  foundation  of  the  Maryland  colony.5  Seven  years  [1632  to  1639] 
were  employed  in  effecting  permanent  settlements  in  Connecticut  ;(i  eight  years 
[1636  to  1643]  in  organizing  colonial  government  in  Rhode  Island  ;7  and  about 
fifty  years  [1631  to  1682]  elapsed  from  the  landing  of  the  Swredes  on  South 
River,8  before  Delaware,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania  (whose  several  histo 
ries  of  settlements  are  interwoven),  presented  colonial  features.9  Almost  sixty 
years  [1622  to  1680]  passed  by  before  the  first  settlements  in  the  Carolinas 
became  fully  developed  colonies;10  but  Georgia,  the  youngest  of  the  thirteen 
States,  had  the  foundation  of  its  colonial  government  laid  when  Oglethorpe, 
with  the  first  company  of  settlers,  began  to  build  Savannah  in  the  winter  of 
1733. "  The  first  permanent  settlement  within  the  bounds  of  the  original 
colonies,  was  in 

VIRGINIA.     [1607—1619]. 

A  century  had  not  elapsed  after  the  discoveries  of  Columbus  [1492], 12 
before  a  great  social  and  political  revolution  had  been  effected  in  Europe. 
Commerce,  hitherto  confined  to  inland  seas  and  along  the  coasts,  was  sending 
its  ships  across  oceans.  The  art  of  printing  had  begun  its  wonderful  work  ;13 
and,  through  its  instrumentality,  intelligence  had  become  generally  diffused. 
Mind  thus  acting  upon  mind,  in  vastly  multiplied  opportunities,  had  awakened 
a  great  moral  and  intellectual  power,  whose  presence  and  strength  had  not  been 
suspected.  The  Protestant  Reformation14  had  weakened  the  bonds  of  spiritual 
dominion,  and  allowed  the  moral  faculties  fuller  play  ;  and  the  shadows  of  feudal 
institutions,15  so  chilling  to  individual  effort,  were  rapidly  disappearing  before 


1  Page  71.  2  Page  73.  3  Page  79.  4  Page  80. 

5  Page  82.  c  Page  89.  1  Page  91. '  8  Page  92. 

9  Page  97.  10  Page  99.  n  Page  103  )2  Page  40. 

13  About  the  year  1450.  Rude  printing  from  engraved  blocks  was  done  before  that  time;  but 
when  Peter  Schoeffer  cast  the  first  metal  types,  each  letter  separately,  at  about  1450,  the  art  of 
printing  truly  had  birth.  John  Faust  established  a  printing-office  at  Mentz,  in  1442.  John  Gutten- 
berg  invented  cut  metal  types,  and  used  them  in  printing  a  Bible  which  was  commenced  in  1445. 
and  finished  in  1460.  The  names  of  these  three  men  are  usually  associated  as  the  inventors  of 
printing. 

u  Commenced  by  Wickliffe,  in  England,  in  1360;  by  Huss,  in  Bohemia,  in  1405;  by  Luther, 
in  Germany,  in  1517.  From  this  period  until  1562,  the  movement  was  general  throughout  Europe. 
It  was  an  effort  to  purge  the  Christian  Church  of  all  impurities,  by  reforming  its  doctrine  and 
ritual.  The  Reformers  protested  against  some  of  the  practices  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
and  the  movement  received  the  title  of  the  Protestant  Reformation.  The  name  of  Protestants 
was  first  given  to  Luther  and  others  in  1529. 

15  The  nature  of  feudal  laws  may  be  illustrated  by  a  single  example :  William,  the  Norman 
conqueror  of  England,  divided  the  land  of  that  country  into  parts  called  baronies,  and  gave  them 
to  certain  of  his  favorites,  who  became  masters  of  the  conquered  people  on  their  respective  .estates. 
For  these  gifts,  and  certain  privileges,  the  barons,  or  masters,  were  to  furnish  the  king  with  a  stipu- 


1619.]  VIRGINIA.  63 

the  rising  sun  of  the  new  era  in  the  history  of  the  world.  Freedom  of  thought 
and  action  expanded  the  area  of  ideas,  and  gave  birth  to  those  tolerant  princi 
ples  which  lead  to  brotherhood  of  feeling.  The  new  impulse  developed  nobler 
motives  for  human  action  than  the  acquisition  of  wealth  and  power,  and  these 
soon  engendered  healthy  schemes  for  founding  industrial  empires  in  the  New 
World.  Aspirations  for  civil  freedom,  awakened  by  greater  religious  liberty, 
had  begun  the  work,  especially  in  England,  where  the  Protestants  were  already 
divided  into  two  distinct  parties,  called,  respectively,  Churchmen  and  Puritans. 
The  former  supported  the  throne  and  all  monarchic  ideas;  the  latter  were 
more  republican ;  and  from  their  pulpits  went  forth  doctrines  inimical  to  kingly 
power.  These  religious  differences  had  begun  to  form  a  basis  of  political 
parties,  and  finally  became  prime  elements  of  colonization. 

Another  event,  favorable  to  the  new  impulse,  now  exerted  a  powerful  influ 
ence.  A  long  contest  between  England  and  France  ceased  in  1604.  Soldiers, 
an  active,  restless  class  in  England,  were  deprived  of  employment,  and  would 
soon  become  dangerous  to  the  public  peace.  While  population  and  general 
prosperity  had  greatly  increased,  there  was  another  large  class,  who,  by  idle 
ness  and  dissipation,  had  squandered  fortunes,  and  had  become  desperate  men. 
The  soldiers  needed  employment,  either  in  their  own  art,  or  in  equally  exciting 
adventures ;  and  the  impoverished  spendthrifts  were  ready  for  any  thing  which 
promised  gain.  Such  were  the  men  who  stood  ready  to  brave  ocean  perils  and 
the  greater  dangers  of  the  Western  World,  when  such  minds  as  those  of  Fer 
nando  Gorges,  Bartholomew  Gosnold,  Chief  Justice  Popham,  Richard  Hakluyt, 
Captain  John  Smith,  and  others,  devised  new  schemes  for  colonization.  The 
weak  and  timid  James  the  First,1  who  desired  and  maintained  peace  with  other 
nations  during  his  reign,  was  glad  to  perceive  a  new  field  for  restless  and 
adventurous  men  to  go  to,  and  he  readily  granted  a  liberal  patent  [April  20, 
1606]  to  the  first  company  formed  after  his  accession  to  the  throne,  for  planting 
settlements  in  Virginia.  The  English  then  claimed  dominion  over  a  belt  of 
territory  extending  from  Cape  Fear,  in  North  Carolina,  to  Halifax,  in  Nova 
Scotia,  and  indefinitely  westward.  This  was  divided  into  two  districts.  One 
extended  from  the  vicinity  of  New  York  city  northward  to  the  present  southern 
boundary  of  Canada,  including  the  whole  of  New  England,  and  westward  of  it, 
and  was  called  NORTH  VIRGINIA.  This  territory  was  granted  to  a  company 
of  "knights,  gentlemen,  and  merchants"  in  the  west  of  England,  called  the 
Plymouth  Company?  The  other  district  extended  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Potomac  southward  to  Cape  Fear,  and  was  called  SOUTH  VIRGINIA.  It  was 

lated  amount  of  money,  and  a  stated  number  of  men  for  soldiers,  when  required.  The  people  had  no 
voice  in  this  matter,  nor  in  any  public  affairs,  and  were  made  essentially  slaves  to  the  barons.  Out 
of  this  state  of  things  originated  the  exclusive  privileges  yet  enjoyed  by  the  nobility  of  Europe. 
Except  in  Russia,  the  people  have  been  emancipated  from  this  vassalage,  and  the  ancient  forms  of 
feudal  power  have  disappeared. 

1  He  was  the  Sixth  James  of  Scotland,  of  the  house  of  Stuart,  and  son  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scot 
land,  by  Lor^l  Darnley.     The  crowns  of  England  and  Scotland  were  united  by  his  accession  to  the 
throne  of  the  former  kingdom,  in  March,  1G03. 

2  The  chief  members  of  the  company  were  Thomas  Hanham,  Sir  John  and  Raleigh  Gilbert  (sons 
of  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert),  William  Parker,  George  Popham,  Sir  John  Popham  (Lord  Chief  Justice 
of  England),  and  Sir  Fernando  Gorges,  Governor  of  Plymouth  Fort. 


64  SETTLEMENTS.  [16U7. 

granted  to  a  company  of  "  noblemen,  gentlemen  and  merchants,"  chiefly  resi 
dents  of  London,  called  the  London  Company. l  The  intermediate  domain  of 
almost  tAvo  hundred  miles,  was  a  dividing  line,  so  broad  that  disputes  about 
territory  could  not  occur,  as  neither  company  was  allowed  to  make  settlements 
more  than  fifty  miles  beyond  its  own  boundary. 

The  idea  of  popular  freedom  was  as  yet  the  heritage  of  a  favored  few,  and 
the  political  character  of  the  first  colonial  charter,  under  which  a  permanent 
settlement  was  made  within  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  was  unfavorable 
to  the  best  interests  of  all.  The  king  reserved  to  himself  the  right  of  appoint 
ing  all  officers,  and  of  exercising  all  executive  and  legislative  power.  The 
colonists  were  to  pay  homage  to  the  sovereign,  and  a  tribute  of  one  fifth  of  the 
net  products  of  gold  and  silver  found  in  Virginia ;  yet  they  possessed  no  rights 
of  self-government.  They  were  to  be  governed  by  a  council  of  seven  appointed 
by  the  king,  who  were  allowed  to  choose  a  president  from  among  themselves. 
There  was  also  a  Supreme  Council  in  England,  appointed  by  the  king,  who  had 
the  general  supervision  of  the  colonies,  under  the  direction  of  the  monarch. 
That  charter  was  the  conception  of  a  narrow  mind,  and  despotic  temper,  and 
proved  totally  inadequate  as  a  constitution  of  government  for  a  free  people. 

The  North  Virginia,  or  Plymouth  Company,  made  the  first  attempt  at  set 
tlement,  and  failed.2  The  South  Virginia,  or  London  Company,  sent  Captain 
Christopher  Newport,  with  three  vessels  and  one  hundred  and  five  emigrants 
[Dec.,  1606 J,  to  make  a  settlement  upon  Roanoke  Island,3  where  Raleigh's 
colony  had  perished  almost  twenty  years  before.  Among  them  was  Bartholo 
mew  Gosnold,  the  projector  of  the  expedition.  They  possessed  very  poor 
materials  for  a  colony.  There  was  no  family  among  them,  and  only  "twelve 
laborers  and  a  few  mechanics."  The  remainder  were  "  gentlemen,"4  many  of 
whom  were  vicious,  dissolute  men,  totally  unfit  for  such  an  enterprise,  and 
quite  unworthy  to  be  actors  in  the  glorious  events  anticipated  by  Gosnold  and 
his  enlightened  associates  at  home.  The  voyage  was  a  long  and  tedious  one. 
Newport  pursued  the  old  route  by  the  Canaries  and  the  West  Indies,  and  did 
not  arrive  upon  the  American  coast  until  April,  1607,  when  a  storm  drove  his 
vessels  into  Chesapeake  Bay,  where  he  found  a  good  harbor.  He  named  the 
capes  at  the  entrance,  Charles  and  Henry,  in  honor  of  the  king's  sons.  A 
pleasant  point  of  the  Virginia  peninsula,  between  the  York  and  James  Rivers, 
which  they  next  landed  upon  and  enjoyed  repose,  he  named  Point  Comfort ;  and 
the  noble  Powhatan  River  which  he  soon  afterward  entered  he  called  James. 
Sailing  up  the  broad  stream  about  fifty  miles,  the  immigrants  landed  upon  a 
beautiful,  shaded  peninsula,5  where  they  chose  a  site  for  the  capital  of  the  new 
empire,  and  called  it  JAMESTOWN. 

1  The  chief  members  of  the  company  were  Sir  Thomas  Gates.  Sir  George  Somers,  Richard  Hak- 
luyt  (the  historian),  and  Edward  Maria  Wingfield,  who  was  the  first  governor  of  Virginia. 

2  Page  73.  ^  Page  55. 

4  This  name  was  given  to  wealthy  men,  who  were  not  engaged  in  any  industrial  pursuit,  and 
often  spent  their  lives  in  idleness  and  dissipation  ;  a  class  which,  in  our  day  and  country,  number, 
happily,  very  few.     Labor  is  worthily  honored  as  more  noble  than  idleness. 

5  This  may  be  called  an  island,  for  the  marsh  which  connects  it  with  the  mainland  is  often  over 
flowed.     The  currents  of  the  river  have  washed  away  large  portions  of  the  original  island. 


1619.]  VIRGINIA.  (35 

111  feelings  had  been  engendered  before  they  reached  the  Canary  Islands, 
and  violent  disputes  had  arisen  during  the  long  voyage.  As  the  silly  king  had 
placed  the  names  of  the  colonial  council  in  a  sealed  box,  with  instructions  not 
to  open  it  until  their  arrival  in  Virginia,  there  was  no  competent  authority  on 
board  to  restore  harmony.  Captain  Smith,1  who  was  the  most  able  man  among 
them,  excited  the  envy  of  his  companions  ;  and  being  charged  with  a  design  to 
murder  the  council,  usurp  government,  and  proclaim  himself  king,  he  was 
placed  in  confinement.  On  opening  the  sealed  box,  it  was  discovered  that 
Smith  was  one  of  the  council.  He  was  released  from  confinement;  but, 
through  the  influence  of  Wingfield,  an  avaricious,  unprincipled,  but  talented 
man,  he  was  excluded  from  office.  Smith  demanded  a  trial  upon  the  absurd 
charges.  The  accusation  was  withdrawn,  and  he  took  his  seat  in  the  council, 
over  which  Wingfield  was  chosen  to  preside. 

Soon  after  landing,  Newport,  Smith,  and  twenty  others,  ascended  the 
James  River  to  the  Falls  at  Richmond,  and  visited  the  emperor  of  the  Powhat- 
ans,a  whose  residence  was  a  mile  below  the  foot  of  the  rapids.  The  title  of  the 
emperor  was  Powhatan,  which  signified  supreme  ruler,  as  did  Pharaoh  in  the 
antient  Egyptian  language — the  chief  man  in  Egypt.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
ability,  and  commanded  the  reverence  of  the  whole  confederation.  He  appeared 
friendly  to  the  English,  notwithstanding  his  people  murmured  at  their  presence ; 
and  the  visitors  returned  to  Jamestown  much  gratified. 

Early  in  June,  1607,  Newport  sailed  for  England,  to  obtain  more  settlers 
and  provisions.  The  little  band  of  emigrants  soon  perceived  the  perils  of  their 
situation.  A  large  portion  of  their  provisions  had  been  spoiled  during  the 
voyage.  They  had  not  planted,  therefore  they  could  not  reap.  The  neighboring 
tribes  evinced  hostility,  and  withheld  supplies.  Poisonous  vapor  arose  from 
the  marshes ;  and  before  the  close  of  summer,  one  half  of  the  adventurers  per 
ished  by  disease  and  famine.  Among  the  victims  was  Gosnoldt,  The  settlers, 
in  their  despair,  reproached  themselves  and  the  leaders  of  the  expedition,  and 
longed  to  depart  for  the  Old  World.  In  the  midst  of  their  despondency,  the 
survivors  discovered  that  president  Wingfield  was  living  on  choice  stores,  and 
was  preparing  to  abandon  the  colony  and  escape  to  the  West  Indies  in  the  pin 
nace3  left  by  Newport.  Their  indignation  was  thoroughly  aroused,  and  he  was 
deposed.  RatclhTe,  a  man  as  weak  and  wicked  as  Wingfield,  was  chosen  his 
successor.  He,  too,  was  speedily  dismissed :  and  the  settlers,  with  one  con 
sent,  wisely  turned  to  Smith  as  ruler. 

It  was  a  happy  hour  for  the  Virginia  settlers  when  Captain  Smith  took  the 
reins  of  government.  All  was  confusion  ;  but  he  soon  restored  order  ;  and  by 
his  courage  and  energy,  inspired  the  Indians  with  awe,  and  compelled  them  to 
bring  him  supplies  of  food.  In  October,  wild  game  became  plentiful ;  and  at 
the  beginning  of  November,  the  abundant  harvest  of  Indian  corn  was  gathered 

1  See  portrait  at  the  head  of  this  Chapter.     Smith  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  his 
time.     He  was  born  in  Lincolnshire,  England ;  and  after  many  adventures  in  Europe,  went  to 
America.     He  died  in  1631.     He  wrote  a  History  of  Virginia,  and  several  other  works. 

2  Page  20.  3  A  small,  light  vessel,  with  sails  and  oars. 


66 


SETTLEMENTS. 


[1607. 


by  the  natives,  and  they  supplied  the  settlers  with  all  they  needed.  Having 
established  a  degree  of  comfort  and  prosperity,  Smith  started,  with  some  com 
panions,  to  explore  the  surrounding  country.  He  ascended  the  Chickahomminy 
River  fifty  miles  from  its  mouth,  and  then,  with  two  companions,  penetrated 
the  vast  forest  that  covered  the  land.  His  companions  were  slain  by  the  na 
tives,  and  he  was  made  a  captive.  After  being  exhibited  in  several  villages,  he 
was  taken  to  Opechancanough,1  the  eldest  brother  of  Powhatan,  who,  regarding 
Smith  as  a  superior  being,  spared  his  life,  and  conducted  him  to  the  emperor. 
then  at  Weroworomoco,  on  the  York  River.2  A  solemn  council  decided  that 
the  captive  must  die,  and  Smith  was  prepared  for  execution.  His  head  was 
placed  upon  a  stone,  and  the  heavy  clubs  of  the  executioners  were  raised  to 
crush  it,  when  Pocahontas,  a  child  of  "ten  or  twelve  years/'3  the  favorite 


P  0  C  A  II  O  N  T  A  S . 


daughter  of  Powhatan,  rushed  from  her  father's  side,  and  casting  herself  upon 
the  captive,  besought  the  king  to  spare  his  life.  Powhatan  consented,  and 
Smith  was  conducted  in  safety  to  Jamestown  by  a  guard  of  twelve  men,  after 
an  absence  of  seven  weeks. 

God,  in  his  providence,  overrules  every  thing  for  good.  It  is  seen  in  this 
event,  for  Smith's  captivity  was  a  public  benefit.  He  had  acquired  a  knowl 
edge  of  the  Indian  character,  and  of  the  country  and  its  resources,  and  also  had 
formed  friendly  relations  with  the  sachems  and  chiefs.  Had  his  companions 


1  Note  5,  page  106. 

2  At  Shelly,  nearly  opposite  the  mouth  of  Queen's  Creek,  Gloucester  County,  Virginia. 

70. 


1619.]  VIRGINIA.  (37 

possessed  half  as  much  energy  and  honesty  as  Smith,  all  would  have  been  well. 
But  they  were  idle,  improvident,  and  dissolute.  As  usual,  he  found  every 
thing  in  disorder  on  his  return  from  the  forest.  Only  forty  men  were  living, 
and  a  greater  portion  of  them  were  on  the  point  of  escaping  to  the  West  Indies 
in  the  pinnace ;  but  the  courage  and  energy  of  Smith  compelled  them  to  re 
main.  Conscious  of  the  purity  of  their  ruler  and  the  wickedness  of  themselves, 
they  hated  him  intensely,  and  from  that  time  they  plotted  for  his  destruction, 
or  the  overthrow  of  his  power. 

Captain  Newport  arrived  with  supplies  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  im 
migrants,  early  in  1608.  These  were  no  better  than  the  first  adventurers. 
Instead  of  agriculturalists  and  mechanics,  with  families,  they  were  idle  "  gentle 
men,"  "packed  hither,"  as  Smith  said,  "by  their  friends,  to  escape  ill  destin 
ies."  There  were  also  several  unskillful  goldsmiths,  the  very  men  least  needed 
in  the  colony.  Some  glittering  earth  in  the  vicinity  of  Jamestown,  was  by  them 
mistaken  for  gold  ;  and  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  Smith,  the  whole  indus 
try  of  the  colony  was  directed  to  the  supposed  treasure.  l '  There  was  no  talk, 
no  hope,  no  work,  but  dig  gold,  work  gold,  refine  gold,  load  gold."  Newport 
loaded  his  vessel  with  the  worthless  earth,  and  returned  to  England,  believing 
himself  exceedingly  rich  ;  but  science  soon  pronounced  him  miserably  poor  in 
useful  knowledge  and  well-earned  reputation. 

The  gold-fever  had  taken  strong  hold  upon  the  indolent  dreamers,  and 
Smith  remonstrated  against  idleness  and  pleaded  for  industry,  in  vain.  He 
implored  the  settlers  to  plow  and  sow,  that  they  might  reap  and  be  happy. 
They  refused  to  listen,  and  he  turned  from  James|own  with  disgust,  "With  a 
few  sensible  men,  he  went  to  explore  the  Chesapeake  in  an  open  boat,  and 
every  bay.  inlet,  and  creek,  received  his  attention.  He  went  up  the  Potomac 
to  the  falls  above  Washington  city ;  and  then,  after  exploring  the  shores  of  the 
Rappahannock  to  the  site  of  Fredericsburg,  he  returned  to  Jamestown.  A 
few  days  afterward  he  returned  again  to  the  Chesapeake,  carefully  explored 
each  shore  above  the  mouth  of  the  Potomac,  and  entered  the  Patapsco,  and  ate 
Indian  corn  on  the  site  of  Baltimore.  He  also  went  up  the  Susquehannah  to 
the  beautiful  vale  of  Wyoming,1  and  penetrated  the  forests  even  to  the  territory 
of  the  Five  Nations,2  and  established  friendly  relations  with  the  dusky  tribes. 
Within  three  months  he  traveled  full  three  thousand  miles.  It  was  one  of  the 
most  wonderful  of  exploring  expeditions,  considered  in  all  its  aspects,  ever  re 
corded  by  the  pen  of  history ;  and  the  map  of  the  country,  which  Smith  con 
structed  on  his  return,  is  yet  in  existence  in  England,  and  is  remarkable  for  its 
general  accuracy. 

Captain  Smith  returned  to  Jamestown  on  the  7th  of  September,  1608,  and 
three  days  afterward  he  was  formally  made  president  of  the  settlement.  New 
port  arrived  soon  afterward,  with  seventy  immigrants,  among  whom  were  two 
females,  the  first  English  women  ever  seen  upon  the  James  River.3  To  the 
soil  they  were  compelled  to  look,  chiefly,  for  their  food,  and  Smith  exerted  all 

Page  290.  "•  Page  23.  3  Page  105. 


03  SETTLEMENTS.  [1607. 

his  energies  to  turn  the  little  industry  of  the  settlers  to  agriculture.  He  suc 
ceeded,  in  a  degree,  but  he  had  poor  materials  out  of  which  to  form  a  healthy, 
self-sustaining  commonwealth.  He  wrote  to  the  Supreme  Council1  to  send  over 
a  different  class  of  men.  "I  entreat  you,"  lie  said,  "rather  send  but  thirty 
carpenters,  husbandmen,  gardeners,  fishermen,  blacksmiths,  masons,  and  diggers 
of  trees'  roots,  well  provided,  than  a  thousand  such  as  we  have."  Yet,  with  all 
his  exertions,  idleness  and  improvidence  prevailed.  At  the  end  of  two  years 
from  the  first  landing  at  Jamestown,  and  when  the  settlement  numbered  two 
hundred  strong  men,  not  more  than  forty  acres  were  under  cultivation.  To  the 
Indians  the  white  people  were  compelled  to  look  for  their  chief  supply  of  food. 

The  London  Company  were  disappointed,  for  the  anticipations  of  sudden 
wealth,  in  which  they  had  indulged,  were  not  realized,  and  they  sought  and  ob 
tained  a  new  charter  [June  2,  1609],  which  gave  them  more  ample  privileges. 
The  territory  of  SOUTH  VIRGINIA*  was  extended  northward  to  the  head  of  the 
Chesapeake.  The  Supreme  Council  was  vested  with  power  to  fill  vacancies  in 
its  own  body,  and  to  appoint  a  governor  for  Virginia,  whose  rule  was  made  ab 
solute.  The  lives,  liberties,  and  property  of  the  settlers  were  at  his  disposal, 
and  they  were  compelled  to  contribute  a  certain  share  of  their  earnings  to  the 
proprietors.  Thus  they  were  mere  vassals  nt  will,  under  a  petty  despotism, 
without  any  inherent  power,  then  recognized,  to  cast  off  the  yoke. 

Under  that  charter,  Lord  De  la  Warr  (Delaware),  an  enlightened  peer, 
vras  appointed  governor  of  Virginia,  for  life,  and  soon  afterward  Newport  sailed 
for  America,  [June  12,  1609],  with  nine  ships,  and  more  than  five  hundred 
emigrants.3  Sir  Thomas  Gates,  the  governor's  deputy,  embarked  with  New 
port,  accompanied  by  Sir  George  Somers.  Gates,  Newport,  and  Somers, 
were  commissioned  to  administer  the  government  until  the  arrival  of  Delaware. 
When  near  the  coast,  a  hurricane  dispersed  the  fleet,  and  the  vessel  bearing  the 
commissioners  was  wrecked  on  one  of  the  Bermuda  Islands.  Seven  vessels  of 
the  squadron  reached  the  James  River  in  safety.  The  colony  would  have  been 
the  gainer  had  these  never  arrived,  for  a  greater  portion  of  the  new  immigrants 
were  more  profligate,  if  possible,  than  the  first.  They  were  dissolute  scions  of 
wealthy  families,  and  many  of  them  came  to  avoid  punishment  for  crimes  at 
home.  They  regarded  Virginia  as  a  paradise  for  libertines,  and  believed  the 
colony  to  be  without  a  head  until  the  arrival  of  the  governor  or  his  deputy. 
Smith,  on  the  contrary,  boldly  asserted  his  authority  as  president,  and  main 
tained  it  until  an  accident  in  autumn  compelled  him  to  go  to  England  for  sur 
gical  aid,4  when  he  delegated  his  authority  to  George  Percy,  brother  of  the 
duke  of  Northumberland. 

When  the  idle  and  profligate  settlers  were  released  from  the  control  of 


1  Page  64.  "  Page  63. 

2  Domestic  animals  were  now  first  taken  to  Virginia      They  consisted  of  six  mares,  one  horse, 
six  hundred  swine,  a  few  sheep  and  goats,  and  five  hundred  domestic  fowls.     Two  years  later  one 
hundred  cows  and  some  other  cattle  were  brought  over. 

4  While  passing  down  the  James  Eiver,  in  a  boat,  from  the  Falls,  Smith's  bag  of  powder  ignited, 
and  the  explosion  almost  killed  him.     His  wounds  were  so  severe  as  to  require  the  most  skillful 


1619.]  VIRGINIA.  (39 

Smith,  they  gave  themselves  up  to  every  irregularity  of  life.  Their  ample 
stock  of  provisions  was  rapidly  consumed.  The  Indians  had  great  respect  for 
Smith,  and  were  friendly  while  he  remained,  but  after  his  departure,  they 
openly  showed  their  contempt  for  the  English,  withheld  supplies  of  provisions, 
and  conceived  a  plan  for  the  total  extermination  of  the  white  intruders.  Fam 
ine  ensued,  and  the  winter  and  spring  of  1610  were  long  remembered  as  "the 
starving  time."  Those  who  wrent  to  the  cabins  of  the  Indians,  for  food,  were 
treacherously  murdered ;  and  finally  a  plan  was  matured  by  the  natives  for 
striking  a  blow  of  utter  extermination.  Again  Pocahontas  performed  the  part 
of  a  guardian  angel.1  On  a  dark  and  stormy  night  she  hastened  to  Jamestown, 
revealed  the  plot,  and  was  back  to  her  couch  before  the  dawn.  Thus,  she  saved 
the  colonists  by  placing  them  on  their  guard.  Yet  death  hovered  over  them. 
The  horrors  of  destitution  increased,  and  the  settlement  which  numbered  five 
hundred  persons  when  Smith  left,  was  reduced  to  sixty  within  six  months  after 
his  departure.  The  commissioners2  finally  arrived.  They  constructed  a  rude 
vessel  upon  the  barren  island  where  they  were  wrecked,  and  in  it  reached 
Virginia,  in  June,  1610.  Instead  of  being  greeted  by  a  flourishing  people, 
they  were  met  by  a  mere  remnant,  almost  famished.  There  appeared  no  way 
to  obtain  food,  and  Gates  determined  to  sail  immediately  for  Newfoundland,3 
and  distribute  the  immigrants  among  the  English  fishing  vessels  there.  James 
town  was  utterly  abandoned,  and  toward  Hampton  Roads4  the  dejected  settlers 
sailed  in  four  pinnaces.  Early  the  next  morning  white  sails  greeted  their 
vision.  Lord  Delaware  had  arrived  with  provisions  and  immigrants  ;  and  that 
very  night,  Jamestown,  abandoned  to  pagans  in  the  morning,  was  made  vocal 
with  hymns  of  thanksgiving  to  the  true  God,  by  the  returned  settlers. 

Governor  Delaware  wras  a  virtuous  and  prudent  man.  and  under  his  admin 
istration  the  colony  began  to  prosper.  Failing  health  compelled  him  to  return 
to  England  the  following  spring  [March,  161 1J ;  and  he  left  the  government 
in  the  hands  of  Percy,  Smith's  successor,  who  managed  with  prudence  until  the 
arrival  of  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  with  supplies.5  Dale  was  an  experienced  soldier, 
and,  assuming  the  government,  he  ruled  by  martial  law.  Early  in  September 
following,  Sir  Thomas  Gates  arrived  with  six  well-furnished  ships,  and  three 
hundred  immigrants.  With  this  arrival  came  hope  for  the  colony.  A  large 
portion  of  the  new  settlers  were  sober,  industrious  men,  and  their  arrival  gave 
great  joy  to  the  four  hundred  colonists  at  Jamestown.  Gates  assumed  the 
functions  of  governor,  and  Dale  went  up  the  river  to  plant  new  settlements  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Appomattox  and  near  the  Falls.6  And  now  a  wise  change  in 
the  domestic  policy  of  the  colony  was  made.  Hitherto  the  land  had  been 
worked  in  common,  and  the  product  of  labor  was  deposited  in  public  storehouses, 
for  the  good  of  the  community.  The  industrious  created  food  for  the  indolent, 
and  an  incentive  to  effort  was  wanting.  That  incentive  was  necessary ;  and  it 
was  found  in  the  plan  of  making  an  assignment  of  a  few  acres  of  land  to  each 

1  Page  66.  a  Page  68.  3  Page  47.  4  Note  3,  page  297. 

5  Delaware  afterward  sailed  for  Virginia,  to  resume  the  reins  of  government,  but  died  on  the 
voyage.  «  Near  the  present  City  Point,  and  Richmond. 


70  SETTLEMENTS.  [1607. 

man,  to  be  cultivated  for  his  own  private  benefit.  This  regulation  gave  a  pow 
erful  impulse  to  industry.  Larger  assignments  were  made,  and  soon  the  com 
munity  system  was  abandoned,  and  industry  on  private  account  created  an 
ample  supply  of  food  for  all.1 

A  third  charter  was  obtained  by  the  London  Company,  on  the  22d 
of  Marck,  1612,  by  which  the  control  of  the  king  was  annulled.  The 
Supreme  Council  was  abolished,  and  the  whole  company,  sitting  as  a  demo 
cratic  assembly,  elected  the  officers,  and  ordained  the  laws,  for  the  colony. 
Yet  no  political  privilege  was  granted  to  the  settlers.  Their  very  exist 
ence  as  a  body  politic,  was  completely  ignored.  They  had  no  voice  in  the 
choice  of  rulers  and  the  enactment  of  laws.  Yet  they  were  contented ;  and  at 
the  beginning  of  1613  there  were  a  thousand  Englishmen  in  Virginia.  At 
about  this  time  an  event  occurred,  which  proved  of  permanent  benefit  to  the 
settlement.  Powhatan  had  continued  to  manifest  hostile  feelings  ever  since  the 
departure  of  Smith.  For  the  purpose  of  extorting  advantageous  terms  of  peace 
from  the  Indian  king,  Captain  Argall  (a  sort  of  buccaneer),2  bribed  an  Indian 
chief,  with  a  copper  kettle,  to  betray  the  trusting  Pocahontas  into  his  hands. 
She  was  induced  to  go  on  board  his  vessel,  where  she  was  detained  as  a  prisoner 
for  several  months,  until  Powhatan  ransomed  her.  In  the  mean  while,  a  mutual 
attachment  had  grown  up  between  the  maiden  and  John  Rolfe,  a  young  En 
glishman  of  good  family.  He  had  instructed  her  in  letters  and  religion  ;  and, 
with  the  consent  of  Powhatan,  she  received  the  rite  of  Christian  baptism,  and 
became  the  wife  of  Rolfe,  in  April,  1613.  This  union  brought  peace,  and 
Powhatan  was  ever  afterward  the  friend  of  the  English. 

Prosperity  now  smiled  upon  the  settlement,  yet  the  elements  of  a  perma 
nent  State  were  wanting.  There  were  no  families  in  Virginia,  and  all  the 
settlers  indulged  in  anticipations  of  returning  to  England,  which  they  regarded 
as  home.  Gates  went  thither  in  March,  1614,  leaving  the  administration  of 
government  with  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  who  ruled  with  wisdom  and  energy  for 
about  two  years,  and  then  departed,  after  appointing  George  Yeardley  deputy- 
governor.  During  Yeardley 's  administration,  the  culture  of  the  tobacco  plant' 
was  promoted,  and  so  rapidly  did  it  gain  in  favor,  that  it  soon  became,  not  only 
the  principal  article  of  export,  but  the  currency  of  the  colony.  And  now 
[161 7 J  Argall,  the  buccaneer,  was  appointed  deputy-governor.  He  was  a  des 
pot  in  feelings  and  practice,  and  soon  disgusted  the  people.  He  was  succeeded 
by  Yeardley,  who  was  appointed  governor  in  1619 ;  and  then  dawned  the  natal 
morning  of  Virginia  as  a  Republican  State.  Yeardley  abolished  martial  law, 

1  A  similar  result  was  seen  in  the  operations  of  the  Plymouth  colony.     See  page  116. 

2  Xote  7,  page  58. 

3  This  plant,  yet  very  extensively  cultivated  in  Virginia  and  the  adjoining  States,  was  first 
discovered  by  Sir  Francis  Drake,  near  Tabaco,  in  Yucatan :  hence  its  name.     Drake  and  Raleigh 
first  introduced  it  into  England.     King  James  conceived  a  great  hatred  of  it,  and  wrote  a  treatise 
against  its  use.     He  forbade  its  cultivation  in  England,  but  could  not  prevent  its  importation  from 
Virginia.     It  became  a  very  profitable  article  of  commerce,  and  the  streets  of  Jamestown  were 
planted  with  it.     Other  agricultural  productions  were  neglected,  and  while  cargoes  of  tobacco  were 
preparing  for  England,  the  necessaries  of  life  were  wanting.     The  money  value  of  tobacco  was  about 
sixty-six  cents  a  pound. 


1619.]  NEW     YORK.  fl 

released  the  planters  from  feudal  service  to  the  colony,1  and  established  repre 
sentative  government.2  The  settlement  was  divided  into  eleven  boroughs,  and 
two  representatives,  called  burgesses,  were  chosen  by  the  people  for  each. 
These*  with  the  governor  and  council,  constituted  the  colonial  government. 
The  burgesses  were  allowed  to  debate  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  good  of  the 
colony  :  but  their  enactments  were  not  legal  until  sanctioned  by  the  company 
in  England.  The  most  important  event  of  that  year  occurred  on  the  28th  of 
June.  On  that  day,  the  first  representative  assembly  ever  convened  in  Amer 
ica,  met  at  Jamestown.  Then  and  there,  the  foundations  of  the  VIRGINIA 
commonwealth  were  laid.  The  people  now  began  to  regard  Virginia  as  their 
home,  and  "fell  to  building  houses  and  planting  corn."  Within  two  years 
afterward,  one  hundred  and  fifty  reputable  young  women  were  sent  over  to 
become  wives  to  the  planters.3  the  tribe  of  gold-seekers  and  "gentlemen"  was 
extinct,  for  "it  was  not  the  will  of  God  that  the  new  State  should  be  formed 
of  such  material ;  that  such  men  should  be  the  fathers  of  a  progeny  born  on  the 
American  soil,  who  were  one  day  to  assert  American  liberty  by  their  eloquence, 
and  defend  it  by  their  valor."  4 


CHAPTER    II. 

NEW     YORK      [1G09  — 1G23]. 

IN  a  preceding  chapter,5  we  have  considered  the  discovery  and  exploration 
of  the  river,  bearing  his  name,  by  Henry  Hudson,  then  in  the  service  of  the 
Dutch  East  India  Company.  On  his  return  to  England  [Nov.  1609],  he  for 
warded  to  his  employers  in  Amsterdam,6  a  brilliant  account  of  his  discoveries  in 
America.  Jealous  of  the  maritime  enterprise  and  growing  power  of  the  Dutch, 
the  British  king  would  not  allow  Hudson  to  go  to  Holland,  fearing  he  might  be 
employed  in  making  further  discoveries,  or  in  planting  settlements  in  America. 
This  narrow  and  selfish  policy  of  James  was  of  no  avail,  for  the  ocean  pathway 
to  new  and  fertile  regions,  once  opened,  could  easily  be  traversed  by  inferior 
navigators.  This  fact  was  soon  demonstrated.  In  1610,  some  wealthy  mer 
chants  of  Amsterdam,  directors  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company,7  sent  a  ship 
from  the  Texel,  laden  with  merchandise,  to  traffic  with  the  Indians  upon  the 
Mauritius,8  as  the  present  Hudson  River  was  then  called.  Hudson's  ship  (the 
Half -Moon*)  was  also  sent  hither  the  same  year  on  a  like  errand ;  and  for  three 

1  Page  68. 

"  Yeardley  found  the  people  possessed  with   an  intense  desire  for  that   freedom  which  the 
English  constitution  gave  to  every  subject  of  the  realm,  and  it  was  impossible  to  reconcile  that  feel 
ing  with  the  exercise  of  the  arbitrary  power  which  had  hitherto  prevailed.     He,  therefore,  formed 
a  plan  for  a  popular  assembly  as  similar  to  the  English  parliament  as  circumstances  would  allow. 
Page  105.  4  Bancroft.  s  Page  59.  G  Page  59. 

7  Note  5,  page  59.          »  So  named,  in  honor  of  Prince  Maurice,  of  Nassau.  9  Page  59. 


72  SETTLEMENTS.  [1609. 

years  afterward,  private  enterprise  dispatched  many  vessels  from  Holland,  to 
traffic  for  furs  and  peltries.  Among  other  commanders  came  the  bold  Adrian 
Block,  the  first  navigator  of  the  dangerous  strait  in  the  East  River,  called 
Hell-Gate.  Block's  vessel  was  accidentally  burned  in  the  autumn  of  1613, 
when  he  and  his  companions  erected  some  rude  huts  for  shelter,  near  the  site 
of  the  Bowling  Green,  at  the  foot  of  Broadway,  New  York.  These  huts  formed 
the  germ  of  our  great  commercial  metropolis.  During  the  ensuing  winter 
they  constructed  a  vessel  from  the  fine  timber  which  grew  upon  Manhattan 
Island,  and  early  in  the  spring  they  sailed  up  Long  Island  Sound  on  a  voyage 
of  discovery  which  extended  to  Nahant.  Block  first  discovered  the  Connecticut 
and  Thames  Rivers,  and  penetrated  Narraganset  Bay  to  the  site  of  Provi 
dence. 

Intent  upon  gain,  Dutch  trading  vessels  now  frequently  ascended  the  Mau 
ritius,  and  a  brisk  trade  in  furs  and  peltries  was  opened  with  the  Indian  tribes, 
almost  two  hundred  miles  from  the  ocean.  The  traders  built  a  fort  and  store 
house  upon  a  little  island  just  below  Albany,  in  1614,  which  they  called  Fort 
Nassau ;  and  nine  years  later,  Fort  Orange  was  erected  near  the  river,  a  little 
south  of  the  foot  of  the  present  State-street,  in  Albany,  on  the  site  of  Albany. 
There  is  a  doubt  about  a  fort  being  erected  on  the  southern  extremity  of  Man 
hattan  Island,  at  this  time,  as  some  chroniclers  have  asserted.  It  is  probable 
the  trading-house  erected  there  was  palisaded,  as  a  precautionary  measure,  for 
they  could  not  well  determine  the  disposition  of  the  Indians. 

On  the  llth  of  October,  1614,  a  special  charter  was  granted  to  a  company 
of  Amsterdam  merchants,  giving  them  the  monopoly  of  trade  in  the  New 
World,  from  the  latitude  of  Cape  May  to  that  of  Nova  Scotia,  for  three  years. 
The  territory  was  named  NEW  NETHERLAND,  in  the  charter,  which  title  it  held 
until  it  became  an  English  province  in  1664. '  Notwithstanding  it  was  included 
in  the  grant  of  James  to  the  Plymouth  company,2  no  territorial  jurisdiction 
being  claimed,  and  no  English  settlements  having  been  made  northward  of 
Richmond,  in  Virginia,  the  Dutch  were  not  disturbed  in  their  traffic.  The 
popular  story,  that  Argall  entered  the  Bay  of  New  York  on  his  return  from 
Acadie  in  1613,  and  made  the  Dutch  traders  promptly  surrender  the  place  to 
the  English  crown,  seems  unsusceptible  of  proof.3 

Success  attended  the  Dutch  from  the  beginning.  The  trade  in  furs  and 
peltries  became  very  lucrative,  and  the  company  made  an  unsuccessful  applica 
tion  for  a  renewal  of  their  charter.  More  extensive  operations  were  in  contem 
plation;  and  on  the  3d  of  June,  1621,  the  States  General  of  Holland4 
incorporated  the  Dutch  West  India  Company,  and  invested  it  with  almost 
regal  powers,  for  planting  settlements  in  America  from  Cape  Horn  to  New 
foundland  ;  and  in  Africa,  between  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  the  Tropic  of 
Cancer,  The  special  object  of  its  enterprise  was  New  Netherland,  and  espe 
cially  the  region  of  the  Mauritius.5  The  company  was  not  completely  organized 

1  Page  144.  2  Page  63. 

3  See  Brodhead's  "  History  of  the  State  of  New  York,"  Appendix  E,  where  the  matter  is  dis 
cussed  at  some  length.  4  Note  7,  page  59.  5  Page  71. 


1620.] 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


until  the  spring  of  1623,  when  it  commenced  operations  with  vigor.  Its  first 
efforts  were  to  plant  a  permanent  colony,  and  thus  establish  a  plausible  pretext 
for  territorial  jurisdiction,  for  now  the  English  had  built  rude  cabins  on  the 
shores  of  Massachusetts  Bay.1  In  April,  1623,  thirty  families,  chiefly  Wal 
loons  (French  Protestants  who  had  fled  to  Holland),  arrived  at  Manhattan, 
under  the  charge  of  Cornelius  Jacobsen  May,  who  was  sent  to  reside  in  New 
Netherland,  as  first  director,  or  governor.  Eight  of  the  fam 
ilies  went  up  the  Mauritius  or  Hudson  River,  and  settled  at 
Albany ;  the  remainder  chose  their  place  of  abode  across  the 
channel  of  the  East  River,  and  settled  upon  lands  now  cov 
ered  by  the  eastern  portions  of  Brooklyn,  and  the  Navy 
Yard.2  Then  were  planted  the  fruitful  seeds  of  a  Dutch 
colony — then  were  laid  the  foundations  of  the  future  com 
monwealth  of  NEW  YORK.3  The  territory  was  erected  into 
a  province  and  the  armorial  distinction  of  a  count  was 
granted.4 


SEAL  OP  NEW  NETH- 
EELAND. 


CHAPTER     III. 


MASSACHUSETTS     [1GOG— 1G20]. 

Soox  after  obtaining  their  charter,  in  1606,  the  PLYMOUTH  COMPANY* 
dispatched  an  agent  in  a  small  vessel,  with  two  captive  Indians,  to  examine 
North  Virginia.  This  vessel  was  captured  by  a  Spanish  cruiser.  Another  ves 
sel,  fitted  out  at  the  sole  expense  of  Sir  John  Popham,  and  commanded  by 
Martin  Pring,  was  sent,  arid  reached  America.  Pring  confirmed  the  accounts 
of  Gosnold  and  others,6  concerning  the  beauty  and  fertility  of  the  New  England 
region.  The  following  year  [1607],  George  Popham7  came,  with  one  hundred 
immigrants,  and  landing  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sagadahoc  or  Kennebec  [August 
21],  they  erected  there  a  small  stockade,  a  storehouse,  and  a  few  huts.  All 
but  forty-five  returned  to  England  in  the  vessels ;  those  remained,  and  named 
their  settlement  Sf.  George.  A  terrible  winter  ensued.  Fire  consumed  their 
store-house  and  some  of  their  provisions,  and  the  keen  frosts  and  deep  snows 

1  Page  78. 

2  The  first  white  child  born  in  ~N"ew  Netherland  was  Sarah  Rapelje,  daughter  of  one  of  the 
Walloon  settlers.     Her  birth  occurred  on  the  7th  of  June,  1625.     She  has  a  number  of  descendants 
on  Long  Island.  3  Page  144. 

4  Several  hundred  years  ago,  there  were  large  districts  of  country  in  England,  and  on  the  con 
tinent,  governed  by  Earls,  who  were  subject  to  the  crown,  however.  These  districts  were  called 
counties,  and  the  name  is  still  retained,  even  in  the  United  States,  and  indicates  certain  judicial  and 
other  jurisdiction.  New  Netherland  was  constituted  a  county  of  Holland,  having  all  the  individual 
privileges  appertaining  to  an  earldom,  or  separate  government.  The  armorial  distinction  of  an  earl, 
or  count,  was  a  kind  of  cap,  called  coronet,  seen  over  the  shield  in  the  above  engraved  repre 
sentation  of  the  seal  of  New  Netherland.  The  figure  of  a  beaver,  on  the  shield,  is  emblematic  of 
the  Hudson  River  regions  (where  that  animal  then  abounded),  and  of  one  of  the  grand  objects  of 
settlement  there,  the  trade  in  furs.  6  Page  03.  6  Page  58.  7  Note  2,  page  63. 


74  SETTLEMENTS.  [1606. 

locked  the  waters  and  the  forests  against  the  fisherman  and  hunter.  Famine 
menaced  them,  but  relief  came  before  any  were  made  victims.  Of  all  the  com 
pany,  only  Popham,  their  president,  died.  Lacking  courage  to  brave  the  perils 
of  the  wilderness,  the  settlement  was  abandoned,  and  the  immigrants  went  back 
to  England  [1608]  at  the  very  time  when  the  Frenchmen,  who  were  to  build 
Quebec,1  were  upon  the  ocean.  Traffic  with  the  Indian  tribes  was  continued, 
but  settlements  were  not  again  attempted  for  several  years.2 

Only  the  coast  of  the  extensive  country  was  seen  by  the  several  navigators 
who  visited  it.  The  vast  interior,  now  called  NEW  ENGLAND,  was  an  unknown 
land,  until  Captain  John  Smith,  with  the  mind  of  a  philosopher  and  the  courage 
of  a  hero,  came,  in  1614,  and  explored,  not  only  the  shores  but  the  rivers 
which  penetrated  the  wilderness.  Only  himself  and  four  London  merchants 
had  an  interest  in  the  expedition,  which  proVed  highly  successful,  not  only  in 
discoveries,  but  in  trade.  With  only  eight  men,  Smith  examined  the  region 
between  Cape  Cod  and  the  Penobscot,  constructed  a  map  of  the  country,  and 
after  an  absence  of  less  than  seven  months,  he  returned  to  England,  and  laid  a 
report  before  Prince  Charles  (afterward  the  unfortunate  king  who  lost  his  head), 
the  heir  apparent  to  the  throne.  The  prince,  delighted  with  the  whole  account, 
confirmed  the  title  which  Smith  had  given  to  the  territory  delineated  on  the 
map,  and  it  was  named  NEW  ENGLAND.  Crime,  as  usual,  dimmed  the  luster 
of  the  discovery.  Hunt,  commander  of  one  of  the  vessels  of  the  expedition, 
kidnapped  twenty-seven  of  the  Indians,  with  Squanto,3  their  chief,  as  soon  as 
Smith  had  departed,  took  them  to  Spain  and  sold  some  of  them  into  slavery.4 
And  now,  at  various  points  from  Florida  to  Newfoundland,  men-stealers  of  dif 
ferent  nations,  had  planted  the  seeds  of  hatred  and  distrust,5  whose  fruits,  in 
after  years  were  wars,  and  complicated  troubles. 

At  the  close  of  1614,  the  Plymouth  company  employed  Smith  to  make 
further  explorations  in  America  and  to  plant  a  colony.  He  sailed  in  the  spring 
of  1615,  but  was  driven  back  by  a  tempest.  He  sailed  again  on  the  4th  of 
July  following.  His  crew  became  mutinous,  and  finally  his  vessel  was  cap 
tured  by  a  French  pirate,  and  they  were  all  taken  to  France.  Smith  escaped 
to  England,  in  an  open  boat,  and  arousing  the  sluggish  energies  of  the  Pl$- 
mouth  company  and  others,  they  planned  vast  schemes  of  colonization,  and  he 
was  made  admiral  for  life.  Eager  for  gains,  some  of  the  members,  joining 
with  others,  applied  for  a  new  charter.  It  was  withheld  for  a  long  time. 
Finally,  the  king  granted  a  charter  [November  3,  1620]  to  forty  of  the  wealth 
iest  and  most  powerful  men  in  the  realm,  who  assumed  the  corporate  title  of  THE 
COUNCIL  OF  PLYMOUTH,  and  superseded  the  original  PLYMOUTH  COMPANY." 
The  vast  domain  of  more  than  a  million  of  square  miles,  lying  between  the  fortieth 
and  forty-eighth  degree  of  north  latitude,  and  westward  to  the  South  Sea,T 


1  Page  49. 

2  The  celebrated  Lord  Bacon,  and  others,  fitted  out  an  expedition  to  Newfoundland  in  1610, 
but  it  was  unsuccessful.  3  Page  1.14 

4  When  some  benevolent  friars  heard  of  Hunt's  intentions,  they  took  all  of  the  Indians  not  yet 
sold,  to  instruct  them  as  missionaries.     Among  them  was  Squanto. 

6  See  pages  42  and  49.  6  Page  63.  1  Page  42. 


1620.]  MASSACHUSETTS.  75 

was  conveyed  to  them,  as  absolute  owners  of  the  soil.  It  was  the  finest  portion 
of  the  Continent,  and  now  embraces  the  most  flourishing  States  and  Territories 
of  our  confederacy.  This  vast  monopoly  was  unpropitious,  in  all  its  elements, 
to  the  founding  of  an  empire.  It  was  not  the  will  of  God  that  mere  speculators 
and  mercenary  adventurers  like  these  should  people  this  broad  land.  The  same 
year  when  that  great  commercial  monopoly  wras  formed  [1620],  a  company  of 
devout  men  and  women  in  Holland,  who  had  been  driven  from  England  by  a 
persecuting  government,  came  to  the  wilderness  of  the  New  World,  not  to  seek 
gold  and  return,  but  to  erect  a  tabernacle,  where  they  might  worship  the  Great 
God  in  honest  simplicity  and  freedom,  and  to  plant  in  the  wilderness  the  found 
ation  of  a  commonwealth,  based  upon  truth  and  justice.  Who  were  they? 
Let  History  answer. 

Because  the  pope  of  Home  would  not  sanction  an  important  measure 
desired  by  a  greater  part  of  the  people,  King  Henry  the  Eighth  of  England 
defied  the  authority  of  the  head  of  the  Church,  and,  by  the  Act  of  Supremacy? 
Parliament  also  cast  off  the  papal  yoke.  Yet  religious  freedom  for  the  people 
was  not  a  consequence,  for  the  king  was  virtually  pope  of  Great  Britain. 
Heresy  was  a  high  crime ;  and  expressions  of  freedom  of  thought  and  opinion 
were  not  tolerated.  The  doctrines  and  rituals  of  the  Romish  church  were 
enforced,  while  the  authority  of  the  pope  was  denied.  The  people  discovered 
that  in  exchanging  spiritual  masters,  they  had  gained  nothing,  except  that  the 
thunders  of  excommunication3  had  lost  their  effect  upon  the  public  mind,  and 
thus  one  step  toward  emancipation  was  gained.  Henry's  son,  Edward,  estab 
lished  a  more  liberal  Protestantism  in  England  [1574],  and 
soon  the  followers  of  Luther  and  Calvin4  drew  the  tangible 
line  of  doctrinal  difference  which  existed  between  them.  The 
former  retained  or  allowed  many  of  the  ceremonials  of  the 
church  of  Rome ;  the  latter  were  more  austere,  and  demanded 
extreme  simplicity  in  worship,  and  great  purity  of  life.  For 
this  they  were  called  PURITANS,  in  derision ;  a  name  which 
soon  became  honorable.  When  Parliament  established  a 
liturgy  for  the  church,  the  Puritans  refused  conformity,  for 
they  acknowledged  no  authority  but  the  Bible  in  matters  of 
religion.  They  became  a  distinct  and  influential  party  in 
the  State  [1550],  and  were  specially  commended  by  the  con-  A  PURITVX 
tinental  reformers. 

1  The  people,  whose  proclivities  were  toward  Protestantism,  deprecated  the  influence  of  the 
queen  (Catharine  of  Arragon),  who  was  a  zealous  Roman  Catholic,  and  desired  her  divorce  from 
the  monarch.     The  king  was  very  willing,  for  he  wished  to  marry  the  beautiful  Anne  Boleyn. 
Pope  Julius  the  Third  refused  to  sanction  a  divorce,  when  the  king,  on  whom  had  been  conferred 
the  title  of  4i  Defender  of  the  Faith,"  quarreled  with  the  pontiff,  and  professed  Protestantism. 

2  An  Act  of  Parliament,  adopted  in  1534,  which  declared  the  king  of  England  the  superior  head 
of  the  Church  in  that  realm,  and  made  Protestantism  the  established  religion  of  England. 

3  The  Pope  of  Rome  assumes  the  right  to  excommunicate,  or  expel  from  Christian  communion, 
whomsoever  he  pleases.     In  former  times,  even  kings  were  not  exempt.     An  excommunicated 
person  lost  social  caste  ;  and  for  centuries  this  was  an  iron  rod  in  the  hand  of  ecclesiastics  to  keep 
the  people  in  submission  to  spiritual  authority.    Happily  for  mankind,  this  species  of  despotism  has 
lost  its  power,  and  commands  the  obedience  of  only  the  ignorant  and  enslaved. 

4  See  note  14,  page  62.     Calvin  was  the  leading  French  Reformer. 


76  SETTLEMENTS.  [1606. 

Romanism  was  re-established  in  England  in  1553,  by  Mary,  the  (laughter 
and  successor  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  who  was  a  bigoted  persecutor  of  Protestants 
of  every  name.  Lutherans  and  Calvinists  were  equally  in  peril.  The  fires  of 
persecution  were  lighted,  and  the  first  Protestant  martyrs  were  consumed  at  the 
stake.1  Her  reign  was  short,  and  she  is  known  in  history  as  the  bloody  Mary. 
She  wTas  succeeded  by  her  half-sister,  Elizabeth,  in  1558,  who  was  a  professed 
Protestant,  and  the  flames  were  extinguished.  Elizabeth  was  no  Puritan. 
She  endeavored  to  reconcile  the  magnificent  rituals  of  the  Romish  Church  with 
the  simple  requisitions  of  the  gospel.  There  was  no  affinity,  and  trouble 
ensued.  The  Puritans,  struggling  for  power,  asserted,  in  all  its  grandeur,  the 
doctrine  of  private  judgment  in  religious  matters,  and  of  untrammeled  religious 
liberty.  From  this  high  position,  it  wras  but  a  step  to  the  broad  rock  of  civil 
freedom.  The  Puritan  pulpits  became  the  tribunes  of  the  common  people,  and 
the  preachers  often  promulgated  the  doctrine,  that  the  sovereign  was  amenable 
to  public  opinion  when  fairly  expressed.  This  was  the  very  essence  of  demo 
cratic  doctrine,  and  evinced  a  boldness  hitherto  unparalleled.  The  jealousy 
and  the  fears  of  the  queen  were  aroused ;  and  after  several  years  of  effort,  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles  of  belief,  which  constitute  the  rule  of  faith  in  the'Church 
of  England,  were  confirmed  [1571]  by  an  Act  of  Parliament. 

And  now  bigotry  in  power  began  its  wicked  work.  In  1583,  a  court  of 
high  commission  wras  established,  for  the  detection  and  punishment  of  Non- 
Conformists,2  with  powers  almost  as  absolute  as  the  Roman  Inquisition.  Per 
secution  began  its  work  in  earnest,  and  continued  active  for  twenty  years.  The 
Puritans  looked  to  the  accession  of  James  of  Scotland,  which  took  place  in 
1604,3  with  hope,  but  were  disappointed.  He  was  the  most  contemptible  mon 
arch  that  ever  disgraced  the  chair  of  supreme  government  in  England.  A 
brilliant  English  writer4  says,  "  He  was  cunning,  covetous,  wasteful,  idle, 
drunken,  greedy,  dirty,  cowardly,  a  great  swearer,  and  the  most  conceited  man 
on  earth."  The  pure  in  heart  could  expect  no  consideration  from  such  a  man. 
When  he  was  fairly  seated  on  tho  English  throne,  he  said  of  the  Puritans,  "  I 
will  mako  them  conform  or  I  will  harrie  them  out  of  the  land."  There  were 
then  more  than  thirty  thousand  of  them  in  England.  During  the  first  year  of 
James's  reign,  three  hundred  of  their  ministers  were  silenced,  imprisoned,  or 
exiled.  The  long  struggle  of  the  established  church  with  the  Roman  Catholics 
on  one  hand,  and  the  Puritans  on  the  other,  was  now  decided.  It  had  been  a 
struggle  of  three  quarters  of  a  century,  not  so  much  for  toleration  as  for 
supremacy ;  and  the  Church  of  England  was  the  final  victor.  During  these 
trials,  England  lost  some  of  her  best  men.  Among  the  devout  ones  who  fled 


1  John  Eogers,  a  pious  minister,  and  John  Hooper,  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  were  the  first  who 
suffered. 

8  This  was  the  title  of  all  those  Protestants  in  England  who  refused  to  conform  to  the  doctrines 
and  ceremonials  of  the  Established  Church.  This  name  was  first  given  in  1572.  Ninety  years 
afterward  [1662],  2,000  ministers  of  the  Established  Church,  unwilling  to  subscribe  to  the  Thirty- 
nine  Articles,  seceded,  and  were  called  Dissenters ;  a  name  yet  applied  to  all  British  Protestants 
who  are  riot  attached  to  the  Church  of  England. 

3  See  note  1,  page  63.  4  Charles  Dickens. 


1620.] 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


77 


from  persecution,  was  the  Reverend  John  Robinson,  pastor  of  a  flock  gathered 
in  the  northern  counties.  Informed  that  there  was  "  freedom  of  religion  for  all 
men  in  Holland, ;;  he  fled  thither,  with  his  people,  in  1608,  and  established  a 
church  at  Leyden.  They  were  soon  joined  by  others  from  their  native  country. 
Their  purity  of  life  and  lofty  independence  commanded  the  admiration  of  the 
Dutch  ;  and  their  loyalty  to  the  country  from  which  they  had  been  driven,  was 
respected  as  a  noble  virtue.  There  they  learned  many  of  those  sound  political 
maxims  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  our  own  government ;  for  there  those 
principles  of  civil  liberty,  which  lay  almost  dormant  in  theory,  in  England, 
were  found  in  daily  practice. 

At  Leyden,  the  English  exiles  were  charmed  by  the  narratives  of  the  Dutch 
voyagers  to  America.  They  felt  that  they  had  now  no  home,  no  abiding  place 
— that  they  were  only  PILGRIMS — and  they  resolved  to  go  to  the  New  World, 
far  away  from  persecutions,  where  they  might  establish  a  colony,  with  religious 
freedom  for  its  basis.  A  deputation  went  to  England  in  161 7, 1  and  through  the 
influence  of  powerful  friends,2  obtained  the  consent  of  the  Plymouth  Company 
to  settle  in  North  Virginia,3  and  also  a  promise  from  the  king  that  he  would 
wink  at  their  heresy,  and  let  them  alone  in  their  new  home.  They  asked  no 
more.  Some  London  merchants  formed  a  partnership  with  them,  and  furnished 
capital  for  the  expedition.4  Captain  John  Smith, 
the  founder  of  Virginia  and  explorer  of  New  En 
gland,  offered  his  services,  but  on  account  of  his 
aristocratic  notions,  they  were  declined.  Two 
ships  (Speedwell  and  May-Flower)  were  pur 
chased  and  furnished,5  and  in  the  summer  of  1620, 
a  portion  of  the  Pilgrims  in  Holland — "the 
youngest  and  strongest" — embarked  from  Delft- 
Haven  for  England.5  Robinson  and  the  larger 
portion  of  his  flock  remained  at  Leyden  till  a  more  M \Y-FLOWER. 

convenient  season,7  and  elder  Brewster  accompanied 

the  voyagers  as  their  spiritual  guide.  The  two  ships  left  Southampton, 
in  England,  on  the  5th  of  August,  1620.  The  courage  of  the  captain  and 
company  of  the  Speedwell  failed,  and  the  vesseh  put  back  to  port.  The  sails 
of  the  May-Flower  were  again  spread,  in  the  harbor  of  Plymouth,  on  the  6th 


1  John  Carver  and  Robert  Cushman. 

2  Sir  Edward  Sandys  [page  105]  was  one  of  their  chief  advocates  in  England.       3  Page  63. 

4  The  services  of  each  emigrant  were  valued  as  a  capital  of  ten  pounds,  and  belonged  to  the 
company.     All  profits  were  to  be  reserved  till  the  end  of  seven  years,  when  all  the  lands,  houses, 
and  every  production  of  their  joint  industry,  were  to  be  valued,  and  the  amount  divided  among  the 
shareholders,  according  to  their  respective  interests.     This  was  a  community  of  interest,  similar,  in 
character,  to  those  which  have  been  proposed  and  attempted  in  our  day,  under  the  respective  titles 
of  Communism,  Fourierism,  and  Socialism.     It  failed  to  accomplish  its  intended  purpose,  and  was 
abandoned. 

5  The  Speedwell  was  a  vessel  of  60  tons;  the  May-Flower  of  180  tons. 

6  See  engraving  on  page  104.    This  is  a  copy  of  a  picture  of  The  Embarkation  of  the  Pilgrims. 
in  the  Rotunda  of  the  National  Capitol,  painted  by  Professor  Robert  AV.  Weir,  of  the  Military 
Academy,  at  West  Point,  New  York. 

7  Mr.  Robinson  was  never  permitted  to  see  America.     Notes  3.  and  5,  page  116. 


78  SETTLEMENTS.  [1606. 

of  September,  and  forty-one  men,  most  of  them  with  families1  (one  hundred  and 
one  in  all) — the  winnowed  remnant  of  the  PILGRIMS  who  left  Delft- Haven — 
crossed  the  stormy  Atlantic.  These  were  they  who  came  to  the  New  World  to 
enjoy  liberty  of  conscience  and  freedom  of  action,  and  to  lay,  broad  and  deep,  a 
portion  of  the  foundations  of  our  happy  Republic.  After  a  boisterous  passage 
of  sixty- three  days,  thee  May-Flower  anchored  within  Cape  Cod.'"  Before 
proceeding  to  the  shore,  the  PILGRIMS  agreed  upon  a  form  of  government,  and 
committed  it  to  writing.3  To  thatjftrs/  constitution  of  government  ever  sub 
scribed  by  a  whole  people,  the  forty-one  men  affixed  their  names,  and  then 
elected  John  Carver  to  be  their  governor.4  In  the  cabin  of  the  May-Flower 
the  first  republican  government  in  America  was  solemnly  inaugurated.  That 
vessel  thus  became  truly  the  cradle  of  liberty  in  America,  rocked  on  the  free 
waves  of  the  ocean. 

The  May-Flower  was  tossed  about  on  the  ocean  for  two  long  months,  and 
the  approach  to  land  wras  a  joyful  event  for  the  settlers.  Exploring  parties 
were  sent  out,5  and  after  many  hardships,  they  selected  a  place  for  landing.  It 
was  on  the  22d  day  of  December,  1620,  that  the  PILGRIM  FATHERS  first  set 
foot  upon  a  bare  rock  on  the  bleak  coast  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  while  all 
around,  the  earth  was  covered  with  deep  snow.6  They  called  the  landing-place 


1  The  following  are  their  names:  John  Carver,  "William  Bradford,  Edward  Winslow,  William 
Brewster,  Isaac  Allerton,  Captain  Miles  Standish.  John  Alden,  Samuel  Fuller,  Christopher  Martin, 
William  Mullins,  William  White,  Richard  Warren,  John  Rowland,  Stephen  Hopkins,  Edward  Tilly, 
John  Tilly,  Peter  Brown,  Richard  Britteridge,  George  Soule,  Richard  Clark,  Richard  Gardiner, 
Francis  Cook,  Thomas  Rogers,  Thomas  Tinker,  John  Ridgdale,  Edward  Fuller,  John  Turner,  Fran 
cis  Eaton,  James  Chilton,  John  Crackston,  John  Billington,  Moses  Fletcher,  John  Goodman,  Degory 
Priest,  Thomas  Williams,  Gilbert  Winslow,  Edward  Margeson,  John  Allerton,  Thomas  English,  Ed 
ward  Dotey,  Edward  Leister.     Howland  was  Carver's  servant;  Soule  was  Winslow's  servant;  and 
Dotey  and  Leister  were  servants  of  Hopkins. 

2  The  foolish  statement  has  often  been  made,  that  the  PILGRIMS  intended  to  land  at  Manhattan 
Island  (New  York),  but  the  commander  of  the  May-Mower,  having  been  bribed  by  the  Dutch  to  do 
so,  landed  them  further  east  beyond  the  Dutch  possessions.     The  story  is  a  fable.     Coppin,  the 
pilot,  had  been  on  the  coast  of  New  England  before,  and,  in  navigating  the  May -Flower,  he  only 
followed  his  old  track. 

8  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  instrument:  "In  the  name  of  God,  Amen.  We,  whose  names 
are  underwritten,  the  loyal  subjects  of  our  dread  sovereign  lord,  king  James,  by  the  grace  of  God, 
of  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Ireland,  king,  defender  of  the  faith,  etc.,  having  undertaken,  for  the  glory 
of  God  and  the  advancement  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  honor  of  our  king  and  country,  a  voyage  to 
plant  the  first  colony  in  the  northern  parts  of  Virginia,  do,  by  these  presents,  solemnly  and  mutually, 
in  the  presence  of  God  and  of  one  another,  covenant  and  combine  ourselves  together  into  a  civil 
body  politic,  for  our  better  ordering  and  preservation,  and  furtherance  of  the  ends  aforesaid ;  and  by 
virtue  hereof,  to  enact,  constitute,  and  frame  just  and  equal  laws,  ordinances,  acts,  constitutions, 
and  offices  from  time  to  time,  as  shall  be  thought  most  meet  and  convenient  ibr  the  general  good 
of  the  colony;  unto  which  we  promise  all  due  submission  and  obedience.  In  wil,i.'>  °°  whereof  we 
have  hereto  subscribed  our  names,  at  Cape  Cod,  the  llth  of  November,  in  the  year  ol  ;'ie  reign  of 
our  sovereign  Lord,  King  James  of  England,  France,  and  Ireland,  the  Eighteenth,  and  c-f  Scotland 
the  Fifty -fourth.  Anno  Domini,  1620." 

4  John  Carver  was  born  in  England,  went  with  Robinson  to  Holland,  and  on  the  3d  of  April, 
1621,  while  governor  of  the  Plymouth  colony,  he  died. 

6  Their  leader  was  Miles  Staradish,  a  brave  soldier,  who  had  served  in  the  Netherlands.  Ho 
was  very  active  in  the  colony  as  military  Commander-in-chief,  in  both  fighting  and  treating  with  the 
Indians,  and  is  called  "The  Hero  of  New  England."  He  was  a  magistrate  many  years,  and  died 
at  Duxbury.  Massachusetts,  in  1656. 

6  While  the  explorers  were  searching  for  a  landing-place,  the  wife  of  William  White,  a  bride  but 
a  short  time  before  leaving  Holland,  gave  birfch  to  a  son,  "  the  first  Englishman  born'  in  New  En 
gland."  They  named  him  Peregrine,  and  the  cradle  in  which  he  was  rocked  is  yet  preserved.  He 
died  in  Marshfield  in  1704. 


1680.]  NEW     HAMPSHIRE.  79 

New  Plymouth,  and  there  a  flourishing  village  is  now  spread  out.1     Dreary, 

indeed,  was  the  prospect  before  them.     Exposure  and  priva 

tions  had  prostrated  one  half  of  the  men  before  the  first  blow 

of  the  axe  had  been  struck  to  erect  a  habitation.     Faith  and 

hope  nerved  the  arms  of  the  healthy,  and  they  began  to  build. 

One  by  one  perished.     The  governor  and  his,  wife  died  on 

the  3d  of  April,  1621  ;  and  on  the  first  of  that  month,  forty- 

six  of  the  one  hundred  immigrants  were  in  their  graves.  Nine- 

•,         r*          ,.,        .  *   .  ,.  GOV.    CARVER'S 

teen  of  these  were  signers  to  the  Constitution.     At  one  time 


only  seven  men  were  capable  of  assisting  the  sick.  Fortun 
ately,  the  neighboring  tribes,  weakened  by  a  pestilence,3  did  not  molest  them. 
Spring  and  summer  came.  Game  became  plenty  in  the  forest,  and  they  caught 
many  fishes  from  the  waters.  They  sowed  and  reaped,  and  soon  friends  from 
England  joined  them.4  The  settlement,  begun  with  so  much  sorrow  and  suffer 
ing,  became  permanent,  and  then  and  there  the  foundations  of  the  common 
wealth  of  MASSACHUSETTS  were  laid. 


CHAPTER    IY. 

NEW    HAMPSHIRE.      [1622-1680.] 

THE  enterprising*  Sir  Fernando  Gorges,  who,  for  many  years,  had  been 
engaged  in  traffic  with  the  Indians  on  the  New  England  coast,  projected  a  set 
tlement  further  eastward  than  Plymouth,  and  for  that  purpose  became  associ 
ated  with  John  Mason,  a  merchant,  afterward  a  naval  commander,  and  always 
"a  man  of  action."  Mason  was  secretary  to  the  Plymouth  Council,  for  New 
England,5  and  was  well  acquainted  with  all  matters  pertaining  to  settlements  in 
the  New  World.  Gorges  and  Mason  obtained  a  grant  of  land  in  1622,  extend 
ing  from  the  Merrimac  to  the  Kennebec,  and  inland  to  the  St.  Lawrence. 
They  named  the  territory  LACOXIA.  'Mason  had  obtained  a  grant  the  previous 
year,  extending  from  Salem  to  the  mouth  of  the  Merrimac,  which  he  had  named 
MARIANA.  The  same  year,  a  colony  of  fishermen,  under  David  Thompson, 
seated  themselves  at  Little  Harbor,  on  the  Piscataqua  River,  just  below  Ports 
mouth.  Another  party,  under  two  brothers  named  Hilton,  London  fishmong 
ers,  commenced  a  settlement,  in  1623,  a  few  miles  above,  at  Dover ;  but  these 
were  only  fishing  stations,  and  did  not  flourish. 


"Plymouth  Rock"  is  famous.  It  is  now  [1867]  in  two  pieces.  One  part  remains  in  its  orig 
inal  position  at  Hedge's  Wharf,  Plymouth ;  the  other  is  in  the  center  of  the  town,  surrounded  by  an 
iron  railing.  It  was  dragged  thither,  in  1774,  by  twenty  yoke  of  oxen,  and  over  it  the  Whigs  [note 
4,  pnge  226]  erected  a  liberty-pole. 

2  This  was  the  throne  upon  which  sat  the  first  Christian  monarch  of  New  England.  Governor 
Carver  was  at  the  head  of  a  new  State,  and,  as  chief  magistrate,  held  the  same  relative  position  as 
king  James  of  England,  whose  seat  was  richly  ornamented  and  covered  with  a  canopy  of  silk  and 
go-d.  3  Page  114.  4  Pago  115.  6  Page  74 


80  SETTLEMENTS.  [1634. 

In  the  year  1629,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wheelwright  (a  brother-in-law  of  the  cele 
brated  Anne  Hutchinson,  who  was  banished  from  the  Massachusetts  colony  on 
a  charge  of  sedition,  in  1637)  purchased  from  the  Indians  the  wilderness  be 
tween  the  Merrimac  and  the  Piscataqua,  and  founded  Exeter.  The  same  year 
Mason  obtained  from  Gorges  exclusive  ownership  of  that  same  portion  of  LA- 
CONIA.  He  named  the  domain  NEW  HAMPSHIRE,  and  in  1631  built  a  house 
upon  the  site  of  Portsmouth,  the  name  which  he  gave  to  the  spot.1  Other  set 
tlements  upon  the  Piscataqua,  and  along  the  present  coast  of  Maine,  as  far  as 
Portland,  were  attempted.  At  the  latter  place  a  company  had  a  grant  of  land 
forty  miles  square,  and  formed  an  agricultural  settlement  in  1631,  called 
LiGONiA.2  Pemaquid  Point  was  another  settlement,  which  remained  an  inde 
pendent  community  for  almost  forty  years.  Trading  houses  were  established 
as  far  east  as  Machias,  but  they  were  broken  up  by  the  French,  and  the  west 
ern  limits  of  Acadie  were  fixed  at  Pemaquid  Point,  about  half  way  from 
the  Penobscot  to  the  Kennebec.  The  several  feeble  and  scattered  settlements 
in  New  Hampshire  formed  a  coalition  with  the  nourishing  Massachusetts  colony 
in  1641,  and  remained  dependencies  of  that  province  until  1680,  when  they 
were  separated  by  order  of  the  king,  and  New  Hampshire  became  a  royal  prov 
ince.  Its  first  government  consisted  of  a  governor  and  council  appointed  by 
the  king,  and  a  house  of  representatives  elected  by  the  people.  Then  was 
founded  the  commonwealth  of  NEW  HAMPSHIRE, 


CHAPTER   V. 

MARYLAND.       [1634.] 

A  LARGE  portion  of  the  American  colonies  were  the  fruitful  growth  of  the 
seeds  of  civil  liberty,  wafted  hither  by  the  fierce  gales  of  oppression  in  some 

1  Mason  had  been  governor  of  Portsmouth,  in  Hampshire  Count}*-,  England,  and  these  names 
were  given  in  memory  of  his  former  residence. 

2  The  people  of  these  eastern  settlements,  which  formed  the  basis  of  the  present  commonwealth 
of  MAINE,  did  not  like  the  government  attempted  to  be  established  by  the  proprietor,  and,  taking- 
political  power  into  their  own  hands,  placed  themselves  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts  in 
1652.     The  territory  was  erected  into  a  county,  and  called  Yorkshire.     In  1621,  king  James,  as 
sovereign  of  Scotland,  placed  the  Scottish  seal  to  a  charter  granting  to  Sir  William  Alexander,  after 
ward  [1633]  earl  of  Stirling,  the  whole  territory  eastward  of  the  State  of  Maine,  under  the  title  of 
Nova  Scotia,  or  New  Scotland.    The  French  had  already  occupied  places  along  the  coast,  and  called 
the  country  Acadie.     The  Scotch  proprietor  never  attempted  settlements,  either  in  this  territory  or  in 
Canada  which  Charles  the  First  had  granted  to  him,  and  the  whole  country  had  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  French,  by  treaty.     The  earl  died  in  1640,  and  all  connection  of  his  family  witli  Nova  Scotia 
ceased.     His  title  was  held  afterward  by  four  successors,  the  last  of  whom  died  in  1739.     In  1759, 
William  Alexander  (General  Lord  Stirling  during  our  War  for  Independence)  made  an  unsuccessful 
claim  to  the  title.     The  next  claimant  was  Alexander  Humphrey,  who  commenced  operations  in 
the  Scottish  courts  in  1815,  and  by  forgeries  and  frauds  was  partially  successful.     The  whole  was 
exposed  in  1833.     Humphrey  was  in  this  country  in  1852,  pressing  his  claims  to  the  monopoly  of 
the  Eastern  Fisheries,  by  virtue  of  the  grants  of  kings  James  and  Charles  more  than  two  hundred 
years  ago! 


1634.]  MARYLAND.  81 

form.  Maryland,  occupying  a  space  between  North  and  South  Virginia,1  was 
first  settled  by  persecuted  Roman  Catholics  from  England  and  Ireland.  While 
king  James  worried  the  Puritans  on  one  hand,  for  non-conformity,2  the  Roman 
Catholics,  at  the  other  end  of  the  j  religious  scale,  were  subjected  to  even  more 
severe  penalties.  As  the  Puritaiis  increased  in  numbers  and  influence,  their 
cry  against  the  Roman  Catholics  grew  louder  and  fiercer ;  and,  while  defend 
ing  themselves  from  persecution  with  one  hand,  they  were  inflicting  as  severe  a 
lash  upon  the  Romanists  with  the  other.  Thus  subjected  to  twofold  opposition, 
the  condition  of  the  Roman  Catholics  became  deplorable,  and,  in  common  with 
other  sufferers  for  opinion's  sake,  their  eyes  were  turned  toward  free  America. 
Among  the  most  influential  professors  of  Catholicism  was  George  Calvert,  an 
active  member  of  the  London  Company,3  and  Secretary  of  State  at  the  time 
when  the  PILGRIMS*  were  preparing  to  emigrate  to  America.  lie  was  so  much 
more  loyal  in  action  to  his  sovereign  than  to  his  faith,  that  he  did  not  lose  the 
king's  favor,  although  frankly  professing  to  be  a  Roman  Catholic ;  and  for  his 
services  he  was  created  an  Irish  peer  in  1621,  with  the  title  of  Lord  Baltimore. 
He  also  obtained  from  James,  a  grant  [1622]  to  plant  a  Roman  Catholic  colony 
on  a  portion  of  Newfoundland.  He  called  the  territory  AVALON,  but  his  scheme 
was  not  successful.  The  barren  soil,  and  French  aggressors  from  Acadie.  were 
too  much  for  the  industry  and  courage  of  his  colonists,  and  the  settlement  was 
abandoned. 

Foiled  in  his  projects  in  the  east,  Lord  Baltimore  went  to  Virginia  in  1628, 
with  a  view  of  establishing  a  colony  of  his  brethren  there.  But  he  found  the 
Virginians  as  intolerant  as  the  crown  or  the  Puritans,  and  he  turned  his  back 
upon  their  narrow  prejudices,  and  went  to  examine  the  beautiful,  unoccupied 
region  beyond  the  Potomac.  He  was  pleased  with  the  country,  and  applied  for 
a  charter  to  establish  a  colony  there.  The  London  Company  was  now  dis 
solved,5  and  the  soil  had  become  the  property  of  the  monarch.  King  Charles 
the  First,  then  on  the  throne,  readily  granted  a  charter,  but  before  it  was  com 
pleted,  Lord  Baltimore  died.  This  event  occurred  on  the  25th  of  April,  1632, 
and  on  the  20th  of  June  following,  the  patent  was  issued  to  Cecil,  his  son  and 
heir.  In  honor  of  the  queen,  Henrietta  Maria,6  the 
province  was  called  MARYLAND.  The  territory  de 
fined  in  the  charter  extended  along  each  side  of 
Chesapeake  Bay,  from  the  30th  to  the  45th  degree 
of  north  latitude,  its  western  line  being  the  waters  of 
the  Potomac. 

It  is  believed  that  the  Maryland  charter  was 
drawn  by  the  first  Lord  Baltimore's  own  hand.  It 
was  the  most  liberal  one  yet  granted  by  an  English 
monarch,  both  in  respect  of  the  proprietor  and  the 
settlers.  The  government  of  the  province  was  inde-  CECIL'  SECOND  LORI)  BALTIMORE. 


'  Page  63.  2  Note  2,  page  76.  3  Page  63.  4  Page  77.  5  Page  107. 

She  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  sister  of  Louis  the  Thirteenth  of  France. 

6 


82  SETTLEMENTS.  [1632. 

pendent  of  the  crown,  and  equality  in  religious  rights  and  civil  freedom  was 
secured  to  every  Christian  sect.  Unitarians,  or  those  who  denied  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity,  as  well  as  all  unbelievers  in  Divine  revelation,  were  not  covered 
by  this  mantle  of  toleration.  The  king  had  no  power  to  levy  the  smallest  tax 
upon  the  colonists,  and  all  laws  were  invalid  until  sanctioned  by  a  majority  of 
the  freemen,  or  their  deputies.  Under  such  a  wise  and  liberal  charter  the 
colony,  when  planted,  nourished  remarkably,  for  those  persecuted  by  the 
Puritans  in  New  England,  and  the  Churchmen  in  Virginia,  there  sought 
refuge,  and  found  peace. 

Emigration  to  Maryland  commenced  in  1633.  The  first  company,  mostly 
Roman  Catholics,  sailed  for  America  on  the  2d  of  December  of  that  year, 
under  Leonard  Calvert,  brother  of  the  proprietor,  and  appointed  governor  of 
the  province.  They  arrived  in  March,  1634,  and  after  sailing  up  the  Potomac, 
as  far  as  Mount  Vernon,  they  descended  the  stream,  almost  to  its  mouth. 
They  landed  upon  an  estuary  of  the  Chesapeake,  purchased  an  Indian  village, 
and  laid  the  foundation  of  a  town  [April,  1634],  which  they  named  St.  Mary.1 
The  honesty  of  Calvert,  in  paying  for  the  land,  secured  the  good  will  of  the 
Indians  ;  and,  unlike  the  first  settlers  of  most  of  the  other  colonies,  they  experi 
enced  no  sufferings  from  want,  or  the  hostilities  of  the  Aboriginals. 

Popular  government  was  first  organized  in  Maryland  on  the  8th  of  March, 
1635,  when  the  first  legislative  assembly  was  convened  at  St.  Mary.  Every 
freeman  being  allowed  to  vote,  it  was  a  purely  democratic  legislature.  As  the 
number  of  colonists  increased,  this  method  of  making  laws  was  found  to  be  in 
convenient,  and  in  1639,  a  representative  government  was  established,  the 
people  being  allowed  to  send  as  many  delegates  as  they  pleased.  The  first  rep 
resentative  assembly  made  a  declaration  of  rights,  defined  the  powers  of  the 
proprietor,  and  took  measures  to  secure  to  the  colonists  all  the  civil  liberties 
enjoyed  by  the  people  of  Old  England.  Then  was  founded  the  commonwealth 
of  MARYLAND. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

CONNECTICUT.     [1632—1639.] 

ADRIAN  BLOCK, 2  the  Dutch  navigator,  discovered  and  explored  the  Con 
necticut  River,  as  far  as  the  site  of  Hartford,  in  1614,  and  named  it  Versche, 


1  Trading  posts  were  established  a  little  earlier  than  this,  within  the  Maryland  province.  In 
1631,  "William  Clayborne  obtained  a  license  from  the  king  to  traffic  with  the  Indians;  and  when 
Calvert  and  his  company  came,  he  had  two  settlements,  one  on  Kent  Island,  nearly  opposite  An 
napolis,  and  another  at  the  present  Havre  de  Grace,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Susquehannah.  He  refused 
to  acknowledge  the  authority  of  Baltimore,  and  trouble  ensued.  He  collected  his  people  on  the 
eastern  shore  of  Maryland  in  1635,  with  a  determination  to  defend  his  claims  by  force  of  arms;  and 
in  May  quite  a  severe  skirmish  ensued  between  his  forces  and  those  of  the  colonists.  Clayborne's 
men  were  taken  prisoners,  and  he  fled  to  Virginia.  He  was  declared  guilty  of  treason,  and  sent  to 
England  for  trial.  His  estates  were  forfeited ;  but,  being  acquitted  of  the  charge,  he  returned  to 
Maryland  and  incited  a  rebellion.  See  page  151.  "  Page  72. 


K  3 


HOOKKR'S  EMIGRATION  TO  CONNECTICUT. 


1639.]  CONNECTICUT.  85 

or  Fresh  Water  River.1  Soon  afterward  Dutch  traders  were  upon  its  banks, 
and  might  have  carried  on  a  peaceful  and  profitable  traffic  with  the  Indians,  had 
honor  and  honesty  marked  their  course.  But  the  avaricious  agent  of  the  Dutch, 
imprisoned  an  Indian  chief  on  board  his  vessel,  and  would  not  release  him  until 
one  hundred  and  forty  fathoms  of  wampum2  had  been  paid.  The  exasperated 
Indians  menaced  the  traders,  and  near  the  site  of  Hartford,  at  a  place  yet  known 
as  Dutch  Point,  the  latter  commenced  the  erection  of  a  fort.  The  Indians  were 
finally  conciliated,  and,  at  their  request,  the  fort  was  abandoned  for  awhile. 

A  friendly  intercourse  was  opened  between  the  Dutch  of  New  Netherland 
and  the  Puritans  in  1627. 3  With  the  guise  of  friendship,  but  really  for  the 
purpose  of  strengthening  the  claims  of  the  Dutch  to  the  Connecticut  valley,  by 
having  an  English  settlement  there  under  the  jurisdiction  of  New  Netherland, 
Governor  Minuit4  advised  the  Puritans  to  leave  the  barren  land  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  and  settle  in  the  fertile  region  of  the  Fresh  Water  River.  In  1631,  a 
Mohegan  chief,  then  at  war  with  the  powerful  Pequods,5  desirous  of  having  a 
strong  barrier  between  himself  and  his  foes,  urged  the  English  to  come  and 
settle  in  the  Connecticut  valley.  The  Puritans  clearly  perceived  the  selfish 
policy  of  both  parties,  and  hesitated  to  leave.  The  following  year  [1632], 
however,  Governor  Winslow,  of  the  Plymouth  colony,6  visited  that  fertile  region, 
and,  delighted  with  its  appearance,  resolved  to  promote  emigration  thither. 
In  the  mean  while,  the  Council  of  Plymouth7  had  granted  the  soil  of  Connecticut 
[1630]  to  the  Earl  of  Warwicke,  who,  in  1631,  transferred  his  interest  to  Lord 
Say-and-Seal,  Lord  Brooke,  John  Hampden,  and  others.  The  eastern  bound 
ary  of  the  territory  was  "  Narraganset  River,"  and  the  western  (like  all  other 
charters  at  that  time)  was  the  South  Sea,  or  Pacific  Ocean.8  The  Dutch 
became  apprised  of  these  movements  of  the  English  ;  and  perceiving  no  advan 
tage  (but  detriment)  to  themselves,  they  purchased  of  the  Indians  the  land  at 
Hartford  and  vicinity,  completed  their  fort,  and  placed  two  cannons  upon  it,  in 
1633,  with  the  intention  of  preventing  the  English  ascending  the  river. 

Although  the  Plymouth  people  were  aware  of  the  preparations  made  by 
the  Dutch,  to  defend  their  claim,  they  did  not  hesitate,  and  in  October,  1633, 
Captain  William  Holmes  and  a  chosen  company  arrived  in  the  Connecticut 
River,  in  a  sloop.  Holmes  bore  a  commission  from  Governor  Winslow  to  make 
a  settlement,  and  brought  with  him  the  frame  of  a  house.  When  he  approached 
the  Dutch  fort,  the  commander  menaced  him  with  destruction  if  he  attempted 
to  pass  it.  Holmes  was  not  intimidated,  and  sailing  by  unhurt,  he  landed  at 
the  site  of  Windsor,  and  there  erected  his  house.  Seventy  men  were  sent  by 
the  Dutch  the  following  year,  to  drive  him  from  the  country.  They  were  kept 
at  bay,  and  finally  a  parley  resulted  in  peaceful  relations.9  Holmes 's  colony 
flourished,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1635,  a  party  of  sixty  men,  women,  and  chil 
dren,  from  the  Puritan  settlements,  commenced  a  journey  through  the  wilder- 


1   Connecticut  is  the  English  orthography  of  the  Indian  word  Quon-eh-ta-cut,  which  signifies  "the 
long  river."  2  Probably  about  four  hundred  dollars.     See  note  2,  pa,ge  13. 

3  Page  75.  "  Page  139.  5  Page  21.  °  Page  79. 

Page  74.  *•  Page  42.  9  See  note  ?,  page  142. 


8(5  SETTLEMENTS.  [1632. 

ness  [Oct.  25]  to  join  him.  "With  their  cattle,1  they  made  their  slow  arid  dreary 
way  a  hundred  miles  through  dark  forests  and  dismal  swamps ;  and  when  they 
arrived  upon  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut  [Nov.  25],  the  ground  was  covered 
with  deep  snow,  and  the  river  was  frozen.  It  was  a  winter  of  great  trial  for 
them.  Many  cattle  perished.2  A  vessel  bearing  food  for  the  colony  was  lost 
on  the  (toast,  and  the  settlers  were  compelled  to  subsist  upon  acorns,  and  scanty 
supplies  of  Indian  corn  from  the  natives.  Many  of  them  made  their  way  to  the 
fort,  then  just  erected  at  Saybrook,  near  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  returned 
to  Boston  by  water.  Spring  opened,  and  the  necessities  of 
those  who  remained  were  supplied.  They  erected  a  small 
house  for  worship  on  the  site  of  Hartford,  and  in  April, 
1636,  the  first  court,  'or  organized  government  was  held 
there.  At  about  the  time  when  this  company  departed,  a 
son  of  Governor  Winthrop,3  of  Massachusetts,  Hugh  Peters, 
and  Henry  Yane,  arrived  at  Boston  from  England,  as  com- 
FIRST  MEETING-HOUSE  missioners  for  the  proprietors  of  Connecticut,  with  instruc 
tions  to  build  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  of  that  name, 
and  to  plant  a  colony  there.  The  fort  was  speedily  built,  and  the  settlement 
was  named  Saybrook,  in  honor  of  the  two  peers  named  in  the  charter.4 

Another  migration  of  Puritans  to  the  Connecticut  valley,  more  important, 
and  with  better  results,  now  took  place.  In  June,  1636,  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker, 
the  "light  of  the  western  churches,"5  with  other  ministers,  their  families,  and 
flocks,  in  all  about  one  hundred,  left  the  vicinity  of  Boston  for  the  new  land 
of  promise.  It  was  a  toilsome  journey  through  the  swamps  and  forests.  They 
subsisted  upon  berries  and  the  milk  of  their  cows  which  they  took  with  them, 
and  on  the  4th  of  July,  they  stood  upon  the  beautiful  banks  of  the  Connecticut. 
On  the  9th,  Mr.  Hooker  preached  and  administered  the  communion  in  the  little 
meeting-house  at  Hartford,  and  there  a  great  portion  of  the  company  settled. 
Some  chose  Wethersfield  for  a  residence ;  and  others,  from  Roxbury,  went  up 
the  river  twenty  miles,  and  settled  at  Springfield.  There  were  now  five  dis 
tinct  English  settlements  upon  the  Connecticut  River,  yet  they  were  scattered 
and  weak. 

Clouds  soon  appeared  in  the  morning  sky,  and  the  settlers  in  the  Connecti 
cut  valley  perceived  the  gathering  of  a  fearful  storm.  The  powerful  Pequod 
Indians0  became  jealous  of  the  white  people,  because  they  appeared  to  be  the 
friends  of  their  enemies,  the  Mohegans  on  the  west,  and  of  their  more  powerful 
foes,  the  Narragansetts,  on  the  east.  They  first  commenced  petty  annoyances ; 
then  kidnapped  children,  murdered  men  in  the  forests,  and  attacked  families  on 


1  This  was  the  first  introduction  of  cattle  into  Connecticut. 

~  The  loss  in  cattle  was  estimated  at  about  one  thousand  dollars. 

3  Page  117.  4  Page  85. 

5  Thomas  Hooker  was  a  native  of  Leicestershire,  England,  where  he  was  born  in  1586.  He 
was  silenced,  because  of  his  non-conformity,  in  1680,  when  he  left  the  ministry,  and  founded  a 
grammar  school  at  Cambridge.  He  was  compelled  to  flee  to  Holland,  from  whence  he  came  to 
America  with  Mr.  Cotton,  in  1633.  He  was  a  man  of  great  benevolence,  and  was  eminently  use 
ful.  He  died  in  July,  1647,  at  the  age  of  sixty-one  years.  6  Page  21. 


1G39.]  CONNECTICUT.  §7 

the  outskirts  of  the  settlement  at  Saybrook.  Their  allies  of  Block  Island1  cap 
tured  a  Massachusetts  trading  vessel,  killed  the  captain2  [July,  1636 ],  and 
plundered  her.  The  Puritans  in  the  east  were  alarmed  and  indignant,  and  an 
inefficient  expedition  from  Boston  and  vicinity  penetrated  the  Pequod  country. 
It  did  more  harm  than  good,  for  it  resulted  only  in  increasing  the  hatred  and 
hostility  of  the  savages.  The  Pequods  became  bolder,  and  finally  sought  an 
alliance  with  their  enemies,  the  Narragansetts,  in  an  effort  to  exterminate  the 
white  people.  At  this  critical  moment  a  deliverer  appeared  Avhen  least  expected. 
Roger  Williams,  who  for  his  tolerant  opinions  had  been  banished  from 
Massachusetts,3  was  now  a  friendly  resident  in  the  country  of  the  Narragan 
setts.  and  heard  of  the  proposed  alliance.  Forgetting  the  many  injuries  he  had 
received,  he  warned  the  doomed  people  of  the  Bay  colony,  of  impending  danger. 
At  the  risk  of  his  own  life,  he  descended  Narraganset  Bay  in  an  open  canoe, 
on  a  stormy  day,  and  visited  Miantoriomoh,  the  renowned  sachem,  at  his 
seat  near  Newport,  while  the  Pequod  embassadors  were  there  in  council.  The 
latter  menaced  Williams  with  death ;  yet  that  good  man  remained  there  three 
days,  and  effectually  prevented  the  alliance.4  And  more — he  induced  the  Nar- 
ragansetts  to  renew  hostilities  with  the  Pequods.  By  this  generous  service  the 
infant  settlements  were  saved  from  destruction. 

Although  foiled  in  their  attempt  at  alliance,  the  Pequods  were  not  dis 
heartened.  During  the  ensuing  winter  tliey  continued  their  murderous  depre 
dations.  In  the  spring,  the  authorities  of  the  English  settlements  on  the 
Connecticut  declared  war  against  the  Pequods  [May,  1637],  and  the  Massachu 
setts  and  Plymouth  colonies  agreed  to  aid  them.  Soon,  Captain  Mason,  who 
was  in  command  of  the  fort  at  Saybrook,5  and  Captain  John  Underbill,  a  brave 
and  restless  man,  sailed  in  some  pinnaces,  with  about  eighty  white  men  and 
seventy  Mohegan  Indians  under  Uncas,6  for  Narraganset  Bay.  There  Mian- 
tonomoh,  with  two  hundred  warriors,  joined  them,  and  they  marched  for  the 
Pequod  country.  Their  ranks  were  swollen  by  the  brave  Niantics  and  others, 
until  five  hundred  "  bowmen  and  spearmen"  were  in,  the  train  of  Captains 
Mason  and  Underbill. 

The  chief  sachem  of  the  Pequods,  was  Sassacus,  a  fierce  warrior,  and  the 
terror  of  the  New  England  tribes.7  He  could  summon  almost  two  thousand 
warriors  to  the  field ;  and  feeling  confident  in  his  strength,  he  was  not  properly 
vigilant.  His  chief  fort  and  village  on  the  Mystic  River,  eight  miles  north 
east  of  New  London,  was  surprised  at  dawn  the  5th  of  June,  1687,  and 
before  sun-rise,  more  than  six  hundred  men,  women,  and  children,  perished  by 
fire  and  sword.  Only  seven  escaped  to  spread  the  dreadful  intelligence  abroad, 
and  arouse  the  surviving  warriors.  The  Narragansetts  turned  homeward,  and 
the  English,  aware  of  great  peril,  pressed  forward  to  Groton  on  the  Thames, 


1  This  island,  which  lies  nearly  south  from  the  eastern  border  of  Connecticut,  was  visited  by 
Adrian  Block,  the  Dutch  navigator,  and  was  called  by  Ins  name.  At  the  time  in  question,  it  wa.; 
thickly  populated  with  fierce  Indians. 

'2  John  Oldham,  the  first  overland  explorer  of  the  Connecticut  Iliver.  3  Page  89. 

4  Page  91.  *  Page  85.  6  Page  21.  7  Page  -2. 


88  SETTLEMENTS.  [1632. 

and  there  embarked  for  Saybrook.  They  had  lost  only  two  killed,  and  less 
than  twenty  wounded. 

The  brave  Sassacus  had  hardly  recovered  from  this  shock,  when  almost  a 
hundred  armed  settlers,  from  Massachusetts,  under  Captain  Stoughton,  arrived 
at  Saybrook.  The  terrified  Pequods  made  no  resistance,  but  fled  in  dismay 
toward  the  wilderness  westward,  hotly  pursued  by  the  English.  Terrible  was 
the  destruction  in  the  path  of  the  pursuers.  Throughout  the  beautiful  country 
on  Long  Island  Sound,  from  Saybrook  to  New  Haven,  wigwams  and  cornfields 
were  destroyed,  and  helpless  women  and  children  were  slain.  With  Sassacus 
at  their  head,  the  Indians  flew  like  deer  before  the  hounds,  and  finally  took 
shelter  in  Sasco  swamp,  near  Fairfield,  where,  after  a  severe  battle,  they  all 
surrendered,  except  Sassacus  and  a  few  followers.  These  fled  to  the  Mohawks,1 
where  the  sachem  was  treacherously  murdered,  and  his  people  were  sold  into 
slavery,  or  incorporated  with  other  tribes.  The  blow  was  one  of  extermination, 
relentless  and  cruel.  "  There  did  not  remain  a  sannup  or  squaw,  a  warrior  or 
child  of  the  Pequod  name.  A  nation  had  disappeared  in  a  day."  The  New 
England  tribes'  were  filled  with  awe,  and  for  forty  years  the  colonists  were 
unmolested  by  them. 

With  the  return  of  peace,  the  spirit  of  adventure  revived.  In  the  summer 
of  1637,  John  Davenport,  an  eminent  non-conformist3  minister  of  London,  with 
Theophilus  Eaton  and  Edward  Hopkins,  rich  merchants  who  represented  a 
wealthy  company,  arrived  at  Boston.  They  were  cordially  received,  and 
urgently  solicited  to  settle  in  that  colony.  The  Hutchinson  controversy4  was 
then  at  its  height ;  and  perceiving  the  religious  agitations  of  the  people,  they 
•resolved  to  found  a  settlement  in  the  wilderness.  The  sagacious  Puritans, 
while  pursuing  the  Pequods,  had  discovered  the  beauty  and  fertility  of  the 
country  along  the  Sound  from  the  Connecticut  to  Fairfield,  and  Davenport  and 
his  companions  heard  their  report  with  joy.  Eaton  and  a  few  others  explored 
the  coast  in  autumn,  and  erecting  a  hut5  near  the  Quinipiac  Creek  (the  site  of 
New  Haven),  they  passed  the  winter  there,  and  selected  it  for  a  settlement. 
In  the  spring  [April  13,  1638]  Davenport  and  others  followed,  and  under  a 
wide-spreading  oak,0  the  good  minister  preached  his  first  sermon.  They  pur 
chased  the  lands  at  Quinipiac  of  the  Indians,  and,  taking  the  Bible  for  their 
guide,  they  formed  an  independent  government,  or  "  plantation  covenant,"  upon 
strictly  religious  principles.  Prosperity  blessed  them,  and  they  laid  the  found 
ations  of  a  city,  and  called  it  NEW  HAVEX.  The  following  year,  the  settlers 
at  Windsor,  Hartford,  and  Wethersfield,  met  in  convention  at  Hartford  [Jan 
uary  24,  1639],  and  adopted  a  wrritten  constitution,  which  contained  very  liberal 
provisions.  It  ordained  that  the  governor  and  legislature  should  be  elected 
annually,  by  the  people,  and  they  were  required  to  take  an  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  commonwealth,  and  not  to  the  king.  The  General  Assembly,  alone, 


1  Page  23.  2  Page  22.  3  Note  2,  page  7G.  4  Page  120. 

6  On  the  corner  of  Church  and  George-streets,  New  Haven. 

6  At  the  intersection  of  George  and  College-streets,  New  Haven. 


1636.]  RHODE     ISLAND.  gj) 

could  make  or  repeal  laws ;  and  in  ever y  matter  the  voice  of  the  people  was 
heard.  This  was  termed  the  CONNECTICUT  COLONY  ;  and,  notwithstanding  it 
and  the  New  Haven  colony  were  not  united  until  1665,  now  was  laid  the  found 
ation  of  the  commonwealth  of  CONNECTICUT,  which  was  governed  by  the 
Hartford  Constitution  for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

RHODE     ISLAND.        [1636—1643.] 

THE  seed  of  the  Rhode  Island  commonwealth  was  planted  by  brave  hands, 
made  strong  by  persecution.  The  first  settler  in  Rhode  Island  was  William 
Blackstone,  a  non-conformist  minister,1  who  was  also  the  first  resident  upon  the 
peninsula  of  Shawmut,  where  Boston  now  stands.2  Not  liking  the  "lords 
brethren"  in  Massachusetts  any  more  than  the  "lords  bishops"  of  England, 
from  whose  frowns  he  had  fled,  he  withdrew  to  the  wilderness,  and  dwelt  high 
up  on  the  Seekonk  or  Pawtucket  River,  which  portion  of  the  stream  still  bears 
his  name.  There  he  planted,  and  called  the  place  Rehoboth.3  Although  ho 
was  the  first  settler,  Blackstone  was  not  the  founder  of  Rhode  Island.  He 
always  held  allegiance  to  Massachusetts,  and  did  not  aspire  to  a  higher  dignity 
than  that  of  an  exile  for  conscience'  sake. 

Roger  Williams,  an  ardent  young  minister  at  Salem,4  became  the  instru 
ment  of  establishing  the  foundations  of  a  new  commonwealth  in  the  wilderness. 
When  he  was  banished  from  Massachusetts,  toward  the  close  of  1635, 5  he 
crossed  the  borders  of  civilization,  and  found  liberty  and  toleration  among  the 
heathen.  After  his  sentence,6  his  bigoted  persecutors  began  to  dread  the  influ 
ence  of  his  enlightened  principles,  if  he  should  plant  a  settlement  beyond  the* 
limits  of  existing  colonies,  and  they  resolved  to  detain  him.  Informed  of 
their  scheme,  he  withdrew  from  Salem  in  the  dead  of  winter  [Jan.,  1636],  and 
through  deep  snows  he  traversed  the  forests  alone,  for  fourteen  weeks,  sheltered 
only  by  the  rude  wigwam  of  the  Indian,  until  he  found  the  hospitable  cabin7  of 

1  Note  2,  page  76.  2  Page  118. 

3  Room.     The  name  was  significant  of  his  aim — he  wanted  room  outside  of  the  narrow  confines 
of  what  he  deemed  Puritan  intolerance. 

4  Roger  Williams  was  born  in  Wales,  in  1599,  and  was  educated  at  Oxford.    Persecution  drove 
him  to  America  in  1631,  when  he  was  chosen  assistant  minister  at  Salem.     His  extreme  toleration 
did  not  find  there  a  genial  atmosphere,  and  he  went  to  Plymouth.     There,  too,  he  was  regarded 
with  suspicion.     He  returned  to  Salem  in  1634,  formed  a  separate  congregation, 'and  in  1635,  the 
general  court  of  Massachusetts  passed  sentence  of  banishment  against  him.     Ho  labored  zealously 
in  founding  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island,  and  had  no  difficulty  with  any  people  who  came  there, 
except  the  Quakers.     He  died  at  Providence,  in  April,  1683,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years. 

*  Page  119. 

6  Williams  was  allowed  six  weeks  after  the  pronunciation  of  his  sentence  to  prepare  for  his 
departure. 

Massasoit  had  become  acquainted  with  the  manner  of  building  cabins  adopted  by  the  settlers 
at  fishing-stations  on  the  coast,  and  had  constructed  one  for  himself.  They  were  much  more  com 
fortable  than  wigwams.  See  page  13. 


90  SETTLEMENTS.  .     [1636. 

Massasoit,  the  chief  sachem  of  the  Wampanoags,1  at  Mount  Hope.  There  he 
was  entertained  until  the  buds  appeared,  when,  being  joined  by  five  friends  from 
Boston,  he  seated  himself  upon  the  Seekonk,  some  distance  below  Blackstone's 
plantation.  He  found  himself  within  the  territory  of  the  Plymouth  Company.2 
Governor  Winslow3  advised  him  to  cross  into  the  Narragansett  country,  where 
he  could  not  be  molested.  With  his  companions  he  embarked  in  a  light  canoe, 
paddled  around  to  the  head  of  Narraganset  Bay,  and  upon  a  green  slope,  near 
a  spring,4  they  prayed,  and  chose  the  spot  for  a  settlement.  Williams  obtained 


a  grant  of  land  from  Canonicus,  chief  sachem  of  the  Narragansetts,  and  in  com 
memoration  of  "  God's  merciful  providence  to  him  in  his  distress,"  he  called  the 
place  PROVIDENCE. 

The  freedom  enjoyed  there  was  soon  spoken  of  at  Boston,  and  persecuted 
men  fled  thither  for  refuge.  Persons  of  every  creed  were  allowed  full  liberty 
of  conscience,  and  lived  together  happily.  The  same  liberty  was  allowed  in 
politics  as  in  religion;  and  a  pure  democracy  was  established  there.  Each 
settler  was  required  to  subscribe  to  an  agreement,  that  he  would  submit  to  such 
rules,  unot  affecting  the  conscience,"  as  a  majority  of  the  inhabitants  should 
adopt  for  the  public  good.  Williams  reserved  no  political  power  to  himself,  and 
the  leader  and  follower  had  equal  dignity  and  privileges.  The  government  was 


1  Page  22.  3  Page  63.  8  Page  85. 

4  This  spring  is  now  [1861]  beneath  some  line  sycamores  on  the  west  side  of  Benefit  street,  in 
Providence. 


1G43.]  RHODE     ISLAND.  $]_ 

entirely  in  the  hands  of  tho  people.  Canonicus,  the  powerful  ITarragansett 
chief,  became  much  attached  to  Williams,  and  his  influence  among  them,  as  wo 
have  seen,1  was  very  great.  He  saved  his  persecutors  from  destruction,  yet 
they  had  not  the  Christian  manliness  to  remove  the  sentence  of  banishment,  and 
receive  him  to  their  bosoms  as  a  brother.  He  could  not  compress  his  enlarged 
views  into  the  narrow  compass  of  their  creed  ;  and  so,  while  they  rejoiced  in 
their  deliverance,  they  anathematized  their  deliverer  as  a  heretic  and  an  outcast. 
But  he  enjoyed  the  favor  of  God.  His  settlement  was  entirely  unmolested 
during  the  Pequod  war,2  arid  it  prospered  wonderfully. 

Roger  Williams  opened  his  arms  wide  to  the  persecuted.  Early  in  1638. 
while  Mrs.  Hutchinson  was  yet  in  prison  in  Boston,3  her  husband,  with  Wil 
liam  Coddington,  Dr.  John  Clarke,  and  sixteen  others,  of  concurrent  religious 
views,4  accepted  the  invitation  of  Williams  to  settle  in  his  vicinity.  Mianto- 
nomoh  gave  them  the  beautiful  island  of  Aquiday5  for  forty  fathoms  of  white 
wampum.G  They  called  it  Isle  of  Rhodes,  becauso  of  its  fancied  resemblance  to 
the  island  of  that  name  in  the  Levant,  and  upon  its  northern  verge  they  planted 
a  settlement,  and  named  it  Portsmouth.  A  covenant,  similar  to  the  one  used 
by  Williams,7  was  signed  by  the  settlers  ;  and,  in  imitation  of  the  Jewish  form 
of  government  under  the  judges,  Coddington  was  chosen  judge,  or  chief  ruler, 
with  three  assistants.  Others  soon  came  from  Boston  ;  and  in  1639,  Newport, 
toward  the  lower  extremity  of  the  island,  was  founded.  Liberty  of  conscience 
was  absolute  ;  love  was  the  social  and  political  bond,  and  upon  the  seal  which 
they  adopted  was  the  motto,  Amor  vincit  omnia — "Love  is  all-powerful." 
Although  the  Rhode  Island  and  the  Providence  plantations  were  separate  in 
government,  they  were  united  in  interest  and  aim.  Unwilling  to  acknowledge 
allegiance  to  either  Massachusetts  or  Plymouth,8  they  sought  an  independent 
charter.  For  that  purpose  Roger  Williams  went  to  England  in  1643.  The 
whole  parent  country  was  then  convulsed  with  civil  war.9  After  much  delay, 
he  obtained  from  Parliament  (which  was  then  contending  fiercely  with  the 
king)  a  free  charter  of  incorporation,  dated  March  24,  1644,  and  all  the  settle 
ments  were  united  under  the  general  title  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence 
Plantations.  Then  was  founded  the  commonwealth  of  RHODE  ISLAND. 


1  Page  87.  3  Page  87.  3  Pago  120.  4  Note  2,  page  120. 

5  This  was  the  Indian  name  of  Rhode  Island.     It  is  a  Narragansett  word,  signifying  Peaceable 
Isle.     It  is  sometimes  spelled  Aquitneck,  and  Aquitnet. 

6  Note  2,  page  13.     They  also  gave  the  Indians  ten  coats  and  twenty  hoes,  on  condition  that 
they  should  leave  the  island  before  the  next  winter. 

7  Page  90.     The  following  is  a  copy  of  th.e  government  compact :   "  "We,  whose  names  are 
underwritten,  do  swear  solemnly,  in  the  presence  of  Jehovah,  to  incorporate  ourselves  into  a.  body 
politic,  and,  as  He  shall  help  us,  will  submit  our  persons,  lives,  and  estates,  unto  our  Lord  Je.°i:3 
Christ,  the  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  Hosts,  and  to  all  those  most  perfect  and  absolute  laws  of  His, 
given  us  in  His  holy  Word  of  truth,  to  be  guided  and  judged  thereby." 

8  This  unwillingness  caused  the  other  New  England  colonies  to  refuse  the  application  of  Rhode 
Island  to  become  one  of  the  Confederacy,  in  1643.     See  page  121. 

9  Note  3,  page  108. 


92  SETTLEMENTS.  [1631. 

» 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

DELAWARE.   NEW  JERSEY,   AND  PENNSYLVANIA.      [1631—1682.] 

IT  is  difficult  to  draw  the  line  of  demarcation  between  the  first  permanent 
settlements  in  the  provinces  of  Delaware,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania,  for 
they  bore  such  intimate  relations  to  each  other  that  they  may  be  appropriately 
considered  as  parts  of  one  episode  in  the  history  of  American  colonization.  We 
shall,  therefore,  consider  these  settlements,  in  close  connection,  in  one  chapter, 
commencing  with 

DELAWARE. 

It  was  claimed  by  the  Dutch,  that  the  territory  of  New  Netherland1  ex 
tended  southward  to  Cape  Henlopen.  In  June,  1629,  Samuel  Godyn  and 
others  purchased  of  the  natives  the  territory  between  the  Cape  and  the  mouth 
of  the  Delaware  River.  The  following  year,  two  ships,  fitted  out  by  Captain 
De  Vries  and  others,  and  placed  under  the  command  of  Peter  Heyes,  sailed 
from  the  Texel  [Dec.  12,  1630]  for  America.  One  vessel  was  captured ;  the 
other  arrived  in  April,  1631 ;  and  near  the  present  town  of  Lewiston,  in 
Delaware,  thirty  immigrants,  with  implements  and  cattle,  seated  themselves. 
Heyes  returned  to  Holland,  and  reported  to  Captain  De  Vries/  That  mariner 
visited  America  early  the  following  year  [1632 J,  but  the  little  colony  left  by 
Heyes  was  not  to  be  found.  Difficulties  with  the  Indians  had  provoked  savage 
vengeance,  and  they  had  exterminated  the  white  people. 

Information  respecting  the  fine  country  along  the  Delaware  had  spread 
northward,  and  soon  a  competitor  for  a  place  on  the  South  River,  as  it  was 
called,  appeared.  Usselincx,  an  original  projector  of  the  Dutch  West  India 
Company,3  becoming  dissatisfied  with  his  associates,  visited  Sweden,  and  laid 
before  the  enlightened  monarch,  Gustavus  Adolphus,  well-arranged  plans  for  a 
Swedish  colony  in  the  New  World.  The  king  was  delighted,  for  his  attention 
had  already  been  turned  toward  America ;  and  his  benevolent  heart  was  full  of 
desires  to  plant  a  free  colony  there,  which  should  become  an  asylum  for  all 
persecuted  Christians.  While  his  scheme  was  ripening,  the  danger  which 
menaced  Protestantism  in  Germany,  called  him  to  the  field,  to  contend  for  the 
principles  of  the  Reformation.4  He  marched  from  his  kingdom  with  a  strong 
army  to  oppose  the  Imperial  hosts  marshaled  under  the  banner  of  the  Pope  on 
the  fields  of  Germany.  Yet  the  care  and  tumults  of  the  camp  and  field  did  not 
make  him  forget  his  benevolent  designs ;  and  only  a  few  days  before  his  death, 


1  Page  72. 

2  De  Tries  was  an  eminent  navigator,  and  one  of  Godyn's  friends.     To  secure  his  valuable 
services,  the  purchasers  made  him  a  partner  in  their  enterprise,  with  patroon  [page  139]  privileges, 
and  the  first  expedition  was  arranged  by  him.     He  afterward  came  to  America,  and  was  one  of 
the  most  active  men  in  the  Dutch  colonies.     On  his  return  to  Holland,  he  published  an  account  of 
his  voyages.  3  Page  72.  4  Note  14,  page  G2. 


1682.]  NEW     JERSEY.  93 

at  the  battle  of  Lutzen  [Nov.  6,  1632],  Gustavus  recommended  the  enterprise 
as  "  the  jewel  of  his  kingdom." 

The  successor  of  Gustavus  was  his  daughter  Christina,  then  only  six  years 
of  age.  The  government  was  administered  by  a  regency,1  at  the  head  of  which 
was  Axel,  count  of  Oxenstierna.  He  was  the  earliest  and  most  ardent  sup 
porter  of  the  proposed  great  enterprise  of  Gustavus  ;  and  in  1634  he  issued  a 
charter  for  the  Swedish  West  India  Company.  Peter  Minuit,3  who  had  been 
recalled  from  the  governorship  of  New  Netherland,  and  was  also  dissatisfied 
with  the  Dutch  West  India  Company,  went  to  Stockholm,  and  offered  his  serv 
ices  to  the  new  corporation.  They  were  accepted,  and  toward  the  close  of  1637 
he  sailed  from  Gottenburg  with  fifty  emigrants,  to  plant  a  colony  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Delaware.  He  landed  on  the  site  of  New  Castle,  in  April,  1638, 
and  purchased  from  the  Indians3  the  territory  between  Cape  Henlopen  and  the 
Falls  of  the  Delaware,  at  Trenton.  They  built  a  church  and  fort  on  the  site 
of  Wilmington,  called  the  place  Christina,  and  gave  the  name  of  New  Sweden 
to  the  territory.  The  jealousy  of  the  Dutch  was  aroused  by  this  "  intrusion," 
and  they  hurled  protests  and  menaces  against  the  Swedes.4  The  latter  contin 
ued  to  increase  by  immigration  ;  new  settlements  were  planted  ;  and  upon  Tin- 
icum  Island,  a  little  below  Philadelphia,  they  laid  the  foundations  of  a  capital 
for  a  Swedish  province.5  The  Dutch  West  India  Company6  finally  resolved  to 
expel  or  subdue  the  Swedes.  The  latter  made  hostile  demonstrations,  and 
defied  the  power  of  the  Dutch.  The  challenge  was  acted  upon ;  and  toward 
the  close  of  the  summer  of  1655,  governor  Stuyvesant,  with  a  squadron  of  seven 
vessels,  entered  Delaware  Bay. 7  In  September  every  Swedish  fort  and  settle 
ment  was  brought  under  his  rule,  and  the  capital  on  Tinicum  Island  was 
destroyed.  The  Swedes  obtained  honorable  terms  of  capitulation  ;  and  for 
twenty-five  years  they  prospered  under  the  rule  of  the  Dutch  and  English  pro 
prietors  of  New  Netherland. 

NEW     JERSEY. 

All  the  territory  of  NOVA  C^ESAREA,  as  New  Jersey  was  called  by  the 
English,  was  included  in  the  New  Netherland  charter,8  and  transient  trading 
settlements  were  made  [1622],  first  at  Bergen,  by  a  few  Danes,  and  then  on 
the  Delaware.  Early  in  1623,  the  Dutch  built  a  log  fort  near  the  mouth  of 
Timber  Creek,  a  few  miles  below  Camden,  and  called  it  Nassau.9  In  June, 

1  A  regent  is  one  who  exercises  the  power  of  king  or  emperor,  during  the  absence,  incapacity, 
or  childhood  of  the  latter.  For  many  years,  George  the  Third  of  England  was  incapable  of  ruling 
on  account  of  his  insanity,  and  his  son  who  was  to  be  his  successor  at  his  death,  was  called  the 
Prince  Regent,  because  Parliament  had  given  him  power  to  act  as  king,  in  the  place  of  his  father. 
In  the  case  of  Christina,  three  persons  were  appointed  regents,  or  rulers. 

*  Page  139.  3  The  Delawares.     See  page  20.  4  Page  143. 

This  was  done  about  forty  years  before  William  Penn  became  proprietor  of  Pennsylvania. 
Page  72.  »  Page  143.  8  Page  72. 

It  was  built  under  the  direction  of  Captain  Jacobus  May,  who  had  observed  attempts  made 
by  a  French  sea-captain  to  set  up  the  arms  of  France  there.  The  fort  was  built  of  logs,  and  was 
little  else  than  a  rude  block-house,  with  palissades.  [See  note  1,  page  127.]  A  little  garrison,  left  to 
protect  it,  was  soon  scattered,  and  the  fort  was  abandoned. 


94  SETTLEMENTS.  [1631. 

1623,  four  couples,  -who  had  been  married  on  the  voyage  from  Amsterdam, 
were  sent  to  plant  a  colony  on  the  Delaware.  They  seated  themselves  upon 
the  site  of  Gloucester,  a  little  below  Fort  Nassau,  and  this  was  the  commence 
ment  of  settlements  in  West  Jersey. 

Seven  years  later  [1630]  Michael  Pauw  bought  from  the  Indians  the  lands 
extending  from  Hoboken  to  the  Raritan,  and  also  the  whole  of  Staten  Island, 
and  named  the  territory  Pavonia.1  In  this  purchase,  Bergen  was  included. 
Other  settlements  were  attempted,  but  none  were  permanent.  In  1631,  Cap 
tain  Heyes,  after  establishing  the  Swedish  colony  at  Lewiston,-  crossed  the 
Delaware,  and  purchased  Cape  May3  from  the  Indians ;  and  from  t'hat  point  to 
Burlington,  traders'  huts  were  often  seen.  The  English  became  possessors  of 
New  Netherland  in  1664,  and  the  Duke  of  York,  to  whom  the  province  had 
been  given,4  conveyed  to  Lord  Berkeley  and  Sir  George  Carteret  [June  24, 
1664],  all  the' territory  between  the  North  and  South  (Hudson  and  Delaware) 
Rivers,  and  northward  to  the  line  of  forty-one  degrees  arid  forty  minutes,  under 
the  title  of  Nova  Cccsarea  or  NEW  JERSEY.  Soon  afterward  several  families 
from  Long  Island  settled  at  Elizabethtown,5  and  there  planted  the  first  fruitful 
seed  of  the  New  Jersey  colony,  for  the  one  at  Gloucester  withered  and  died. 
The  following  year,  Philip  Carteret,  who  had  been  appointed  governor  of  the 
new  province,  arrived  with  a  charter,  fair  and  liberal  in  all  its  provisions.  It 
provided  for  a  government  to  be  composed  of  a  representative  assembly0  chosen 
by  the  people,  and  a  governor  and  council.  The  legislative  powers  resided  in 
the  assembly;  the  executive  powers  were  intrusted  to  the  governor  and  his 
council.  Then  [1665]  was  laid  the  foundation  of  the  commonwealth  of  NEW 
JERSEY. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

A  new  religious  sect,  called  Quakers,7  arose  in  England  at  about  the  com 
mencement  of  the  civil  wars  [1642 — 1651]  which  resulted  in  the  death  of 
Charles  the  First.  Their  preachers  were  the  boldest,  and  yet  the  meekest  of 
all  non-conformists.8  Purer  than  all  other  sects,  they  were  hated  and  perse 
cuted  by  all.  Those  who  came  to  America  for  "  conscience'  sake''  were  perse 
cuted  by  the  Puritans  of  New  England,9  the  Churchmen  of  Virginia  and 
Maryland,  and  in  a  degree  by  the  Dutch  of  New  Amsterdam ;  and  only  in 
Rhode  Island  did  they  enjoy  freedom,  and  even  there  they  did  not  always  dwell 
in  peace.  In  1673,  George  Fox,  the  founder  of  the  Quaker  sect,  visited  all  his 
brethren  in  America.  He  found  them  a  despised  people  everywhere,  and  his 


1  Until  the  period  of  our  War  for  Independence,  therpoint  of  land  in  Pavonia,  on  which  Jersey 
City,  opposite  New  York,  now  stands,  was  called  Paulus'  Hook.     Here  was  the  scene  of  a  bold 
exploit  by  Americans,  under  Major  Henry  Lee,  in  1779.     See  page  298. 

2  Page  92.  3  Named  in  honor  of  Captain  Jacobus  Mey,  or  May.  4  Page  159. 

6  Page  159.  6  Note  3,  page  159. 

7  This  name  was  given  by  Justice  Burnet,  of  Derby,  in  1650,  who  was  admonished  by  George 
Fox,  when  he  was  cited  before  the  magistrate,  to  tremble  and  quake  at  the  Word  of  the  Lord,  at  the 
same  time  Fox  quaked,  as  if  stirred  by  mighty  emotions.     See  page  122. 

b  Note  2,  page  7G.  9  Page  75. 


1682.J 


PENNSYLVANIA. 


heart  yaarned  for  an  asylum  for  his  brethren.  Among  the  most  influential  of 
his  converts  was  William  Penn,1  son  of  the  renowned  admiral  of  that  name. 
Through  him  the  sect  gained  access  to  the  ears  of  the  nobility,  and  soon  the 
Quakers  possessed  the  western  half  of  New  Jersey,  by  purchase  from  Lord 
Berkeley. '  The  first  company  of  immigrants  landed  in  the  autumn  of  1675, 
and  named  the  place  of  debarkation  Salem.3  They  established  a  democratic 
form  of  government ;  and,  in  November,  1681.  the  first  legislative  assembly  of 
Quakers  ever  convened,  met  at  Salem. 


While  these  events  were  progressing,  Penn,  who  had  been  chief  peace-maker 
when  disputes  arose  among  the  proprietors  and  the  people,  took  measures  to 
plant  a  new  colony  beyond  the  Delaware.  He  applied  to  Charles  the  Second 
for  a  charter.  The  king  remembered  the  services  of  Admiral  Penn,4  and  gave 
his  son  a  grant  [March  14,  1681]  of  "  three  degrees  of  latitude  by  five  degrees 

1  William  Penn  was  born  in  London,  in  October,  1644,  and  was  educated  at  Oxford.  He  was 
remarkable,  in  his  youth,  for  brilliant  talents ;  and  while  a  student,  having  heard  the  preaching  of 
Quakers,  he  was  drawn  to  them,  and  suffered  expulsion  from  his  father's  roof,  in  consequence.  He 
went  abroad,  obtained  courtly  manners,  studied  law  after  his  return,  and  was  again  driven  from 
home  for  associating  with  Quakers.  He  then  became  a  preacher  among  them,  and  remained  in 
that  connection  until  his  death.  After  a  life  of  great  activity  and  considerable  suffering,  he  died  in 
England,  in  1718,  at  the  age  of  seventy-four  years.  2  Page  119. 

3  Now  the  capital  of  Salem  county.  New  Jersey. 

4  He  was  a  very  efficient  naval  commander,  and  by  his  skill  contributed  to  the  defeat  of  tho 
Dutch  in  1664.     The  king  gave  him  the  title  of  Baron  for  his  services.     Note  15,  page  G2. 


96  SETTLEMENTS.  [1631. 

of  longitude  west  of  the  Delaware,"  and  named  the  province  Pennsylvania,  in 
honor  of  the  proprietor.  It  included  the  principal  settlements  of  the  Swedes. 
To  these  people,  and  others  within  the  domain,  Penn  sent  a  proclamation,  filled 
with  the  loftiest  sentiments  of  republicanism.  William  Markham,  who  bore  the 
proclamation,  was  appointed  deputy-governor  of  the  province,  and  with  him 
sailed  [May,  1681]  quite  a  large  company  of  immigrants,  who  were  members 
or  employees  of  the  Company  of  Free  Traders,'  who  had  purchased  lands  of 
the  proprietor.  In  May,  the  following  year,  Penn  published  a  frame  of  gov 
ernment,  and  sent  it  to  the  settlers  for  their  approval.  It  was  not  a  constitu 
tion,  but  a  code  of  wholesome  regulations  for  the  people  of  the  colony.2  He 
soon  afterward  obtained  by  grant  and  purchase  [Aug.  1682]  the  domain  of  the 
present  State  of  Delaware,  which  the  Duke  of  York  claimed,  notwithstanding  it 
was  clearly  not  his  own.  It  comprised  three  counties,  Newcastle,  Kent,  and 
Sussex,  called  The  Territories. 

Penn  had  been  anxious,  for  some  time,  to  visit  his  colony,  and  toward  the 
close  of  August,  1682,  he  sailed  in  the  Welcome  for  America,  with  about  one 
hundred  emigrants.  The  voyage  was  long  and  tedious ;  and  when  he  arrived 
at  Newcastle,  in  Delaware  [Nov.  6],  he  found  almost  a  thousand  new  comers 
there,  some  of  whom  had  sailed  before,  and  some  after  his  departure  from  En 
gland.  He  was  joyfully  received  by  the  old  settlers,  who  then  numbered  almost 
three  thousand.  The  Swedes  said,  "It  is  the  best  day  we  have  ever  seen;" 
and  they  all  gathered  like  children  around  a  father.  A  few  days  afterward,  he 
proceeded  to  Shackamaxon  (now  Kensington  suburbs  of  Philadelphia),  where, 
under  a  wide-spreading  elm,  as  tradition  declares,  he  entered  into  an  honorable 
treaty  with  the  Indians,  for  their  lands,  and  established  with  them  an  everlast 
ing  covenant  of  peace  and  friendship.  "  We  meet,"  said  Penn,  "  on  the  broad 
pathway  of  good  faith  and  good  will ;  no  advantage  shall  be  taken  on  either 
side  ;  but  all  shall  be  openness  and  love."  And  so  it  was. 

"Thou'lt  find,"  said  the  Quaker,  "  in  me  and  in  mine,  » 

But  friends  and  brothers  to  thee  and  thine, 
"Who  abuse  no  power  and  admit  no  line 

'TvvLxt  the  red  man  and  the  white. 

And  bright  was  the  spot  where  the  Quaker  came, 
To  leave  his  hat,  his  drab,  and  his  name,    , 
That  will  sweetly  sound  from  the  trump  of  Fame, 
Till  its  final  blast  shall  die." 

On  the  day  after  his  arrival,  Penn  received  from  the  agents  of  the  Duke  of 
York,3  in  the  presence  of  the  people,  a  formal*  surrender  of  The  Territories ; 


1  Lands  in  the  new  province  were  offered  for  about  ten  cents  an  acre.     Quite  a  number  of  pur 
chasers  united,  and  called  themselves  The  Company  of  Free  Traders,  with  whom  Penn  entered  into 
an  agreement  concerning  the  occupation  of  the  soil,  laying  out  of  a  city,  &c. 

2  It  ordained  a  General  Assembly  or  court,  to  consist  of  a  governor,  a  council  of  seventy,  chosen 
by  the  freemen  of  the  colony,  and  a  house  of  delegates,  to  consist  of  not  less  than  two  hundred 
members,  nor  more  than  five  hundred.     These  were  also  to  be  chosen  by  the  people.     The  proprietor, 
or  his  deputy  (the  governor),  was  to  preside,  and  to  have  a  three-fold  voice  in  the  council ;  that  is,  on 
all  questions,  he  was  to  have  three  votes  for  every  one  of  the  councillors.  3  Page  144 


1682.] 


THE     CAROLINAS. 


and  after  resting  a  few  clays,  he  proceeded  to  visit 
his  brethren  in  New  Jersey,  and  the  authorities 
at  New  York.  On  his  return,  he  met  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  province  at  Chester,1  when  he 
declared  the  union  of  The  Territories  with  Pennsyl 
vania.  He  made  a  more  judicious  organization  of  the 
local  government,  and  then  were  permanently  laid  the 
foundations  of  the  commonwealth  of  PENNSYLVANIA. 


97 


THE    ASSEMBLY    HOUSE. 


C  HAP  T  ER    IX. 


THE    CAROLINAS.     [1622  —  1680.] 

UNSUCCESSFUL  efforts  at  settlement  on  the  coast  of  Carolina,  were  made 
during  a  portion  of  the  sixteenth  century.  These  we  have  already  considered." 
As  early  as  1609,  some  dissatisfied  people  from  Jamestown  settled  on  the 
Nansemond:  and  in  1622,  Porey,  then  Secretary  of  Virginia,  with  a  few 
friends,  penetrated  the  country  beyond  the  Roanoke.  In  1630,  Charles  the 
First  granted  to  Sir  Robert  Heath,  his  attorney-general,  a  domain  south  of 
Virginia-,  six  degrees  of  latitude  in  width,  extending  from  Albemarle  Sound  to 
the  St.  John's  River,  in  Florida,  and,  as  usual,  westward  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
No  settlements  were  made,  and  the  charter  was  forfeited.  At  that  time,  Dis 
senters  or  Nonconformists3  suffered  many  disabilities  in  Virginia,  and  looked  to 
the  wilderness  for  freedom.  In  1653,  Roger  Green  and  a  few  Presbyterians 
left  that  colony  and  settled  upon  the  Chowan  River,  near  the  present  village  of 
Edenton.  Other  dissenters  followed,  and  the  colony  flourished.  Governor 
Berkeley,  of  Virginia,4  wisely  organized  them  into  a  separate  political  commu 
nity  [1663],  and  William  Drummond,&  a  Scotch  Presbyterian  minister,  was 
appointed  their  governor.  They  received  the  name  of  Albemarle  County 
Colony,  in  honor  of  the  Duke  of  Albemarle,  who,  that  year,  became  a  proprietor 
of  the  territory.  Two  years  previously  [1661],  some  New  England6  adventur 
ers  settled  in  the  vicinity  of  Wilmington,  on  the  Cape  Fear  River,  but  many 
of  them  soon  abandoned  the  country  because  of  its  poverty. 

Charles  the  Second  was  famous- for  his  distribution  of  the  lands  in  the  New 
World,  among  his  friends  and  favorites,  regardless  of  any  other  claims,  Abo- 


1  The  picture  is  a  correct  representation  of  the  building  at  Chester,  in  Pennsylvania,  wherein 
the  Assembly  met.     It  was  yet  standing  in  1860.     Not  far  from  the  spot,  on  the  shore  of  the  Dela 
ware,  at  the  mouth  of  Chester  Creek,  was  also  a  solitary  pine-tree,  which  marked  the  place  where 
Penn  landed. 

2  Pages  55  to  57  inclusive.  3  Note  2,  page  76.  4  Page  78. 
Drummond  was  afterward  executed  on  account  of  his  participation  in  Bacon's  revolutionary 

••icts.     See  note  5,  page  112.  6  Page  108. 

7 


98  SETTLEMENTS.  [1622. 

riginal  or  European.  In  1663,  he  granted  the  whole  territory  named  in  Sir 
Robert  Heath's  charter,  to  eight  of  his  principal  friends, '  and  called  it  CARO 
LINA.2  As  the  Chowan  settlement  was  not  within  the  limits  of  the  charter,  the 
boundary  was  extended  northward  to  the  present  line  between  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina,  and  also  southward,  so  as  to  include  the  whole  of  Florida, 
except  its  peninsula.  The  Bahama  Islands  were  granted  to  the  same  proprie 
tors  in  1667.3  Two  years  earlier  [1665],  a  company  of  Barbadoes  planters 
settled  upon  the  lands  first  occupied  by  the  New  England  people,  near  the 
present  Wilmington,  and  founded  a  permanent  settlement  there.  The  few 
settlers  yet  remaining  were  treated  kindly,  and  soon  an  independent  colony,  with 
Sir  John  Yeamans4  as  governor,  was  established.  It  was  called  the  Clarendon 
Comity  Colony,  in  honor  of  one  of  the  proprietors.  Yeamans  managed 
prudently,  but  the  poverty  of  the  soil  prevented  a  rapid  increase  in  the  popula 
tion.  The  settlers  applied  themselves  to  the  manufacture  of  boards,  shingles, 
and  staves,  which  they  shipped  to  the  West  Indies ;  and  that  business  is  yet  the 
staple  trade  of  that  region  of  pine  forests  and  sandy  levels.  Although  the 
settlement  did  not  flourish,  it  continued  to  exist ;  and  then  was  founded  the 
commonwealth  of  NORTH  CAROLINA. 

The  special  attention  of  the  proprietors  was  soon  turned  toward  the  more 
southerly  and  fertile  portion  of  their  domain,  and  in  January.  1670,  they  sent 
three  ships  with  emigrants,  under  the  direction  of  William  Sayle&  and  Joseph 
West,  to  plant  a  colony  below  Cape  Fear.  They  entered  Port  Royal,  landed 
on  Beaufort  Island  at  the  spot  where  the  Huguenots  built  Fort  Carolina  in 
1564, 6  and  there  Sayle  died  early  in  1671.  The  immigrants  soon  afterward 
abandoned  Beaufort,  and  sailing  into  the  Ashley  River,7  seated  themselves  on 
its  western  bank,  at  a  place  a  few  miles  above  Charleston,  now  known  as  Old 
Town.  There  they  planted  the  first  seeds  of  a  South  Carolina  colony.  West 
exercised  authority  as  chief  magistrate,  until  the  arrival  of  Sir  John  Yeamans, 
in  December,  1671,  who  was  appointed  governor.  He  came  with  fifty  families, 
and  a  large  number  of  slaves.8  Representative  government  was  instituted  in 
16729  under  the  title  of  the  Carteret  County  Colony.  It  was  so  called  in 
honor  of  one  of  the  proprietors.10  Ten  years  afterward  they  abandoned  the  spot ; 


1  Lord  Clarendon,  his  prime  minister;  General  Monk,  just  created  Duke  of  Albemarle;  Lord 
Ashley  Cooper,  afterward  Earl  of  Shaftesbury ;  Sir  George  Carteret,  a  proprietor  of  New  Jersey ; 
Sir  William  Berkeley,  Governor  of  Virginia;  Lord  Berkeley,  Lord  Craven,  and  Sir  John  Colleton. 

2  It  will  be  perceived  [note  1.  page  55]  that  the  name  of  Carolina,  given  to  territory  south  of 
Virginia,  was  bestowed  in  honor  of  two  kings  named  Charles,  one  of  France,  the  other  of  England. 

5  Samuel  Stephens  succeeded  Drummond  as  governor,  in  1667  ;  and  in  1668,  the  first  popular 
Assembly  in  North  Carolina  convened  at  Edenton. 

4  Yeamans  was  an  impoverished  English  baronet,  who  had  become  a  planter  in  Barbadoes,  to 
mend  his  fortune.  He  was  successful,  and  became  wealthy. 

6  Sayle  had  previously  explored  the  Carolina  coast.     Twenty  years  before,  he  had  attempted  to 
plant  an  "Eleutharia,"  or  place  dedicated  to  the  genius  of  Liberty  [see  Eleutheria.  Anthon's  Class 
ical  Dictionary],  in  the  isles  near  the  coast  of  Florida. 

6  Page  50.  7  Page  166. 

8  This  was  the  commencement  of  negro  slavery  in  South  Carolina.  Yeamans  brought  almost- 
two  hundred  of  them  from  Barbadoes.  From  the  commencement,  South  Carolina  has  been  a 
planting  State.  9  Note  5,  page  165. 

10  He  was  also  one  of  the  proprietors  of  New  Jersey.     See  page  119. 


1680-j  GEORGIA.  99 

and  upon  Oyster  Point,  at  the  junction  of  Ashley  and  Cooper  Rivers,1  nearer 
the  sea,  they  founded  the  present  city  of  Charleston."  Immigrants  came  from 
various  parts  of  Europe ;  and  many  Dutch  families,  dissatisfied  with  the  English 
rule  at  New  York,3  went  to  South  Carolina,  where  lands  were  freely  given 
them;  and  soon,  along  the  Santee  and  the  Edisto,  the  wilderness  began  to 
blossom  under  the  hand  of  culture.  The  people  would  have  nothing  to  do  with 
a  government  scheme  prepared  by  Shaftesbury  and  Locke,4  but  preferred  simple 
organic  laws  of  their  own  making.  Then  were  laid  the  foundations  of  the  com 
monwealth  of  SOUTH  CAROLINA,  although  the  history  of  the  two  States,  under 
the  same  proprietors,  is  inseparable,  until  the  period  of  their  dismemberment, 
in  1729.' 


CHAPTER    X. 

GEORGIA.      [1733.] 

GEORGIA  was  the  latest  settled  of  the  thirteen  original  English  colonies  in 
America.  When  the  proprietors  of  the  Carolinas  surrendered  their  charter6  to 
the  crown  in  1729,  the  whole  country  southward  of  the  Savannah  River,  to 
the  vicinity  of  St.  Augustine,  was  a  wilderness  peopled  by  native  tribes,7  and 
claimed  by  the  Spaniards  as  part  of  their  territory  of  Florida.8  The  English 
disputed  this  claim,  and  South  Carolina  townships  were  ordered  to  be  marked 
out  as  far  south  as  the  Alatamaha.  The  dispute  grew  warm  and  warlike,  and 
the  Indians,  instigated  by  the  Spaniards,  depredated  upon  the  frontier  English 
settlements;9  But,  while  the  clouds  of  hostility  were  gathering  in  the  firma 
ment,  and  grew  darker  every  hour,  it  was  lighted  up  by  a  bright  beam  of  be 
nevolence,  which  proved  the  harbinger  of  a  glorious  day.  It  came  from  England, 
where,  at  that  time,  poverty  was  often  considered  a  crime,  and  at  least  four 
thousand  unfortunate  debtors  were  yearly  consigned  to  loathsome  prisons.  The 
honest  and  true,  the  noble  and  the  educated,  as  well  as  the  ignorant  and  the 
vile,  groaned  within  prison  walls.  Their  wailings  at  length  reached  the  ears 
of  benevolent  men.  Foremost  among  these  was  James  Edward  Oglethorpe,10  a 
brave  soldier  and  stanch  loyalist,  whose  voice  had  been  heard  often  in  Parlia 
ment  against  imprisonment  for  debt. 

A  committee  of  inquiry  into  the  subject  of  such  imprisonments,  was  ap- 


1  These  were  so  called  in  honor  of  Ashley  Cooper,  Earl  of  Shaftesbury.     The  Indian  name  of 
the  former  was  Ke-a-wah,  and  of  the  latter  E-ti-wan. 

2  Charleston  was  laid  out  in  1680  by  John  Culpepper,  who  had  been  surveyor-general  for 
North  Carolina.     See  page  166.  3  Page  164.  4  Page  164.  *  Page  171. 

0  Page  171.  7  Page  29.  8  Page  42.  9  Page  170. 

10  See  portrait,  page  104.  General  Oglethorpe  was  born  in  Surrey,  England,  on  the  21st  of  De 
cember,  1698.  He  was  a  soldier  by  profession.  In  1745,  he  was  made  a  brigadier-general,  and 
fought  against  Charles  Edward,  the  Pretender,  who  was  a  grandson  of  James  the  Second,  and 
claimed  rightful  heirship  to  the  throne  of  England.  Oglethorpe  refused  the  supreme  command  of 
the  British  army  destined  for  America  in  1775.  He  died,  June  30,  1785,  aged  eighty-seven  years. 


100  SETTLEMENTS.  [1733. 

pointed  by  Parliament,  and  General  Oglethorpe  was  made  chairman  of  it.  His 
report,  embodying  a  noble  scheme  of  benevolence,  attracted  attention  and 
admiration.  He  proposed  to  open  the  prison  doors  to  all  virtuous  men  within, 
who  would  accept  the  conditions,  and  with  these  and  other  sufferers  from  pov 
erty  and  oppression,  to  go  to  the  wilderness  of  America,  and  there  establish  a 
colony  of  freemen,  and  open  an  asylum  for  persecuted  Protestants1  of  all  lands. 
The  plan  met  warm  responses  in  Parliament,  and  received  the  hearty  approval 
of  George  the  Second,  then  [1730]  on  the  English  throne.  A  royal  charter  for 
twenty-one  years  was  granted  [June  9,  1732J  to  a  corporation  "  in  trust  for 
the  poor,"  to  establish  a  colony  within  the  disputed  territory  south  of  the  Sa 
vannah,  to  be  called  Georgia,  in  honor  of  the  king.2  Individuals  subscribed 
large  sums  to  defray  the  expenses  of  emigrants  hither  ;  and  within  two  years 
after  the  issuing  of  the  patent,  Parliament  had  appropriated  one  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  dollars  for  the  same  purpose.3 

The  sagacious  and  brave  Oglethorpe  was  a  practical  philanthropist.  He 
offered  to  accompany  the  first  settlers  to  the  wilderness,  and  to  act  as  governor 
of  the  new  province.  With  one  hundred  and  twenty  emigrants  he  left  England 
[Nov.,  1732],  and  after  a  passage  of  fifty-seven  days,  touched  at  Charleston 
[Jan.,  1733],  where  he  was  received  with  great  joy  by  the  inhabitants,  as  one 
wTho  was  about  to  plant  a  barrier  between  them  and  the  hostile  Indians  and 
Spaniards.4  Proceeding  to  Port  Royal,  Oglethorpe  landed  a  large  portion  of 
his  followers  there,  and  with  a  few  others,  he  coasted  to  the  Savannah  River. 
Sailing  up  that  stream  as  far  as  Yamacraw  Bluff,  he  landed,  and  chose  the  spot 
whereon  to  lay  the  foundation  of  the  capital  of  a  future  State.6 

On  the  12th  of  February,  1733,  the  remainder  of  the  immigrants  arrived 
from  Port  Royal.  The  winter  air  was  genial,  and  with  cheerful  hearts  and 
willing  hands  they  constructed  a  rude  fortification,  and  commenced  the  erection 
of  a  town,  which  they  called  Savannah,  the  Indian  name  of  the  river.6  For 
almost  a  year  the  governor  dwelt  under  a  tent,  and  there  he  often  held  friendly 
intercourse  with  the  chiefs  of  neighboring  tribes.  At  length,  when  he  had 
mounted  cannons  upon  the  fort,  and  safety  was  thus  secured,  Oglethorpe  met 


1  Note  14,  page  62. 

2  The  domain  granted  by  the  charter  extended  along  the  coast  from  the  Savannah  to  the  Ala- 
tamaha,  and  westward  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.     The  trustees  appointed  by  the  crown,  possessed  all 
legislative  and  executive  power ;  and,  therefore,  while  one  side  of  the  seal  of  the  new  province 
expressed  the  benevolent  character  of  the  scheme,  by  the  device  of  a  group  of  toiling  silkworms, 
and  the  motto,  Non  sibi,  sed  aliis  ;   the  other  side,  bearing,  between  two  urns  the   genius  of 
"Georgia  Augusta,"  with  a  cap  of  liberty  on  her  head,  a  spear,  and  a  horn  of  plenty,  was  a  false 
emblem.     There  was  no  political  liberty  ibr  the  people. 

3  Brilliant  visions  of  vast  vintages,  immense  productions  of  silk  for  British  looms,  and  all  the 
wealth  of  a  fertile  tropical  region,  were  presented  for  the  contemplation  of  the  commercial  acumen 
of  the  business  men  of  England.     These  considerations,  as  well  as  the  promptings  of  pure  benev 
olence,  made  donations  libend  and  numerous.  4  Page  99. 

5  Some  historians  believe  that  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  while  on  his  way  to  South  America,  in  1595, 
went  up  the  Savannah  River,  and  held  a  conference  with  the  Indians  on  this  very  spot.     This, 
probably,  is  an  error,  for  nothing  appears  in  the  writings  of  Raleigh  or  his  cotemporaries  to  warrant- 
the  inference  that  he  ever  saw  the  North  American  continent. 

6  The  streets  were  laid  out  with  great  regularity;  public  squares  were  reserved;  and  the  houses; 
were  all  built  on  one  model — twenty-four  by  sixteen  feet,  on  the  ground. 


OGLETIIORPE'S  FIRST  INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  INDIANS. 


o»W* 
[UHIVIESITTJ 


1733.]  -  GEORGIA.  103 

fifty  chiefs  in  council  [May,  1733],  with  To-mo-chi-chi*  the  principal  sachem 
of  the  lower  Creek  confederacy.2  at  their  head,  to  treat  for  the  purchase  of 
lands.  Satisfactory  arrangements  were  made,  and  the  English  obtained  sover 
eignty  over  the  whole  domain  [June  1,  1733]  along  the  Atlantic  from  the  Sa 
vannah  to  the  St.  John's,  and  westward  to  the  Flint  and  the  head  waters  of  the 
Chattahoochee.  The  provisions  of  the  charter  formed  the  constitution  of  gov 
ernment  for  the  people ;  and  there,  upon  Yamacraw  Bluff,  where  the  flourishing 
city  of  Savannah  now  stands,  was  laid  the  foundation  of  the  commonwealth  of 
GEORGIA,  in  the  summer  of  1733.  Immigration  flowed  thither  in  a  strong  and 
continuous  stream,  for  all  were  free  in  religious  matters ;  yet  for  many  years 
the  colony  did  not  flourish.3 

Wonderful,  indeed,  were  the  events  connected  with  the  permanent  settle 
ments  in  the  New  World.  Never  in  the  history  of  the  race  was  greater  hero 
ism  displayed  than  the  seaboard  of  the  domain  of  the  United  States  exhibited 
during  the  period  of  settlements,  and  the  development  of  colonies.  Hardihood, 
faith,  courage,  indomitable  perseverance,  and  untiring  energy,  were  requisite 
to  accomplish  all  that  was  done  in  so  short  a  time,  and  under  such  unfavorable 
circumstances.  While  many  of  the  early  immigrants  were  mere  adventurers, 
and  sleep  in  deserved  oblivion,  because  they  were  recreant  to  the  great  duty 
which  they  had  self-imposed,  there  are  thousands  whose  names  ought  to  be  per 
petuated  in  brass  and  marble,  because  of  their  faithful  performance  of  the 
mighty  task  assigned  them.  They  came  here  as  sowers  of  the  prolific  seed  of 
human  liberty  ;  and  during  the  colonizing  period,  many  of  them  carefully  nur 
tured  the  tender  plant,  while  it  was  bursting  into  vigorous  life.  We,  who  are 
the  reapers,  ought  to  reverence  the  sowers  and  the  cultivators  with  grateful 
hearts. 

1  To-mo-chi-chi  was  then  an  aged  man,  and  at  his  first  interview  with  Oglethorpe,  he  presented 
him  with  a  buffalo  skin,  ornamented  with  the  picture  of  an  eagle.    "  Here,"  said  the  chief,  "  is  a  little 
present:  I  give  you  a  buffalo's  skin,  adorned  on  the  inside  with  the  head  and  feathers  of  an  eagle, 
which  I  desire  you  to  accept,  because  the  eagle  is  an  emblem  of  speed,  and  the  buffalo  of  strength. 
The  English  are  swift  as  the  bird,  and  strong  as  the  beast,  since,  like  the  former,  they  flew  over 
vast  seas  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth ;  and  like  the  latter,  they  are  so  strong  that  nothing 
can  withstand  them.      The  feathers  of  an  eagle  are  soft,  and  signify  love ;  the  buffalo's  skin  is 
warm,  and  signifies  protection  ; — therefore  I  hope  the  English  will  protect  and  love  our  little  fam 
ilies."     Alas!  the  wishes  of  the  venerable  To-mo-chi-chi  were  never  realized,  for  the  white  people 
more  often  plundered  and  destroyed,  than  loved  and  protected  the  Indians. 

To-mo-chi-chi  died  on  the  5th  of  October,  1739,  at  his  own  town,  four  miles  from  Savannah, 
aged  about  ninety-seven  years.  He  loved  General  Oglethorpe,  and  expressed  a  desire  that  his 
body  might  be  laid  among  the  English  at  Savannah.  It  was  buried  there  with  public  honors. — See 
the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  1740,  page  129. 

2  Page  30.  3  Pages  171  and  173. 


JAMES   EDWARD   OGLETHORPE. 


I  E  S. 


CHAPTER    I. 

HAVING  briefly  traced  the  interesting 
events  which  resulted  in  the  founding  of  sev 
eral  colonies  by  settlements  we  will  now  con 
sider  the  more  important  acts  of  establishing  permanent  commonwealths,  all  of 
which  still  exist  and  nourish.  The  colonial  history  of  the  United  States  is 
comprised  within  the  period  commencing  when  the  several  settlements  along  the 
Atlantic  coasts  became  organized  into  political  communities,  and  ending  when 
representatives  of  these  colonies  met  in  general  congress  in  1774, 1  and  confeder 
ated  for  mutual  welfare.  There  was  an  earlier  union  of  interests  and  efforts. 
It  was  when  the  several  English  colonies  aided  the  mother  country  in  a  long 
war  against  the  combined  hostilities  of  the  French  and  Indians.  As  the  local 
histories  of  the  several  colonies  after  the  commencement  of  that  war  have  but 
little  interest  for  the  general  reader,  we  shall  trace  the  progress  of  each  colony 
only  to  that  period,  and  devote  a  chapter  to  the  narrative  of  the  French  and 
Indian  war.2 


Page  228. 


Page  179. 


1619.]  VIRGINIA.  105 

As  we  have  already  observed,  a  settlement  acquires  the  character  of  a 
colony  only  when  it  has  become  permanent,  and  the  people,  acknowledging 
allegiance  to  a  parent  State,  are  governed  by  organic  laws.1  According  to 
these  conditions,  the  earliest  of  the  thirteen  colonies  represented  in  the  Con 
gress  of  1774,  was 

VIRGINIA.      [1  G  1  9.] 

That  was  an  auspicious  day  for  the  six  hundred  settlers  in  Virginia  when 
the  gold-seekers  disappeared,2  and  the  enlightened  George  Yeardley  became 
governor,  and  established  a  representative  assembly  [June  28,  1619] — the  first 
in  all  America,3  And  yet  a  prime  element  of  happiness  and  prosperity  was 
wanting.  There  were  few  white  women  in  the  colony.  The  wise  Sandys,  the 
friend  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,*  was  then  treasurer  of  the  London  Company,5 
and  one  of  the  most  influential  and  zealous  promoters  of  emigration.  During 
the  same  year  when  the  Puritans  sailed  for  America  [1620],  he  sent  more  than 
twelve  hundred  emigrants  to  Virginia,  among  whom  were  ninety  young  women, 
"pure  and  uncorrupt,"  who  were  disposed  of  for  the  cost  of  their  passage,  as 
wives  for  the  planters.6  The  following  year  sixty  more  were  sent.  The  fam 
ily  relation  was  soon  established ;  the  gentle  influence  of  woman  gave  refine 
ment  to  social  life  on  the  banks  of  the  Powhatan  ;7  new  and  powerful  incentives 
to  industry  and  thrift  were  created ;  and  the  mated  planters  no  longer  cherished 
the  prevailing  idea  of  returning  to  England.3  Vessel  after  vessel,  laden  with 
immigrants,  continued  to  arrive  in  the  James  River,  and  new  settlements  were 
planted,  even  so  remote  as  at  the  Falls,9  and  on  the  distant  banks  of  the  Poto 
mac.  The  germ  of  an  empire  was  rapidly  expanding  with  the  active  elements 
of  national  organization.  Verbal  instructions  would  no  longer  serve  the  pur 
poses  of  government,  and  in  August,  1621,  the  Company  granted  the  colonists 
a  written  Constitution,10  which  ratified  most  of  the  acts  of  Yeardley.11  Pro 
vision  was  made  for  the  appointment  of  a  governor  and  council  by  the  Company, 
and  a  popular  Assembly,  to  consist  of  two  burgesses  or  representatives  from 
each  borough,  chosen  by  the  people.  This  body,  and  the  council,  composed 
the  General  Assembly,  which  was  to  meet  once  a  year,  and  pass  laws  for  the 


1  Page  61.  2  Page  71.  3  Page  71.  4  Page  77.  5  Page  64. 

6  Tobacco  had  already  become  a  circulating  medium,  or  currency,  in  Virginia,     The  price  of  a 
wife  varied  from  120  to  150  pounds  of  this  product,  equivalent,  in  money  value,  to  about  $90  and 
$1 12  each.     The  second  "  cargo"  were  sold  at  a  still  higher  price.     By  the  king's  special  order,  one 
hundred  dissolute  vagabonds,  called  "jail-birds"  by  the  colonists,  were  sent  over  the  same  year,  and 
sold  as  bond-servants  for  a  specified  time.     In  August,  the  same  year,  a  Dutch  trading  vessel  en 
tered  the  James  River  with  negro  slaves.     Twenty  of  them  were  sold  into  perpetual  slavery  to  the 
planters.    This  was  the  commencement  of  negro  slavery  in  the  English  colonies  [note  4.  page  177]. 
The  slave  population  of  the  United  States  in  1860,  according  to  the  census,  was  about  4,000,000. 

7  Page  64. 

s  Most  of  the  immigrants  hitherto  were  possessed  of  the  spirit  of  mere  adventurers.  They  came 
to  America  to  repair  shattered  fortunes,  or  to  gain  wealth,  with  the  ultimate  object  of  returning  to 
England  to  enjoy  it.  The  creation  of  families  made  the  planters  more  attached  to  the  soil  of  Vir 
ginia. 

9  Near  the  site  of  the  city  of  Richmond.     The  falls,  or  rapids,  extend  about  six  miles. 

111  The  people  of  the  May-flower  formed  a  written  Constitution  for  themselves  [page  78].  That 
of  Virginia  was  modeled  after  the  Constitution  of  England.  ,  n  Page  70. 


106  THE     COLONIES.  [1619. 

general  good.1  Such  laws  were  not  valid  until  approved  by  the  Company, 
neither  were  any  orders  of  the  Company  binding  upon  the  colonists  until 
ratified  by  the  General  Assembly.  Trial  by  jury  was  established,  and  courts 
of  law  conformable  to  those  of  England  were  organized.  Ever  afterward  claim 
ing  these  privileges  as  rigJits,  the  Virginians  look  back  to  the  summer  of  1621 
as  the  era  of  their  civil  freedom. 

The  excellent  Sir  Francis  Wyatt,  who  had  been  appointed  governor  under 
the  Constitution,  and  brought  the  instrument  with  him,  was  delighted  with  the 
aspect  of  affairs  in  Virginia.  But  a  dark  cloud  soon  arose  in  the  summer  sky. 
The  neighboring  Indian  tribes2  gathered  in  solemn  council.  Powhatan,  the 
friend  of  the  English  after  the  marriage  of  his  daughter.3  was  dead,  and  an 
enemy  of  the  white  people  ruled  the  dusky  nation.4  They  had  watched  the 
increasing  strength  of  the  English,  with  alarm.  The  white  people  were  now 
four  thousand  in  number,  and  rapidly  increasing.  The  Indians  read  their  des 
tiny — annihilation — upon  the  face  of  every  new  comer ;  and,  prompted  by  the 
first  great  law  of  his  nature,  self-preservation,  the  red  man  resolved  to  strike  a 
blow  for  life.  A  conspiracy  was  accordingly  formed,  in  the  spring  of  1622,  to 
exterminate  the  white  people.  At  mid-day,  on  the  1st  of  April,  the  hatchet 
fell  upon  all  of  the  more  remote  settlements ;  and  within  an  hour,  three  hun 
dred  and  fifty  men,  women,  and  children,  were  slain.5  Jamestown13  and  neigh 
boring  plantations  were  saved  by  the  timely  warning  of  a  converted  Indian.7 
The  people  were  on  their  guard  and  escaped.  Those  far  away  in  the  forests 
defended  themselves  bravely,  and  when  they  had  beaten  back  the  foe,  they  fled 
to  Jamestown.  Within  a  few  days,  eighty  plantations  were  reduced  to  eight. 

The  people,  thus  concentrated  at  Jamestown  by  a  terrible  necessity,  pre 
pared  for  vengeance.  A  vindictive  war  ensued,  and  a  terrible  blow  of  retalia 
tion  was  given.  The  Indians  upon  the  James  and  York  Rivers  were  slaughtered 
by  scores,  or  were  driven  far  back  into  the  wilderness.  Yet  a  blight  was  upon 
the  colony.  Sickness  and  famine  followed  close  upon  the  massacre.  Within 
three  months,  the  colony  of  four  thousand  souls  was  reduced  to  twenty-five 
hundred  ;  and  at  the  beginning  of  1624,  of  the  nine  thousand  persons  who  had 
been  sent  to  Virginia  from  England,  only  eighteen  hundred  remained. 

These  disheartening  events,  and  the  selfish  action  of  the  king,  discouraged 
the  London  Company.8  The  holders  of  the  stock  had  now  become  very  numer 
ous,  and  their  meetings,  composed  of  men  of  all  respectable  classes,  assumed  a 


1  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses,  of  which  we  shall  often  speak  in 
future  chapters  2  The  Powhatans.  See  page  20.  3  Page  70. 

4  Powhatan  died  in  1618,  and  was  succeeded  in  office  by  his  younger  brother,  Opechancan- 
ough  [see  page  66].  This  chief  hated  the  English.  He  was  the  one  who  made  Captain  Smith  a 
prisoner. 

6  Opechancanough  was  wily  and  exceedingly  treacherous.     Only  a  few  days  before  the  mas 
sacre,  he  declared  that  "sooner  the  skies  would  fall  than  his  friendship  with  the  English  would  be 
dissolved."     Even  on  the  day  of  the  massacre,  the  Indians  entered  the  houses  of  the  planters  with 
usual  tokens  of  friendship.  6  Page  64. 

7  This  was  Chanco,  who  was  informed  of  the  bloody  design  the  evening  previous.     He  desired 
to  save  a  white  friend  in  Jamestown,  and  gave  him  the  information.     It  was  too  late  to  send  word 
to  the  more  remote  settlements.     Among  those  who  fell  on  this  occasion,  were  six  members  of  the 
council,  and  several  jof  the  wealthiest  inhabitants.  8  Page  64. 


1G88.]  VIRGINIA. 

political  character,  in  which  two  distinct  parties  were  represented,  namely,  the 
advocates  of  liberty,  and  the  supporters  of  the  royal  prerogatives.  The  king 
was  offended  by  the  freedom  of  debates  at  these  meetings,  and  regarded  them 
as  inimical  to  royalty,  and  dangerous  to  the  stability  of  his  throne.1  He  deter 
mined  to  regain  what  he  had  lost  by  granting  the  liberal  third  charter2  to  the 
company.  He  endeavored  first  to  control  the  elections.  Failing  in  this,  he 
sought  a  pretense  for  dissolving  the  Company.  A  commission  was  appointed 
in  May,  1623,  to  inquire  into  their  affairs.  It  was  composed  of  the  king's 
pliant  instruments,  who,  having  reported  in  favor  of  a  dissolution  of  the  Com 
pany,  an  equally  pliant  judiciary  accomplished  his  designs  in  October  following, 
and  a  quo  warrant^  was  issued.  The  Company  made  but  little  opposition,  for 
the  settlement  of  Virginia  had  been  an  unprofitable  speculation  from  the  be 
ginning  ;  and  in  July,  1624,  the  patents  were  cancelled.4  Virginia  became  a 
royal  province  again,5  but  no  material  change  was  made  in  the  domestic  affairs 
of  the  colonists. 

King  James,  with  his  usual  egotism,  boasted  of  the  beneficent  results  to  the 
colonists  which  would  flow  from  this  usurpation,  by  which  they  were  placed 
under  his  special  care.  He  appointed  Yeardley,6  with  twelve  councillors,  to 
administer  the  government,  but  wisely  refrained  from  interfering  with  the 
House  of  Burgesses.7  The  king  lived  but  a  few  months  longer,  and  at  his 
death,  which  occurred  on  the  6th  of  April,  1625,  he  was  succeeded  «by  his  son, 
Charles  the  First.  That  monarch  was  as  selfish  as  he  was  weak.  He  sought 
to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  Virginia  planters,  because  he  also  sought  to  reap 
the  profits  of  a  monopoly,  by  becoming  himself  their  sole  factor  in  the  manage 
ment  of  their  exports.  He  also  allowed  them  political  privileges,  not  because  he 
wished  to  benefit  his  subjects,  but  because  he  had  learned  to  respect  the  power 
of  those  far-off  colonists;  and  he  sought  their  sanction  for  his  commercial 
agency.8 

Governor  Yeardley  died  in  November,  1627,  and  was  succeeded,  two  years 
later  [1629],  by  Sir  John  Harvey,  a  haughty  and  unpopular  royalist.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  commission  appointed  by  James  ;  and  the  colonists  so  despised 
him,  that  they  refused  the  coveted  monopoly  to  the  king.  After  many  and 
violent  disputes  about  land  titles,  the  Virginians  deposed  him  [1635]  and 
appointed  commissioners  to  proceed  to  England,  with  an  impeachment.  Harvey 
accompanied  the  commission.  The  king  refused  to  hear  complaints  against  the 


1  These  meetings  were  quite  frequent ;  and  .so  important  were  the  members,  in  political  affairs, 
that  they  could  influence  the  elections  of  members  of  Parliament.     In  1623,  the  accomplished 
Nicholas  Ferrar,  an  active  opponent  of  the  court  party,  was  elected  to  Parliament,  by  the  influence 
of  the  London  Company.     This  fact,  doubtless,  caused  the  king  to  dissolve  the  Company  that  year. 

2  Page  70. 

3  A  writ  of  quo  warranto  is  issued  to  compel  a  person  or  corporation  to  appear  before  the  king, 
and  show  by  what  authority  certain  privileges  are  held. 

4  The  Company  had  expended  almost  $700,000  in  establishing  the  colony,  and  this  great  sum 
was  almost  a  dead  loss  to  the  stockholders.  5  Page  63. 

6  Page  70.  T  Note  1,  page  106. 

8  In  June,  1628,  the  king,  in  a  letter  to  the  governor  and  council,  asked  them  to  convene  an 
assembly  to  consider  his  proposal  to  contract  for  the  whole  crop  of  tobacco.  He  thus  tacitly 
acknowledged  the  legality  of  the  republican  assembly  of  Virginia,  hitherto  not  sanctioned,  but  only 
permitted. 


108  THE     COLONIES.  [1619. 

accused,  and  he  was  sent  back  clothed  with  full  powers  to  administer  the  gov 
ernment,  independent  of  the  people.  He  ruled  almost  four  years  longer,  and  was 
succeeded,  in  November,  1639,  by  Sir  Francis  Wyatt,  who  administered  gov 
ernment  well  for  about  two  years,  when  he  was  succeeded  [1641]  by  Sir  William 
Berkeley,1  an  able  and  elegant  courtier.  For  ten  years  Berkeley  ruled  with 
vigor,  and  the  colony  prospered  wonderfully.2  But,  as  in  later  years,  commo 
tions  in  Europe  now  disturbed  the  American  settlements.  The  democratic 
revolution  in  England,3  which  brought  Charles  the  First  to  the  block,  and 
placed  Oliver  Cromwell  in  power,  now  [1642]  began,  and  religious  sects  in 
England  and  America  assumed  political  importance.  Puritans4  had  hitherto 
been  tolerated  in  Virginia,  but  now  the  Throne  and  the  Church  were  united  in 
interest,  and  the  Virginians  being  loyal  to  both,  it  was  decreed  that  no  minister 
should  preach  except  in  conformity  to  the  constitution  of  the  Church  of  En 
gland.5  Many  non-conformists5  were  banished  from  the  colony.  This  was  a 
dark  cloud  upon  the  otherwise  clear  skies  of  Virginia,  but  a  darker  cloud  was 
gathering.  The  Indians  were  again  incited  to  hostilities  by  the  restless  and 
vengeful  Opechancanough,7  and  a  terrible  storm  burst  upon  the  English,  in 
April,  1644.  For  two  years  a  bloody  border  warfare  was  carried  on.  The 
king  of  the  Powhatans8  was  finally  made  captive,  and  died  while  in  prison  at 
Jamestown,  and  his  people  were  thoroughly  subdued.  The  power  of  the  con 
federation  was  completely  broken,  and  after  ceding  large  tracts  of  land  to  the 
English,  the  chiefs  acknowledged  allegiance  to  the  authorities  of  Virginia,  and 
so  the  political  life  of  the  Powhatans  passed  away  forever.9 

During  the  civil  war  in  England  [1641 — 1649],  the  Virginians  remained 
loyal ;  and  when  republican  government  was  proclaimed,  they  boldly  recognized 
the  son  of  the  late  king,  although  in  exile,  as  their  sovereign.10  The  republican 
parliament  was  highly  incensed,  and  took  immediate  measures  to  coerce  Vir 
ginia  into  submission  to  its  authority.  For  that  purpose  Sir  George  Ayscue 
was  sent  with  a  powerful  fleet,  bearing  commissioners  of  parliament,  as  repre 
sentatives  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  commonwealth,  and  anchored  in  Hampton 
Roads  in  March,  1652. 


1  William  Berkeley  was  born  near  London ;  was  educated  at  Oxford ;  became,  by  travel  and 
education,  a  polished  gentleman;  was  governor  of  Virginia  almost  40  years,  and  died  in  July,  1677. 

2  In  1648,  the  number  of  colonists  was  20,000.     "The  cottages  were  filled  with  children,  as  the 
ports  were  with  ships  and  immigrants." 

3  For  a  long  time  the  exactions  of  the  king  fostered  a  bitter  feeling  toward  him,  in  the  hearts 
of  the  people.     In  1641  they  took  up  arms  against  their  sovereign.     One  of  the  chief  leaders  of  the 
popular  party  was  Oliver  Cromwell.     The  war  continued  until  1649,  when  the  royalists  were  sub 
dued,  and  the  king  was  beheaded.     Parliament  assumed  all  the  functions  of  government,  and  ruled 
until  1653,  when  Cromwell,  the  insurgent  leader,  dissolved  that  body,  and  was  proclaimed  supreme 
ruler,  with  the  title  of  Protector  of  the  Commonwealth  of  England.      Cromwell  was  a  son  of  a 
wealthy  brewer  of  Huntingdon,  England,  where  he  was  born  in  1599.     He  died  in  September, 
1658.  4  Page  75.  5  Page  75. 

6  Note  2,  page  76.  7  Note  5,  page  106.  8  Page  20. 

9  They  relinquished  all  claim  to  the  beautiful  country  between  the  York  and  James  Rivers, 
from  the  Falls  of  the  latter,  at  Richmond,  to  the  sea,  forever.     It  was  a  legacy  of  a  dying  nation 
to  their  conquerors.     After  that,  their  utter  destruction  was  swift  and  thorough. 

10  Afterward  the  profligate  Charles  the  Second.     His  mother  was  sister  to  the  French  king,  and 
to  that  court  she  fled,  with  her  children.     It  was  a  sad  day  for  the  moral  character  of  England 
when  Charles  was  enthroned.     He  was  less  bigoted,  but  more  licentious  than  any  of  the  Stuarts 
who  governed  Great  Britain  for  more  than  eighty  years. 


VIRGINIA. 

The  Virginians  had  resolved  to  submit  rather  than  fight,  yet  they  made  a 
show  of  resistance.  They  declared  their  willingness  to  compromise  with  the 
invaders,  to  which  the  commissioners,  surprised  and  intimidated  by  the  bold 
attitude  of  the  colonists,  readily  consented.  Instead  of  opening  their  cannons 
upon  the  Virginians,  they  courteously  proposed  to  them  submission  to  the 
authority  of  parliament  upon  terms  quite  satisfactory  to  the  colonists.  Liberal 
political  concessions  to  the  people  were  secured,  and  they  were  allowed  nearly 
all  those  civil  rights  which  the  Declaration  of  Independence,1  a  century  and  u 
quarter  later,  charged  George  the  Third  with  violating. 

Virginia  Avas,  virtually,  an  independent  State,  until  Charles  the  Second 
was  restored  to  the  throne  of  his  father  [May  29,  1660],  for  Cromwell  made  no 
appointments  except  that  of  governor.  In  the  same  year  [1652]  when  the  par 
liamentary  commissioners  came,  the  people  had  elected  Richard  Bennet  to  fill 
Berkeley's  place.  He  was  succeeded  by  Edward  Digges,  and  in  1656,  Crom 
well  appointed  Samuel  Mathews  governor.  On  the  death  of  the  Protector 
[1658],  the  Virginians  were  not  disposed  to  acknowledge  the  authority  of  his 
son  Richard,2  and  they  elected  Mathews  their  chief  magistrate,  as  a  token  of 
their  independence.  Universal  suffrage  prevailed ;  all  freemen,  without  excep 
tion,  were  allowed  to  vote ;  and  white  servants,  when  their  terms  of  bondage 
ended,  had  the  same  privilege,  and  might  become  burgesses. 

But  a  serious  change  came  to  the  Virginians,  after  the  restoration  of  Charles 
the  Second.  When  intelligence  of  that  event  reached  Virginia,  Berkeley, 
whom  the  people  had  elected  governor  in  1660,  repudiated  the  popular  sover 
eignty,  and  proclaimed  the  exiled  monarch  "King  of  England,  Scotland,  Ire 
land,  and  Virginia"  This  happened  before  he  was  proclaimed  in  England." 
The  Virginia  republicans  were  offended,  but  being  in  the  minority,  could  do 
nothing.  A  new  Assembly  was  elected  and  convened,  and  high  hopes  of  favor 
from  the  monarch  were  entertained  by  the  court  party.  But  these  were  speed 
ily  blasted,  and  in  place  of  great  privileges,  came  commercial  restrictions  to 
cripple  the  industry  of  the  colony.  The  navigation  act  of  1651  was  re-enacted 
in  1660,  and  its  provisions  were  rigorously  enforced.4  The  people  murmured, 


1  See  Supplement. 

2  Cromwell  appointed  his  son  Kichard  to  succed  him  in  office.     Lacking  the  vigor  and  ambition 
of  his  father,  he  gladly  resigned  the  troublesome  legacy  into  the  hands  of  the  people,  and,  a  little 
more  than  a  year  afterward,  Charles  the  Second  was  enthroned. 

3  "When  informed  that  Parliament  was  about  to  send  a  fleet  to  bring  them  to  submission,  the 
Virginians  sent  a  message  to  Charles,  then  in  Flanders,  inviting  him  to  come  over  and  be  king  of 
Virginia.     He  had  resolved  to  come,  when  matters  took  a  turn  in  England  favorable  to  his  restora 
tion.     In  gratitude  to  the  colonists,  he  caused  the  arms  of  Virginia  to  be  quartered  with  those  of 
England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  as  an  independent  member  of  the  empire.     From  this  circumstance 
Virginia  received  the  name  of  The  Old  Dominion.     Coins,  with  these  quarterings,  were  made  as 
late  as  1773. 

4  The  first  Navigation  Act,  by  the  Republican  Parliament,  prohibited  foreign  vessels  trading  to 
the  English  colonies.     This  was  partly  to  punish  the  sugar-producing  islands  of  the  West  Indies, 
because  the  people  were  chiefly  loyalists.     The  act  of  1660  provided  that  no  goods  should  be 
carried  to  or  from  any  English  colonies,  but  in  vessels  built  within  the  English  dominions,  whose 
masters  and  at  least  three  fourths  of  the  crews  were  Englishmen ;  and  that  sugar,  tobacco,  and 
other  colonial  commodities  should  be  imported  into  no  part  of  Europe,  except  England  and  her 
dominions.     The  trade  between  the  colonies,  now  struggling  for  prosperous  life,  was  also  taxed  for 
the  benefit  of  England. 


HO  THE     COLONIES.  [1619. 

but  in  vain.  The  profligate  monarch,  who  seems  never  to  have  had  a  clear 
perception  of  right  and  wrong,  but  was  governed  by  caprice  and  passion,  gave 
away,  to  his  special  favorites,  large  tracts  of  the  finest  portions  of  the  Virginia 
soil,  some  of  it  already  well  cultivated.1 

Week  after  week,  and  month  after  month,  the  Royalist  party  continued  to  show 
more  and  more  of  the  foul  hand  of  despotism.  The  pliant  Assembly  abridged 
the  liberties  of  the  people.  Although  elected  for  only  two  years,  the  members 
assumed  to  themselves  the  right  of  holding  office  indefinitely,  and  the  repre 
sentative  system  was  thus  virtually  abolished.  The  doctrines  and  rituals  of 
the  Church  of  England  having  been  made  the  religion  of  the  State,  intolerance 
began  to  grow.  Baptists  and  Quakers2  were  compelled  to  pay  heavy  fines. 
The  salaries  of  the  royal  officers  being  paid  from  duties  upon  exported  tobacco, 
these  officials  were  made  independent  of  the  people.3  Oppressive  and  unequal 
taxes  were  levied,  and  the  idle  aristocracy  formed  a  distinct  and  ruling  class. 
The  "common  people" — the  men  of  toil  and  substantial  worth — formed  a 
republican  party,  and  rebellious  murmurs  were  heard  on  every  side.  They 
desired  a  sufficient  reason  for  strengthening  their  power,  and  it  soon  appeared. 
The  menaces  of  the  Susquehannah  Indians,4  a  fierce  tribe  of  Lower  Pennsylva 
nia,  gave  the  people  a  plausible  pretense  for  arming  during  the  summer  of 
1675.  The  Indians  had  been  driven  from  their  hunting-grounds  at  the  head 
of  the  Chesapeake  Bay  by  the  Senecas,5  and  coming  down  the  Potomac,  they 
made  war  upon  the  Maryland  settlements.6  They  finally  committed  murders 
upon  Virginia  soil,  and  retaliation7  caused  the  breaking  out  of  a  fierce  border 
war.  The  inhabitants,  exasperated  and  alarmed,  called  loudly  upon  Governor 
Berkeley  to  take  immediate  and  energetic  measures  for  the  defense  of  the  col 
ony.  His  slow  and  indecisive  movements  were  very  unsatisfactory,  and  loud 
murmurs  were  heard  on  every  side.  At  length  Nathaniel  Bacon,8  an  energetic 
and  highly  esteemed  republican,  acting  in  behalf  of  his  party,  demanded  per 
mission  for  the  people  to  arm  and  protect  themselves.9  Berkeley's  sagacity 
perceived  the  danger  of  allowing  discontented  men  to  have  arms,  and  he  refused. 
The  Indians  came  nearer  and  nearer,  until  laborers  on  Bacon's  plantation,  near 
Richmond,  were  murdered.  That  leader  then  yielded  to  the  popular  will,  and 
placed  himself  at  the  head  of  four  or  five  hundred  men,  to  drive  back  the 
enemy.  Berkeley,  jealous  of  Bacon's  popularity,  proclaimed  him  a  traitor 


1  In  1673,  the  king  gave  to  Lord  Culpeppcr  and  the  Earl  of  Arlington,  two  of  his  profligate 
favorites,  "all  the  dominion  of  land  and  water  called  Virginia,"  for  the  term  of  thirty  years. 

2  Note  7,  page  94. 

3  One  of  the  charges  made  against  the  King  of  England  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
more  than  a  hundred  years  later,  was  that  he  had  "  made  judges  dependent  on  his  will  alone  for 
the  tenure  of  their  offices  and  the  amount  and  payment  of  their  salaries."  4  Page  17. 

6  Page  23.  6  Page  82. 

7  John  Washington,  an  ancestor  of  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  American  armies  a  century 
later,  commanded  some  troops  against  an  Indian  fort  on  the  Potomac.     Some  chiefs,  who  were 
sent  to  his  camp  to  treat  for  peace,  were  treacherously  slain,  and  this  excited  the  fierce  resentment 
of  the  Susquehannahs. 

8  He  was  born  in  England,  was  educated  a  lawyer,  and  in  Virginia  was  a  member  of  the  coun 
cil.     He  was  about  thirty  years  of  age  at  that  time. 

9  King  Philip's  war  was  then  raging  in  Massachusetts,  and  the  white  people,  everywhere,  were 
alarmed.     See  page  1 24. 


1688.]  VIRGINIA.  m 

[May,  1676 J,  and  sent  troops  to  arrest  him.  Some  of  his  more  timid  followers 
returned,  but  sterner  patriots  adhered  to  his  fortunes.  The  people  generally 
sympathized  with  him,  and  in  the  lower  counties  they  arose  in  open  rebellion. 
Berkeley  was  obliged  to  recall  his  troops  to  suppress  the  insurrection,  and  in 
the  mean  while  Bacon  drove  the  Indians1  back  toward  the  Rappahannock.  He 
was  soon  after  elected  a  burgess,2  but  on  approaching  Jamestown,  to  take  his 
seat  in  the  Assembly,  he  was  arrested.  For  fear  of  the  people,  who  made  hos 
tile  demonstrations,  the  governor  soon  pardoned  him  and  all  his  followers,  and 
hypocritically  professed  a  personal  regard  for  the  bold  republican  leader. 

Popular  opinion  had  now  manifestly  become  a  power  in  Virginia ;  and  the 
pressure  of  that  opinion  compelled  Berkeley  to  yield  at  all  points.  The  long 
aristocratic  Assembly  was  dissolved ;  many  abuses  were  corrected,  and  all  the 
privileges  formerly  enjoyed  by  the  people  were  restored.3  Fearing  treachery 
in  the  capital,  Bacon  withdrew  to  the  Middle  Plantation,4  where  he  was  joined 
by  three  or  four  hundred  armed  men  from  the  upper  counties,  and  was  pro 
claimed  commander-in-chief  of  the  Virginia  troops.  The  governor  regarded  the 
movement  as  rebellious,  and  refused  to  sign  Bacon's  commission.  The  patriot 
marched  to  JamestOAvn,  and  demanded  it  without  delay.  The  frightened  governor 
speedily  complied  [July  4,  1676],  and,  concealing  his  anger,  he  also,  on  compul 
sion,  signed  a  letter  to  the  king,  highly  commending  the  acts  and  motives  of  the 
11  traitor."  This  was  exactly  one  hundred  years,  to  a  day,  before  the  English 
colonies  in  America  declared  themselves  free  and  independent,  the  logic  of 
which  the  King  of  Great  Britain  was  compelled,  reluctantly,  to  acknowledge,  a 
few  years  later.  The  Virginia  Assembly  was  as  pliant  before  the  successful 
leader  as  the  governor,  and  gave  him  the  commission  of  a  general  of  a  thousand 
men.  On  receiving  it,  Bacon  marched  against  the  Pamunkey  Indians.5  When 
he  had  gone,  Berkeley,  faithless  to  his  professions,  crossed  the  York  River,  and 
at  Gloucester  summoned  a  convention  of  royalists.  All  the  proceedings  of  the 
Republican  Assembly  were  reversed,  and.  contrary  to  the  advice  of  his  friends, 
the  governor  again  proclaimed  Bacon  a  traitor,  on  the  29th  of  July.  The 
indignation  of  the  patriot  leader  was  fiercely  kindled,  and,  marching  back  to 
Jamestown,  he  lighted  up  a  civil  war.  The  property  of  royalists  was  confis 
cated,  their  wives  were  seized  as  hostages,  and  their  plantations  were  desolated. 
Berkeley  fled  to  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Chesapeake.  Bacon  proclaimed  his 
abdication,  and,  dismissing  the  republican  troops,  called  an  Assembly  in  his 
own  name,  and  was  about  to  cast  off  all  allegiance  to  the  English  Crown,  when 


1  Page  40. 

2  The  chief  leaders  of  the  republican  party  at  the  capital,  were  "William  Drummond,  who  had 
been  governor  of  North  Carolina  [page  97],  and  Colonel  Richard  Lawrence. 

3  This  event  was  the  planting  of  one  of  the  most  vigorous  and  fruitful  germs  of  American 
nationality.     It  was  the  first  bending  of  power  to  the  boldly-expressed  will  of  the  people. 

4  William sburg,  four  miles  from  Jamestown,  and  midway  between  the  York  and  James  Rivers, 
was  then  called  the  Middle  Plantation.     After  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary  [see  page  113], 
a  town  was  laid  out  in  the  form  of  the  ciphers  WM.,  and  was  named  Williamsburg.     Governor 
Nicholson  made  it  the  capital  of  the  province  in  1698. 

5  This  was  a  small  tribe  on  the  Pamunkey  River,  one  of  the  chief  tributaries  of  the  York 
River. 


THE     COLONIES.  [1619. 

intelligence  was  received  of  the  arrival  of  imperial  troops  to  quell  the  rebellion.1 
Great  was  the  joy  of  the  governor,  when  informed  of  the  arrival  of  the  hoped- 
for  succor,  for  his  danger  was  imminent.  With  some  royalists  and  English 
sailors  under  Major  Kobert  Beverley,  he  now  [Sept.  7]  returned  to  Jamestown. 
Bacon  collected  hastily  his  troops,  and  drove  the  governor  and  his  friends  down 
the  James  River.  Informed  that  a  large  body  of  royalists  and  imperial  troops 
were  approaching,  the  republicans,  unable  to  maintain  their  position  at  James 
town,  applied  the  torch  [Sept.  30]  just  as  the  night  shadows  came  over  the 
village.2  When  the  sun  arose  on  the  following  morning, 
the  first  town  built  by  Englishmen  in  America,3  was  a 
heap  of  smoking  ruins.  Nothing  remained  standing 
but  a  few  chimneys,  and  that  old  church  tower,  which 
now  attracts  the  eye  and  heart  of  the  voyager  upon  the 
bosom  of  the  James  River.  This  work  accomplished. 
Bacon  pressed  forward  with  his  little  army  toward  the 
York,  determined  to  drive  the  royalists  from  Virginia. 
CHURCH  TUWE1>.  But  he  was  smitten  by  a  deadlier  foe  than  armed  men. 

The  malaria  of  the  marshes  at  JamestowTn  had  poisoned 

his  veins,  and  he  died  [Oct.  11.  1676]  of  malignant  fever,  on  the  north  bank 
of  the  York.  There  was  no  man  to  receive  the  mantle  of  his  ability  and  influ 
ence,  and  his  departure  was  a  death-blow  to  the  cause  he  had  espoused.  His 
friends  and  followers  made  but  feeble  resistance,  and  before  the  first  of  Novem 
ber,  Berkeley  returned  to  the  Middle  Plantation4  in  triumph. 

The  dangers  and  vexations  to  which  the  governor  had  been  exposed  during 
these  commotions,  rendered  the  haughty  temper  of  the  baron  irascible,  and  he 
signalized  his  restoration  to  power  by  acts  of  wanton  cruelty.  Twenty-two  of 
the  insurgent  leaders  had  been  hanged,5  wrhen  the  more  merciful  Assembly  im 
plored  him  to  shed  no  more  blood.  But  he  continued  fines,  imprisonments,  and 
confiscations,  and  ruled  with  an  iron  hand  and  a  stony  heart  until  recalled  by 
the  king  in  April,  1677,  who  had  become  disgusted  with  his  cruel  conduct." 
There  was  no  printing  press  in  Virginia  to  record  current  history,7  and  for  a 

1  This  was  an  error.     The  fleet  sent  with  troops  to  quell  the  insurrection,  did  not  arrive  until 
April  the  following  year,  when  all  was  over.     Colonel  Jeffreys,  the  successor  of  Berkeley,  came 
with  the  fleet. 

2  Besides  the  church  and  court-house,  Jamestown  contained  sixteen  or  eighteen  houses,  built 
of  brick,  and  quite  commodious,  and  a  large  number  of  humble  log  cabins. 

3  The  church,  of  which  the  brick  tower  alone  remains,  was  built  about  1620.     It  was  probably 
the  third  church  erected  in  Jamestown.     The  ruin  is  now  [1856]  a  few  rods  from  the  encroaching 
bank  of  the  river,  and  is  about  thirty  feet  in  height.     The  engraving  is  a  correct  representation  of 
its  present  appearance.     In  the  grave-yard  adjoining  are  fragments  of  several  monuments. 

4  Note  4,  page  111. 

6  The  first  man  executed  was  Colonel  Hansford.  He  has' been  justly  termed  the  first  martyr  in 
the  cause  of  liberty  in  America.  Drummond  and  Lawrence  were  also  executed.  They  were  con 
sidered  ringleaders  and  the  prime  instigators  of  the  rebellion. 

6  Charles  said,  "The  old  fool  has  taken  more  lives  in  that  naked  country  than  I  have  taken  for 
the  murder  of  my  father." 

7  Berkeley  was  an  enemy  to  popular  enlightenment.     He  said  to  commissioners  sent  from  En 
gland  in  1671,  "Thank  God  there  are  no  free  schools  nor  printing  press;  and  I  hope  we  shall  not 
have  these  hundred  years ;  for  learning  has  brought  disobedience,  and  heresy,  and  sects  into  the 
world,  and  printing  has  divulged  these,  and  libels  against  the  best  government."     Despots  are 
always  afraid  of  the  printing  press,  for  it  is  the  most  destructive  foe  of  tyranny. 


1688.]  VIRGINIA.  H% 

hundred  years  the  narratives  of  the  royalists  gave  Imo  to  the  whole  affair. 
Bacon  was  always  regarded  as  a  traitor,  and  the  effort  to  establish  a  free  gov 
ernment  is  known  in  history  as  BACON'S  REBELLION.  Such,  also,  would  have 
been  the  verdict  of  history,  had  Washington  and  his  compatriots  been  unsuc 
cessful.  Too  often  success  is  accounted  a  virtue,  but  failure,  a  crime. 

Long  years  elapsed  before  the  effects  of  these  civil  commotions  were  effaced. 
The  people  were  borne  down  by  the  petty  tyranny  of  royal  rulers,  yet  the  prin 
ciples  of  Republicanism  grew  apace.  The  popular  Assembly  became  winnowed 
of  its  aristocratic  elements ;  and,  notwithstanding  royal  troops  were  quar 
tered  in  Virginia,1  to  overawe  the  people,  the  burgesses  were  always  firm  in  the 
maintenance  of  popular  rights.2  In  reply  to  Governor  Jeffreys,  when  he  ap 
pealed  to  the  authority  of  the  Great  Seal  of  England,  in  defense  of  his  arbitrary 
act  in  seizing  the  books  and  papers  of  the  Assembly,  the  burgesses  said,  "  that 
such  a  breach  of  privilege  could  not  be  commanded  under  the  Great  Seal,  be 
cause  they  could  not  find  that  any  king  of  England  had  ever  done  so  in  former 
times."  The  king  commanded  the  governor  to  "  signify  his  majesty's  indigna 
tion  at  language  so  seditious;"  but  the  burgesses  were  as  indifferent  to  royal 
frowns  as  they  were  to  the  governor's  menaces. 

A  libertine  from  the  purlieus  of  the  licentious  court  now  came  to  rule  the 
liberty-loving  Virginians.  It  was  Lord  Culpeppcr,  who,  under  the  grant  of 
1673,3  had  been  appointed  governor  for  life  in  1677.  He  arrived  in  1680.  His 
profligacy  and  rapacity  disgusted  the  people.  Discontents  ripened  into  insur 
rections,  and  the  blood  of  patriots  again  flowed.1  At  length  the  king  himself 
became  incensed  against  Culpepper,  revoked  his  grant1  in  1684,  and  deprived 
him  of  office.  Effingham,  his  successor,  was  equally  rapacious,  and  the  people 
were  on  the  eve  of  a  general  rebellion,  when  king  Charles  died,  and  his  brother 
James6  was  proclaimed  [Feb.  1685]  his  successor,  with  the  title  of  James  the 
Second.  The  people  hoped  for  benefit  by  the  change  of  rulers,  but  their  bur 
dens  were  increased.  Again  the  wave  of  rebellion  was  rising  high,  when  the 
revolution  of  1688  placed  William  of  Orange  and  his  wife  Mary  upon  the 
throne.7  Then  a  real  change  for  the  better  took  place.  The  detested  and 
detestable  Stuarts  were  forever  driven  from  the  seat  of  power  in  Great  Britain. 
That  event,  wrought  out  by  the  people,  infused  a  conservative  principle  into 
the  workings  of  the  English  constitution.  The  popular  will,  expressed  by  Par- 


1  These  troops  were  under  the  command  of  a  wise  veteran,  Sir  Henry  Chicheley,  who  managed 
with  prudence.  They  proved  a  source  of  much  discontent,  because  their  subsistence  was  drawn 
from  the  planters  For  the  same  cause,  disturbances  occurred  in  New  York  ninety  years  afterward. 
See  page  218.  2  Page  71.  3  Note  1,  page  110. 

4  By  the  king's  order,  Culpepper  caused  several  of  the  insurgents,  who  were  men  of  influence, 
to  be  hanged,  and  a  "reign  of  terror,"  miscalled  tranquillity,  followed. 

5  Arlington  [note  1,  page  110]  had  already  disposed  of  his  interest  in  the  grant  to  Culpepper. 

G  James,  Duke  of  York,  to  whom  Charles  gave  the  New  Netherlands  in  1664.     See  page  144. 

7  James  the  Second,  by  his  bigotry  (he  was  a  Roman  Catholic),  tyranny,  and  oppression,  ren 
dered  himself  hateful  to  his  subjects.  William,  Prince  of  Orange,  Stadtholder  of  Holland,  who  had 
married  Mary,  a  Protestant  daughter  of  James,  and  his  eldest  child,  was  invited  by  the  incensed 
people  to  come  to  the  English  throne.  He  came  with  Dutch  troops,  and  landed  at  Torbay  on  the 
5th  of  November,  1688.  James  was  deserted  by  his  soldiers,  and  he  and  his  family  sought  safety 
in  flight.  "William  and  Mary  were  proclaimed  joint  monarchs  of  England  on  the  13th  of  February, 
1689.  This  act  consummated  tljat  revolution  which  Voltaire  styled  "  the  era  of  English  liberty." 

8 


114  THE     COLONIES.  [1620. 

liament,  became  potential ;  and  the  personal  character,  or  caprices  of  the  mon 
arch,  had  comparatively  little  influence  upon  legislation.  The  potency  of  the 
National  Assembly  was  extended  to  similar  colonial  organizations.  The  powers 
of  governors  were  denned,  and  the  rights  of  the  people  were  understood.  Bad 
men  often  exercised  authority  in  the  colonies,  but  it  was  in  subordination  to  the 
English  Constitution  ;  and,  notwithstanding  commercial  restrictions  bore  heav 
ily  upon  the  enterprise  of  the  colonies,  the  diffusion  of  just  political  ideas,  and 
the  growth  of  free  institutions  in  America,  were  rapid  and  healthful. 

From  the  revolution  of  1688,  down  to  the  commencement  of  the  French  and 
Indian  war,  the  history  of  Virginia  is  the  history  of  the  steady,  quiet  prog 
ress  of  an  industrious  people,  and  presents  no  prominent  events  of  interest  to 
the  general  reader.1 


CHAPTER    II. 

MASSACHUSETTS.      [1620.] 

"WELCOME,  Englishmen!  welcome,  Englishmen!"  were  the  first  words 
which  the  Pilgrim  Fathers1  heard  from  the  lips  of  a  son  of  the  American 
forest.  It  was  the  voice  of  Samoset,  a  Wampanoag  chief,  who  had  learned  a 
few  English  words  of  fishermen  at  Penobscot.  His  brethren  had  hovered 
around  the  little  community  of  sufferers  at  New  Plymouth3  for  a  hundred  days, 
when  he  boldly  approached  [March  26,  1621],  and  gave  the  friendly  saluta 
tion.  He  told  them  to  possess  the  land,  for  the  occupants  had  nearly  all  been 
swept  away  by  a  pestilence.  The  Pilgrims  thanked  God  for  thus  making  their 
seat  more  secure,  for  they  feared  the  hostility  of  the  Aborigines.  When  Sam 
oset  again  appeared,  he  was  accompanied  by  Squanto,4  a  chief  who  had  recently 
returned  from  captivity  in  Spain ;  and  they  told  the  white  people  about  Mas- 
sasoit,  the  grand  sachem  of  the  Wampanoags,  then  residing  at  Mount  Hope. 
An  interview  was  planned.  The  old  sachem  came  with  barbaric  pomp,5  and  he 
and  Governor  Carver6  smoked  the  calumet7  together.  A  preliminary  treaty  of 
friendship  and  alliance  was  formed  [April  1,  1621],  which  remained  unbroken 


1  The  population  at  that  time  was  about  50,000,  of  whom  one  half  were  slaves.     The  tobacco 
trade  had  become  very  important,  the  exports  to  England  and  Ireland  being  about  30,000  hogs 
heads  that  year.     Almost  a  hundred  vessels  annually  came  from  those  countries  to  Virginia  for 
tobacco.     A  powerful  militia  of  almost  9,000  men  was  organized,  and  they  no  longer  feared  their 
dusky  neighbors.     The  militia  became  expert  in  the  use  of  tire-arms  in  the  woods,  and  back  to  this 
period  the  Virginia  rifleman  may  look  for  the  foundation  of  his  fame  as  a  marksman.     The  province 
contained  twenty-two  counties,  and  forty-eight  parishes,  with  a  church  and  a  clergyman  in  each, 
and  a  great  deal  of  glebe  land.     But  there  was  no  printing  press  nor  book-store  in  the  colony.     A 
press  was  first  established  in  Virginia  in  1729. 

2  Page  77.  3  Page  78.  4  Page  74. 

6  Massasoit  approached,  with  a  guard  of  sixty  warriors,  and  took  post  upon  a  neighboring  hill. 
There  he  sat  in  state,  and  received  Edward  Winslow  as  embassador  from  the  English.  Leaving 
Winslow  with  his  warriors  as  security  for  his  own  safety,  the  sachem  went  into  New  Plymouth  and 
treated  with  Governor  Carver.  Note  5,  page  14.  e  Page  78.  7  Page  14. 


1755.]  MASSACHUSETTS.  H5 

for  fifty  years.1  Massasoit  rejoiced  at  his  good  fortune,  for  Canonicus,  the  head 
of  the  powerful  Narragansetts,2  was  his  enemy,  and  he  needed  strength. 

Three  days  after  the  interview  with  the  Wampanoag  sachem  [April  3], 
Governor  Carver  suddenly  died.  William  Bradford,3  the  earliest  historian  of 
the  colony,  was  appointed  his  successor.  He  was  a  wise  and  prudent  man,  and 
for  thirty  years  he  managed  the  public  affairs  of  the  colony  with  great  sagacity. 
He  was  a  man  just  fitted  for  such  a  station,  and  he  fostered  the  colony  with 
parental  care.  The  settlers  endured  great  trials  during  the  first  four  years  of 
their  sojourn.  They  were  barely  saved  from  starvation  in  the  autumn  of  1621, 
by  a  scanty  crop  of  Indian  corn.4  In  November  of  that  year,  thirty-five  im 
migrants  (some  of  them  their  weak  brethren  of  the  Speedwell)5  joined  them,  and 
increased  their  destitution.  The  winter  was  severe,  and  produced  great  suffer 
ing  ;  and  the  colonists  were  kept  in  continual  fear  by  the  menaces  of  Canonicus, 
the  great  chief  of  the  Narragansetts,  who  regarded  the  English  as  intruders. 
Bradford  acted  wisely  with  the  chief,  and  soon  made  him  sue  for  peace.6  The 
power,  but  not  the  hatred,  of  the  wily  Indian  was  subdued,  yet  he  was  com 
pelled  to  be  a  passive  friend  of  the  English. 

Sixty-three  more  immigrants  arrived  at  Plymouth  in  July,  1622.  They 
had  been  sent  by  Weston,  a  wealthy,  dissatisfied  member  of  the  Plymouth  Com 
pany,7  to  plant  a  new  colony.  Many  of  them  were  idle  and  dissolute  ;8  and 
after  living  upon  the  slender  means  of  the  Plymouth  people  for  several  weeks, 
they  went  to  Wissagusset  (now  Wey mouth),  to  commence  a  settlement.  Their 
improvidence  produced  a  famine  ;  and  they  exasperated  the  Indians  by  begging 
and  stealing  supplies  for  their  wants.  A  plot  was  devised  by  the  savages  for 
their  destruction,  but  through  the  agency  of  Massasoit,9  it  was  revealed  [March, 
1623]  to  the  Plymouth  people  ;  and  Captain  Miles  Standish,  with  eight  men, 
hastened  to  Wissagusset  in  time  to  avert  the  blow.  A  chief  and  several  war 
riors  were  killed  in  a  battle  ;10  and  so  terrified  were  the  surrounding  tribes  by 


1  Page  124.  2  Pago  22. 

3  William  Bradford  was  born  at  Ansterfield,  in  the  north  of  England,  in  1588.     Ho  followed 
Robinson  to  Holland;  came  to  America  in  the  Mayflower  [see  page  77]  ;  and  was  annually  elected 
governor  of  the  colony  from  1621  until  his  death  in  1657. 

4  While  Captain  Miles  Standish  and  others  were  seeking  a  place  to  land  [see  page  78],  they 
found  some  maize,  or  Indian  corn,  in  one  of  the  deserted  huts  of  the  savages.     Afterward,  Samosct 
and  others  taught  them  how  to  cultivate  the  grain  (then  unknown  in  Europe),  and  this  supply  serv 
ing  for  seed,  providentially  saved  them  from  starvation.     The  grain  now  first  received  the  name  of 
Indian  corn.     Early  in  September  [1621],  an  exploring  party,  under  Standish,  coasted  northward  to 
Shawmut,  the  site  of  Boston,  where  they  found  a  few  Indians.     The  place  was  delightful,  and  for  a 
while,  the  Pilgrims  thought  of  removing  thither.  5  Page  77. 

6  Canonicus  dwelt  upon  Connanicut  Island,  opposite  Newport.  In  token  of  his  contempt  and 
defiance  of  the  English,  he  sent  [Feb.,  1622]  a  bundle  of  arrows,  wrapped  in  a  rattlesnake's  skin, 
to  Governor  Bradford.  The  governor  accepted  the  hostile  challenge,  and  then  returned  the  skin, 
filled  with  powder  and  shot.  These  substances  were  new  to  the  savages.  They  regarded  them 
with  superstitious  awe,  as  possessing  some  evil  influence.  They  were  sent  from  village  to  village, 
and  excited  general  alarm.  The  pride  of  Canonicus  was  humbled,  and  he  sued  for  peace.  The 
example  of  Canonicus  was  followed  by  several  chiefs,  who  were  equally  alarmed.  7  Page  63. 

B  There  was  quite  a  number  of  indentured  servants,  and  men  of  no  character;  a  population 
wholly  unfit  to  found  an  independent  State. 

9  In  gratitude  for  attentions  and  medicine  during  a  severe  illness,  Massasoit  revealed  the  plot  to 
Edward  Winslow  a  few  days  before  the  time  appointed  to  strike  the  blow. 

10  Standish  carried  the  chiefs  head  in  triumph  to  Plymouth.    It  was  borne  upon  a  pole,  and  was 
placed  upon  the  palissades  [note  1,  page  127]  of  the  little  fort  which  had  just  been  erected.     Tho 


116  THE     COLONIES.  [1620. 

.the  event,  that  several  chiefs  soon  appeared  at  Plymouth  to  crave  the  friendship 
of  the  English.  The  settlement  at  Wissagusset  was  broken  up,  however,  and 
most  of  the  immigrants  returned  to  England. 

Social  perils  soon  menaced  the  stability  of  the  colony.  The  partnership  of 
merchants  and  colonists1  was  an  unprofitable  speculation  for  all.  The  commu 
nity  system2  operated  unfavorably  upon  the  industry  and  thrift  of  the  colony, 
and  the  merchants  had  few  or  no  returns  for  their  investments.  Ill  feelings 
were  created  by  mutual  criminations,  and  the  capitalists  commenced  a  series  of 
annoyances  to  force  the  workers  into  a  dissolution  of  the  league.3  The  partner 
ship  continued,  however,  during  the  prescribed  term  of  seven  years,  and  then 
[1627]  the  colonists  purchased  the  interest  of  the  London  merchants  for  nine 
thousand  dollarc.  Becoming  sole  proprietors  of  the  soil,  they  divided  the  whole 
property  equally,  and  to  each  man  was  assigned  twenty  acres  of  land  in  fee. 
New  incentives  to  industry  followed,  and  the  blessings  of  plenty,  even  upon 
that  unfruitful  soil,  rewarded  them  all.4  At  about  the  same  time,  the  govern 
ment  of  the  colony  became  slightly  changed.  The  only  officers,  at  first,  were 
a  governor  and  an  assistant.  In  1624,  five  assistants  were  chosen  ;  and  in 
1630,  a  deputy-governor  and  eighteen  assistants  were  chosen  by  the  freemen. 
This  broad  democracy  prevailed,  both  in  Church  and  State,  for  almost  fifteen 
years,  when  a  representative  irovernment  was  instituted  [1639],  and  a  pastor 
was  chosen  as  spiritual  guide.5 

James  the  First  died  in  the  spring  of  1625 ;  and  his  son  and  successor, 
Charles  the  First,  inherited  his  father's  hatred  of  the  Nonconformists.6  Many 
of  their  ministers  were  silenced  during  the  first  years  of  his  reign,  and  the  un 
easiness  of  the  great  body  of  Nonconformists  daily  increased.  Already,  White, 
a  Puritan  minister  of  Dorchester,  in  the  west  of  England,  had  persuaded  sev 
eral  influential  men  of  that  city  to  attempt  the  establishment  of  a  new  asylum 
for  the  oppressed,  in  America.  They  chose  the  rocky  promontory  of  Cape 
Anne  for  the  purpose  [1624],  intending  to  connect  the  settlement  with  the  fish 
ing  business ;  but  the  enterprise  proved  to  be  more  expensive  than  profitable, 

good  Robinson  [page  77],  when  he  heard  of  it,  wrote,  "Oh,  how  happy  a  thing  it  would  have  been, 
that  you  had  converted  some  before  you  killed  any." 

1  Page  77.  2  Note  1,  page  70. 

3  The  merchants  refused  Mr.  Robinson  a  passage  to  America ;  attempted  to  force  a  minister 
upon  the  colonists  who  was  friendly  to  the  Established  Church ;  and  .even  sent  vessels  to  interfere 
with  the  infant  commerce  of  the  settlers. 

4  The  colonists  unsuccessfully  tried  the  cultivation  of  tobacco.     They  raised  enough  grain  and 
vegetables  for  their  own  consumption,  and  relied  upon  traffic  in  furs  with  the  Indians,  for  obtaining 
the  means  of  paying  for  cloths,  implements,  etc.,  procured  from  England.     In  1627,  they  made  the 
first  step  toward  the  establishment  of  the  cod  fishery,  since  become  so  important,  by  constructing  a 
salt  work,  and  curing  some  fish.     In  1G24,  Edward  Winslow  imported  three  cows  and  a  bull,  and 
soon  those  invaluable  animals  became  numerous  in  the  colony. 

6  The  colonists  considered  Robinson  (who  was  yet  in  Leyden),  as  their  pastor ;  and  religious 
exercises,  in  the  way  of  prayer  and  exhortation,  were  conducted  by  Elder  Brewster  and  others. 
On  Sunday  afternoons  a  question  would  be  propounded,  to  which  all  had  a  right  to  speak.  Even 
after  they  adopted  the  plan  of  having  a  pastor,  the  people  were  so  democratic  in  religious  matters, 
that  a  minister  did  not  remain  long  at  Plymouth.  The  doctrine  of  "  private  judgment"  was  put  in 
full  practice ;  and  the  religious  meetings  were,  often  the  arena  of  intemperate  debate  and  confusion. 
In  1629,  thirty-five  persons,  the  remainder  of  Robinson's  congregation  at  Leyden,  joined  the  Pil 
grims  at  Plymouth,  among  whom  was  Robinson's  family;  but  the  good  man  never  saw  New  En 
gland  himself.  °  Note  2,  page  76. 


1755.] 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


11' 


and  it  was  abandoned.     A  few  years  afterward,  a  company  purchased  a  tract 

of  land  [March  29,  1628]  defined  as  being  "  three  miles  north  of  any  and  ever/ 

part  of  the  Merrimac  River,"  and  "three  miles  south  of 

any  and  every  part  of  the  Charles  River,"  and  westward  to 

the  Pacific  Ocean.1     In  the  summer  of  1628,  John  Endi- 

cot,  and  a  hundred  emigrants  came  over,  and  at  Naumkeag 

(now  Salem)   they  laid  the  foundations  of  the  Colony  of 

Massachusetts  Bay.    The  proprietors  received  a  charter  from 

the  king  the  following  year  [March  14,  1629 J,  and  they 

were  incorporated  by  the  name  of  "  The  Governor  and  Com-     FIRST  COLONY  SEAL. 

pany  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England3 

The  colony  at  Salem  increased  rapidly,  and  soon  began  to  spread.    In  July, 
1629.  "  three  godly  ministers"   (Skelton,  Higgmsori,  and  Bright)  came  with 


two  hundred  settlers,  and  a  part  of  them  laid  the  foundations  of  Charlestown,  at 
Mishawam.    A  new  stimulus  was  now  given  to  emigration  by  salutary  arrange- 


1  This  was  purchased  from  the  Council  of  Plymouth.     The  chief  men  of  the  company  were 
John  Humphrey  (brother-in-law  to  the  earl  of  Lincoln),  John  Endicot,  Sir  Henry  Roswell,  Sir  John 
Young,  Thomas  Southcote,  Simon  Whitcomb,  John  Winthrop,  Thomas  Dudley,  Sir  Richard  Salton- 
stall,  and  others.     Eminent  men  in  New  England  afterward  became  interested  in  the  enterprise. 

2  The  administration  of  affairs  was  intrusted  to  a  governor,  deputy,  and  eighteen  assistants,  who 
were  to  be  elected  annually  by  the  stockholders  of  the  corporation.     A  general  assembly  of  the 
freemen  of  the  colony  was  to  be  held  at  least  four  times  a  year,  to  legislate  for  the  colony.     The 
king  claimed  no  jurisdiction,  for  he  regarded  the  whole  matter  as  a  trading  operation,  not  as  the 
founding  of  an  empire.    The  instrument  conferred  on  the  colonists  all  the  rights  of  English  subjects, 
and  afterward  became  the  text  for  many  powerful  discourses  against  the  usurpation  of  royalty. 


118  THE     COLONIES.  [1620. 

ments.  On  tlie  1st  of  September,  the  members  of  the  company,  at  a  meeting  in 
Cambridge,  England,  signed  an  agreement  to  transfer  the  charter  and  govern 
ment  to  the  colonists.  It  was  a  wise  and  benevolent  conclusion,  for  men  of  for 
tune  and  intelligence  immediately  prepared  to  emigrate  when  such  a  democracy 
should  be  established.  John  Winthrop1  and  others,  with  about  three  hundred 
families,  arrived  at  Salem  in  July  [1630]  following.  Winthrop  had  been 
chosen  governor  before  his  departure,  with  Thomas  Dudley  for  deputy,  and  a 
council  of  eighteen.  The  new  immigrants  located  at,  and  named  Dorchester, 
Roxbury,  Watertown,  and  Cambridge  ;  and  during  the  summer,  the  governor 
and  some  of  the  leading  men,  hearing  of  a  spring  of  excellent  water  on  the  pen 
insula  of  Shawmut,  went  there,  erected  a  few  cottages,  and  founded  Boston, 
the  future  metropolis  of  New  England.2  The  peninsula  was  composed  of  three 
hills,  and  for  a  long  time  it  was  called  Tm-MouNTAiN.3 

As  usual,  the  ravens  of  sickness  and  death  followed  these  first  settlers. 
Many  of  them,  accustomed  to  ease  and  luxury  in  England,  suffered  much,  and 
before  December,  two  hundred  were  in  their  graves.4  Yet  the  survivors  were 
not  disheartened,  and  during  the  winter  of  intense  suffering  which  followed, 
they  applied  themselves  diligently  to  the  business  of  founding  a  State.  In 
May,  1631,  it  was  agreed  at  a  general  assembly  of  the 'people,  that  all  the 
officers  of  government  should  thereafter  be  chosen  by  the  freemen5  of  the  colony ; 
and  in  1634,  the  pure  democracy  was  changed  to  a  representative  government, 
the  second  in  America.6  The  colony  flourished.  Chiefs  from  the  Indian  tribes 
dined  at  Governor  Winthrop' s  table,  and  made  covenants  of  peace  and  friend 
ship  with  the  English.  Winthrop  journeyed  on  foot  to  exchange  courtesies  with 
Bradford  at  Plymouth,7  a  friendly  salutation  came  from  the  Dutch  in  New 
Netherland,8  and  a  ship  from  Virginia,  laden  with  corn  [May,  1632],  sailed 
into  Boston  harbor.  A  bright  future  was  dawning. 

The  character  of  the  Puritans9  who  founded  the  colony  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  presents  a  strange  problem  to  the  scrutiny  of  the  moral  philosopher.  Vic 
tims  of  intolerance,  they  were  themselves  equally  intolerant  when  clothed  with 
power.10  Their  ideas  of  civil  and  religious  freedom  were  narrow,  and  their  prac- 


1  He  was  born  in  England  in  1558,  and  was  one  of  the  most  active  men  in  New  England  from 
1630  until  his  death  in  1649.  His  journal,  giving  an  interesting  account  of  the  colony,  has  been 
published. 

a  The  whole  company  under  Winthrop  intended  to  join  the  settlers  at  Charlestown,  but  a  pre 
vailing  sickness  there,  attributed  to  unwholesome  water,  caused  them  to  locate  elsewhere.  The 
fine  spring  of  water  which  gushed  from  one  of  the  three  hills  of  Shawmut,  was  regarded  with  great 
favor.  3  From  this  is  derived  the  word  Tremont. 

4  Among  these  was  Higginson,  Isaac  Johnston  (a  principal  leader  in  the  enterprise,  and  the 
wealthiest  of  the  founders  of  Boston),  and  his  wife  the  "Lady  Arabella,"  a  daughter  of  the  earl  of 
Lincoln.  She  died  at  Salem,  and  her  husband  did  not  long  survive  her. 

6  None  were  considered  freemen  unless  they  were  members  of  some  church  within  the 
colony.  From  the  beginning,  the  closest  intimacy  existed  between  the  Church  and  State  in  Massa 
chusetts,  and  that  intimacy  gave  rise  to  a  great  many  disorders.  This  provision  was  repealed  in 
1665.  6  Page  71.  7  Page  115.  8  Page  72.  9  Page  75. 

10  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall,  who  did  not  remain  long  in  America,  severely  rebuked  the  people  of 
Massachusetts,  in  a  letter  to  the  two  Boston  ministers,  Wilson  and  Cotton.  "  It  doth  a  little  grieve 
my  spirit,"  he  said,  "to  hear  what  sad  things  are  reported  daily  of  your  tyranny  and  persecutions 
in  New  England,  as  that  you  fine,  whip,  and  imprison  men  for  their  consciences."  Thirty  years 
later  [1665],  the  king's  commissioner  at  Picataqua,  in  a  manuscript  letter  before  me,  addressed  to 


1755.]  MASSACHUSETTS. 

tical  interpretation  of  the  Golden  Rule,  was  contrary  to  the  intentions  of  HIM 
who  uttered  it.  Yet  they  were  honest  and  true  men  ;  and  out  of  their  love  of 
freedom,  and  jealousy  of  their  inherent  rights,  grew  their  intolerance.  They 
regarded  Churchmen  and  Roman  Catholics  as  their  deadly  enemies,  to  be  kept 
at  a  distance.1  A  wise  caution  dictated  this  course.  A  consideration  of  the 
prevailing  spirit  of  the  age,  when  bigotry  assumed  the  seat  of  justice,  and  super 
stition  was  the  counselor  and  guide  of  leading  men,  should  cause  us  to 

"  Be  to  their  faults  a  little  blind, 
And  to  their  virtues,  very  kind." 

Roger  Williams,  himself  a  Puritan  minister,  and  victim  of  persecution  in 
England,  was  among  those  who  first  felt  the  power  of  Puritan  intolerance.  Ho 
was  chosen  minister  at  Salem,  in  1634,  and  his  more  enlightened  views,  freely 
expressed,  soon  aroused  the  civil  authorities  against  him.  He  denied  the  right 
of  civil  magistrates  to  control  the  consciences  of  the  people,  or  to  withhold  their 
protection  from  any  religious  sect  whatever.  He  denied  the  right  of  the  king 
to  require  an  oath  of  allegiance  from  the  colonists ;  and  even  contended  that 
obedience  to  magistrates  ought  not  to  be  enforced.  He  denounced  the  charter 
from  the  king  as  invalid,  because  he  had  given  to  the  white  people  the  lands  of 
other  owners,  the  Indians.2  These  doctrines,  and  others  more  theological,3  he 
maintained  with  vehemence,  and  soon  the  colony  became  a  scene  of  great  com 
motion  on  that  account.  He  was  remonstrated  with  by  the  elders,  warned  by 
the  magistrates,  and  finally,  refusing  to  cease  what  was  deemed  seditious 
preaching,  he  was  banished  [November,  1635]  from  the  colony.  In  the  dead 
of  winter  he  departed  [January,  1636]  for  the  wilderness,  and  became  the 
founder  of  Rhode  Island.4 

Political  events  in  England  caused  men  who  loved,  quiet  to  turn  their 
thoughts  more  and  more  toward  the  New  World;  and  the  year  1635  was 
remarkable  for  an  immense  immigration  to  New  England.  During  that  year 
full  three  thousand  new  settlers  came,  among  whom  were  men  of  wealth  and 
influence.  The  most  distinguished  were  Hugh  Peters5  (an  eloquent  preacher), 


the  magistrates  of  Massachusetts,  say,  "  It  is  possible  that  the  charter  which  you  so  much  idolize 
may  be  forfeited  until  you  have  cleared  yourselves  of  those  many  injustices,,  oppressions,  violences, 
and  blood  for  which  you  are  complained  against." 

1  Lyford,  who  was  sent  out  to  the  Pilgrims,  by  the  London  partners,  as  their  minister,  was  re 
fused  and  expelled,  because  he  was  friendly  to  the  Church  of  England.     John  and  Samuel  Browne, 
residents  at  Salem,  and  members  of  Endicot's  council,  were  arrested  by  that  rulerr  and  sent  to  En 
gland  as  "  factious  and  evil-conditioned  persons,"  because  they  insisted  upon  the  use  of  the  Liturgy, 
or  printed  forms  of  the  English  Church,  in  their  worship. 

2  See  page  22.     This  was  not  strictly  true,  for,  until  King  Philip's  war  [page  12'4],  in  16T5r  not 
a  foot  of  ground  was  occupied  by  the  New  England  colonists,  on  any  other  score  but  that  of  fair 
purchase. 

3  He  maintained  that  an  oath  should  not  be  tendered  to  an  unconverted  person,  and  that  no 
Christian  could  lawfully  pray  with  such  an  one,  though  it  were  a  wife  or  child !      In  the  intem 
perance  of  his  zeal,  Williams  often  exhibited  intolerance  himself,  and  at  this  day  would  be  called  a 
bigot.     Yet  his  tolerant  teachings  in  general  had  a  most  salutary  effect  upon  Puritan  exclusiveness. 

4  Page  89. 

5  Peters  afterward  returned  to  England,  was  very  active  in  public  affairs  during  the  civil  war, 
and  on  the  accession  of  Charles  the  Second,  was  found  guilty  of  favoring  the  death  of  the  king's 
father,  and  was  executed  in  October,  1660. 


120  THE     COLONIES.  [1620. 

and  Henry  Vane,  an  enthusiastic  young  man  of  twenty-five.  In  1636,  Vane 
was  elected  governor,  an  event  which  indirectly  proved  disastrous  to  the  peace 
of  the  colony.  The  banishment  of  Roger  Williams  had  awakened  bitter  relig- 
ous  dissensions,  and  the  minds  of  the  people  were  prepared  to  listen  to  any  new 
teacher.  As  at  Plymouth,  so  in  the  Massachusetts  Bay  colony,  religious  ques 
tions  were  debated  at  the  stated  meetings.1  Women  were  not  allowed  to  engage 
in  these  debates,  and  some  deemed  this  an  abridgment  of  their  rights.  Among 
these  was  Anne  Hutchinson,  an  able  and  eloquent  woman,  who  established 
meetings  at  her  own  house,  for  her  sex,  and  there  she  promulgated  peculiar 
views,  which  some  of  the  magistrates  and  ministers  pronounced  seditious  and 
heretical.2  These  views  were  embraced  by  Governor  Vane,  several  magistrates, 
and  a  majority  of  the  leading  men  of  Boston.3  Winthrop  and  others  opposed 
them,  and  in  the  midst  of  great  excitement,  a  synod  was  called,  the  doctrines 
of  Mrs.  Hutehinson  were  condemned,  and  she  and  her  family  were  first  impris 
oned  in  Boston,  and  then  banished  [August,  1637]  from  the  colony.4  Vane 
lost  his  popularity,  and  failing  to  be  elected  the  following  year,  he  returned  to 
England.5  Some  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  followers  left  the  colony,  and  established 
settlements  in  Rhode  Island.6 

The  great  abatement  of  danger  to  be  'apprehended  from  the  Indians,  caused 
by  the  result  of  the  Pequod  war,7  was  favorable  to  the  security  of  the  colony, 
and  it  flourished  amazingly.  Persecution  also  gave  it  sustenance.  The  non 
conformists  in  the  mother  country  suffered  more  and  more,  and  hundreds  fled  to 
New  England.  The  church  and  the  government  became  alarmed  at  the  rapid 
growth  of  a  colony,  so  opposed,  in  its  feelings  and  laws,  to  the  character  of 
both.  Efforts  were  put  forth  to  stay  the  tide  of  emigration.  As  early  as  1633, 
a  proclamation  for  that  purpose  had  been  published,  but  not  enforced ;  and  a 
fleet  of  eight  vessels,  bearing  some  of  the  purest  patriots  of  the  realm,  was 
detained  in  the  Thames  [Feb.  1634],  by  order  of  the  privy  council.8  Believing 
that  the  colonists  "aimed  not  at  new  discipline,  but  at  sovereignty,"  a  demand 
was  made  for  a  surrender  of  the  patent  to  the  king.9  The  people  were  silent, 


1  Note  5,  page  116. 

2  She  taught  that,  as  the  Holy  Spirit  dwells  in  every  believer,  its  revelations  are  superior  to  the 
teachings  of  men.     It  was  the  doctrine  of  "  private  judgment"  in  its  fullest  extent.     She  taught  that 
every  person  had  the  right  to  judge  of  the  soundness  of  a  minister's  teaching,  and  this  was  consid 
ered  "  rebellion  against  the  clergy."     She  taught  the  doctrine  of  Election,  and  averred  that  the  elect 
saints  were  sure  of  their  salvation,  however  vicious  their  lives  might  be. 

3  Her  brother,  Rev.  John  Wheelwright,  was  an  eloquent  expounder  of  her  views.     The  theo 
logical  question  assumed  a  political  phase,  and  for  a  long  time  influenced  the  public  affairs  of  the 
colony. 

4  Mrs.  Hutchinson  and  her  family  took  refuge  within  the  Dutch  domain,  near  the  present  village 
of  New  Rochelle,  in  New  York.     There  she  and  all  her  family,  except  a  daughter,  were  murdered 
by  the  Indians.     Note  2,  page  141. 

5  Vane  was  a  son  of  the  Secretary  of  State  of  Charles  the  First.     He  was  a  republican  during 
the  civil  war  [note  3,  page  108],  and  for  this,  Charles  the  Second  had  him  beheaded  in  June,  1662. 

6  Page  91.  .  7  Page  87. 

8  [Note  1,  page  400.]     It  was  asserted,  and  is  believed,  that  Oliver  Cromwell  and  John  Hamp- 
den  were  among  the  passengers.     There  is  no  positive  evidence  that  such  was  the  fact. 

9  The  general  patent  for  New  England  was  surrendered  by"  the  Council  of  Plymouth,  in  June, 
1635,  without  consulting  the  Colonists.     The  inflexible  courage  of  the  latter  prevented  the  evil  that 
might  have  ensued  by  this  faithless  act  of  a  company  which  had  made  extensive  grants ;  and  they 
firmly  held  the  charter  given  to  them  by  the  king. 


1755.]  MASSACHUSETTS.  121 

but  firm.  When  a  rumor  reached  them  [September  18, 1634]  that  an  arbitrary 
commission,1  and  a  general  governor  was  appointed  for  all  the  English  colonies 
in  America,  the  Massachusetts  people,  poor  as  they  were,  raised  three  thousand 
dollars  to  build  fortifications  for  resistance.  Even  a  quo  warranto  [April, 
1638]2  did  not  affect  either  their  resolution  or^their  condition.  Strong  in  their 
integrity,  they  continued  to  strengthen  their  new  State  by  fostering  education,3 
the  '•  cheap  defense  of  nations,"  and  by  other  wise  appliances  of  vigorous  efforts. 
The  civil  war4  which  speedily  involved  the  church  and  the  throne  in  disaster, 
withdrew  the  attention  of  the  persecutors  from  the  persecuted.  The  hope  of 
better  times  at  home  checked  immigration,  and  thereafter  the  colony  received 
but  small  accessions  to  its  population,  from  the  mother  country. 

The  ties  of  interest  and  warmest  sympathy  united  the  struggling  colonists 
of  New  England.  Natives  of  the  same  country,  the  offspring  of  persecution — 
alike  exposed  to  the  weapons  of  hostile  Indians  and  the  depredations  of  the 
Dutch  and  French,5  and  alike  menaced  with  punishment  by  the  parent  govern 
ment — they  were  as  one  people.  They  were  now  [1643J  more  than  twenty 
thousand  ri  number,  and  fifty  villages  had  been  planted  by  them.  The  civil 
war  in  Er^land8  threatened  a  total  subversion  of  the  government,  and  the  Puri 
tans  begr.n  to  reflect  on  the  establishment  of  an  independent  nation  eastward  of 
the  Dutch  dominions.1  With  this  view,  a  union  of  the  New  England  colonies  was 
proposed  in  1637,  at  the  close  of  the  Pequod  war.  It  was  favorably  received 
by  all,  but  the  union  was  not  consummated  until  1643,  when  the  colonies  of  Ply 
mouth,8  Massachusetts,9  Connecticut  and  New  Haven10  confederated  for  mutual 
welfare.  Rhode  Island  asked  for  admittance  into  the  Union  [1643],  but  was 
refused,11  unless  it  would  acknowledge  the  authority  of  Plymouth.  Local  juris 
diction  was  jealously  reserved  by  each  colony,  and  the  fatal  doctrine  of  State 
Supremacy  was  thus  early  developed.  It  was  a  confederacy  of  States  like  our 
early  Union.12  The  general  affairs  of  the  confederacy  were  managed  by  a 
board  of  commissioners,  consisting  of  two  church-members  from  each  colony, 
who  were  to  meet  annually,  or  oftener  if  required.  Their  duty  was  to  con 
sider  circumstances,  and  recommend  measures  for  the  general  good.  They 
had  no  executive  power.  Their  propositions  were  considered  and  acted  upon  by 
the  several  colonies,  each -assuming  an  independent  sovereignty.  This  confed- 


1  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  associates  received  full  power  to  establish  governments  and 
laws  over  the  American  settlements;  to  regulate  religious  matters;  inflict  punishments,  and  even 
to  revoke  charters.  a  Note  3,  page  107. 

3  In  1636,  the  General  Court  at  Boston  appropriated  two  thousand  dollars  for  the  establishment 
of  a  college.     In  1638,  Rev.  John  Harvard  bequeathed  more  than  three  thousand  dollars  to  the 
institution  which  was  then  located  at  Cambridge,  and  it  received  the  name  of  "  Harvard  College," 
now  one  of  the  first  seminaries  of  learning  in  the  United  States.     In  1647,  a  law  was  passed, 
requiring  every  township,  which  contained  fifty  householders,  to  have  a  school-house,  and  employ 
a  teacher ;  and  each  town  containing  one  thousand  freeholders  to  have  a  grammar-school. 

4  Note  3,  page  108. 

6  The  Dutch  of  New  Netherland  [page  72],  still  claimed  jurisdiction  upon  the  Connecticut 
River,  and  the  French  settlers  in  Acadie,  eastward  of  New  England,  were  becoming  troublesome  to 
the  Puritans. 

0  Note  3,  p.  108.  7  Page  72.  8  Page  78.  9  Page  11 7. 

10  Page  89.  »  Page  91.  12  P*%e  267. 


122  THE     COLONIES.  [1620. 

eracy  remained  unmolested  more  than  forty  years1  [1643 — 1686],  during  which 
time  the  government  of  England  was  changed  three  times. 

The  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay  was  always  the  leading  one  of  New  En 
gland,  and  assumed  to  be  a  "perfect  republic."  After  the  Union,  a  legislative 
change  took  place.  The  representatives  had  hitherto  held  their  sessions  in  the 
same  room  with  the  governor  and  council ;  now  they  convened  in  a  separate 
apartment ;  and  the  distinct  House  of  Representatives ,  or  democratic  branch 
of  the  legislature,  still  existing  in  our  Federal  and  State  Governments,  was 
established  in  1644.  Unlike  Virginia,2  the  colonists  of  New  England  sympa 
thized  with  the  English  republicans,  in  their  efforts  to  abolish  royalty. 
Ardently  attached  to  the  Parliament,  they  found  in  Cromwell,3  when  he 
assumed  supreme  authority,  a  sincere  friend  and  protector  of  their  liberties. 
No  longer  annoyed  by  the  frowns  and  menaces  of  royalty,  the  energies  of  the 
people  were  rapidly  developed,  and  profitable  commerce  was  created  between 

Massachusetts  and  the  West  Indies.  This 
trade  brought  bullion,  or  uncoined  gold  and 
silver,  into  the  colony ;  and  in  1652,  the 
authorities  exercised  a  prerogati  re  of  in 
dependent  sovereignty,  by  establishing  a 
mint,  and  coming  silver  money,4  the  first 
within  the  territory  of  the  United  States. 

FIRST   MONEY    COINED   IN   THE   UNITED         ^.        .  ,,  ,  ,,  .         ,, 

STATES.  During   the   same  year,   settlements   in  the 

present  State  of  Maine,  imitating  the  act  of 

those  of  New  Hampshire,6  eleven  years  earlier  [1641],  came  under  the  juris 
diction  of  Massachusetts. 

And  now  an  important  element  of  trouble  and  perplexity  was  introduced. 
There  arrived  in  Boston,  in  July,  1656,  two  zealous  religious  women,  named 
Mary  Fisher  and  Ann  Austin,  who  were  called  Quakers.  This  was  a  sect 
recently  evolved  from  the  heaving  masses  of  English  society,"  claiming  to  be 
more  rigid  Puritans  than  all  who  had  preceded  them.  Letters  unfavorable  to 
the  sect  had  been  received  in  the  colony,  and  the  two  women  were  cast  into 
prison,  and  confined  for  several  weeks.7  With  eight  others  who  arrived  during 

1  When  James  the  Second  came  to  the  throne,  the  charters  of  all  the  colonies  were  taken  away 
or  suspended.     When  local  governments  were  re-established  after  the  Revolution  of  1688,  there  no 
longer  existed  a  necessity  for  the  Union,  and  the  confederacy  was  dissolved. 

2  Page  108.  3  Note  3,  page  108. 

4  In  October,  1651,  the  general  court  or  legislature  of  Massachusetts  ordered  silver  coins  of  the 
values  of  threepence,  sixpence,  and  a  shilling  sterling,  to  be  made.     The  mint-master  was  allowed 
fifteen  pence  out  of  every  twenty  shillings,  for  his  trouble.     He  made  a  large  fortune  by  the  busi 
ness.     From  the  circumstance  that  the  effigy  of  a  pine-tree  was  stamped  on  one  side,  these  coins, 
now  very  rare,  are  called  pine-tree  money.     The  date  [1652]  was  not  altered  for  thirty  years     Mas 
sachusetts  was  also  the  first  to  issue  paper  money  in  the  shape  of  treasury  notes.     See  page  132. 

5  Page  80. 

6  The  founder  of  the  sect  was  George  Fox,  who  promulgated  his  peculiar  tenets  about  1650. 
He  was  a  man  of  education  and  exalted  purity  of  character,  and  soon,  learned  and  influential  men 
became  In's  co-workers.     They  still  maintain  the  highest  character  for  morality  and  practical  Chris 
tianity.     See  note  7,  page  94. 

7  Their  trunks  were  searched,  and  the  religious  books  found  in  them  were  burned  by  the  hang 
man,  on  Boston  Common.     Suspected  of  being  witches   [note  7,  page  132],  their   persons  were 
examined  in  order  to  discover  certain  marks  which  would  indicate  their  connection  with  the  Evil  One. 


1755.]  MASSACHUSETTS. 

the  year,  they  were  sent  back  to  England.1  Others  came,  and  a  special  act 
against  the  Quakers  was  put  in  force  [1657],  but  to  no  purpose.  Opposition 
increased  their  zeal,  and,  as  usual  with  enthusiasts,  precisely  because  they  were 
not  wanted,  they  came.  They  suffered  stripes,  imprisonments,  and  general 
contempt;  and  finally,  in  1658,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  Federal  Com 
missioners,2  Massachusetts,  by  a  majority  of  one  vote,  banished  them,  on  pain 
of  death.  The  excuse  pleaded  in  extenuation  of  this  barbarous  law  was,  that 
the  Quakers  preached  doctrines  dangerous  to  good  government.3  But  the  death 
penalty  did  not  deter  the  exiles  from  returning ;  and  many  others  came  because 
they  courted  the  martyr's  reward.  Some  were  hanged,  others  were  publicly 
whipped,  and  the  prisons  were  soon  filled  with  the  persecuted  sect.  The  sever 
ity  of  the  law  finally  caused  a  strong  expression  of  public  sentiment  against  it. 
The  Quakers  were  regarded  as  true  martyrs,  and  the  people  demanded  of  the 
magistrates  a  cessation  of  the  bloody  and  barbarous  punishments.  The  death 
penalty  was  abolished,  in  1661 ;  the  fanaticism  of  the  magistrates  and  the 
Quakers  subsided,  and  a  more  Christian  spirit  of  toleration  prevailed.  No 
longer  sufferers  for  opinion's  sake,  the  Quakers  turned  their  attention  to  the 
Indian  tribes,  and  nobly  seconded  the  efforts  of  Mahew  and  Eliot  in  the  propa 
gation  of  the  gospel  among  the  pagans  of  the  forest.4 

On  the  restoration  of  monarchy  in  1660,  the  judges  who  condemned  Charles 
the  First  to  the  block,  were  outlawed.  Two  of  them  (William  Goffe  and  Edward 
Whalley)  fled  to  America,  and  were  the  first  to  announce  at  Boston  the  acces 
sion  of  Charles  the  Second.  Orders  were  sent  to  the  colonial  authorities  for 
their  arrest,  and  officers  were  dispatched  from  England  for  the  same  purpose. 
The  colonists  effectually  concealed  them,  and  for  this  act,  and  the  general  sym 
pathy  manifested  by  New  England  for  the  republican  party,  the  king  resolved 
to  show  them  no  favor.  They  had  been  exempt  from  commercial  restrictions 
during  Cromwell's  administration ;  now  these  were  revived,  and  the  stringent 
provisions  of  a  new  Navigation  Act5  were  rigorously  enforced.  The  people 
vainly  petitioned  for  relief;  and  finally,  commissioners  were  sent  [August, 
1644]  "to  hear  and  determine  all  complaints  that  might  exist  in  New  England, 
and  take  such  measures  as  they  might  deem  expedient  for  settling  the  peace 
and  security  of  the  country  on  a  solid  foundation."  This  was  an  unwise 

1  Mary  Fisher  went  all  the  way  from  London  to  Adrianople,  to  carry  a  divine  message  to  the 
Sultan.  She  was  regarded  as  insane ;  and  as  the  Moslems  respect  such  people  as  special  favorites 
of  God,  Mary  Fisher  was  unharmed  in  the  Sultan's  dominions.  2  Page  121. 

3  The  Quakers  denied  all  human  authority,  and  regarded  the  power  of  magistrates  as  delegated 
tyranny.     They  preached  purity  of  life,  charity  in  its  broadest  sense,  and  denied  the  right  of  any 
man  to  control  the  opinions  of  another.     Conscience,  or  "the  light  within,"  was  considered  a  suf- 
Sciont  guide,  and  they  deemed  it  their  special  mission  to  denounce  "hireling  ministers"  and  "per 
secuting  magistrates^"  in  person.     It  was  this  offensive  boldness  which  engendered  the  violent 
hatred  toward  the  sect  in  England  and  America. 

4  John  Eliot  has  been  truly  called  the  Apostle  to  the  Indians.     He  began  his  labors  soon  after 
his  arrival  in  America,  and  founded  the  first  church  among  the  savages,  at  Natic,  in  1660,  at  which 
time  there  were  ten  towns  of  converted  Indians  in  Massachusetts.     Thirty-five  years  later,  it  was 
estimated  that  there  were  not  less  than  three  thousand  adult  Christian  Indians  in  the  Islands  of 
Martha's  Vineyard  and  Nantucket,  alone.  6  Note  4,  page  109. 

6  These  were  Colonel  Richard  ISTicolls.  Sir  Robert  Carr,  George  Cartwright  and  Richard  Maver 
ick.  They  came  with  a  royal  fleet,  commanded  by  Colonel  Nicolls,  which  had  been  sent  io  assert 
English  authority  over  the  possessions  of  the  Dutch,  in  New  Netherland.  See  page  144. 


124  MASSACHUSETTS.  [1620. 

movement  on  the  part  of  the  mother  country.  The  colonists  regarded  the 
measure  with  indignation,  not  only  as  a  violation  of  their  charters,  but  as  an 
incipient  step  toward  establishing  a  system  of  domination,  destructive  to  their 
liberties.  Massachusetts  boldly  protested  against  the  exercise  of  the  authority 
of  the  commissioners  within  her  limits,  but  at  the  same  time  asserted  her  loyalty 
to  the  sovereign.  The  commissioners  experienced  the  opposition  of  the  other 
New  England  colonies,  except  Rhode  Island.  Their  acts  were  generally  disre 
garded,  and  after  producing  a  great  deal  of  irritation,  they  were  recalled  in 
1666.  The  people  of  Massachusetts,  triumphant  in  their  opposition  to  royal 
oppression,  ever  afterward  took  a  front  rank  in  the  march  toward  complete 
freedom.  The  licentious  king  and  his  ministers  were  too  much  in  love  with 
voluptuous  ease,  to  trouble  themselves  Avith  far-off  colonies ;  and  while  Old 
England  was  suffering  from  bad  government,  and  the  puissance  of  the  throne 
•was  lessening  in  the  estimation  of  the  nations,  the  colonies  nourished  in  purity, 
peace,  and  strength,  until  Metacomet,  the  son  of  the  good  Massasoit  ^ 
kindled  a  most  disastrous  Indian  war,  known  in  history  as 


KING    PHILIP'S    WAR. 

Massasoit  kept  his  treaty  with  the   Plymouth 
colony2  faithfully  while   he   lived.     Metacomet^   or 
Philip*  resumed  the  covenants  of  friendship,    and 
kept   them  inviolate    for  a  dozen  years.       But   as 
spreading  settlements  were  reducing  his  domains  acre 
by  acre,  breaking  up  his  hunting  grounds,  diminish 
ing  his  fisheries,  and  menacing  his  nation  with  servi 
tude  or  annihilation,  his  patriotism  was  aroused,  and 
,,,.     he  willingly  listened  to  the  hot  young  warriors  of  his 
^ ''     tribe,  who  counseled  a  war  of  extermination  against 
KING  PHILIP.  the  English.     At  Mount  Hope4  the  seat  of  the  chief 

sachems  of  the  Wampanoags,  in  the  solitudes  of  the 

primeval  forests,  he  planned,  with  consummate  skill,  :in  alliance  of  all  the  New 
England  tribes,5  against  the  European  intruders. 

At  this  time,  there  were  four  hundred  "  praying  Indians,"  as  the  converts 
to  Christianity  were  called,  firmly  attached  to  the  white  people.  One  of  them, 
named  John  Sassamon,  who  had  been  educated  at  Cambridge,  and  was  a  sort  of 
secretary  to  Philip,  after  becoming  acquainted  with  the  plans  of  the  sachem, 

1  Page  114.  2  Page  114. 

8  Massasoit  had  two  sons,  whom  Governor  Price  named  Alexander  and  Philip,  in  compliment 
to  their  bravery  as  warriors.  Alexander  died  soon  after  the  decease  of  his  father ;  and  Philip 
became  chief  sachem  of  the  Wampanoags. 

4  Mount  Hope  is  a  conical  hill,  300  feet  in  height,  and  situated  on  the  west  side  of  Mount  Hope 
Bay,  about  two  miles  from  Bristol,  Rhode  Island.     It  was  called  Pokanoket  by  the  Indians. 

5  The  tribes  which  became  involved  in  this  war  numbered,  probably,  about  twenty-five  thousand 
souls.     Those  along  the  coast  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  who  had  suffered  terribly  by  a  pestilence  just 
before  the  PILGRIMS  came  [page  77],  had  materially  increased  in  numbers ;  and  other  tribes,  besides 
the  New  England  Indians  proper  [page  22],  became  parties  to  the  conflict. 


1755.]  MASSACHUSETTS.  125 

revealed  them  to  the  authorities  at  Plymouth.  For  this  h,e  was  slain  by  his 
countrymen,  and  three  Wampanoags  were  convicted  of  his  murder,  on  slender 
testimony,  and  hanged.  The  ire  of  the  tribe  was  fiercely  kindled,  and  they 
thirsted  for  vengeance.  The  cautious  Philip  was  overruled  by  his  fiery  young 
men,  and  remembering  the  wrongs  and  humiliations  he  had  personally  received 
from  the  English,1  he  trampled  upon  solemn  treaties,  sent  his  women  and  chil 
dren  to  the  Narragansetts  for  protection,  and  kindled  the  flame  of  war.  Mes 
sengers  Avere  sent  to  other  tribes,  to  arouse  them  to  co-operation,  and  with  all 
the  power  of  Indian  eloquence,  Metacomet  exhorted  his  followers  to  curse  the 
white  men,  and  swear  eternal  hostility  to  the  pale  faces.  He  said,  in  effect : 

"  Away !  away  !  I  will  not  hear 

Of  aught  but  death  or  vengeance  now ; 
By  the  eternal  skies  I  swear 

My  knee  shall  never  learn  to  bow  ! 
I  will  not  hear  a  word  of  peace, 

Xor  clasp  in  friendly  grasp  a  hand 
Linked  to  that  pale-browed  stranger  race, 

That  works  the  ruin  of  our  land. 
1  ****** 

And  till  your  last  white  foe  shall  kneel, 

And  in  his  coward  pangs  expire, 
Sleep — but  to  dream  of  brand  and  steel ; 

Wake — but  to  deal  in  blood  and  fire !" 

Although  fierce  and  determined  when  once  aroused,  no  doubt  Philip  com 
menced  hostilities  contrary  to  the  teachings  of  his  better  judgment,  for  he  was 
sagacious  enough  to  foresee  failure.  "  Frenzy  prompted  their  rising.  It  was 
but  the  storm  in  which  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  land  were  to  vanish  away. 
They  rose  without  hope,  and  therefore  they  fought  without  mercy.  To  them, 
as  a  nation,  there  was  no  to-morrow. :' 

The  bold  Philip  struck  the  first  blow  at  Swanzey,  thirty-five  miles  south 
west  from  Plymouth.  The  people  were  just  returning  from  their  houses  of 
worship,  for  it  was  a  day  of  fasting  and  humiliation  [July  4,  1675],  in  antici 
pation  of  hostilities.  Many  were  slain  and  captured,  and  others  fled  to  the 
surrounding  settlements,  and  aroused  the  people.  The  men  of  Plymouth, 
joined  by  those  of  Boston  and  vicinity,  pressed  toward  Mount  Hope.  Philip 
was  besieged  in  a  swamp  for  many  days,  but  escaped  with  most  of  his  warriors, 
and  became  a  fugitive  with  the  Nipmucs,2  an  interior  tribe  of  Massachusetts. 
These  espoused  his  cause,  and  with  full  fifteen  hundred  warriors,  he  hastened 
toward  the  white  settlements  in  the  far-off  valley  of  the  Connecticut.  In  the 
mean  while  the  little  army  of  white  people  penetrated  the  country  of  the  Narra- 
gansetts,3  and  extorted  a  treaty  of  friendship  from  Canonchet,4  chief  sachem  of 


1  In  1671,  Philip  and  his  tribe  being  suspected  of  secretly  plotting  the  destruction  of  the  En 
glish,  were  deprived  of  their  fire-arms.     He  never  forgot  the  injury,  and  long  meditated  revenge. 

2  Page  22.  3  Page  22. 

4  Son  of  Miantonomoh,  whose  residence  was  upon  a  hill  a  little  north  of  the  city  of  Newport, 
R.  I.     That  hill  still  bears  the  name  of  Miantonomoh,  abbreviated  to  "Tonomy  Hill."     Page  91. 


126  THE     COLONIES.  [1620. 

that  powerful  tribe.  Hearing  of  this,  Philip  was  dismayed  for  a  moment.  But 
there  was  no  hope  for  him,  except  in  energetic  action,  and  he  and  his  followers 
aroused  other  tribes,  to  a  war  of  extermination,  by  the  secret  and  efficient 
methods  of  treachery,  ambush,  and  surprise.  Men  in  the  fields,  families  in 
their  beds  at  midnight,  and  congregations  in  houses  of  worship,  were  attacked 
and  massacred.  The  Indians  hung  like  the  scythe  of  death  upon  the  borders 
of  the  English  settlements,  and  for  several  months  a  gloomy  apprehension  of  the 
extermination  of  the  whole  European  population  in  New  England,  prevailed.1 

Dreadful  were  the  scenes  in  the  path  of  the  Wampanoag  chief.  From 
Springfield  northward  to  the  present  Vermont  line,  the  valley  of  the  Connecti 
cut  was  a  theater  of  confusion,  desolation,  and  death,  wherever  white  settle 
ments  existed.  Almost  the  whole  of  a  party  of  twenty  Englishmen2  sent  to 
treat  with  the  Nipmucs,  were  treacherously  slain  by  the  savages  in  ambush 
[Aug.  12,  1675],  near  Quaboag,  now  Brookfield.  That  place  was  set  on  fire, 
when  a  shower  of  rain  put  out  the  flames,  and  the  Indians  were  driven  away  by 
a  relief  party  of  white  people.3  The  village  was  partially  saved,  but  imme 
diately  abandoned.  Soon  afterward  a  hot  battle  was  fought  near  Deerfield4 
[Sept  5],  and  a  wreek  later  [Sept.  12]  that  settlement  also  was  laid  in  ashes. 
On  the  same  day  (it  was  the  Sabbath),  Hadley,  further  down  the  river,  was 
attacked  while  the  people  were  worshiping  In  the  midst  of  the  alarm  and  con 
fusion,  a  tall  and  venerable-looking  man,  with  white,  flowing  hair  and  beard, 
suddenly  appeared,  and  brandishing  a  glittering  sword,  he  placed  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  affrighted  people,  and  led  them  to  a  charge  which  dispersed  and 
defeated  the  foe.  He  as  suddenly  disappeared,  and  the  inhabitants  believed 
that  an  angel  from  heaven  had  been  sent  to  their  rescue.  It  was  Goffe,  the 
fugitive  English  judge,5  who  was  then  concealed  in  that  settlement. 

The  scourge,  stayed  for  a  moment  at  Hadley,  swept  mercilessly  over  other 
settlements.  On  the  23d  of  September,  the  paths  of  Northfield  were  wet  with 
the  blood  of  many  valiant  young  men  under  Captain  Beers  ;  and  on  the  28th, 
11  a  company  of  young  men,  the  very  flower  of  Essex,"  under  Captain  Lathrop, 
were  butchered  by  almost  a  thousand  Indians  on  the  banks  of  a  little  stream 
near  Deerfield,  which  still  bears  the  name  of  Bloody  Brook.  Others,  who 
came  to  their  rescue,  were  engaged  many  hours  in  combat  with  the  Indians 
until  crowned  with  victory.  Yet  the  Indians  still  prevailed.  Philip,  en 
couraged  by  success,  now  resolved  to  attack  Hatfield,  the  chief  settlement  of  the 


-  J  The  white  population  in  N"ew  England,  at  this  time,  has  been  estimated  at  fifty-five  thousand 
Haverhill,  on  the  Merrimac,  was  the  frontier  town  in  the  direction  of  Maine;  and  North  field,  on  the 
borders  of  Vermont,  was  the  highest  settlement  in  the  Connecticut  valley.  Westfleld,  one  hundred 
miles  west  of  Boston,  was  the  most  remote  settlement  in  that  direction. 

2  Captains  Wheeler  and  Hutchinson  were  sent  from  Boston  to  endeavor  to  reclaim  the  Nipmucs. 
Apprised  of  their  coming,  the  Indians  lay  in  ambush,  and  fired  upon  them  from  the  deep  thickets 
of  a  swamp. 

3  Under  Major  AVillard.     The  Indians  set  fire  to  every  house  except  a  strong  one  into  which 
the  people  had  secured  themselves,  and  were  besieged  there  two  days.     The  Indians  set  fire  to  this 
last  refuge,  when  rain  extinguished  the  flames. 

4  Between  180  white  people  and  700  Indians      [See,  also,  page  135.]  5  Page  123. 


1755.]  MASSACHUSETTS.  127 

white  people  above  Springfield.  The  Springfield  Indians  joined  him,1  and  with 
almost  a  thousand  warriors,  he  fell  upon  the  settlement,  on  the  29th  of  Octo 
ber,  1675.  The  English  were  prepared  for  his  reception,  and  he  was  repulsed 
with  such  loss,  that,  gathering  his  broken  forces  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the 
Connecticut,2  he  marched  toward  Rhode  Island.  The  Narragansetts,  in  viola 
tion  of  the  recent  treaty,3  received  him,  became  his  allies,  and  went  out  upon 
the  war  path  late  in  autumn.  A  terrible,  retributive  blow  soon  fell  upon  the 
savages,  when  fifteen  hundred  men  of  Massachusetts,  Plymouth,  and  Connecti 
cut,  marched  to  punish  Canonchet  and  his  tribe,  for  their  perfidy.  The  snows 
of  early  winter  had  fallen,  and  at  least  three  thousand  Indians  had  collected  in 
their  chief  fort  in  an  immense  swamp,4  where  they  were  supplied  with  provi 
sions  for  the  winter.  It  was  a  stormy  day  in  December  [Dec.  29],  when  the 
English  stood  before  the  feeble  palissades  of  the  savages.  These  offered  but 
little  opposition  to  the  besiegers ;  and  within  a  few  hours,  five  hundred  wig 
wams,  with  the  winter  provisions,  were  in  flames.  Hundreds  of  men,  women, 
and  children,  perished  in  the  fire.  A  thousand  warriors  were  slain  or  wounded, 
and  several  hundreds  were  made  prisoners.  The  English  lost  eighty  killed, 
and  one  hundred  and  fifty  wounded.  Canonchet  was  made  prisoner,  and  slain ; 
but  Philip  escaped,  and  with  the  remnant  of  the  Narragansetts,  he  took  refuge 
again  with  the  Nipmucs. 

The  fugitive  Wampanoag  was  busy  during  the  winter.  He  vainly  solicited 
the  Mohawks'  to  join  him,  but  he  was  seconded  by  the  tribes  eastward  of  Mas 
sachusetts,6  who  also  had  wrongs  to  redress.  The  work  of  desolation  began 
early  in  the  spring  of  1676,  and  within  a  few  weeks  the  war  extended  over  a 
space  of  almost  three  hundred  miles.  Weymouth,  Groton,  Medfield,  Lancas 
ter,  and  Marlborough,  in  Massachusetts,  were  laid  in  ashes;  Warwick  and 
Providence,  in  Rhode  Island,  were  burned ;  and  everywhere,  the  isolated  dwell 
ings  of  settlers  were  laid  waste.  But  internal  feuds  weakened  the  power  of  the 
savages  ;  and  both  the  Nipmucs7  and  the  Narragansetts8  charged  their  misfor 
tunes  to  the  ambition  of  Philip.  The  cords  of  alliance  were  severed.  Some 
surrendered  to  avoid  starvation  ;  other  tribes  wandered  off  and  joined  those  in 
Canada;9  while  Captain  Benjamin  Church,10  the  most  famous  of  the  partisan 

1  They  had  been  friendly  until  now.     They  plotted  the  entire 
destruction  of  the  Springfield  settlement ;  but  the  people  defended 
themselves  bravely  within  their  palisaded    houses.     Many  of  the 
strong  houses  of  frontier  settlements  were  thus  fortified.      Trunks 
of  trees,  eight  or  ten  inches  in  diameter,  were  cut  in  uniform  lengths, 
and  stuck  in  the  ground  close  together.     The  upper  ends  were 
sharpened,  and  the  whole  were  fastened  together  with*  green  withes 
or  other  contrivances. 

2  Page  82.  3  Pao-e  125  PALISADED  BUILDINGS. 

4  This  swamp  is  a  small  distance  south-west  of  the  village  of  Kingston,  in  Washington  County, 
Rhode  Island.  The  fort  was  on  an  island  which  contains  about  five  acres  of  tillable  land,  in  the 
north-west  part  of  the  swamp.  The  Stonington  and  Providence  railway  passes  along  the  northern 
verge  of  the  swamp.  5  Page  23. 

0  Page  22.     The  tribes  of  Maine  were  then  about  four  thousand  strong- 

7  Page  22.  8  page  22.  9  Page  22. 

10  Benjamin  Church  was  born  at  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  in  1 639.  He  continued  hostilities 
against  the  eastern  Indians  until  1704.  He  fell  from  his  horse,  and  died  soon  afterward,  at  Little 
Comptori,  Jan.  IT,  1718,  aged  TT  years. 


128 


THE     COLONIES. 


[1620. 


officers  of  the  English  colonies,  went  out  to  hunt  and  to  destroy  the  fugitives. 
During  the  year,  between  two  and  three  thousand  Indians  were  slain  or  had 
submitted.  Philip  was  chased  from  one  hiding-place  to  another,  but  for  a  long 
time  he  would  not  yield.  He  once  cleft  the  head  of  a  warrior  who  proposed 
submission.  But  at  length,  the  "  last  of  the  Wampanoags"  bowed  to  the  press 
ure  of  circumstances.  He  returned  to  the  land  of  his  fathers1  [August,  1676], 
and  soon  his  wife  and  son  were  made  prisoners.  This  calamity  crushed  him, 
and  he  said,  "  Now  my  heart  breaks  ;  I  am  ready  to  die."  A  few  days  after- 


ward,  a  faithless  Indian  shot  him,  and  Captain  Church  cut  off  the  dead  sachem"^ 
head.2  His  body  was  quartered  ;  and  his  little  son  was  sold  to  be  a  bond-slave 
in  Bermuda.3  So  perished  the  last  of  the  princes  of  the  Wampanoags,  and 
thus  ended,  in  the  total  destruction  of  the  power  of  the  New  England  Indians, 
the  famous  KING  PHILIP'S  WAR.* 

The  terrible  menaces  of  the  Indian  war,  and  the  hourly  alarm  which  it 
occasioned,  did  not  make  the  English  settlers  unmindful  of  their  political  posi- 


1  Note  4,  page  124. 

2  The  rude  sword,  made  by  a  blacksmith  of  the  colony,  with  which  Captain  Church  cut  off 
Philip's  head,  is  in  the  possession  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society. 

3  The  disposal  of  the  boy  was  a  subject  of  serious  deliberation.     Some  of  the  elders  proposed 
putting  him  to  death  ;  others,  professing  more  mercy,  suggested  selling  him  as  a  slave.     The  most 
profitable  measure  appeared  the  most  merciful,  and  the  child  was  sold  into  bondage.     The  head  of 
Philip  was  carried  in  triumph  to  Plymouth,  and  placed  upon  a  pole 

4  The  result  of  this  war  was  vastly  beneficial  to  the  colonists,  for  the  fear  of  savages,  which 
prevented  a  rapid  spread  of  settlements,  was  removed.     From  this  period  may  be  dated  the  real, 
unimpeded  growth  of  New  England. 


MASSACHUSETTS.  129 

tion,  nor  hopeless  respecting  the  future.  While  the  Massachusetts  colony  was 
vet  weak  in  resources,  from  the  effects  of  the  war,1  and  the  people  were  yet 
engaged  in  hostilities  with  the  eastern  tribes,'2  it  made  territorial  accessions  by 
purchase,  and  at  the  same  time  boldly  asserted  its  chartered  rights.  For  many 
years  there  had  been  a  controversy  between  the  heirs  of  Sir  F.  Gorges3  and 
John  Mason,  and  the  Massachusetts  colony,  concerning  a  portion  of  the  present 
territory  of  Maine  and  New  Hampshire,  which,  by  acts  of  the  inhabitants,  had 
been  placed  [1641  and  1652]  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  authorities  at  Bos 
ton.4  The  judicial  decision  [1677]  was  in  favor  of  the  heirs,  and  Massachu 
setts  immediately  purchased  [May  1,  1677]  their  interest  for  six  thousand  dol 
lars.6  New  Hampshire  was  detached  three  years  afterward  [1680],  and  made 
a  royal  province — the  first  in  New  England ;  but  Maine,  which  was  incorpo 
rated  with  Massachusetts  in  1692,  continued  a  part  of  that  commonwealth  until 
1820. 

Now  rapidly  budded  that  governmental  tyranny  which  finally  drove  all  the 
American  colonies  into  open  rebellion.  The  profligate  king  continued  to  draw 
the  lines  of  absolute  rule  closer  and  closer  in  England,  and  he  both  feared  and 
hated  the  growing  republics  in  America,  especially  those  in  the  East.  They 
were  ostensibly  loyal  portions  of  his  realm,  but  were  really  independent  sover 
eignties,  continually  reacting  upon  the  mother  country,  to  the  damage  of  the 
"  divine  right"  of  kings.  Charles  had  long  cherished  a  desire  to  take  their 
governments  into  his  own  hands,  and  he  employed  the  occasion  of  the  rejection 
of  Edward  Randolph  (a  custom-house  officer,  who  had  been  sent  to  Boston 
[1679]  to  collect  the  revenues,  and  otherwise  to  exercise  authority6),  to  declare 
the  Massachusetts  charter  void.  He  issued  a  quo  u-arranto  in  1683, 7  and  pro 
cured  a  decision  in  his  favor  in  the  High  Court  of  Chancery,  on  the  28th  of 
June,  1684,  but  he  died  on  the  26th  of  February  following,  before  his  object 
was  effected. 

Charles's  successor,  James  the  Second,8  continued  the  oppressive  measures 
of  his  brother  toward  the  New  England  colonies.  The  people  petitioned  and 
remonstrated,  and  were  treated  with  contempt.  Their  hardships  in  conquering 
a  wilderness,  and  their  devotion  to  the  English  constitution,  had  no  weight 
with  the  royal  bigot.9  He  also  declared  the  charter  of  Massachusetts  forfeited, 
and  appointed  Joseph  Dudley  president  of  the  country  from  Rhode  Island  to 
Nova  Scotia.  Sir  Edmund  Andros  arrived  at  Boston  soon  afterward  [Dec. 

1  During  the  war,  New  England  lost  six  hundred  men ;  a  dozen  towns  were  destroyed ;  six 
hundred  dwellings  were  burned ;  every  twentieth  family  was  houseless ;  and  every  twentieth  man, 
who  had  served  as  a  soldier,  had  perished.  The  cost  of  the  war  equaled  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars — a  very  large  sum  at  that  time. 

3  Page  22.  3  Page  79.  4  Page  80,  and  note  2,  page  80. 

6  The  portion  of  Maine  then  purchased,  was  the  tract  between  the  Piscataqua  and  the  Kenne- 
bec.  That  between  the  Kennebec  and  the  Penobscot  belonged  to  the  Duke  of  York,  and  the  terri 
tory  between  the  Penobscot  and  the  St.  Croix,  was  held  by  the  French,  pursuant  to  a  treaty.  , 

6  Randolph  appears  to  have  been  a  greedy  adventurer,  and  was,  consequently,  a  faithful  servant 
of  his  royal  master  in  oppressing  the  colonists.     He  exaggerated  the  number  and  resources  of  the 
people  of  New  England,  and  thus  excited  the  king's  fears  and  cupidity.     Previous  to  Randolph's 
appointment,  the  colonies  had  dispatched  agents  to  England,  to  settle  impending  difficulties  ami 
cably.     They  failed,  and  Randolph  came  hi  the  same  vessel  in  which  they  returned. 

7  Note  3,  page  107.  8  Page  113.  8  Note  7,  page  113. 


130  THE     COLONIES.  [1620. 

30,  1686],  clothed  with  authority  to  govern  all  New  England.  He  came  with 
a  smiling  face,  and  deceitful  lips.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  tyrant  by  nature, 
and  came  to  execute  a  despot's  will.  He  soon  made  bare  the  rod  of  oppression, 
and  began  to  rule  with  a  tyrant's  rigor.1  The  people  were  about  to  practice 
the  doctrine  that  "  resistance  to  tyrants  is  obedience  to  God"*  when  intelli 
gence  reached  Boston  [April  14,  1689],  that  James  was  driven  from  the 
throne  [1688]  and  was  succeeded  by  William  and  Mary,  of  Orange.3  The 
inhabitants  of  Boston  seized  and  imprisoned  Andros  and  fifty  of  his  political 
associates  [April  28,  1689],  sent  them  to  England  under  a  just  charge  of  mal 
administration  of  public  affairs,  and  re-established  their  constitutional  govern 
ment.  Again  republicanism  was  triumphant  in  Massachusetts. 

The  effects  of  the  revolution  in  England  were  also  sorrowful  to  the  Amer 
ican  colonies.  That  revolution  became  a  cause  of  war  between  England  and 
France.  James  (who  was  a  Roman  Catholic)  fled  to  the  court  of  Louis  the 
Fourteenth,  king  of  France,  and  that  monarch  espoused  the  cause  of  the  fugi 
tive.  Hostilities  between  the  two  nations  commenced  the  same  year,  and  the 
quarrel  extended  to  their  respective  colonies  in  America.  The  conflict  then 
commenced,  and  which  was  continued  more  than  seven  years,  is  known  in  his 
tory  as 

KING    WILLIAM'S    WAR. 

The  colonists  suffered  terribly  in  that  contest.  The  French  Jesuits,4  who 
had  acquired  great  influence  over  the  eastern  tribes,5  easily  excited  them  to 
renew  their  fierce  warfare  with  the  English.  They  also  made  the  savages  their 
allies ;  and  all  along  the  frontier  settlements,  the  pathway  of  murder  and  des 
olation  was  seen.  Dover,  a  frontier  town,  was  first  attacked  by  a  party  of 
French  and  Indians,  on  the  7th  of  July,  1689,  when  the  venerable  Major 
Waldron6  and  twenty  others  of  the  little  garrison  were  killed.  Twenty-nine 
of  the  inhabitants  were  made  captive,  and  sold  as  servants  to  the  French  in 
Canada.  In  August  following,  an  Indian  war  party,  instigated  by  Thury,  a 
Jesuit,  fell  [August  12]  upon  an  English  stockade7  at  Pemaquid  (built  by 
Andros),  and  captured  the  garrison.  A  few  months  later,  Frontenac  sent  a 

1  Among  other  arbitrary  acts,  Andros  laid  restraints  upon  the  freedom  of  the  press,  and  mar 
riage  contracts;  and,  to  use  a  modern  term,  he  "levied  black  mail;"  that  is,  extorted  money,  by 
menaces,  whenever  opportunity  offered.     He  advanced  the  fees  of  all  officers  of  the  government  to 
an  exorbitant  degree ;  and  finally  threatened  to  make  the  Church  of  England  the  established  relig 
ion  in  all  America 

2  This  was  Cromwell's  motto ;  and  Thomas  Jefferson  had  it  engraved  upon  his  private  seal. 

3  Note  7,  page  113. 

4  This  was  a  Roman  Catholic  religious  order,  founded  by  Ignatius  Loyola,  a  Spaniard,  in  1539. 
They  have  ever  been  remarkable  for  their  great  devotion  to  their  cause,  their  self-denial,  and  mas 
terly  sagacity  in  the  acquirement  and  maintenance  of  power.     Their  missionaries  preached  Chris 
tianity  in  every  part  of  the  habitable  globe.     They  came  with  the  first  French  adventurers  to  Amer 
ica,  and  under  their  influence,  whole  tribes  of  Indians  eastward  of  Massachusetts  and  in  Canada  were 
made  nominal  Christians.     This  was  one  of  the  ties  which  made  the  savages  such  faithful  allies  to 
the  French  in  the  contests  between  them  and  the  English,  previous  to  1763.  5  Page  22. 

6  Waldron  was  eighty  years  of  age.     He  had  played  false  with  the  New  Hampshire  Indian;-, 
during  King  Philip's  war,  and  they  now  sought  revenge.     They  tortured  him  to  death. 

7  Note  2.  page  183. 


1755.]  MASSACHUSETTS.  131 

party  of  three  hundred  French  and  Indians  from  Montreal,  to  penetrate  the 
country  toward  Albany.  On  a  gloomy  night  in  winter,  when  the  snow  was 
twenty  inches  in  depth,  they  fell  upon  Schenectada  [Feb.  18,  1690],  a  frontier 
town  on  the  Mohawk,  massacred  many  of  the  people,  and  burnt  the  village. 
Early  in  the  spring,  Salmon  Falls  [March  28],  Casco  [May  27],  and  other 
eastern  villages,  were  attacked  by  another  party  of  the  same  mongrel  foe,  the 
natural  ferocity  of  the  Indians  being  quickened  by  the  teachings  of  the  Jesuits 
concerning  the  proper  fate  of  heretics.1 

All  the  colonies  were  aroused,  by  these  atrocities,  to  a  sense  of  their  danger 
in  having  such  foes  intent  upon  their  destruction ;  and  the  New  England  people 
resolved  on  speedy  retaliation.  In  May,  Massachusetts  fitted  out  an  expedi 
tion,  under  Sir  William  Phipps,  a  native  of  Pemaquid,  consisting  of  eight  or 
nine  vessels,  with  about  eight  hundred  men.  Phipps  seized  Port  Royal,2  in 
Acadie,  and  obtained  sufficient  plunder  from  the  inhabitants  to  pay  the  expenses 
of  the  expedition.  In  June,  Port  Royal  was  again  plundered  by  English  pri 
vateers  from  the  West  Indies.  Encouraged  by  these  successes,  the  colonies  of 
New  England  and  New  York  coalesced  in  efforts  to  conquer  Canada.3  It  was 
arranged  to  send  a  land  expedition  from  New  York,  by  way  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  against  Montreal,4  and  a  naval  expedition  against  Quebec.5  The  com 
mand  of  the  former  was  intrusted  to  the  son  of  Governor  Winthrop  of  Connect 
icut,6  and  the  expenses  were  borne  jointly  by  that  colony  and  New  York.7  Sir 
William  Phipps  commanded  the  latter,  which  Massachusetts  alone  fitted  out. 
It  consisted  of  thirty-four  vessels,  with  two  thousand  men.  Both  were  unsuc 
cessful.  Some  of  Winthrop's  troops,  with  Indians  of  the  FIVE  NATIONS,8  under 
Colonel  Schuyler,  pushed -toward  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  were  repulsed  [Aug., 
1690]  by  Frontenac,  the  governor  of  Canada.  The  remainder  did  not  go  be 
yond  Wood  Creek  (now  Whitehall),  at  the  head  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  all 
returned  to  Albany.9  Phipps  reached  Quebec  about  the  middle  of  October, 
and  landed  the  troops ;  but  the  city  was  too  strongly  fortified10  to  promise  a 
successful  siege,  and  he  returned  to  Boston  before  the  winter  set  in.11  Massa- 


1  In  these  massacres,  instigated  by  the  Jesuits,  we  may  find  a  reason  for  the  seeming  intoler 
ance  of  the  Protestant  majority  in  Maryland  [page  152],  the  disabilities  of  Roman  Catholics  ia 
Virginia,  New  York,  and  New  England,  and  their  exclusion  from  the  privileges  of  freemen  in  tol 
erant  Rhode  Island.     The  most  potent  operations  of  the  Jesuits  were  in  secret,  and  the  colonists 
were  compelled  to  regard  every  Roman  Catholic  as  the  natural  enemy  of  Protestants,  and  as  labor 
ing  to  destroy  every  measure  tending  to  human  freedom. 

2  Page  58.  3  Page  204.  4  Page  48. 

6  Page  48.  6  Page  86. 

7  Milborne,  son-in-law  of  Jacob  Leisler,  the  democratic  governor  of  New  York  [page  148],  un 
dertook  to  provide  subsistence  for  the  army,  which  marched  from  Albany  early  in  July. 

8  Page  23. 

9  Leisler  was  so  much  incensed  at  this  failure,  that  he  caused  the  arrest  of  Winthrop,  at  Albany. 
There  had  ever  been  a  jealous  rivalry  between  the  people  of  New  York  and  Connecticut ;  and  the 
feud  which  continually  prevailed  among  the  mixed  troops,  was  the  chief  cause  of  the  miscarriage  of 
the  enterprise. 

10  Phipps,  having  no  chart  to  guide  him,  was  nine  weeks  cautiously  making  his  way  around 
Acadie  and  up  the  St.  Lawrence.     In  the  mean  while,  a  swift  Indian  runner,  from  Pemaquid,  sped 
across  the  country,  and  informed  the  French,  at  Quebec,  of  the  approach  of  Phipps,  in  time  for 
them  to  well  prepare  for  defense. 

11  This  repulse  was  considered  so  important  by  the  French,  that  king  Louis  had  a  commemor 
ative  medal  struck,  with  the  legend — "  FRANCE  VICTORIOUS  IN  THE  NEW  WORLD." 


132  THE     COLONIES.  [1620. 

chusetts  was  obliged  to  issue  bills  of  credit,  or  paper  money,  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  this  expedition.1 

Sir  William  Phipps  was  sent  to  England  soon  after  his  return,  to  solicit  aid 
in  further  warfare  upon  the  French  and  Indians,  and  also  to  assist  in  efforts  to 
procure  a  restoration  of  the  charter  of  Massachusetts,  taken  away  by  King 
James.2  Material  assistance  in  prosecuting  the  war  was  refused ;  and  King 
William  instead  of  restoring  the  old  charter,  granted  a  new  one,  and  united 
under  it  the  colonies  of  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  Maine,  and  Nova  Scotia,3  by 
the  old  name  of  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  and  made  it  a  royal  province. 
Phipps  was  appointed  governor  by  the  king,  and  returned  to  Boston  with  the 
charter,  in  May,  1692.  But  the  new  constitution  was  offensive  to  the  people, 
for  they  were  allowed  scarcely  any  other  political  privileges  than  they  already 
possessed,  except  the  right  to  choose  representatives.  The  king  reserved  the 
right  to  appoint  the  governor,  his  deputy,  and  the  secretary  of  the  colony,  and 
of  repealing  the  laws  within  three  years  after  their  passage.  This  abridgment 
of  their  liberties  produced  general  dissatisfaction,  and  alienated  the  affections  of 
the  people  from  the  mother  country.  It  was  one  of  a  series  of  fatal  steps  taken 
by  the  English  government,  which  tended  toward  the  final  dismemberment  of 
the  empire  in  1776.4  Yet  one  good  resulted  from  the  change.  The  theocratic 
or  religious  element  in  the  government,  which  fostered  bigotry  and  intolerance, 
lost  its  power,  for  toleration  was  guarantied  to  all  Christian  sects,  except  Roman 
Catholics  ;  and  the  right  of  suffrage  was  extended  to  others  than  members  of 
Congregational  churches.5 

A  very  strange  episode  in  the  history  of  Massachusetts  now  occurred.  A 
belief  in  witchcraft6  destroyed  the  peace  of  society  in  many  communities,  and 
shrouded  the  whole  colony  in  a  cloud  of  gloom.  This  belief  had  a  strong  hold 
upon  the  minds  of  the  people  of  old  England,  and  of  their  brethren  in  America. 
Excitement  upon  the  subject  suddenly  broke  out  at  Danvers  (then  a  part  of 
Salem),  in  March,  1692,  and  spread  like  an  epidemic.  A  niece  and  daughter 
of  the  parish  minister  exhibited  strange  conduct ;  and  under  the  influence  of 
their  own  superstitious  belief,  they  accused  an  old  Indian  servant- woman  in  the 
family  of  bewitching  them.  Fasting  and  prayer,  to  break  the  "spell,"  were 
of  no  avail,  for  the  malady  increased.  The  alarm  of  the  family  spread  to  the 


1  Note  4,  page  122.     The  total  amount  of  the  issue  was  $133,338.  2  Page  129. 

3  New  Scotland,  the  name  given  to  the  country  which  the  French  called  Acadie.  See  note  2, 
page  80.  4  Page  251.  5  Note  5,  page  118. 

6  A  belief  in  witchcraft,  or  the  exercise  of  supernatural  power,  by  men  and  women,  has  been 
prevalent  for  ages.  Punishment  of  persons  accused  of  it,  was  first  sanctioned  by  the  Church  of  Eome 
a  little  more  than  three  hundred  years  ago.  Certain  tests  were  instituted,  and  thousands  of  innocent 
persons  were  burned  alive,  drowned,  or  hanged,  in  Europe.  Within  three  months,  in  1515,  five  hun 
dred  persons  were  burned  in  Geneva,  in  Switzerland.  In  the  diocese  of  Como,  one  thousand  were 
burned  in  one  year.  In  1520,  an  incredible  number,  from  among  all  classes,  suffered  death  in 
France.  And  within  fifty  or  sixty  years,  during  the  sixteenth  century,  more  than  one  hundred 
thousand  persons  perished  in  the  flames  in  Germany  alone.  Henry  the  Eighth  of  England  made 
the  practice  of  witchcraft  a  capital  offense;  and  a  hundred  years  later,  ''witch-detectors"  traversed 
the  country,  and  brought  many  to  the  stake.  Enlightened  men  embraced  the  belief;  and  even  Sir 
Matthew  Hale,  the  most  distinguished  of  England's  judges,  repeatedly  tried  and  condemned  persons 
accused  of  witchcraft.  The  English  laws  against  witchcraft  were  adopted  in  New  England  ;  and  ;;.'; 
early  as  1648,  four  persons  had  suffered  death  for  the  alleged  offense,  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston, 


-: 

1755.]  MASSACHUSETTS.  133 

community  ;  and  soon  a  belief  prevailed  throughout  the  colony,  that  evil  spirits, 
having  ministering  servants  among  men,  overshadowed  the  land.  Old  and  ill- 
favored  women  were  first  accused  of  practising  the  art  of  witchcraft ;  but  at 
length  neither  age,  sex,  nor  condition  afforded  protection  from  the  accuser's 
tongue.  Even  the  wife  of  Governor  Phipps  did  not  escape  suspicion.  Magis 
trates  were  condemned,  many  pious  persons  were  imprisoned,  and  Mr.  Bur 
roughs,  a  worthy  minister,  was  executed.  Men  of  strong  minds  and  scholarly 
attainments  were  thoroughly  deluded.  Among  these  was  the  eminent  Cotton 
Mather,  whose  father  before  him  had  yielded  to  the  superstition,  and  published 


an  account  of  all  the  supposed  cases  of  witchcraft  in  New  England.  Ctotrfeon 
Mather,  on  account  of  his  position  as  a  leading  divine,  and  his  talents,  prob 
ably  did  more  than  any  other  man  to  promote  the  spread  of  that  fearful  delusion, 
which  prevailed  for  more  than  six  months.  During  that  time,  twenty  persons 
suffered  death,  fifty-five  were  tortured  or  frightened  into  a  confession  of  witch 
craft,  and  when  a  special  court,  or  legislature,  was  convened  in  October,  1692, 
one  hundred  and  fifty  accused  persons  were  in  prison.  A  reaction,  almost  as 
sudden  as  the  beginning  of  the  excitement,  now  took  place  in  the  public  mind. 
The  prison  doors  were  opened  to  the  accused,  and  soon  many  of  the  accusers 
shrunk  abashed  from  the  public  gaze.1  Standing  in  the  light  of  the  present 
century,  we  look  back  to  "  Salem  witchcraft,"  as  it  is  called,  with  amazement. 

1  The  belief  in  witchcraft  did  not  cease  with  the  strange  excitement ;  and  Cotton  Mather  and 
other  popular  men,  wrote  in  its  defense.  Calef,  a  citizen  of  Boston,  exposed  Mather's  credulity, 
which  greatly  irritated  the  minister.  He  first  called  his  opponent  "a  weaver  turned  minister;" 
but  as  his  tormentor's  blows  fell  thick  and  fast,  in  a  series  of  letters,  Mather  called  him  "  a  coal  from 


134  THE     COLONIES.  [1620. 

"King  William's  war"1  continued  until  1697,  when  a  treaty  of  peace, 
made  at  Ryswick,  in  the  west  of  Holland,  on  the  20th  of  September  of  that 
year,  terminated  hostilities.2  Up  to  that  time,  and  later,  the  New  England 
people  suffered  greatly  from  their  mongrel  foe.  Remote  settlements  in  the 
direction  of  Canada  and  Nova  Scotia  continued  to  be  harassed.  Almost  a  hun 
dred  persons  were  killed  or  made  captive  [July  28,  1694]  at  Oyster  River 
(now  Durham),  ten  miles  from  Portsmouth,  in  New  Hampshire.  Two  years 
later  [July  25,  1696],  Baron  St.  Castine,  and  a  large  force  of  French  and 
Indians,  captured  the  garrison  at  Pemaquid,  and  exchanged  the  prisoners  for 
French  soldiers  in  the  hands  of  the  English.3  In  March,  1697,  Haverhill, 
thirty  miles  from  Boston,  was  attacked,  and  forty  persons  were  killed  or  carried 
into  captivity  ;4  and  during  the  following  summer,  more  remote  settlers  were 
great  sufferers.  A  respite  now  came.  The  treaty  at  Ryswick  produced  a  lull 
in  the  storm  of  cruel  warfare,  which  had  so  long  hung  upon  the  English  fron 
tiers,  continually  menacing  the  colonists  with  wide-spread  destruction.5  It  was 
very  brief,  however,  for  pretexts  for  another  war  were  not  long  wanting. 
James  the  Second  died  in  September,,  1701,  and  Louis  the  Fourteenth,  who 
hdd  sheltered  the  exile,0  acknowledged  his  son,  Prince  James  (commonly 
!:nown  as  the  Pretender),  to  be  the  lawful  heir  to  the  English  throne.  This 
offended  the  English,  because  the  crown  had  been  settled  upon  Anne,  second 
daughter  of  James,  who  was  a  Protestant.  Louis  had  also  offended  the  English 
by  placing  his  grandson,- Philip  of  Anjou,  upon  the  throne  of  Spnin,  and  thus 

hell,"  and  prosecuted  him  for  slander.  The  credulous  clergyman  was  glad  to  withdraw  the  suit. 
Cotton  Mather  was  born  in  Boston,  in  February,  1633,  and  was  educated  at  Harvard  College.  He 
was  very  expert  in  the  acquirement  of  knowledge,  and  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years,  he  received 
the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  He  became  a  gospel  minister  at  twenty-two,  and  holding  a  ready 
pen,  he  wrote  much.  Few  of  his  writings  have  survived  him.  "With  all  his  learning,  he  was  but  a 
child  in  that  which  constitutes  true  manhood,  and  he  is  now  regarded  more  as  a  pedant 
than  as  a  scholar.  He  died  in  February,  1728.  For  the  benefit  of  young  men,  we  will 
here  introduce  an  anecdote  connected  with  him.  It  was  thus  related  by  Dr.  Franklin,  to  Samuel,  a 
son  of  Cotton  Mather:  "The  last  time  I  saw  your  father  was  in  the  beginning  of  1724,  when  I 
visited  him  after  my  first  trip  to  Pennsylvania.  He  received  me  in  his  library ;  and  on  my  taking 
leave,  showed  me  a  shorter  way  out  of  the  house  through  a  narrow  passage,  which  was  crossed  by 
a  beam  overhead.  "We  were  still  talking  as  I  withdrew,  he  accompanying  me  behind,  and  I  turn 
ing  partly  toward  him,  when  he  said  hastily,  'Stoop!  stoop!'  I  did  not  understand  until  I  felt  my 
head  hit  against  the  beam.  He  was  a  man  that  never  missed  an  occasion  of  giving  instruction, 
and  upon  this  he  said  to  me,  '  You  are  young,  and  have  the  world  before  you ;  stoop  as  you  go 
through,  and  you  will  escape  many  hard  thumps.'  This  advice,  thus  beat  into  my  head,  has  fre 
quently  been  of  use  to  me;  and  I  often  think  of  it  when  I  see  pride  mortified,  and  misfortunes 
brought  upon  people  by  carrying  their  heads  too  high."  1  Page  130. 

2  This  war  cost  England  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  dollars,  in  cash,  besides  a  loan  of  one 
hundred  millions  more.     This  loan  was  the  commencement  of  the  enormous  national  debt  of  En 
gland,  now  [1867]  amounting  to  about  four  thousand  millions  of  dollars. 

3  They  also  took  the  English  fort  of  St.  John's,  Newfoundland,  and  several  other  posts  on  that 
island. 

4  Among  their  captives  was  a  Mrs.  Dustan,  her  child,  and  nurse.     Her  infant  was  soon  killed, 
and  she  and  her  nurse  were  taken  to  Canada.     A  little  more  than  a  month  afterward,  Mrs.  D.,  her 
companion,  and  another  prisoner,  killed  ten  of  twelve  sleeping  Indians,  who  had  them  in  custody, 
and  made  their  way  back  to  Haverhill. 

6  Just  before  the  conclusion  of  this  treaty,  a  Board  of  Trade  and  Plantations  was  established  by 
the  English  government,  whose  duty  it  was  to  hare  a  general  oversight  of  the  American  colonies. 
This  was  a  permanent  commission,  consisting  of  a  president  and  seven  members,  called  Lords  of 
Trade.  This  commission  was  always  an  instrument  of  oppression  in  the  hands  of  royalty,  and,  as 
will  be  seen,  was  a  powerful  promoter  of  that  discontent  which  led  to  the  rebellion  of  the  colonies 
in  1775.  °  Page  130. 


1755.J  MASSACHUSETTS.  135 

extended  the  influence  of  France  among  the  dynasties  of  Europe.  These,  and 
some  minor  causes,  impelled  England  again  to  declare  war  against  France.1 
Hostilities  commenced  in  1702,  and  continued  until  a  treaty  of  peace  was  con 
cluded  at  Utrecht,  in  Holland,  on  the  llth  of  April,  1713.  As  usual,  the 
French  and  English  in  America  were  involved  in  this  war ;  and  the  latter  suf 
fered  much  from  the  cruelties  of  the  Indians  who  were  under  the  influence  of 
the  former.  This  is  known  in  America  as 

QUEEN     ANNE'S    WAR. 

It  was  a  fortunate  circumstance  for  the  people  of  New  York  that  the  FIVE 
NATIONS  had  made  a  treaty  of  neutrality  with  the  French  in  Canada  [Aug.  4, 
1701],  and  thus  became  an  impassable  barrier  against  the  savage  hordes  from 
the  St.  Lawrence.  The  tribes  from  the  Merrimac  to  the  Penobscot  had  made 
a  treaty  of  peace  with  New  England,  in  July,  1703,  but  the  French  induced 
them  to  violate  it ;  and  before  the  close  of  summer,  the  hatchet  fell  upon  the 
people  of  the  whole  frontier  from  Casco  to  Wells.  Blood  flowed  in  almost 
every  valley;  and  early  the  next  spring  [March,  1704],  a 
large  party  of  French  and  Indians,  under  Major  Hertel  do 
Rouville,  attacked  Deerfield,  on  the  Connecticut  River, 
applied  the  torch,2  killed  forty  of  the  inhabitants,  and  car 
ried  one  hundred  and  twelve  away  to  the  wilderness. 
Among  these  was  Rev.  John  Williams,  the  minister,  whose 
little  daughter,  after  a  long  residence  with  the  Indians,  WILLIAMS'S  HOUSE. 
became  attached  to  them,  and  married  a  Mohawk  chief.3 
Similar  scenes  occurred  at  intervals  during  the  whole  progress  of  the  war. 
Remote  settlements  were  abandoned,  and  the  people  on  the  frontier  collected  in 
fortified  houses,4  and  cultivated  their  fields  in  armed  parties  of  half  a  dozen  or 
more.  This  state  of  things  became  insupportable  to  the  English  colonists,  and 
in  the  spring  of  1707,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  and  New  Hampshire, 
determined  to  chastise  the  French  on  their  eastern  borders.  Connecticut 
refused  to  join  in  the  enterprise,  and  the  three  colonies  alone  prepared  an  arma 
ment.  Early  in  June,  a  thousand  men  under  Colonel  Marsh,  sailed  from  Nan- 
tucket  for  Port  Royal,5  in  Acadie,  convoyed  by  an  English  man-of-war.  The 
French  were  prepared  for  them,  and  nothing  was  effected  except  the  destruction 
of  considerable  property  outside  the  fort.  Three  years  later,  an  armament  left 


1  It  is  known  in  European  history  as  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession. 

a  The  only  house  that  escaped  the  flames  was  that  of  the  Rev.  John  Williams,  represented  in 
the  engraving.  It  stood  near  the  centre  of  the  village,  until  within  a  few  years. 

3  Mrs.  Williams  and  other  captives,  who  were  unable  to  travel  as  rapidly  as  the  Indians,  were 
murdered.  On  his  arrival  in  Canada,  Mr.  Williams  was  treated  with  respect  by  the  French,  and 
after  two  years  of  captivity,  was  ransomed,  and  returned  to  Massachusetts.  The  chief  object  of  the 
expedition  to  Deerfield,  appears  to  have  been  to  carry  off  the  bell  that  hung  in  Williams's  church. 
That  bell  was  purchased  the  year  previous  for  the  church  of  Saut  St.  Louis,  at  Caughnawaga,  near 
Montreal  The  vessel  in  which  it  was  brought  from  Havre  was  captured  by  a  New  England  pri 
vateer,  and  the  bell  was  purchased  for  the  Deerfield  meeting-house.  Father  Nicolas,  of  the  church 
at  Caughnawaga,  accompanied  the  expedition,  and  the  bell  was  carried  in  triumph  to  its  original 
destination,  where  it  still  remains.  *  Note  1,  page  127.  5  Page  58. 


136  THE     COLONIES.  [1620. 

Boston  [September,  1710],  and,  in  connection  with  a  fleet  from  England,  under 
Colonel  Nicholson,  demanded  and  obtained  a  surrender  of  the  fort  and  garrison 
[Oct.  13 1,  at  Port  Royal.  The  name  of  the  place  was  then  changed  to  Anna 
polis,  in  honor  of  the  Queen,  Anne,  and  Acadie  was  annexed  to  the  English 
realm  under  the  title  of  Nova  Scotia,  or  New  Scotland. 

In  July,  the  following  year  [1711],  Sir  Hovendon  Walker  arrived  at  Bos 
ton,  with  an  English  fleet  and  army,  designed  for  the  conquest  of  Canada. 
New  England  promptly  raised  additional  forces,  and  on  the  10th  of  August, 
lifteen  men-of-war  and  forty  transports,  bearing  almost  seven  thousand  troops, 
departed  for  the  St.  Lawrence  to  attack  Quebec.  Walker,  like  Braddock,2 
haughtily  refused  to  listen  to  experienced  subordinates,  and  lost  eight  of  his 
ships,  and  almost  a  thousand  men,  on  the  rocks  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  on 
the  night  of  the  2d  of  September.  Disheartened  by  this  calamity,  Walker 
returned  to  England  with  the  remainder  of  his  fleet,  and  the  colonial  troops 
went  back  to  Boston.  On  hearing  of  this  failure  of  the  naval  expedition,  a 
body  of  troops  marching  from  Albany  to  attack  Montreal,  retraced  their  steps.3 
Hostilities  wrere  now  suspended,  and  in  the  spring  of  1713,  a  treaty  of  peace 
was  concluded  [April  11]  at  Utrecht.  The  eastern  Indians  sent  a  flag  to  Bos 
ton,  and  sued  for  peace  ;  and  at  Portsmouth  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts  and 
New  Hampshire  entered  into  a  pacific  compact  [July  24]  with  the  chiefs  of  the 
tribes. 

A  long  peace  now  ensued,  and  for  thirty  years  succeeding  the  close  of 
Queen  Anne's  War,  the  colonists  enjoyed  comparative  repose.  Then,  again, 
the  selfish  strifes  of  European  monarchs  awakened  the  demon  of  discord,  and  its 
bloody  footsteps  were  soon  apparent  along  the  northern  frontiers  of  the  English 
colonies  in  America.  The  interim  had  been  a  period  of  much  political  agitation 
in  Massachusetts,  during  which  a  great  stimulus  had  been  given  to  the  growth 
of  republican  principles.  Disputes,  sometimes  violent,  and  sometimes  in  a  con 
ciliatory  spirit,  had  been  carried  on  between  the  royal  governors  and  the  repre 
sentatives  of  the  people ;  the  former  contending  for  prerogatives  and  salaries 
which  the  people  deemed  inadmissible.4  These  internal  disputes  were  arrested 
when  they  heard  that  France  had  declared  hostility  to  England  [March  15, 
1744],  and  the  colonists  cheerfully  prepared  to  commence  the  contest  known  in 
America  as 

KING-     GEORGE'S    WAR.5' 

This  war  was  not  productive  of  many  stirring  events  in  America.  The 
principal  and  very  important  one  was  the  capture  of  the  strong  fortress  of 

1  King  "William  had  no  children ;  and  Anne,  the  daughter  of  James  the  Second  (who  was  mar 
ried  to  Prince  George  of  Denmark),  succeeded  him  as  sovereign  of  England  in  1702.       2  Page  186. 

3  These  were  four  thousand  in  number,  under  the  command  of  General  Nicholson.     They  wcru 
furnished  by  New  York  and  Connecticut. 

4  The  chief  topic  of  controversy  was  the  payment  of  salaries.     Governors  Shute,  Burnet  and 
Belcher,  all  contended  for  a  permanent  salary,  but  the  people  claimed  the  right  to  vote  such  salary, 
each  year,  as  the  services  of  the  governor  appeared  justly  to  demand.     A  compromise  was  finally 
effected  by  an  agreement  to  vote  a  certain  sum  each  year.     The  subject  of  salaries  was  a  cause  01' 
contention  with  the  royal  governors,  until  the  Revolution. 

6  The  husband  of  Queen  Anne  died  several  years  previous  to  her  death,  which  occurred  in 
August,  1704.     George,   Elector  of  Hanover,  in  Germany,  was  immediately  proclaimed  King  of 


1755.] 


MASSACHUSETTS. 


13T 


Louisburg,  on  the  island  of  Cape  Breton.  It  had  been  constructed  by  the 
French  after  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  at  an  expense  of  five  and  a  half  millions  of 
dollars,  and  because  of  its  strength,  was  called  The  Gibraltar  of  America. 
William  Shirley,1  a  soldier  and  energetic  statesman,  was  Governor  of  Massa 
chusetts  when  hostilities  were  proclaimed.  He  immediately  perceived  the 
importance  of  Louisburg  in  the  coming  contest,  and  plans  for  its  capture  were 
speedily  perfected  by  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts.2  Rhode  Island,  New 
Hampshire,  and  Connecticut  furnished  their  proper  quota  of  troops.  New 
York  sent  artillery,  and  Pennsylvania  provisions.  Thus  common  danger  was 
extending  the  idea  of  a  necessity  for  a  union  of  the  Anglo-American  colonies, 
long  before  it  assumed  a  practical  form  in  1754.3 

After  vainly  waiting  for  some  time  in  the  expectation 
of  aid  from  Commodore  Warren  (then  in  the  West  In 
dies),   the   colonial   forces,    thirty-two   hundred  strong, 
under  the  general  command  of  William 
Pepperell,4   sailed   [April   4,    1745]    for 
Louisburg.5     At  Canseau  they  were-  un 
expectedly  joined  by  the  fleet  of  Warren 
[May  9],  and  on  the  llth  of  May  the 
combined  forces,  four  thousand 
strong,  landed  at  Gabarus  Bay, 
a  short  distance  from  their  des 
tination.      The  sudden  appear 
ance   of  this   formidable    arm 
ament,  was  the  first  intimation 
to  the  French,  that  an  attack 
was  meditated,  and  great  consternation  prevailed  in  the  fortress  and  town.     A 


CAPTURE   OF  LOUISBURG  IN   1745. 


England,  by  the  title  of  George  the  First.  His  son  George  succeeded  him  in  ]727,  and  also 
retained  the  title  and  privileges  of  Elector  of  Hanover.  A  contest  arose  between  Maria  Theresn, 
Empress  of  Hungary,  and  the  Elector  of  Bavaria,  for  the  throne  of  Austria.  The  King  of  England 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  empress,  in  1743,  and  the  King  of  France  took  part  with  her  opponent. 
This*  led  France  to  declare  war  against  England— a  contest  known  in  America  as  King  George's 
War,  but  in  Europe,  the  War  of  the  Austrian  Succession. 

1  William  Shirley  was  born  in  England;  made  governor  of  Massachusetts  in  1741 ;  was  after 
ward  made  governor  of  one  of  the  Bahama  Islands,  and  died  at  Roxbury,  near  Boston,  in  1771. 
He  appears  conspicuous  in  history  during  a  portion  of  the  contest  known  in  America  r,s  The  French 
and  Indian  War. 

2  Shirley  proposed  an  expedition,  but  the  Legislature  hesitated.      The  measure  was  finally 
agreed  upon  by  a  majority  of  only  one  vote.  3  Page  183. 

4  Pepperell  was  a  native  of  Maine,  and  a  wealthy  merchant.  He  was  afterward  made  a  bar 
onet.  He  died  in  1759. 

B  Louisburg  is  on  the  east  side  of  the  island  of  Cape  Breton,  with  a  fine,  deep  harbor.  The  land 
ing-place  of  the  British,  position  of  the  camp,  etc.,  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  map.  The  Royal 
Battery  was  taken  by  four  hundred  men.  When  they  approached,  the  French  thought  the  whole 
English  army  was  upon  them.  They  immediately  spiked  their  guns  (that  is,  drove  iron  spikes  into 
the  touch-holes  of  the  cannons,  so  as  to  make  them  useless),  and  fled  In  the  upper  part  of  the  map 
is  a  profile  of  the  fortifications  at  Louisburg.  It  is  given  here  so  as  to  illustrate  certain  terms  which 
may  be  used  hereafter :  a,  the  glacis,  is  the  extreme  outside  slope  of  the  works ;  b,  the  banquet,  or 
step  upon  which  the  soldiers  stand  to  fire  over  the  parapet ;  c,  a  covered  way  into  the  fort,  under  tho 
banquet;  d,  counterscarp,  a  bank  or  wall,  outside  the  ditch,  e;  f,  the  parapet,  a  protection  for  the  men 
and  guns  from  balls  from  without;  g,  the  inner  banquet;  ?t,  ramparts — the  most  solid  embankment 
of  the  fortress ;  *  the  last  slope  in  the  interior  of  the  fort,  called 


138  THE     COLONIES.  [1620. 

direct  approach  was  difficult  on  account  of  a  morass,  and  a  combined  attack  by 
sea  and  land  was  carefully  arranged.  The  land  forces  encamped  in  a  curve  in 
rear  of  the  town,  and  detachments  secured  the  French  outposts,  one  after  an 
other.  Cannons  were  dragged  on  sledges  over  the  morass, '  trenches  were  dug, 
batteries  were  erected,  and  a  regular  siege  was  commenced,  on  the  31st  of  May. 
In  the  mean  while,  Commodore  Warren  captured  a  French  ship  of  seventy-four 
guns,  and  secured,  as  prisoners,  over  five  hundred  men,  with  a  large  quantity 
of  military  stores.  While  the  siege  was  in  progress,  other  English  vessels  of 
war  arrived,  and  the  fleet  and  army  agreed  to  make  a  combined  attack  on  the 
29th  of  June.  Despairing  of  successful  resistance,  the  French  surrendered  the 
fortress,  the  city  of  Louisburg,  and  the  island  of  Cape  Breton,  on  the  28th  of 
June,  1745.2 

The  pride  of  France  was  greatly  mortified  by  this  daring  and  successful 
expedition,  and  the  following  year  [1746]  the  Duke  D'Anville  was  sent  with  a 
powerful  naval  armament3  to  recover  the  lost  fortress,  and  to  desolate  the  En 
glish  settlements  along  the  seaboard.  Storms  wrecked  many  of  his  vessels,  and 
disease  soon  wasted  hundreds  of  his  men  ;  and  D'Anville,  thoroughly  dispirited, 
abandoned  the  enterprise  without  striking  a  blow.4  Two  years  afterward  a 
treaty  of  peace  was  concluded  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  in  western  Germany,  when 
it  was  agreed  that  all  prisoners  should  be  released,  and  all  acquisitions  of  prop 
erty  or  territory,  made  by  either  party,  were  to  be  restored.  Both  of  the 
principal  parties  were  heavy  losers  by  the  contest  ;5  while  the  strength  of  the 
colonists,  yet  to  be  called  forth  in  a  more  important  struggle,  was  revealed  ai.d 
noted. 

Old  national  animosities,  religious  differences,  and  recent  causes  for  irrita 
tion,  had  inspired  the  English  and  French  with  intense  mutual  hatred,  when 
the  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  was  signed  on  the  18th  of  October,  1748.  The 
allegiance  of  Massachusetts  and  its  sister  colonies  to  the  British  crown,  and  the 
acknowledged  duty  of  obedience,  restrained  the  resentment  of  the  American 
people,  while  England  and  France  were  at  peace.  Soon,  disputes  about  local 
boundaries  began,6  and  it  was  not  long  before  preparations  for  war  between  the 
two  races,  were  visible  in  America.  Then  came  that  final  bloody  struggle  be 
tween  the  English  and  French,  for  dominion  in  the  New  World,  known  as  the 
French  and  Indian  War.7  This  we  shall  consider  hereafter. 


1  The  artillery  was  commanded  by  Richard  Gridley,  who  was  the  engineer  of  the  continental 
army  at  Boston  in  1775  and  1776.  See  page  234. 

8  The  prizes  and  stores  obtained  by  the  English  amounted,  in  value,  to  little  less  than  five  mil 
lions  of  dollars. 

3  It  consisted  of  forty  ships  of  war,  fifty-six  transports,  thirty-five  hundred  men,  and  forty  thou 
sand  muskets  for  the  use  of  the  French  and  Indians  in  Canada. 

4  D'Anville,  with  two  or  three  vessels,  anchored  at  Chebucto  (now  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia),  where 
he  died,  it  is  believed,  by  poison.     His  lieutenant  also  committed  suicide,  in  consequence  of  morti 
fied  pride.  These  disasters  to  the  French  fleet  were  regarded  by  the  people  of  New  England  as  spe 
cial  manifestations  of  Providence  in  their  favor.     Public  thanksgivings  were  offered ;  and  no  one 
doubted  the  right  of  the  English  to  the  whole  of  Acadie. 

5  Parliament  afterward  reimbursed  to  the  colonies  the  cost  of  their  preparations  against  Canada, 
amounting  to  more  than  a  million  of  dollars.     See  page  199. 

6  Page  180.  T  Page  179. 


1755.J  NEW     YORK.  139 

CHAPTER    III. 

NEW     YORK.       [1623.] 

THE  State  of  New  York  commenced  its  political  career  when  Peter  Minuit,1 
recently  appointed  Governor  of  New  Netherland,2  arrived  at  New  Amsterdam 
(as  the  germ  of  the  present  city  of  New  York  was  called),  in  May,  1626.  He 
immediately  purchased  of  the  Indians,  for  about  twenty-four  dollars,  the  whole 
of  the  island  of  Manhattan,3  on  which  the  city  of  New  York  now  stands,  and 
began  vigorously  to  perfect  the  founding  of  a  State  similar  to  those  of  Holland. 
He  erected  a  strong  fortification  near  the  site  of  the  present  Battery,  and  called 
it  Fort  Amsterdam.*  By  conciliatory  measures,  he  gained  the  confidence  of 
the  Indians ;  and  he  also  opened  a  friendly  correspondence  with  the  Puritans  at 
Plymouth.5  The  English  reciprocated  the  friendly  expressions  of  the  Dutch ; 
at  the  same  time,  they  requested  the  latter  not  to  send  their  trappers  quite  as 
far  eastward  as  Narraganset  Bay,  to  catch  otters  and  beavers.6 

For  the  purpose  of  encouraging  emigration  to  New  Netherland,  the  Dutch 
West  India  Company7  offered,  in  1629,  large  tracts  of  land,  and  certain  priv 
ileges,  to  those  persons  who  should  lead  or  send  a  given  number  of  emigrants 
.to  occupy  and  till  the  soil.3  Directors  of  the  company9  availed  themselves  of 
the  privilege,  and  sent  Wouter  (Walter)  Van  Twiller  to  examine  the  country 
and  select  the  lands.  Immigrants  came ;  and  then  were  laid  the  foundations 
of  the  most  noted  of  the  manorial  estates  of  New  York.10  The  proprietors  were 
called  patroons  (patrons),  and  held  a  high  political  and  social  station  in  the 
New  World. 

The  agent  of  the  Patroons  seems  to  have  performed  his  duty  well,  and  he 
was  appointed  governor  of  the  colony,  in  1633.  The  beginning  of  Van  Twil 
ler 's  administration  was  marked  by  difficulties  with  the  English  on  the  Con- 


1  Page  93.        2  Page  72.        3  Note  1,  page  48.         4  See  picture  on  page  144.         5  Page  78. 

6  Trade  in  furs  was  the  chief  occupation  of  the  Dutch  of  New  Netherland  at  this  time.  They 
became  expert  trappers,  and  were  seen  as  far  east  as  Nantucket,  and  even  Cape  Cod.  The  trade 
soon  became  profitable  to  the  Company.  The  first  year's  remittance  of  furs  to  Amsterdam  was 
valued  at  $11,000.  This  trade  greatly  increased;  and  before  the  troubles  with  the  Indians  in  1640, 
the  value  of  furs  sent  to  Holland,  annually,  was  more  than  $60,000.  7  Page  72. 

8  The  land  was  to  be  fairly  purchased  of  the  Indians,  and  then  the  title  was  to  be  confirmed  by 
the  Dutch  government.     The  privileges  granted  to  the  purchasers  made  them,  in  a  degree,  feudal 
lords  [note  15,  page  62],  yet  they  were  exempted  from  paying  tribute  to  supreme  authority. 

9  Killian  Van  Rensselaer,  who  purchased  a  tract  at  Fort  Orange  (Albany) ;  Samuel  Godyn  and 
Samuel  Bloemart,  who  selected  lands  in  West  Jersey,  on  the  Delaware ;  and  Michael  Pauw,  whose 
domain  included  Jersey  City  and  vicinity.     See  page  94. 

10  Yan  Rensselaer.     Large  tracts  of  land  in  Albany  and  Rensselaer  counties,  portions  of  the 
first  Patroon's  estates,  are  yet  [1867]  in  possession  of  the  family.    After  1840,  many  scenes  of  vio 
lence  and  bloodshed  were  witnessed  on  those  lands,  growing  out  of  disputes  with  tenants,  when 
they  were  called  upon  to  pay  even  the  almost  nominal  rent  which  was  demanded.     Social  and 
political  questions  arose  and  produced  two  strong  parties.     The  opposition  of  the  tenantry  was 
termed  Anti-Rentism.     Conciliatory  measures  were  finally  proposed  by  a  purchaser  of  a  largo 
portion  of  the  ancient  manor,  in  Albany  county,  by  which  the  tenants  were  allowed  to  buy  the 
land,  and  obtain  a  title  in  fee-simple.     In  time,  the  whole  estate  will  thus  pass  into  the  hands  of 
numerous  new  owners.     These  angry  disputes  have  already  become  items  of  past  history. 


140  THE     COLONIES.  [1623. 

necticut  River.1  He  was  more  distinguished  for  his  marriage  connection  with 
Van  Rensselaer,  one  of  the  Patroons,  than  for  any  administrative  qualities. 
Yet  circumstances  favored  the  advancement  of  the  colony,  and  he  ruled  quite 
satisfactorily,  especially  to  the  company,  whose  interests  he  faithfully  served. 
He  was  succeeded  in  office,  in  May,  1638,  by  Sir  William  Keift,  at  the  mo 
ment  when  the  Swedish  colony2  were  seating  themselves  upon  the  banks  of  the 
Delaware.  Keift  was  a  bold,  rapacious,  and  unscrupulous  man,  and  soon 
brought  serious  trouble  upon  the  people.  He  began  a  tyrannous  rule  by  con 
centrating  executive  power  in  his  own  hands  ;  and  his  administration  was  a 
stormy  and  unfortunate  one.  The  sum  of  its  record  is  a  tale  of  continual  strife 
with  the  Swedes  on  the  Delaware,3  the  English  on  the  Connecticut,4  the  Indians 
all  around  him,  and  the  colonists  at  his  door.  His  difficulties  with  the  Indians 
proved  the  most  disastrous  of  all,  and  finally  wrought  his  own  downfall.  Pre 
vious  to  his  arrival,  the  intercourse  of  the  Dutch  with  the  natives  had  been 
quite  friendly.5  The  fur  trade  was  extending,  and  trappers  and  traders  were 
all  abroad  among  the  native  tribes.  These  carried  a  demon  of  discord  with 
them.  They  furnished  the  Indians  with  rum,  and  quarrels  and  murders  en 
sued.  The  avaricious  Keift  also  demanded  tribute  of  wampum6  and  beaver- 
skins  from  the  River  tribes ;  and  in  a  short  time  their  friendship  for  the  Dutch 
became  weakened. 

A  crisis  came.  Some  Raritan7  Indians  in  New  Jersey  were  accused  of  rob 
bery.  Keift  sent  an  armed  force  to  punish  them  [July,  1640],  and  blood 
flowed.  Several  Indians  were  killed,  and  their  crops  were  destroyed.  Savage 
vengeance  did  not  slumber  long.  The  Raritans  murdered  four  planters  on 
Staten  Island  [June,  1641],  and  destroyed  considerable  property.8  An  expe 
dition  sent  to  punish  the  offenders  was  unsuccessful. .  Soon  afterward,  a  young 
Westchester  Indian,  whose  uncle  had  been  murdered  by  a  Hollander,  near 
where  the  Halls  of  Justice  now  stand,9  revenged  the  murder,  according  to  the 
customs  of  his  people,10  by  killing  an  inoffensive  Dutchman  living  at  Turtle 
Bay.11  His  tribe  refused  to  surrender  him  on  the  demand  of  Keift,  and  the 
governor  determined  to  make  war  upon  all  the  offending  savages. 

The  people  of  New  Netherland  had  already  begun  to  murmur  at  Keift's 
course,  and  they  charged  the  troubles  with  the  Indians  directly  upon  him.  Un 
willing  to  assume  the  entire  responsibility  of  a  war,  himself,  the  governor  called 
a  meeting  [Aug.  23,  1641]  of  the  heads  of  families  in  New  Amsterdam  for 
consultation.  They  promptly  chose  "twelve  select  men"  [August  29],  with  De 

1  Page  85.  2  Page  93.  3  Page  93.  4  Page  85. 

6  The  Dutch  had  made  a  settlement,  and  built  a  fort  at  Albany  [page  72],  and  made  a  treaty  of 
friendship  with  the  Mohawks  [page  23].     This  the  River  Indians,  in  the  vicinity  of  New  Amster 
dam,  did  not  like,  for  the  Mohawks  were  their  oppressors.  °  Note  2,  page  13. 

7  A  tribe  of  the  Lenni-Lenapea.     Page  16. 

8  This  plantation  belonged  to  De  Vries  [note  2,  page  92],  who  was  a  friend  of  the  Indians. 

9  On  Center  street,  New  York  city.     There  was  once  a  fresh-water  pond  there,  surrounded  by 
the  forest. 

10  The  Indians  had  a  custom  concerning  an  avenger  of  blood,  similar  to  that  of  the  Jews.     It  was 
the  duty  and  the  privilege  for  the  next  of  kin  to  the  murdered  man,  to  avenge  his  blood  by  killing 
the  murderer.     The  Indians  took  the  life  of  any  of  the  tribe  of  the  offender. 

"  At  the  foot  of  Forty-fifth  street,  on  the  East  River. 


1755.]  NEW     YORK. 

Vries1  at  their  head,  to  act  for  them  j  and  this  was  the  first  representative 
assembly  ever  formed  among  Europeans  on  Manhattan  Island.  They  did  not 
agree  with  the  governor's  hostile  views ;  and  Keift  finding  them  not  only  op 
posed  to  his  war  designs,  but  that  they  were  also  taking  cognizance  of  alleged 
grievances  of  the  people,  dissolved  them,  in  February,  1642.  Finally,  the 
commission  of  other  murders  by  Indians,  and  the  presence  of  a  body  of  Mo 
hawks,  who  had  come  down  to  exact  tribute  from  the  River  tribes,  concurred 
with  the  changed  opinions  of  some  leading  citizens  of  New  Amsterdam,  to 
make  Keift  resolve  to  embrace  this  opportunity  to  chastise  the  savages.  A 
large  number  of  them  had  fled  before  the  Mohawks,  and  sought  shelter  with 
the  Hackensacks,  near  Hoboken,  and  there  craved  the  protection  of  the  Dutch. 
Now  was  offered  an  opportunity  for  a  wise  and  humane  governor  to  make  a 
covenant  of  peace  and  friendship  ;  but  Keift  could  not  be  satisfied  without  a 
flow  of  blood.  At  midnight,  in  February,  1643,  a  body  of  Hollanders  and  Mo 
hawks  crossed  the  Hudson,  fell  upon  the  unsuspecting  fugitives,  and  before  the 
dawn,  they  massacred  almost  a  hundred  men,  women,  and  children.  Many 
were  driven  from  the  cliffs  at  Hoboken  into  the  freezing  flood ;  and  at  sunrise 
the  bloody  marauders  returned  to  New  Amsterdam  with  thirty  prisoners,  and 
the  heads  of  several  Indians. 

The  fiery  hatred  and  vengeance  of  all  the  surrounding  tribes  were  aroused 
by  this  massacre,  and  a  fierce  war  was  soon  kindled.  Villages  and  farms  were 
desolated,  and  white  people  were  butchered  wherever  they  were  found  by  the 
incensed  Indians.2  The  Long  Island  tribes,3  hitherto  friendly,  joined  their  kin 
dred,  and  the  very  existence  of  the  Dutch  colony  was  menaced.  Fortunately 
for  the  settlers,  that  eminent  peace-maker,  Roger  Williams,4  arrived  [1643],  to 
embark  for  England,5  and  he  pacified  the  savages,  and  secured  a  brief  repose  for 
the  colony.  But  the  war  was  soon  renewed,  and  for  two  years  the  colony  suf 
fered  dreadfully.  Having  no  competent  leader,  they  employed  Captain  John 
Underbill,6  who  successfully  beat  back  and  defeated  the  Indians,  and  hostilities 
ceased.  The  Mohawks  came  and  claimed  sovereignty  over  the  River  Indians, 
made  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Dutch,  and  the  hatchet  was  buried. 

The  conduct  of  Governor  Keift  was  so  offensive  to  the  colonists  and  the 
Company,  that  he  was  recalled,  and  he  sailed  for  Europe  in  1647,  in  a  richly 
laden  vessel.  It  was  wrecked  on  the  coast  of  Wales,  and  there  he  perished. 
He  had  already  been  succeeded  in  office  [May,  27,  1647],  by  Peter  Stuyvesant, 
lately  governor  of  Cura^oa,  a  soldier  of  eminence,  and  possessed  of  every  requis 
ite  for  an  efficient  administration  of  government.  His  treatment  of  the  Indians 
was  very  kind  and  just,  and  they  soon  exhibited  such  friendship  for  the  Dutch, 
that  Stuyvesant  was  falsely  charged  with  a  design  to  employ  them  in  murder 
ing  the  English  in  New  England.7  Long  accustomed,  as  a  military  leader,  to 


1  Note  2,  page  92. 

2  It  was  during  this  frenzy  of  revenge  that  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  who  had  been  banished  from  Mas 
sachusetts,  and  had  taken  up  her  residence  near  the  present  New  Rochelle,  Westchester  County, 
New  York,  was  murdered,  witli  all  her  family.     The  stream  upon  which  she  lived  is  yet  known  as 
Hutchinson's  River.  3  Page  21.     '        4  Page  87.  5  Page  91.  6  Page  87. 

7  See  page  121.    This  idea  prevailed,  because  during  almost  the  entire  winter  of  1652-3,  Ninigret 


142 


THE     COLONIES. 


[1621]. 


arbitrary  rule,  he  was  stern  and  inflexible,  but  he  had  the  reputation  of  an 
honest  man.  He  immediately  commenced  much  needed  reforms ;  and  during 
his  whole  administration,  which  was  ended  by  the  subjugation  of  the  Dutch  by 
the  English,1  in  1664,  he  was  the  faithful  ;;r.d  energetic  defender  of  the  integ- 


rity  of  the  province  against  its  foes.  By  prudent  management  ho  avoided  col 
lisions  with  the  English,  and  peaceably  ended  boundary  disputes'  with  them  in 
the  autumn  of  1650.  This  cause  for  irritation  on  his  eastern  frontier  being 
removed,  Stuyvesant  turned  his  attention  to  the  growing  power  of  the  Swedes, 
on  the  Delaware. 

Governor  Stuyvesant  built  Fort  Casimir,  on  the  site  of  the  present  New 


and  two  other  Narragansett  sachems  had  been  in  New  Amsterdam,  and  on  very  friendly  terms  with 
Stuyvesant.  These  sachems,  who  were  true  friends  of  the  English,  positively  disclaimed  all  bad 
intentions  on  the  part  of  Stuyvesant,  and  yet  historians  of  the  present  day  repeat  the  slander. 

1  Page  144. 

2  See  page  85.     He  went  to  Hartford,  and  there  made  a  treaty  which  fixed  the  eastern  bound 
ary  of  New  Netherland  nearly  on  the  line  of  the  present  division  between  New  York  and  Connecti 
cut,  and  across  Long  Island,  at  Oyster  Bay,  thirty  miles  eastward  of  New  York.     The  Dutch  claims 
to  lands  on  the  Connecticut  River  were  extinguished  by  this  treaty.     From  the  beginning  of  diffi 
culties,  the  Dutch  were  clearly  in  the  right.     This  was  acknowledged  by  impartial  and  just  New 
Englanders.     In  a  manuscript  letter  before  me,  from  Edward  Winslow  to  Governor  Winthrop,  dated 
at  "Marshfield,  2d  of  6th  month,  1644,"  in  which  he  replies  to  a  charge  of  being  favorable  to  the 
Dutch,  in  some  respects,  he  says  that  he  had  asserted  in  substance,  that  he  "  would  not  defend  the 
Hartford  men's  cause,  for  they  had  hitherto  (or  thus  long)  wronged  the  Dutch." 


1755.]  NEW     YORK.  143 

Castle,  in  Delaware,  in  1651.  This  was  soon  seized  by  the  Swedes,  and  the 
garrison  made  prisoners.  The  States-General1  resolved  to  prevent  further 
trouble  with  these  enterprising  neighbors  of  the  Dutch,  and  for  this  purpose, 
gave  Stuyvesant  full  liberty  to  subjugate  the  Swedes.  At  the  head  of  six  hun 
dred  men,  he  sailed  for  the  Delaware,  in  August.  1655,  and  by  the  middle  of 
October,  he  had  captured  all  the  Swedish  fortresses,  and  sent  the  governor 
(Risingh)  and  several  other  influential  men,  to  Europe.  Some  of  the  settlers 
withdrew  to  Maryland  and  Virginia,  but  the  great  body  of  them  quietly  sub 
mitted,  took  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  States-General  of  Holland,  and  con 
tinued  in  peaceable  possession  of  their  property.  Thus,  after  an  existence  of 
about  seventeen  years  [1638 — 1655 J,  NEW  SWEDEN2  disappeared  by  absorp 
tion  into  NEW  NETHERLAND. 

New  trouble  now  appeared,  but  it  was  soon  removed.  While  Stuyvesant 
and  his  soldiery  were  absent  on  the  Delaware,  some  Indians,  who  were  not  yet 
reconciled  to  the  Dutch,  menaced  New  Amsterdam.3  The  return  of  the  eov- 

'  O 

ernor  produced  quiet,  for  they  feared  and  respected  him,  and,  for  eight  years, 
the  colony  was  very  little  disturbed  by  external  causes.  Then  the  Esopr.3 
Indians  suddenly  fell  upon  the  Dutch  settlements  [June,  1663]  at  Wiltwyck 
(now  Kingston,  in  Ulster  County),4  and  killed  and  captured  sixty-five  of  the  in 
habitants.  Stuyvesant  promptly  sent  a  sufficient  force  to  chastise  them ;  and  so 
thoroughly  was  the  errand  performed,  that  the  Indians  sued  for  peace  in  May, 
1664,  and  made  a  treaty  of  friendship. 

External  difficulties  gave  Stuyvesant  little  more  trouble  than  a  spirit  opposed 
to  his  aristocratic  views,  which  he  saw  manifested  daily  around  him.  While  ho 
had  been  judiciously  removing  all  cause  for  ill-feeling  with  his  neighbors,  there 
was  a  power  at  work  within  his  own  domain  which  gave  him  great  uneasiness. 
The  democratic  seed  planted  by  the  Twelve,  in  Keift's  time,6  had  begun  to  grovr 
vigorously  under  the  fostering  care  of  a  few  enlightened  Hollanders,  and  some 
Puritans  who  had  settled  in  New  Netherland.  The  latter,  by  their  applause 
of  English  institutions,  had  diffused  a  desire  among  the  people  to  partake  of  the 
blessings  of  English  liberty,  as  they  understood  it,  and  as  it  appeared  in  New 
England.  Stuyvesant  was  an  aristocrat  by  birth,  education,  and  pursuit,  and 
vehemently  opposed  every  semblance  of  democracy.  At  the  beginning  he  found 
himself  at  variance  with  the  people.  At  length  an  assembly  of  two  deputies 
from  each  village  in  New  Netherland,  chosen  by  the  inhabitants,  convened  at 
New  Amsterdam  [December,  1653],  without  the  approbation  of  the  governor. 
It  was  a  spontaneous,  and,  in  the  eyes  of  the  governor,  a  revolutionary  move 
ment.  Their  proceedings  displeased  him ;  and  finding  argument  of  no  avail,  lie 
exercised  his  official  prerogative,  and  commanded  obedience  to  his  will.  The 
people  grew  bolder  at  every  rebuff,  and  finally  they  not  only  resisted  taxation, 
but  openly  expressed  a  willingness  to  bear  English  rule  for  the  sake  of  enjoying 
English  liberty. 

The  opportunity  for  a  change  of  rulers  was  not  long  delayed.     A  crisis  in 

:  Note  7,  page  59.      a  Page  93.      a  Page  139.     4  Page  283.     5  Ta-e  140. 


144  THE     COLONIES.  [1623. 

the  affairs  of  New  Netherland  now  approached.  Charles  the  Second,  of  En 
gland,  without  any  fair  pretense  to  title,  gave  the  whole  territory  of  New 
Netherland  [March  22, 1664J  to  his  brother  James,  Duke  of  York,1  The  duke 
sent  an  English  squadron,  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Richard  Nicolls,2  to 
secure  the  gift ;  and  on  the  3d  of  September,  1664,  the  red  cross  of  St.  George3 
floated  in  triumph  over  the  fort,  and  the  name  of  New  Amsterdam  was  changed 
to  New  York.1  It  was  an  easy  conquest,  for,  while  the  fortifications  and  other 
means  of  defense  were  very  weak,  the  people  were  not  unwilling  to  try  English 
rule.  Stuyvesant  began  to  make  concessions  to  the  people,  when  it  was  too 
late,  and  when  his  real  strength,  the  popular  will,  had  departed  from  him.  He 
hesitated  long  before  he  would  sign  the  articles  of  capitulation ;  and  thus,  until 
the  end,  he  was  faithful  to  his  employers,  the  Dutch  West  India  Company* 
With  the  capital,  the  remainder  of  the  province  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
English;  and  early  in  October,  1664,  New  Netherland  was  acknowledged  a 
part  of  the  British  realm,  and  Nicolls,  the  conqueror  became. governor.0  Let 
us  now  consider 

NEW  YORK  UNDER  THE  ENGLISH. 

Very  soon  after  the 
conquest  the  people  of 
New  York7  perceived 
that  a  change  of  masters 

CITY  OF  NEW  YORK  IN  1664.  did    not   enhance   their 

prosperity  and  happiness. 

They  were  disappointed  in  their  hopes  of  a  representative  government ;  and 
their  taxes,  to  support  a  government  in  which  they  had  no  voice,  were  increased. 
Lovelace,  the  vile  successor  of  Nicolls,  in  1667,  increased  their  burdens ;  and 
when  they  sent  a  respectful  protest  to  him,  he  ordered  the  paper  to  be  burned 
by  the  common  hangman ,  He  was  a  petty  tyrant,  and  declared  that  the  peo 
ple  should  have  "  liberty  for  no  thought  but  how  to  pay  their  taxes."  But  the 
people  did  think  of  something  else,  and  were  on  the  eve  of  open  rebellion  when 

1  Page  94.  2  Note  6,  page  123. 

3  The  royal  standard  of  England  is  sometimes  so  named  because  it  bears  a  red  cross,  which  is 
called  the  "cross  of  St.  George,"  the  patron  saint  of  Great  Britain.     After  the  union  with  Scotland 
[note  1,  page  63],  the  cross  of  St.  Andrew  (in  the  form  of  an  X),  was  added,  and  is  now  seen  on 
the  British  flag.     In  the  centre  are  the  royal  arms.     This  Union,  as  the  figure  is  called,  was  borne 
upon  the  American  flags,  sometimes,  until  after  the  ^Declaration  of  Independence,  in  1776.     It  was 
upon  the  flag  of  thirteen  stnpes,  alternate  red  and  white,  which  Washington  caused  to  be  unfurled 
at  Cambridge,  on  the  first  day  of  that  year.     See  page  245. 

4  The  name  of  Fort  Orange  settlement  [note  9,  page  139],  was  changed  to  Albany,  one  of  the 
duke's  titles.  6  Page  72. 

0  We  have  elsewhere  noticed  the  fact,  that  before  Nicolls  was  dispatched,  the  duke,  being  cer 
tain  of  victory,  sold  that  part  of  New  Netherland  now  included  in  New  Jersey,  to  other  parties. 
[See  page  94.]  Long  Island,  which  had  been  previously  granted  to  the  Earl  of  Stirling,  was  pur 
chased  by  the  Dutch,  in  total  disregard  of  the  claims  of  Connecticut  The  colonies  on  the  Delaware 
remained  under  the  jurisdiction  of  New  York,  and  were  governed  by  deputies. 

7  The  above  picture  is  a  correct  view  of  the  city  of  New  York  two  hundred  years  ago  It  is  now 
[1867]  the  largest  city  on  the  American  continent.  On  the  left  of  the  picture  is  seen  Fort  Amster 
dam,  with  the  church  and  governor's  house  within  it,  and  a  windmill.  The  point  of  Manhattan 
Island,  from  the  present  Battery  Place  to  the  foot  of  Wall-street,  is  here  seen. 


STUYVESANT  SURRENDERING  THE  FORT  TO   THE   ENGLISH. 


1755.]  NEW    YORK.  147 

the  clouds  of  national  war  overshadowed  local  difficulties.  War  again  com 
menced  between  England  and  Holland  in  1672,  and  in  July  the  following  year, 
a  Dutch  squadron  sailed  up  the  Bay  of  New  York,  and,  in  the  absence  of  the 
governor,  took  possession  of  the  fort  and  town  [August  9th,  1673]  without 
giving  a  shot.  The  easy  conquest  was  the  work  of  treason ;  yet,  as  the  royal 
libertine  (Charles  the  Second)  on  the  throne  of  England  doubtless  shared  in  the 
bribe,  the  traitor  went  unpunished. '  New  Jersey  and  the  Territories  of  Dela 
ware*  yielded,  and  for  sixteen  months  [from  July,  1673,  to  November,  1674] 
New  York  was  again  New  Netherlands.  When  the  two  nations  made  a  treaty 
of  peace,  the  province  was  restored  to  the  English,  and  remained  in  their  pos 
session  until  our  Independence  was  declared  in  1776.3  These  changes  raised 
some  doubts  concerning  the  validity  of  the  duke's  title,  and  the  king  gave  him 
another  grant  in  July,  1674.  Sir  Edmond  Andros4  was  appointed  governor 
under  the  new  charter,  and  continued  arbitrary  rule  with  increased  rigor.5 

At  the  close  of  1683,  Governor  Andros  returned  to  England,  when  the 
duke  (who  was  a  Roman  Catholic)  appointed  Thomas  Dongan,  of  the  same 
faith,  to  succeed  him.  In  the  mean  while,  the  duke  had  listened  to  the  judicious 
advice  of  William  Penn,  and  instructed  Dongan  to  call  an  assembly  of  repre 
sentatives.  They  met  [October  17,  1683],  and  with  the  hearty  concurrence  of 
the  governor,  a  CHARTER  OF  LIBERTIES  was  established,6  and  the  permanent 
foundation  of  a  representative  government  was  laid.  The  people  rejoiced  in  the 
change,  and  were  heartily  engaged  in  the  efforts  to  perfect  a  wise  and  liberal 
government,  when  the  duke  was  elevated  to  the  throne,  as  James  the  Second, 
on  the  death  of  Charles,  in  February,  1685.  As  king,  he  refused  to  confirm 
the  privileges  which,  as  duke,  he  had  granted ;  and  having  determined  to  intro 
duce  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  into  the  province  as  the  established  church, 
he  commenced  by  efforts  to  enslave  the  people.  A  direct  tax  was  ordered ;  the 
printing  press — the  right  arm  of  knowledge  and  freedom — was  forbidden  a 
place  in  the  colony ;  and  the  provincial  offices  were  filled  by  Roman  Catholics. 
These  proceedings  gave  pain  to  the  liberal-minded  Dongan ;  and  when  the  king, 
in  his  religious  zeal,  instructed  the  governor  to  introduce  French  priests  among 
the  FIVE  NATIONS,'  he  resisted  the  measure  as  highly  inexpedient.8  His  firm- 


1  The  traitor  was  Captain  John  Manning,  the  commandant  of  the  fort.  He  was,  doubtless, 
bribed  by  the  Dutch  commander ;  and  the  fact  that  the  king  screened  him  from  punishment,  gave 
the  color  of  truth  to  the  charge  that  the  monarch  shared  in  the  bribe.  2  Page  96. 

3  Page  251.  4  Page  129. 

5  The  duke  claimed  the  country  from   the   Connecticut   River  to  Cape  Henlopen.     Andros 
attempted  to  exercise  authority  eastward  of  the  line  agreed  upon  by  the  Dutch  and  the  Connecticut 
people  [note  2,  page  142],  and  went  to  Saybrook  in  the  summer  of  1676,  with  an  armed  party,  to 
enforce  the  claim.     He  met  with  such  resistance,  that  he  was  compelled  to  return  to  New  York 
without  accomplishing  his  design.     See  page  116. 

6  The  Assembly  consisted  of  the  governor  and  ten  councillors,  and  seventeen  deputies  elected 
by  the  freeholders.     They  adopted  a  Declaration  of  Rights,  and  asserted  the  principle,  so  nobly 
fought  for  a  hundred  years  later,  that  taxation  and  representation  are  inseparable;  in  other  words — 
that  taxes  can  not  be  levied  without  the  consent  of  the  people,  expressed  by  their  representatives. 
At  this  time  the  colony  was  divided  into  twelve  counties.  7  Page  23. 

8  This  measure  would  have  given  the  French,  in  Canada,  an  influence  over  the  Indians  that 
might  have  proved  fatal  to  English  power  on  the  Continent.  The  FIVE  NATIONS  remained  the  fast 
friends  of  the  English,  and  stood  as  a  powerful  barrier  against  the  French,  when  the  latter  twice 
invaded  the  Iroquois  territory,  in  endeavors  to  reach  the  English,  at  Albany. 


148  THE     COLONIES.  [1623. 

ness  gave  the  people  confidence,  and  they  were  again  on  the  eve  of  open  rebel 
lion,  when  the  intelligence  of  the  flight  of  James,  and  the  accession  of  William 
and  Mary1  reached  them.  They  immediately  appointed  a  committee  of  safety, 
and  with  almost  unanimous  voice,  sanctioned  the  conduct  of  Jacob  Leisler  (an 
influential  merchant  and  commander  of  the  militia),  who  had  taken  possession 
of  the  fort  in  the  name  of  the  new  sovereigns,  and  by  order  of  the  inhabitants. 
Afraid  of  the  people,  Nicholson,  the  successor  of  Dongan,  fled  on  board  a  vessel 
and  departed,  and  the  people  consented  to  Leisler 's  assuming  the  functions  of 
governor  until  a  new  one  should  be  appointed.  The  aristocracy  and  the  magis 
trates  were  offended,  and  denouncing  Leisler  as  a  usurper,  they  accused  him 
of  treason,  when  Governor  Sloughter  arrived,  in  1691. 

Leisler,  in  the  mean  while,  conducted  affairs  with  prudence  and  energy. 
Having  the  sanction  of  the  people,  he  needed  no  further  authority ;  and  when  a 
letter  from  the  British  ministers  arrived  [December,  1689],  directed  to  Gov 
ernor  Nicholson,  "or,  in  his  absence,  to  such  as,  for  the  time  being,"  conducted 
affairs,  he  considered  it  as  fairly  addressed  to  himself.  Milborne,  his  son-in-law, 
acted  as  his  deputy,  and  was  included  in  the  accusations  of  the  magistrates, 
who  had  now  retired  to  Albany.  They  held  Fort  Orange2  until  the  invasion 
of  the  French,  in  February,  1690, 3  when  they  felt  the  necessity  of  claiming 
the  protection  of  the  government  at  New  York.  They  then  yielded,  and 
remained  comparatively  quiet  until  the  arrival  of  Richard  Ingoldsby,  Sloughter 's 
lieutenant,  early  in  1691.  That  officer  announced  the  appointment  of  Henry 
Sloughter  as  governor ;  and  without  producing  any  credentials  of  authority,  he 
haughtily  demanded  of  Leisler  [February  9,  1691]  the  surrender  of  the  fort. 
Of  course  Leisler  refused  compliance ;  but  as  soon  as  Sloughter  arrived  [March 
29],  he  sent  a  messenger  to  announce  his  desire  to  surrender  all  authority  into 
his  hands.  Leisler' s  enemies  had  resolved  on  his  destruction ;  and  when  he 
came  forward  to  deliver  the  fort,  in  person,  he  and  his  son-in-law  were  seized 
and  cast  into  prison.  They  were  tried  on  a  charge  of  treason,  found  guilty, 
and  condemned  to  suffer  death.  Sloughter  withheld  his  signature  to  their 
death  warrant ;  but,  when  made  drunk  at  a  dinner  party  prepared  for  the  pur 
pose,  he  put  his  name  to  the  fatal  instrument.  Before  he  became  sober,  Leisler 
and  Milborne  were  suspended  upon  a  gallows  on  the  verge  of  Beekman's  swamp 
May  26,  1691],  where  Tammany  Hall — fronting  on  the  City  Hall  Park,  New 
York — now  stands.  These  were  the  proto-martyrs  of  popular  liberty  in 
America.4 

Henry  Sloughter  was  a  weak  and  dissolute  man,  yet  he  came  with  an  earn 
est  desire  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  colonists.  He  convened  a  popular 
assembly,  and  formed  a  constitution,  which  provided  for  trial  by  jury,  and  an 
exemption  from  taxes,  except  by  the  consent  of  the  representatives  of  the  peo 
ple.  Light  was  thus  dawning  hopefully  upon  the  province,  when  delirium 

1  Note  7,  page  113.  "  Note  9,  page  139. 

3  At  this  time,  Schenectada  ~\vas  desolated.     See  page  131. 

4  Their  estates  were  confiscated ;  but  after  a  lapse  of  several  years,  and  when  the  violence  of 
party  spirit  had  subsided,  the  property  was  restored  to  their  families. 


1755.]  NEW     YORK.  149 

tremensj  at  the  close  of  a  drunken  revel,  ended  the  administration  and  the  life 
of  the  governor  [August  2,  1691],  in  less  than  three  months  after  the  murder 
of  Leisler  and  Milborne.  He  was  succeeded  by  Benjamin  Fletcher,  a  man  of 
violent  passions,  and  quite  as  weak  and  dissolute,  who  became  the  tool  of  the 
aristocracy,  and  was  hated  by  the  people.  Party  spirit,  engendered  by  the 
death  of  Leisler,  burned  intensely  during  the  whole  administration  of  Fletcher ; 
and  at  the  same  time  the  French  and  Indians,  under  the  guidance  of  Frontenac, 
the  able  Governor  of  Canada,1  were  traversing  the  northern  frontiers  of  the 
province.  Fletcher  prudently  listened  to  the  advice  of  Major  Schuyler,2  of 
Albany,  respecting  the  Indians;  and  under  his  leadership,  the  English,  and 
their  unwavering  allies,  the  FIVE  NATIONS,  successfully  beat  back  the  foe  to 
the  St.  Lawrence,  and  so  desolated  the  French  settlements  in  1692,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Lake  Champlain,3  that  Frontenac  was  glad  to  remain  quiet  at 
Montreal. 

A  better  ruler  for  New  York  now  appeared.  The  Earl  of  Bellomont,  an 
honest  and  energetic  Irish  peer,  succeeded  Fletcher  in  1698 ;  and  the  following 
year,  New  Hampshire*  and  Massachusetts5  were  placed  under  his  jurisdiction. 
He  commenced  reform  with  great  earnestness,  and  made  vigorous  efforts  to  sup 
press  piracy,8  which  had  become  a  fearful  scourge  to  the  infant  commerce  of 
the  colonists.  With  Robert  Livingston7  and  others,  he  fitted  out  an  expedition 
under  the  famous  Captain  Kidd,  to  destroy  the  buccaneers.  Kidd,  himself,  was 
afterward  hung  for  piracy  [1701],  and  the  governor  and  his  sons  were  charged 
with  a  participation  in  his  guilt.  At  any  rate,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
wealthy  men  in  the  colony  expected  a  share  in  the  plunder,  and  that  Kidd,  as  a 
scape-goat  for  the  sins  of  the  others,  was  the  victim  of  a  political  conspiracy.8 

Unfortunately  for  the  colony,  death  removed  Bellomont,  on  the  16th  of 
March,  1701,  when  his  liberal  policy  was  about  to  bear  fruit.  He  was  suc 
ceeded  by  Edward  Hyde  (afterward  Lord  Cornbury),9  a  libertine  and  a  knave, 
who  cursed  the  province  with  misrule  for  seven  years.  He  was  a  bigot,  too, 
and  persecuted  all  denominations  of  Christians,  except  those  of  the  Church  of 
England.  He  embezzled  the  public  moneys,  involved  himself  in  heavy  debts, 
and  on  all  occasions  was  the  practical  enemy  of  popular  freedom.  The  people 


1  From  1G78  to  1682,  and  again  from  1G89  to  1698,  when  he  died,  at  the  age  of  77. 

"  Peter  Schuyler.  He  was  mayor  of  Albany,  and  acquired  unbounded  influence  over  the  FIVE 
NATIONS  of  Indians.  See  page  23. 

3  Schuyler's  force  was  about  three  hundred  Mohawks,  and  as  many  English.  They  slew  about 
three  hundred  of  the  French  and  Indians,  at  the  north  end  of  the  lake.  4  Page  79.  5  Page  117. 

0  Because  Spain  claimed  the  exclusive  right  to  the  West  India  seas,  her  commerce  in  that  region 
was  regarded  as  fair  plunder.  Privateer  commissions  were  readily  granted  by  the  English,  French, 
and  Dutch  governments ;  and  daring  spirits  from  all  countries  were  found  under  their  flags.  The 
buccaneers,  as  they  were  called,  became  very  numerous  and  powerful,  and  at  length  depredated 
upon  English  commerce  as  well  as  Spanish.  Privateers,  or  those  legally  authorized  to  seize  the  prop 
erty  of  an  enemy,  became  pirates,  or  sea  robbers.  Privateering  is  only  legalized  piracy. 

7  An  immigrant  from  Scotland,  and  ancestor  of  the  Livingston  family  in  this  country.     He  was 
connected,  by  marriage,  with  the  Van  Rensselaer  and  Schuyler  families;  and  in  1685,  he  received 
from  governor  Dongan  a  grant  of  a  feudal  principality  (see  patroon,  page  139)  on  the  Hudson,  yet 
known  as  Livingston's  Manor. 

8  King  William  himself  was  a  shareholder  in  the  enterprise  for  which  Kidd  was  fitted  out.     Kidd 
appeared  publicly  in  Boston,  where  he  was  arrested,  then  sent  to  England,  tried,  and  executed. 

u  Page  161. 


150  THE     COLONIES.  [1623. 

finally  demanded  and  obtained  his  recall,  and  the  moment  his  official  career 
ceased,  in  1708,  his  creditors  cast  him  into  prison,  where  he  remained  until  his 
accession  to  the  peerage,  on  the  death  of  his  father.1  From  this  period  until 
the  arrival  of  William  Cosby,  as  governor  [1732],  the  royal  representatives,2 
unable  to  resist  the  will  of  the  people,  as  expressed  by  the  Assembly,  allowed 
democratic  principles  to  grow  and  bear  fruit.3 

The  popular  will  and  voice  now  began  to  be  potential  in  the  administration 
of  public  affairs.  Rip  Van  Dam,  "a  man  of  the  people,"  was  acting  governor 
when  Cosby  came.  They  soon  quarreled,  and  two  violent  parties  arose — the 
democratic,  which  sided  with  Van  Dam,  and  the  aristocratic,  which  supported 
the  governor.  Each  party  had  the  control  of  a  newspaper,4  and  the  war  of 
words  raged  violently  for  a  long  time.  The  governor,  unable  to  compete  with 
his  opponent,  finally  ordered  the  arrest  of  Zenger  [November,  1734],  the  pub 
lisher  of  the  democratic  paper,  on  a  charge  of  libel.  After  an  imprisonment  of 
thirty-five  weeks,  Zenger  was  tried  by  a  jury,  and  acquitted,  in  July,  1735. 
He  was  defended  by  Andrew  Hamilton,  of  Philadelphia,  who  was  presented  by 
the  magistrates  of  the  city  of  New  York  with  a  gold  box,  as  a  token  of  their 
esteem  for  his  noble  advocacy  of  popular  rights.  Then  was  distinctly  drawn 
the  line  of  demarcation  between  republicans  and  royalists  (Whigs  and  Tories),5 
which  continued  prominent  until  the  war  of  the  revolution  was  ended  in  1783. 

From  the  arrival  of  Cosby  until  the  commencement  of  the  French  and 
Indian  war,6  the  history  of  New  York  is  composed  chiefly  of  the  records  of 
party  strife,  and  presents  very  little  matter  of  interest  to  the  general  reader. 
Only  one  episode  demands  special  attention,  namely,  the  excitement  and  results 
incident  to  a  supposed  conspiracy  of  the  negroes,  in  1741,  to  burn  and  plunder 
the  city,  murder  the  inhabitants,  and  set  up  a  government  under  a  man  of  their 
own  color.  Several  incendiary  fires  had  occurred  in  rapid  succession,  and  a 
house  had  been  robbed  by  some  slaves.  The  idea  of  a  regular  and  horrid  con 
spiracy  at  once  prevailed,  and,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Salem  Witchcraft,7  an 
intense  panic  pervaded  all  classes,  and  many  innocent  persons  suffered.3  This 
is  known  in  history  as  The  Negro  Plot. 


1  According  to  an  unjust  law  of  England,  a  peer  of  the  realm  (who  is  consequently  a  member 
of  the  House  of  Lords  [note  2,  page  218])  can  not  be  arrested  for  debt.     This  law,  enacted  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  still  prevails. 

2  Lord  Lovelace,  Ingoldsby,  Hunter,  Schuyler,  Burnet,  and  Montgomerie. 

3  We  have  already  noticed  (page  135)  the  breaking  out  of  Queen  Anne^s  War,  in  1702,  and  the 
successful  expeditions  fitted  out  and  sent  in  the  direction  of  Montreal  in  1709  and  17-11.     The  debt 
which  these  expeditions  laid  upon  New  York,  was  felt  for  many  years. 

4  The  New  York  Weekly  Journal  (democratic),  by  John  Peter  Zenger;   The  New  York  Gazette 
(aristocratic),  by  William  Bradford.     The  latter  owned  the  first  press  ever  set  up  in  the  province. 
He  commenced  printing  in  New  York  in  1696.     See  note  3,  page  179. 

6  Note  4,  page  226.  6  Page  179.  7  Page  132. 

8  Before  the  panic  was  allayed,  four  white  people  were  hanged;  and  eleven  negroes  were 
burned,  eighteen  were  hanged,  and  fifty  were  sent  to  the  West  Indies  and  sold. 


1755.]  MARYLAND 

CHAPTER    IV. 

MARYLAND.       [  1  G  3  9 .] 

WHEN  the  first  popular  assembly  convened  at  St.  Mary,  for  legislative  pur 
poses,  on  the  8th  of  March,  1635, 1  Maryland  had  then  its  colonial  birth.  Its 
sturdy  growth  began  when,  in  1639,  the  more  convenient  form  of  representa 
tive  government  was  established.  It  was  crude,  but  it  possessed  the  elements 
of  republicanism.  The  freemen  chose  as  many  representatives  as  they  pleased, 
and  others  were  appointed  by  the  proprietor.  These,  with  the  governor  and 
secretary,  composed  the  legislature.  At  this  first  session  a  Declaration  of 
Rights  was  adopted,  the  powers  of  the  governor  were  defined,  and  all  the  privi 
leges  enjoyed  by  English  subjects  were  guarantied  to  the  colonists.3 

Very  soon  the  Indians  in  the  vicinity,  becoming  jealous  of  the  increasing 
strength  of  the  white  people,  began  to  evince  hostility.  Frequent  collisions 
occurred ;  and  in  1642,  a  general  Indian  war  commenced  in  the  region  between 
the  Potomac  and  the  Chesapeake.  It  was  terminated  in  1645,  but  the  quiet 
of  the  province  was  soon  disturbed  again.  Clayborne  had  returned  from 
England3  [1645],  and  speedily  fanned  the  embers  of  discontent  into  a  flame  of 
open  rebellion.  He  became  too  powerful  for  the  local  authorities,  and  Governor 
Calvert4  was  obliged  to  flee  to  Virginia.  During  a  year  and  a  half,  the  insur 
gents  held  the  reins  of  government,  and  the  horrors  of  civil  war  brooded  over 
the  colony.  The  rebellion  was  suppressed  in  the  summer  of  1646,  and  in 
August,  Calvert  resumed  his  office. 

In  the  year  1649,  a  very  important  law,  known  as  The  Toleration  Act,  was 
passed  by  the  Assembly.  Religious  freedom  was  guarantied  by  the  charter,5 
yet,  as  much  animosity  existed  between  the  Protestants6  and  Roman  Catholics, 
the  Assembly7  thought  proper  to  give  the  principle  the  solemn  sanction  of  law. 
By  that  act  every  professed  believer  in  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Trinity,  was 
allowed  free  exercise  of  his  religious  opinions,  and  no  man  was  permitted  to 
reproach  another  on  account  of  his  peculiar  doctrines,  except  under  the  penalty 
of  a  fine,  to  be  paid  to  the  person  so  insulted.  Thither  persecuted  Churchmen 
of  New  England,  and  oppressed  Puritans  of  Virginia,  fled  and  found  an  asylum. 
This  act,  short  of  full  toleration  as  it  was  (for  it  placed  Unitarians  beyond  the 
pale  of  its  defense),  is  the  pride  and  glory  of  the  early  legislature  of  Maryland ; 
yet  it  was  not  the  first  instance  in  America,  as  is  often  alleged,  when  religious 
toleration  received  the  sanction  of  law.8  Rhode  Island  has  that  honor. 


1  Page  82.  2  Page  82.  3  Note  1,  page  82. 

4  Page  81.  5  Page  81.  6  Note  14,  page  62. 

7  Bozman,  in  his  History  of  Maryland  (II.  350 — 356),  maintains  that  the  majority  of  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Assembly  of  1 649,  were  Protestants. 

8  In  May,  1647,  the  General  Assembly  of  Rhode  Island,  convened  at  Portsmouth,  adopted  a 
code  of  laws  which  closed  with  the  declaration  that  "  all  men  might  walk  as  their  consciences  per 
suaded  them,  without  molestation — every  one  in  the  name  of  his  God."     This  was  broader  tolera 
tion  than  the  Maryland  act  contemplated,  for  it  did  not  restrict  men  to  a  belief  in  Jesus  Christ. 


152  THE     COLONIES.  [1639. 

Being  favored  by  events  in  the  mother  country,  republicanism  grew  steadily 
in  the  new  State.  Royalty  was  abolished  in  England  [1649],  and  for  more 
than  ten  years  the  democratic  idea  was  prevalent  throughout  the  realm.  Lord 
Baltimore,  the  proprietor  of  Maryland,  professed  republicanism  on  the  death  of 
the  king,  but  he  had  been  too  recently  a  royalist  to  secure  the  confidence  of 
Parliament.  Stone,  his  lieutenant,  was  removed  from  office  [April  16,  1651] 
by  commissioners  (of  whom  Clayborne  was  one),  who  were  sent  to  administer  the 
government  of  the  colony.  He  was  soon  afterward  [July  8]  restored.  On  the 
dissolution  of  the  Long  Parliament  [1653] x  Cromwell  restored  full  power  to  the 
proprietor,  but  the  commissioners,  who  withdrew  to  Virginia,  returned  soon 
afterward,  and  compelled  Stone  to  surrender  the  government  into  their  hands. 

The  colonial  government  had  been  re-organized  in  the  mean  while.  The 
legislative  body  was  divided  into  an  Upper  and  Lower  House  in  1650 ;  the 
former  consisting  of  the  governor  and  his  council,  appointed  by  the  proprietor, 
and  the  latter  of  representatives  chosen  by  the  people.  At  the  same  session  a 
law  was  passed  prohibiting  all  taxes,  unless  levied  with  the  consent  of  the  free 
men.  Political  questions  were  freely  discussed  by  the  people ;  and  soon  the 
two  chief  religious  sects  were  marshaled  in  opposition,  as  prime  elements  of 
political  parties.  So  great  had  been  the  influx  of  Protestants,  that  they  now 
[1654]  outnumbered  the  Roman  Catholics  as  voters  and  in  the  Assembly.  They 
acknowledged  the  authority  of  Cromwell,  and  boldly  questioned  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  an  hereditary  proprietor.2  The  Roman  Catholics  adhered  to  Lord 
Baltimore,  and  bitter  religious  hatred  was  fostered.  The  Protestants  finally 
disfranchised  their  opponents,  excluded  them  from  the  Assembly,  and  in  Novem 
ber,  1654,  passed  an  act  declaring  Roman  Catholics  not  entitled  to  the  protec 
tion  of  the  laws  of  Maryland. 

This  unchristian  and  unwise  act  of  the  Protestant  party,  was  a  great  wrong 
as  well  as  a  great  mistake.  Civil  war  ensued.  Stone  returned  to  St.  Mary," 
organized  an  armed  force  composed  chiefly  of  Roman  Catholics,  seized  the  colo 
nial  records,  and  assumed  the  office  of  governor.  Skirmishes  followed,  and 
finally  a  severe  battle  was  fought  [April  4,  1655]  not  far  from  the  site  of 
Annapolis,  in  which  Stone's  party  was  defeated,  with  a  loss  of  about  fifty  men, 
killed  and  wounded.  Stone  was  made  prisoner,  but  his  life  was  spared.  Four 
other  leading  supporters  of  the  proprietor  were  tried  for  treason  and  executed. 
Anarchy  prevailed  in  the  province  for  many  months,  when  the  discordant  ele 
ments  were  brought  into  comparative  order  by  the  appointment  of  Josiah  Fen- 
dall  [July  20,  1656]  as  governor.  He  was  suspected  of  favoring  the  Roman 
Catholics,  and  was  soon  arrested  by  order  of  the  Protestant  Assembly.  For 
two  years  bitter  strife  continued  between  the  people  and  the  agents  of  the 

1  "When  Charles  the  First  was  beheaded  [note  3,  page  108],  the  Parliament  assumed  supreme 
authority,  and  remained  in  permanent  session.     Cromwell,  with  an  army  at  his  back,  entered  that 
assembly  in  the  autumn  of  1653,  ordered  them  to  disperse,  and  assumed  supreme  power  himself 
under  the  title  of  Lord  Protector.     That  British  legislature  is  known  in  history  as  the  Long  Parlia 
ment. 

2  According  to  the  original  charter,  the  heirs  arid  successors  of  Lord  Baltimore  were  to  be  pro 
prietors  forever.  3  Page  82. 


1755.]  MARYLAND.  153 

proprietor,  when,  after  concessions  by  the  latter,  Fendall  was  acknowledged 
governor,  on  the  3d  of  April,  1658.  His  prudence  secured  the  confidence  of 
the  people,  but  the  death  of  Cromwell,  in  September,  1658,  presaging  a  change 
in  the  English  government,  gave  them  uneasiness.  After  long  deliberation, 
the  Assembly  determined  to  avoid  all  further  trouble  with  the  proprietor,  by 
asserting  the  supreme  authority  of  the  people.  They  accordingly  dissolved  the 
Upper  House  [March  24,  1660], l  and  assumed  the  whole  legislative  power  of 
the  State.  They  then  gave  Fendall  a  commission  as  governor  for  the  people. 

The  restoration  of  monarchy  in  England  took  place  in  June,  1660, a  and  the 
original  order  of  things  was  re-established  in  Maryland.  Lord  Baltimore,  hav 
ing  assured  the  new  king  that  his  republican  professions3  were  only  temporary 
expedients,  was  restored  to  all  his  proprietary  rights,  by  Charles.  Fendall  was 
tried,  and  found  guilty  of  treason,  because  he  accepted  a  commission  from  the 
rebellious  Assembly.  Baltimore,  however,  wisely  proclaimed  a  general  pardon 
for  all  political  offenders  in  Maryland ;  and  for  almost  thirty  years  afterward, 
the  province  enjoyed  repose.  A  law,  which  established  absolute  political  equal 
ity  among  professed  Christians,  was  enacted ;  and  after  the  death  of  the  second 
Lord  Baltimore  [Dec.  10,  1675],  his  son  and  successor  confirmed  it.  Under 
that  new  proprietor,  Charles  Calvert,  Maryland  was  governed  mildly  and  pru 
dently,  and  the  people  were  prospering  in  their  political  quietude,  when  the 
Revolution  in  England4  shook  the  colonies.  The  deputy  governor  of  Maryland 
hesitated  to  proclaim  William  and  Mary,6  and  this  was  made  a  pretense,  by  a 
restless  spirit,  named  Coode,6  for  exciting  the  people.  He  gave  currency  to  the 
absurd  report  that  the  local  magistrates  and  the  Roman  Catholics  had  leagued 
with  the  Indians7  for  the  destruction  of  all  the  Protestants  in  the  colony.  A 
similar  actual  coalition  of  Jesuits3  and  savages  on  the  New  England  frontiers9 
^ave  a  coloring  of  truth  to  the  story,  and  the  old  religious  feud  instantly  burned 
again  intensely.  The  Protestants  formed  an  armed  association  [Sept.,  1689], 
and  led  on  by  Coode,  they  took  forcible  possession  of  St.  Mary,  and  by  capitu 
lation,  received  the  provincial  records  and  assumed  the  government.  They 
called  a  Convention,  and  invested  it  with  legislative  powers.  Its  first  acts  were 
to  depose  the  third  Lord  Baltimore,  and  to  re-assert  the  sovereign  majesty  of 
the  people. 

Public  affairs  were  managed  by  the  Convention  until  1691,  when  the  king 
unjustly  deprived  Baltimore  of  all  his  political  privileges  as  proprietor  [June 
11],  and  made  Maryland  a  royal  province.10  Lionel  Copley  was  appointed  the 
first  royal  governor,  in  1692.  New  laws  were  instituted — religious  toleration 


152.         2  Note  2,  page  109.         3  Page  152.         4  Note  7,  page  113.       5  Pago  113. 

c  Coode  had  been  a  confederate  in  a  former  insurrection,  but  escaped  conviction. 

7  A  treaty  with  the  Indians  had  just  been  renewed,  and  the  customary  presents  distributed 
among  them.  These  things  Coode  falsely  adduced  as  evidences  of  a  coalition  with  the  savages. 

*  Note  5,  page  130.  °  Page  130. 

10  King  William  had  an  exalted  idea  of  royal  prerogatives,  and  was  as  much  disposed  as  the 
Stuarts  (the  kings  of  England  from  James  the  First  to  James  the  Second)  to  suppress  democracy  in 
the  colonies.  He  repeatedly  vetoed  (refused  his  assent)  to  Bills  of  Rights  enacted  by  the  colonial 
Assemblies ;  refused  his  assent  to  local  laws  of  the  deepest  interest  to  the  colonists ;  and  instructed 
his  governors  to  prohibit  printing  in  the  colonies.  Note  7,  page  112. 


154  THE     COLONIES.  [1639. 

was  abolished — the  Church  of  England  was  made  the  established  religion,  to  be 
supported  by  a  tax  on  the  people ;  and  in  the  State  founded  by  Roman  Cath 
olics,  the  members  of  that  denomination  were  cruelly  disfranchised,  with  the 
consent  of  their  sovereign.  A  few  years  later  [1716],  the  proprietary  rights 
of  Lord  Baltimore  (now  deceased)  were  restored  to  his  infant  heir,  and  the 
original  form  of  government  was  re-established.  Such  continued  to  be  the  poli 
tical  complexion  of  the  colony,  until  the  storm  of  the  Revolution  in  1776,  swept 
away  every  remnant  of  royalty  and  feudalism,  and  the  State  of  Maryland  was 
established. 


CHAPTER   Y. 

CONNECTICUT.      [1G39.] 

THE  CONNECTICUT  COLONY*  formed  a  political  Constitution  on  the  24th  of 
January,  1639,  and  in  June  following,  the  NEW  HAVEN  COLONY  performed 
the  same  important  act.2  The  religious  element  was  supreme  in  the  new  organ 
ization  ;  and,  in  imitation  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Plymouth  settlers,  none 
but  church  members  were  allowed  the  privileges  of  freemen3  at  New  Haven. 
They  first  appointed  a  committee  of  twelve  men,  who  selected  seven  of  their 
members  to  be  "  pillars"  in  the  new  State.  These  had  power  to  admit  as  many 
others,  as  confederate  legislators,  as  they  pleased.  Theophilus  Eaton  was 
chosen  governor,4  and  the  Bible  was  made  the  grand  statute-book  of  the  colony. 
Many  of  the  New  Haven  settlers  being  merchants,  they  sought  to  found  a  com 
mercial  colony,  but  heavy  losses  by  the  wreck  of  vessels5  discouraged  them,  and 
they  turned  their  special  attention  to  agriculture.  Prudence  marked  the  course 
of  the  magistrates  of  the  several  colonies  in  the  Connecticut  valley,6  and  they 
were  blessed  with  prosperity.  But  difficulties  with  the  Dutch  respecting  terri 
torial  boundaries,7  and  menaces  of  the  neighboring  Indians,  gave  them  uneasi 
ness,  and  made  them  readily  join  the  NCAV  England  confederation  in  1643. 8 
The  following  year  the  little  independent  colony  at  Saybrook9  purchased  the 
land  of  one  of  the  proprietors  of  Connecticut,10  and  became  permanently  annexed 
to  that  at  Hartford.11 

The  future  appeared  serene  and  promising.  The  treaty  made  with  Gov 
ernor  Stuyvesant,  at  Hartford,  in  1650, 12  gave  token  of  future  tranquillity.  But 
the  repose  was  soon  broken  by  international  war.  England  and  Holland  drew 
the  sword  against  each  other  in  1652 ;  and  because  it  was  reported  that  Nini- 
gret,  the  wily  sachem  of  the  Narragansetts,13  had  spent  several  weeks  at  New 

1  Page  89.  2  Pago  89.     The  people  assembled  in  a  barn  to  form  a  new  Constitution. 

3  Note  5,  page  118. 

4  He  was  annually  chosen  to  fill  the  office,  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1657. 

5  In  1647,  a  new  ship  belonging  to  the  colony  foundered  at  sea.      It  was  laden  with  a  valuable 
cargo,  and  the  passengers  belonged  to  some  of  the  leading  families  in  the  colony. 

0  Page  86.  7  Page  85,  and  note  2,  page  142.  8  Page  121.  °  Page  86. 

w  Page  85.  "  Page  88.  J2  Note  2,  page  142.  :3  Note  7,  page  141. 


1755.]  CONNECTICUT.  155 

Amsterdam  in  the  winter  of  1652-31  the  belief  prevailed  in  New  Englancf,  as 
we  have  already  observed,  that  Stuyvesant  was  leaguing  with  the  Indians  for 
the  destruction  of  the  English.2  Great  excitement  ensued,  and  a  majority  of 
the  commissioners  decided,3  in  1653,  upon  war  with  the  Dutch.  Immediate 
hostilities  were  prevented  by  the  refusal  of  Massachusetts  to  furnish  its  quota 
of  supplies.  The  Connecticut  colonies  (who  were  more-  exposed  to  blows  from 
the  Dutch  than  any  other)  applied  to  Cromwell  for  aid,  and  he  sent  four  ships 
of  war  for  the  purpose.  Before  their  arrival,4  a  treaty  of  peace  was  concluded 
between  the  two  nations,  and  blood  and  treasure  were  saved.  The  Assembly 
at  Hartford  took  possession  of  all  property  then  claimed  by  the  Dutch ;  and 
after  that  the  latter  abandoned  all  claims  to  possessions  in  the  Connecticut 
valley. 

On  the  restoration  of  Charles  the  Second,  in  1G60,  the  Connecticut  colony 
expressed  its  loyalty,  and  obtained  a  charter.  At  first,  Charles  was  disposed 
to  refuse  the  application  of  Winthrop,6  the  agent  of  the  colony,  for  he  had 
heard  of  the  sturdy  republicanism  of  the  petitioners.  But  when  Winthrop 
presented  his  majesty  with  a  ring  which  Charles  the  First  had  given  to  his 
father,  the  heart  of  the  king  was  touched,  and  he  granted  a  charter  [May  80, 
1662]  which  not  only  confirmed  the  popular  Constitution  of  the  colony,  but 
contained  more  liberal  provisions  than  any  yet  issued  from  the  royal  hand.6  It 
defined  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  province  to  be  Narraganset  Bay,  and  the 
western,  the  Pacific  Ocean.  It  thus  included  a  portion  of  Rhode  Island,  and 
the  whole  New  Haven  Colony.1  The  latter  gave  a  reluctant  consent  to  the 
union  in  1665,  but  Rhode  Island  positively  refused  the  alliance.  A  charter 
given  to  the  latter  the  year  after  one  was  given  to  Connecticut  [1663], 8  covered 
a  portion  of  the  Connecticut  grant  in  Narraganset  Bay.  Concerning  this 
boundary  the  two  colonies  disputed  for  more  than  sixty  years. 

The  colony  of  Connecticut  suffered  but  little  during  KING  PHILIP'S  WAR,9 
which  broke  out  in  1675,  wilh  the  exception  of  some  settlements  high  up  on 
the  fresh  water  river.10  Yet  it  furnished  its  full  quota  of  men  and  supplies,  and 
its  soldiers  bore  a  conspicuous  part  in  giving  the  vigorous  blows  which  broke 
the  power  of  the  New  England  Indians.11  At  the  same  time,  the  colonists 
were  obliged  to  defend  their  liberties  against  the  attempted  usurpations  of  Ed 
mund  Andros,  then  governor  of  New  York.12  He  claimed  jurisdiction  to  the 


1  This  report  was  set  afloat  by  Uncas,  the  mischievous  Mohegan  sachem  [page  87],  who  hated 
the  Narragansetts.     It  had  no  foundation  in  truth.     See,  also,  page  21. 

2  Page  141.  3  Page  121. 

4  Roger  Williams,  then  in  England,  managed  to  delay  the  sailing  of  the  fleet,  and  thus,  again, 
that  eminent  peace-maker  prevented  bloodshed.  Page  87. 

6  John  Winthrop,  son  of  Governor  Winthrop,  of  Massachusetts.     He  was  chosen  governor  of 
Connecticut  in  1657,  and  held  the  office  several  years.      Such  was  his  station  when  he  appeared  in 
England  to  ask  a  charter  of  the  king.     Hopkins  (who  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  New  Haven 
colony)  was  chosen  the  first  governor  of  the  Connecticut  colony,  and  for  several  years  he  and 
Haynes  were  alternately  chosen  chief  magistrates. 

0  This  original  charter  is  now  [1867]  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  State  of  Connecticut.  It 
contains  a  portrait  of  Charles  the  Second,  handsomely  drawn  in  India  ink,  and  forming  part  of  an 
initial  letter.  This  was  the  instrument  afterward  hidden  in  the  great  oak  mentioned  on  the  next  page. 

7  Page  88.     Thus  the  several  settlements  were  united  under  the  general  name  of  Connecticut. 

8  Page  156.  9  Page  124.  1J  Page  85.  "  Page  22.  1J  Page  147. 


156  THE     COLONIES.  [1639. 

mouth  of  the  Connecticut  River,  and  in  July,  1675,  he  proceeded  to  Saybrook 
with  a  small  naval  force,  to  assert  his  authority.  He  was  permitted  to  land ; 
but  when  he  ordered  the  garrison  in  the  fort  to  surrender,  and  began  to  read  his 
commission  to  the  people,  Captain  Bull,  the  commander,  ordered  him  to  be 
silent.  Perceiving  the  strength  and  determination  of  his  adversary,  Andros 
wisely  withdrew,  and  greatly  irritated,  returned  to  New  York. 

During  the  next  dozen  years,  very  little  occurred  to  disturb  the  quiet  and 
prosperity  of  Connecticut.  Then  a  most  exciting  scene  took  place  at  Hartford, 
in  which  the  liberties  of  the  colony  were  periled.  Edmund  Andros  again  ap 
peared  as  »  usurper  of  authority.  He  had  been  appointed  governor  of  New 
England  in  1686, l  and  on  his  arrival  he  demanded  a  surrender  of  the  charters 
of  all  the  provinces.  They  all  complied,  except  Connecticut.  She  steadily 
refused  to  give  up  the  guaranty  of  her  political  rights  ;  and  finally  Andros  pro 
ceeded  to  Hartford  with  sixty  armed  men,  to  enforce  obedience.  The  Assem 
bly  were  in  session  when  he  arrived  [Nov.  10,  1687],  and  received  him  court 
eously.  He  demanded  the  surrender  of  tho  charter,  and  declared  the  colonial 
government  dissolved.  Already  a  plan  had  been  arranged  for  securing  the  safety 
of  that  precious  instrument,  and  at  the  same  time  to  preserve  an  appearance  of 
loyalty.  The  debates  were  purposely  protracted  until  the  candles  were  lighted, 
at  evening,  when  the  charter  was  brought  in  and  laid 
upon  the  table.  Just  as  Andros  stepped  forward  to 
take  it,  the  candles  were  suddenly  extinguished.  The 
charter  was  seized  by  Captain  Wadsworth,  of  the  mil 
itia,  and  under  cover  of  the  night  it  was  effectually 
concealed  in  the  hollow  trunk  of  a  huge  oak,  standing 
not  far  from  the  Assembly  chamber.2  When  the  can- 
r-  ^es  were  re^Sntec^  tne  members  were  in  perfect 
order,  but  the  charter  could  not  be  found.  Andros 

HIE   CHARTER   OAK.  . .  i         ,      i      •  ,1  />   -i     i       i  i 

was  highly  incensed  at  being   thus   foiled,   but  he 

wisely  restrained  his  passion,  assumed  the  government,  and  with  his  own  hand 
wrote  the  word  FINIS  after  the  last  record  of  the  Charter  Assembly.  The  gov 
ernment  was  administered  in  his  own  name  until  he  was  driven  from  Boston  in 
1689,3  when  the  charter  was  taken  from  the  oak  [May  1.9,  1689],  a  popular 
Assembly  was  convened,  Robert  Treat  was  chosen  governor,  and  Connecticut 
again  assumed  her  position  as  an  independent  colony. 

Petty  tyrants  continued  to  molest.  A  little  more  than  four  years  later,  the 
Connecticut  people  were  again  compelled  to  assert  their  chartered  liberties. 
Colonel  Fletcher,  then  governor  of  New  York,4  held  a  commission  which  gave 
him  command  of  the  militia  of  Connecticut.5  As  that  power  was  reserved  to 

1  Page  129. 

2  That  tree  remained  vigorous  until  ten  minutes  before  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  August  21, 
1856,  when  it  was  prostrated  during  a  heavy  storm,  and  nothing  but  a  stump  remains.     It  stood 
on  the  south  side  of  Charter-street,  a  few  rods  from  Main-street,  in  the  city  of  Hartford.    The  cavity 
in  which  the  charter  was  concealed,  had  become  partially  closed. 

3  Page  130.  4  Page  14?. 

6  The  declared  object  of  this  commission  was  to  enable  Fletcher  to  call  forth  the  Connecticut 
militia  when  proper,  to  repel  an  expected  invasion  of  Northern  New  York,  by  the  French  and 
Indians. 


1155.]  RHODE     ISLAND.  -jr^ 

the  colony  by  the  charter,  the  Legislature  refused  to  acknowledge  Fletcher's 
authority.  In  November,  1693,  he  repaired  to  Hartford,  and,  notwithstanding 
the  Legislature  was  in  session,  and  again  promptly  denied  his  jurisdiction,  he 
ordered  the  militia  to  assemble.  The  Hartford  companies,  under  Captain 
Wadsworth,1  were  drawn  up  in  line  ;  but  the  moment  Fletcher  attempted  to 
read  his  commission,  the  drums  were  beaten.  His  angry  order  of  "  Silence!" 
was  obeyed  for  a  moment ;  but  when  he  repeated  it,  AYadsworth  boldly  stepped 
in  front  of  him,  and  said,  "  Sir,  if  they  are  again  interrupted,  I  '11  make  the  sun 
shine  through  you  in  a  moment."  Fletcher  perceived  the  futility  of  a  parley, 
or  further  assumption  of  authority  ;  and,  pocketing  his  commission,  he  and  his 
attendants  returned  to  New  York,  greatly  chagrined  and  irritated.  The  mat 
ter  was  compromised  when  referred  to  the  king,  who  gave  the  governor  of  Con 
necticut  militia  jurisdiction  in  time  of  peace,  but  in  the  event  of  war,  Colonel 
Fletcher  should  have  the  command  of  a  certain  portion  of  the  troops  of  that 
colony. 

And  now,  in  the  year  1700,  Connecticut  had  a  population  of  about  thirty 
thousand,  which  rapidly  increased  during  the  remainder  of  her  colonial  career. 
During  Queen  Anne's  War*  and  the  stirring  events  in  America  from  that 
time  until  the  commencement  of  the  French  and  Indian  War,3  when  her  people 
numbered  one  hundred  thousand,  Connecticut  went  hand  in  han$  with  her  sis 
ter  colonies  for  mutual  welfare  ;  arid  her  history  is  too  closely  interwoven  with 
theirs  to  require  further  separate  notice. 


CHAPTER   YI  . 

RHODE     ISLAND.     [1644.] 

WHEN  the  Providence  and  Rhode  Island  plantations  were  united  under 
the  same  government  in  1644,  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island  commenced  its  inde 
pendent  career.4  That  charter  was  confirmed  by  the  Long  Parliament5  in 
October,  1652,  and  this  put  an  end  to  the  persevering  efforts  of  Massachusetts 
to  absorb  "  Williams's  Narraganset  Plantation."  That  colony  had  always 
coveted  the  beautiful  Aquiday,6  and  feared  the  reaction  of  Williams's  tolerant 
principles  upon  the  people  from  whose  bosom  he  had  been  cruelly  expelled.7  A 
dispute  concerning  the  eastern  boundary  of  Rhode  Island  was  productive  of 
much  ill  feeling  during  the  progress  of  a  century,  when,  in  1741,  commission 
ers  decided  the  present  line  to  be  the  proper  division,  and  wrangling  ceased. 


1  Page  156.  2  Page  135.  9  ra£e  l79- 

4  Page  91      A  general  assembly  of  deputies  from  the  several  towns,  met  at  Portsmouth  on  the 
29th  of  May,  1647,  and  organized  the  new  government  by  the  election  of  a  president  and  o 
cers.     At  that  time  a  code  of  laws  was  adopted,  which  declared  the  government  to  be  a  d 
and  that  "all  men  might  walk  as  their  conscience  persuaded  them."     Page  151.         ^ 
1,  page  150.  c  Note  5,  page  91. 


158  THE     COLONIES.  [1644. 

Nor  was  Rhode  Island  free  from  those  internal  commotions,  growing  out  of  relig 
ious  disputes  and  personal  ambition,  which  disturbed  the  repose  of  other  colonies. 
These  were  quieted  toward  the  close  of  1653,  when  Roger  Williams  was  chosen 
president.  Cromwell  confirmed  the  royal  charter  on  the  22d  of  May,  1655, 
and  during  his  administration  the  colony  prospered.  On  the  accession  of 
Charles  the  Second,1  Rhode  Island  applied  for  and  obtained  a  new  charter 
[July  8,  1663],  highly  democratic  in  its  general  features,  and  similar,  in  every 
respect,  to  the  one  granted  to  Connecticut.2  The  first  governor  elected  under 
this  instrument,  was  Benedict  Arnold ; 3  and  by  a  colonial  law,  enacted  during 
his  first  administration,  the  privileges  of  freemen  were  granted  only  to  free 
holders  and  their  eldest  sons. 

Bowing  to  the  mandates  of  royal  authority,  Rhode  Island  yielded  to  Andros, 
in  January,  1687 ;  but  the  moment  intelligence  reached  the  people  of  the  acces 
sion  of  William  and  Mary4  [May  11,  1689],  and  the  imprisonment  of  the  petty 
tyrant  at  Boston,5  they  assembled  at  Newport,  resumed  their  old  charter,  and 
re-adopted  their  seal — an  anchor,  with  Hope  for  a  motto.  Under  this  charter, 
Rhode  Island  continued  to  be  governed  for  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  years, 
when  the  people,  in  representative  convention,  in  1842,  adopted  a  constitution.6 
Newport  soon  became  a  thriving  commercial  town ;  and  when,  in  1732,  John 
Franklin  established  there  the  first  newspaper  in  the  colony,  it  contained  five 
thousand  inhabitants,  and  the  whole  province  about  eighteen  thousand.7  Near 
Newport  the  celebrated  Dean  Berkeley  purchased  lands  in  1729 ;  and  with 
him  came  John  Smibert,  an  artist,  who  introduced  portrait  painting  into  Amer 
ica.8  Notwithstanding  Rhode  Island  was  excluded  from  the  New  England 
confederacy,9  it  always  bore  its  share  in  defensive  efforts ;  and  its  history  is 
identified  with  that  of  New  England  in  general,  from  the  commencement  of 
King  William's  War.10 

1  Page  109> 

2  Page  154.     This  charter  guarantied  free  toleration  in  religious  matters,  and  the  legislature  of 
the  colony  re-asserted  the  principle,  so  as  to  give  it  the  popular  force  of  law.     The  assertion,  made 
by  some,  that  Roman  Catholics  were  excluded  from  voting,  and  that  Quakers  were  outlawed,  is 
erroneous. 

3  He  was  governor  several  times,  serving  in  that  office,  altogether,  about  eleven  years.     He  was 
chief  magistrate  of  the  colony  when  he  died,  in  1678.  4  Page  130. 

.5  Page  130.  6  Page  477. 

7  Of  these,  about  one  thousand  were  Indians,  and  more  than  sixteen  hundred  were  negroes. 

8  Berkeley  preached  occasionally  in  a  small  Episcopal  church  at  Newport,  and  presented  the 
congregation  with  an  organ,  the  first  ever  heard  in  America.     Smibert  was  a  Scotchman,  and 
married  and  settled  at  Boston.     His  picture  of  Berkeley  and  his  family  is  still  preserved  at  Yale 
College  [page  178],  in  New  Haven.     Berkeley  (afterward  made  bishop  of  a  diocese  in  Ireland)  made 
great  efforts  toward  the  establishment  of  the  Arts  and  Learning,  in  America.     Failing  in  his  project 
of  founding  a  new  University,  he  became  one  of  the  most  liberal  benefactors  of  Yale  College.     In 
view  of  the  future  progress  of  the  colonies,  he  wrote  that  prophetic  poem,  the  last  verse  of  which 
contains  the  oft-quoted  line — 

"Westward  the  course  of  Empire  takes  its  -wv.y." 

9  Page  121.  »  Page  130. 


1755.]  NEW    JERSEY. 

CHAPTER    VII. 

NEW      JERSEY.      [1664.] 

THE  settlements  in  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  Delaware,  we  have 
considered  together  in  the  same  chapter,1  as  constituting  a  series  of  events  hav 
ing  intimate  relations  with  each  other.  The  history  of  the  colonial  organization 
of  the  first  two,  is  separate  and  distinct.  Delaware  was  never  an  independent 
colony  or  State,  until  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  in  1776.  The 
founding  of  the  New  Jersey  colony  occurred  when,  in  1664,  the  Duke  of  York 
sold  the  territory  to  Lord  Berkeley  and  Sir  George  Carteret,2  and  the  new 
proprietors  began  the  work  of  erecting  a  State.  They  published  a  form  of 
agreement  which  they  called  "  Concessions,"3  in  which  liberal  offers  were  made 
to  emigrants  who  might  settle  within  the  territory.  Among  other  provisions, 
the  people  were  to  be  exempt  from  the  payment  of  quit-rents  and  other  burdens, 
for  the  space  of  five  years.  Allured  by  the  liberality  of  the  "  Concessions,"  as 
well  as  by  the  salubrity  of  the  climate  and  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  many  families 
came  from  Long  Island  in  1664,  and  settled  at  Elizabethtown  ;4  and  in  August, 
the  following  year,  Philip  Carteret  (brother  of  one  of  the  proprietors)  was 
appointed  governor,  and  arrived  at  Elizabethtown  with  a  number  of  settlers. 

At  first  all  was  peaceable.  Nothing  disturbed  the  repose  of  the  colony 
during  the  five  years'  exemption  from  rents ;  but  when,  in  1670,  the  specified 
halfpenny,  for  the  use  of  each  acre  of  land,  was  required,  murmurs  of  discon 
tent  were  loud  and  universal.  Those  who  had  purchased  land  from  the  Indians, 
denied  the  right  of  the  proprietors  to  demand  rent  from  them ;  and  some  of  the 
towns  had  even  denied  the  authority  of  the  Assembly,  at  its  first  sitting,  in 
1668.  The  whole  people  combined  in  resisting  the  payment  of  quit-rents ; 
and  after  disputing  with  the  proprietors  almost  two  years,  they  revolted,  called 
a  new  Assembly,  appointed  a  dissolute,  illegitimate  son  of  Sir  George  Carteret, 
governor,  in  May,  1672,  and  in  July  following,  compelled  Philip  Carteret  to 
leave  the  province.  Preparations  were  in  progress  to  coerce  the  people  into 
submission,  when  New  Jersey,  and  all  other  portions  of  the  territory  claimed 
by  the  Duke  of  York,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Dutch,6  in  August,  1673.  On 
the  restoration  of  the  territory  to  the  English,6  in  November,  1674,  the  Duke 
of  York  procured  a  new  charter,7  and  then,  regardless  of  the  rights  of  Berkeley 
and  Carteret,  he  appointed  Edmund  Andros,  "the  tyrant  of  New  England," 

1  Page  92. 

2  Page  94.     The  province  was  called  New  Jersey,  in  honor  of  Carteret,  who  was  governor  of 
the  island  of  Jersey,  in  the  British  Channel,  during  the  civil  war.     He  was  a  staunch  royalist,  and 
was  the  last  commander  to  lower  the  royal  flag,  when  the  Parliament  had  triumphed. 

3  This  was  a  sort  of  constitution,  which  provided  for  a  government  to  be  composed  of  a  goven 
and  council  appointed  by  the  proprietors,  and  an  Assembly  chosen  by  the  freeholders  of  the  prov 
ince.     The  legislative  power  resided  in  the  Assembly ;  the  executive  in  the  governor.     The  C< 

and  the  Assembly  were  each  restricted  to  twelve  members. 
. 4  So  called,  in  honor  of  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Sir  George  Carteret. 
6  Page  147.  6  Page  147.  7  Page  147. 


ICO  THE     COLONIES.  [1664. 

governor  of  the  whole  domain.  Carteret  demurred,  and  the  duke  partially 
restored  his  rights  ;  not,  however,  without  leaving  Andros  a  sufficient  pretense 
for  asserting  his  authority,  and  producing  annoyances.  Berkeley  had  become 
disgusted,  and  sold  his  interest  in  the  province  [March  28,  1674]  to  Edward 
Byllinge,  an  English  Quaker.  Pecuniary  embarrassment  caused  Byllinge  to 
assign  his  interest  to  William  Penn,  and  two  others,1  in  1675.  These  purchas 
ers,  unwilling  to  maintain  a  political  union  with  other  parties,  successfully 
negotiated  with  Carteret  for  a  division  of  the  province,  which  took  place  on  the 
llth  of  July,  1676.  Carteret  received  the  eastern  portion  as  his  share,  and 
the  Quakers  the  western  part.  From  that  time  the  divisions  were  known  as 
EAST  and  WEST  JERSEY. 

The  WEST  JERSEY  proprietors  gave  the  people  a  remarkably  liberal  consti 
tution  of  government  [March  13,  1677] ;  and  in  1677,  more  than  four  hundred 
Quakers  came  from  England  and  settled  below  the  Raritan.  Andros  required 
them  to  acknowledge  the  authority  of  the  Duke  of  York.  They  refused  ;  and 
the  matter  was  referred  to  the  eminent  Sir  William  Jones  (the  oriental  scholar) 
for  adjudication,  who  decided  against  the  claims  of  the  duke.  The  latter  sub 
mitted  to  the  decision,  released  both  provinces  from  allegiance  to  him,  and  tho 
JERSEYS  became  independent  of  foreign  control.  The  first  popular  assembly 
in  West  Jersey  met  at  Salem,  in  November,  1681,  and  adopted  a  code  of  laws 
for  the  government  of  the  people.2 

Soon  after  the  death  of  Carteret,  in  December,  1679,  the  trustees  of  his 
estate  offered  East  Jersey  for  sale.  It  was  purchased  by  William  Penn  and 
eleven  of  his  brethren,  on  the  llth  of  February,  1682,  who  obtained  a  new 
charter,  and  on  the  27th  of  July.  1683,  appointed  Robert  Barclay,3  a  very 
eminent  Quaker  preacher,  from  Aberdeen,  governor  for  life.  A  large  number 
of  his  sect  came  from  Scotland  and  England ;  and  others  from  New  England 
and  Long  Island  settled  in  East  Jersey  to  enjoy  prosperity  and  repose.  But 
repose,  as  well  as  the  administration  of  Barclay,  was  of  short  duration;  for 
when  James  succeeded  Charles,4  he  appeared  to  consider  his  contracts  made 
while  dukej  not  binding  upon  his  honor  as  king.  He  sought  to  annul  the 
American  charters,  and  succeeded,  as  we  have  seen,  in  subverting  the  govern 
ments  of  several,5  through  the  instrumentality  of  Andros.  The  JERSEYS  were 
sufferers  in  this  respect,  and  were  obliged  to  bow  to  the  tyrant.  When  he  was 
driven  from  the  country  in  1689, 6  the  provinces  were  left  without  regular  gov 
ernments,  and  for  more  than  twelve  years  anarchy  prevailed  there.  The  claims 
of  the  proprietors  to  jurisdiction,  were  repudiated  by  the  people;  and  in  1702, 
they  gladly  relinquished  the  government  by  surrendering  it,  on  the  25th  of 


1  Those  purchasers  immediately  sold  one  half  of  their  interest  to  the  Earl  of  Perth,  from  whom 
the  present  town  of  Perth  Amboy  derives  a  part  of  its  name.  Amboy,  or  Ambo,  is  an  Indian 
name. 

3  A  remarkable  law  was  enacted  at  that  session.  It  provided  that  in  all  criminal  cases,  except; 
treason,  murder,  and  theft,  the  aggrieved  party  should  have  power  to  pardon  the  offender. 

3  He  was  the  author  of  "  An  Apology  for  Quakers,"  a  work  highly  esteemed  by  his  sect.  It 
was  written  in  Latin,  and  translated  into  several  continental  languages.  Barclay  and  Penn  were 
intimate  personal  friends,  and  travelled  much  together.  He  died  in  Ury,  in  1690,  aged  42  years. 

*  Page  113.  6  Pages  129,  156,  and  158.  °  Page  130. 


1755-]  PENNSYLVANIA. 

April  to  the  crown.1  The  two  provinces  were  united  as  a  royal  domain  and 
placed  under  the  government  of  Lord  Cornbury,  the  licentious  ruler  of  New 
York,2  in  July  following. 

The  province  of  New  Jersey  remained  a  dependency  of  New  York  with  a 
distinct  legislative  assembly  of  its  own,  until  1738,  when,  through  the  efforts 
of  Lewis  Morris,3  the  connection  was  for  ever  severed.  Morris  was  appointed 
the  first  royal  governor  of  New  Jersey,  and  managed  public  affairs  with  ability 
and  general  satisfaction.  From  that  period  until  the  independence  of  the  colo 
nies  was  declared,  in  1776,  the  history  of  the  colony  presents  but  few  events  of 
interest  to  the  general  reader. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

PENNSYLVANIA.      [1682.] 

THE  colonial  career  of  Pennsylvania  began  when,  in  the  autumn  of  1682, 
William  Penn  arrived,4  and  by  a  surrender  by  the  agents  of  the  Duke  of  York,' 
and  a  proclamation  in  the  presence  of  the  popular  Assembly,  the  Territories 
which  now  constitute  the  State  of  Delaware  were  united  with  his  province.5 
Already.  Penn  had  proclaimed  his  intention  of  being  governed  by  the  law  of 
kindness  in  his  treatment  of  the  Indians  ;  and  when  he  came,  he  proceeded  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  his  new  State  upon  Truth  and  Justice.6  Where  the  Ken 
sington  portion  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia  now  stands,  as  we  have  elsewhere 
mentioned,  he  met  the  Delaware  chiefs  in  council,  under  the  leafless  branches 
of  a  wide-spreading  elm,7  on  the  4th  of  November,  1682,  and  there  made  with 
them  a  solemn  covenant  of  peace  and  friendship,  and  paid  them  the  stipulated 
price  for  their  lands.  The  Indians  were  delighted,  and  their  hearts  melted  with 
good  feeling.  Such  treatment  was  an  anomaly  in  the  history  of  the  intercourse 
of  their  race  with  the  white  people.  Even  then  the  fires  of  a  disastrous  war 
were  smouldering  on  the  New  England  frontiers.8  It  was  wonderful  how  the 
savage  heart,  so  lately  the  dwelling  of  deepest  hatred  toward  the  white  man,  be 
came  the  shrine  of  the  holiest  attribute  of  our  nature.  "We  will  live  in  love 


1  The  proprietors  retained  their  property  in  the  soil,  and  their  claims  to  quit-rents.  Their 
organization  has  never  ceased ;  and  unsold,  barren  tracts  of  land  in  West  Jersey  are  still  held  by 
that  ancient  tenure.  2  Page  149. 

3  Son  of  an  officer  in  Cromwell's  army,  who  purchased  an  estate  near  New  York,  known  as 
Morrisiana.  He  died  in  1746.  Apart  of  that  estate  yet  [1867]  remains  in  possession  of  the  Morris 
family  4  Page  96.  5  Page  96. 

6  By  his  direction,  his  agent,  William  Markham,  had  opened  a  friendly  correspondence  with  the 
Indians,  and  Penn  himself  had  addressed  a  letter  to  them,  assuring  them  of  his  love  and  brotherly 
feelings  toward  them. 

7  The  Penn  Society  of  Philadelphia  erected  a  monument  upon  the  spot  where  the  venerable  elm 
stood,  near  the  intersection  of  Hanover  and  Beach-streets,  Kensington  district.    The  tree  was  blown 
down  in  1810,  and  was  found  to  be  283  years  old.     The  monument  is  upon  the  site  of  the  tree,  and 
bears  suitable  inscriptions.  8  King  Philip's  War,  page  92. 


162  THE     COLONIES.  [1682. 

with  William  Penn  and  his  children/'  they  said,  "  as  long  as  the  moon  and  the 
sun  shall  endure."  They  were  true  to  their  promise — not  a  drop  of  Quaker 
blood  was  ever  shed  by  an  Indian. 

Having  secured  the  lands,  Penn's  next  care  was  to  found  a  capital  city. 
This  he  proceeded  to  do,  immediately  after  the  treaty  with  the  Indians,  upon 
lands  purchased  from  the  Swedes,  lying  between  the  Delaware  and  the  Schuyl- 
kill  Rivers.  The  boundaries  of  streets  were  marked  upon  the  trunks  of  the 
chestnut,  walnut,  pine,  and  other  forest  trees  which  covered  the  land,1  and  the 
city  was  named  Philadelphia,  which  signifies  brotherly  love.  Within  twelve 
months  almost  a  hundred  houses  were  erected,3  and  the  Indians  came  daily 
_  with  wild  fowl  and  venison,  as  presents  for  their  ' '  good 

_/     -  Father  Penn."     Never  was  a  State  blessed  with  a  more 

•  propitious  beginning,  and  internal  peace  and  prosperity 
marked  its  course  while  the  Quakers  controlled  its  coun 
cils. 

The  proprietor  convened  a  second  Assembly  at  Phil 
adelphia,  in  March,  1683,  and  then  gave  the  people  a 
"  Charter  of  Liberties,"  signed  and  sealed  by  his  own 
hand.  It  was  so  ample  and  just,  that  the  government 
was  really  a  representative  democracy.  Free  religious  toleration  was  ordained, 
and  laws  for  the  promotion  of  public  and  private  morality  were  framed.3  Un 
like  other  proprietors,  Penn  surrendered  to  the  people  his  rights  in  the  appoint 
ment  of  officers ;  and  until  his  death,  his  honest  and  highest  ambition  appeared 
to  be  to  promote  the  happiness  of  the  colonists.  Because  of  this  happy  relation 
between  the  people  and  the  proprietor,  and  the  security  against  Indian  hostili 
ties,  Pennsylvania  outstripped  all  of  its  sister  colonies  in  rapidity  of  settlement 
and  permanent  prosperity. 

In  August,  1684,  Penn  returned  to  England,  leaving  five  members  of  the 
Council  with  Thomas  Lloyd,  as  president,  to  administer  the  government  during 
his  absence.  Soon  afterward,  the  English  Revolution  occurred  [1688]  and 
king  James  was  driven  into  exile.4  Penn's  personal  regard  for  James  contin 
ued  after  his  fall ;  and  for  that  loyalty,  which  had  a  deeper  spring  than  mere 
political  considerations,  he  was  accused  of  dissaffection  to  the  new  government, 
and  suffered  imprisonments.  In  the  mean  while,  discontents  had  sprung  up  in 


1  This  fact  was  the  origin  of  the  names  of  Chestnut,  "Walnut,  Pine,  Spruce,  and  other  streets  in 
Philadelphia,     For  many  years  after  the  city  was  laid  out.  these  living  street-marks  remained,  and 
afforded  shade  to  the  inhabitants. 

2  Markham,  Penn's  agent,  erected  a  house  for  the  proprietor's  use,  in  1682.     It  is  yet  [1867] 
standing  in  Letitia  court,  the  entrance  to  which  is  from  Market-street,  between  Front  and  Second- 
streets.     Another,  and  finer  house,  was  occupied  by  Penn  in  1700.     It  yet  remains  on  the  corner 
of  Norris's  alley  and  Second-street.     It  was  the  residence  of  General  Arnold  in  1778.     Note  3, 
page  287. 

3  It  was  ordained  "  that  to  prevent  lawsuits,  three  arbitrators,  to  be  called  Peace  Makers,  should 
be  appointed  by  the  county  courts,  to  hear  and  determine  small  differences  between  man  and  man ; 
that  children  should  be  taught  some  useful  trade ;  that  factors  wronging  their  employers  should 
make  satisfaction,  and  one  third  over ;  that  all  causes  for  irreligion  and  vulgarity  should  be  repress 
ed  ;  and  that  no  man  should  be  molested  for  his  religious  opinions. 

4  Note  7,  page  113. 


1755-1  THE     CAROLINAS. 

Pennsylvania,  and  the  "three  lower  counties  on  the  Delaware,"1  offended  at 
the  action  of  some  of  the  Council,  withdrew  from  the  Union2  in  April,  1691. 
Penn  yielded  to  their  wishes  so  far  as  to  appoint  a  separate  deputy  governor 
for  them. 

An  important  political  change  now  occurred  in  the  colony.  Penn's  provin 
cial  government  was  taken  from  him  in  1692  [Oct.  31],  and  Pennsylvania  was 
placed  under  the  authority  of  Governor  Fletcher,  of  New  York,  who  reunited 
the  Delaware  counties  [May,  1693],  to  the  parent  province.  All  suspicions  of 
Penn's  disloyalty  having  been  removed  in  1694,  his  chartered  rights  were 
restored  to  him  [Aug.  30],  and  he  appointed  his  original  agent,  William  Mark- 
ham,  deputy  governor.  He  returned  to  America  in  December,  1699,  and  was 
pained  to  find  his  people  discontented,  and  clamorous  for  greater  political  priv 
ileges.  Considering  their  demands  reasonable,  he  gave  them  a  new  charter,  or 
frame  of  government  [Nov.  6,  1701],  more  liberal  in  its  concessions  than  the 
former.  It  was  cheerfully  accepted  by  the  Pennsylvania  people,  but  those  of 
the  Delaware  territories,  whose  delegates  had  already  withdrawn  from  the 
Assembly  [Oct.  20],  evidently  aiming  at  independence,  declined  it.  Penn 
acquiesced  in  their  decision,  and  allowed  them  a  distinct  Assembly.  This  satis 
fied  them,  and  their  first  independent  legislature  was  convened  at  Newcastle  in 
1703.  Although  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware  ever  afterward  continued  to  have 
separate  legislatures,  they  were  under  the  same  governor  until  the  Revolution 
in  1776. 

A  few  weeks  after  adjusting  difficulties,  and  granting  the  new  charter,  Penn 
returned  to  England  [Dec.,  1701],  and  never  visited  America  again.  His 
departure  was  hastened  by  the  ripening  of  a  ministerial  project  for  abolishing 
all  the  proprietary  governments  in  America.  His  health  soon  afterward  de 
clined,  and  at  his  death  he  left  his  American  possessions  to  his  three  sons 
(Thomas,  John,  and  Richard),  then  minors,  who  continued  to  administer  the 
government,  chiefly  through  deputies,  until  the  War  for  Independence  in  1776. 
Then  it  became  a  free  and  independent  State,  and  the  commonwealth  purchased 
all  the  claims  of  Penn's  heirs  in  the  province,  for  about  five  hundred  and  eighty 
thousand  dollars.3 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE    CAROLINAS.     [16G5  — 1680.] 

NOTWITHSTANDING  the  many  failures  which  had  dampened  the  ardor  of 
English  speculators,  who  had  engaged  in  planting  settlements  in  America,  hope 
still  remained  buoyant.  Success  finally  crowned  the  efforts  in  New  England 

1  Page  96.  3  Page  96. 

3  On  account  of  the  expenses  incurred  in  Pennsylvania,  Penn  was  compelled  to  borrow  $30. 

and  mortgage  his  province  as  security.     This  was  the  commencement  of  the  State  debt  d  Pennsyl 


vania. 


164  THE     COLONIES.  [1GG5. 

and  further  south,  and  tbc  proprietors  of  the  Carolinas,  when  settlements 
within  that  domain  became  permanent,1  and  tides  of  emigration  from  various 
sources  flowed  thitherward,  began  to  have  gorgeous  visions  of  an  empire  in 
America,  that  should  outshine  those  of  the  Old  World.  It  then  became  their 
first  care  to  frame  a  constitution  of  government,  with  functions  adequate  to  the 
grand  design,  and  to  this  task,  the  earl  of  Shaftesbury,  one  of  the  ablest  states 
men  of  his  time,  and  John  Locke,  the  eminent  philosopher,  were  called.  They 
completed  their  labors  in  March,  1669,  and  the  instrument  was  called  the 
Fundamental  Constitutions?  It  was  in  the  highest  degree  monarchical  in  its 
character  and  tendency,  and  contemplated  the  transplantation,  in  America,  of 
all  the  ranks  and  aristocratic  distinctions  of  European  society.3  The  spirit  of 
the  whole  thing  was  adverse  to  the  feelings  of  the  people,  and  its  practical 
development  was  an  impossibility  ;  so,  after  a  contest  between  proprietors  and 
colonists,  for  twenty  years,  the  magnificent  scheme  was  abandoned,  and  tho 
people  were  allowed  to  govern  themselves,  in  their  own  more  simple  way.4  The 
disorders  which  prevailed  when  the  first  attempts  were  made  to  impose  this 
scheme  of  government  upon  the  people,  soon  ripened  into  rebellion,  especially  in 
the  Albemarle,  or  northern  colony.5  Excessive  taxation  and  commercial  restric 
tions  bore  heavily  upon  the  industry  of  the  people,  and  engendered  wide-spread 
discontent.  This  was  fostered  by  refugees  from  Virginia,  after  Bacon's  rebel 
lion,  in  1676, 6  who  sought  shelter  among  the  people  below  the  Roanoke.  They 
scattered,  broad-cast,  over  a  generous  soil,  vigorous  ideas  of  popular  freedom, 
and  a  year  after  Bacon's  death,7  the  people  of  the  Albemarle  County  Colony* 
revolted.  The  immediate  cause  of  this  movement  was  the  attempt  of  the  acting 
governor  to  enforce  the  revenue  laws  against  a  New  England  vessel.  Led  on 
by  John  Culpepper,  a  refugee  from  the  CARTERET  County  Colony  of  South 
Carolina,9  the  people  seized  the  chief  magistrate  [Dec.  10,  1677]  and  the  pub 
lic  funds,  imprisoned  him  and  six  of  his  council,  called  a  new  Assembly,  ap 
pointed  a  new  magistrate  and  judges,  and  for  two  years  conducted  the  affairs  of 
government  independent  of  foreign  control.  Culpepper  went  to  England  to 
plead  the  cause  of  the  people,  and  wTas  arrested  and  tried  on  a  charge  of  treason. 

1  Pages  97  and  98. 

2  It  consists  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  articles,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  production, 
chiefly,  of  the  mind  of  Shaftesbury. 

8  There  were  to  be  two  orders  of  nobility :  the  higher  to  consist  of  landgraves,  or  earls,  the 
lower  of  caciques,  or  barons.  The  territory  was  to  be  divided  into  counties,  each  containing  480,000 
acres,  with  one  landgrave,  and  two  caciques.  There  were  also  to  be  lords  of  manors,  who,  like  the 
nobles,  might  hold  courts  and  exercise  judicial  functions.  Persons  holding  fifty  acres  were  to  be 
freeholders ;  the  tenants  held  no  political  franchise,  and  could  n^ver  attain  to  a  higher  rank.  The 
four  estates  of  proprietors,  earls,  barons,  and  commons,  were  to  sit  in  one  legislative  chamber.  The 
proprietors  were  always  to  be  eight  in  number,  to  possess  the  whole  judicial  power,  and  have  the 
supreme  control  of  all  tribunals.  The  commons  were  to  have  four  members  in  the  legislature  to 
every  three  of  the  nobility.  Thus  an  aristocratic  majority  was  always  secured,  and  the  real  repre 
sentatives  of  the  people  had  no  power.  Every  religion  was  professedly  tolerated,  but  the  Church 
of  England,  only,  was  declared  to  be  orthodox.  Such  is  an  outline  of  the  absurd  scheme  proposed 
for  governing  the  free  colonies  of  the  Carolinas. 

4  A  governor,  with  a  council  of  twelve — six  chosen  by  the  proprietors,  and  six  by  the  Assembly 
— and  a  House  of  Delegates  chosen  by  the  freeholders. 

5  Page  97.  e  Page  110.  7  Page  112. 
8  Page  97. 


1680-]  THE     CAROLINAS.  165 

Shaftesbury  procured  his  acquittal,  and  he  returned  to  the  Carolinas.1  Quiet 
was  restored  to  the  colony,  and  until  the  arrival  of  the  unprincipled  Seth 
Sothel  (one  of  the  proprietors),  as  governor,  the  people  enjoyed  repose.  Thus 
early  the  inhabitants  of  that  feeble  colony  practically  asserted  the  grand  politi 
cal  maxim,  that  taxation  without  representation  is  tyranny?  for  the  defense 
of  which  our  Revolutionary  fathers  fought,  a  century  afterward. 

Governor  Sothel  arrived  in  North  Carolina  in  1683.  Martin  says  that 
"  the  dark  shades  of  his  character  were  not  relieved  by  a  single  ray  of  virtue ;" 
and  Chalmers  asserts  that  "the  annals  of  delegated  authority  included  no  name 
so  infamous  as  Sothel."  He  plundered  the  people,  cheated  the  proprietors,  and 
on  all  occasions  prostituted  his  office  to  purposes  of  private  gain.  After  endur 
ing  his  oppression  almost  six  years,  the  people  seized  him  [1689],  and  were 
about  sending  him  to  England  to  answer  their  accusations  before  the  proprietors, 
when  he  asked  to  be  tried  by  the  colonial  Assembly.  The  favor  was  granted, 
and  he  was  sentenced  to  banishment  for  one  year,  and  a  perpetual  disquali 
fication  for  the  office  of  governor.  He  withdrew  to  the  southern  colony,  where 
we  shall  meet  him  again.3  His  successor,  Philip  Ludwell,  an  energetic,  incor 
ruptible  man,  soon  redressed  the  wrongs  of  the  people,  and  restored  order  and 
good  feelings.  Governors  Harvey  and  Walker  also  maintained  quiet  and  good 
will  among  the  people.  And  the  good  Quaker,  John  Archdale,  who  came  to 
govern  both  Carolinas  in  1695,  placed  the  colony  in  a  position  for  attaining 
future  prosperity,  hitherto  unknown. 

While  these  events  were  transpiring  in  the  northern  colony,  the  people  of 
the  Carter  et*  or  southern  colony,  were  steadily  advancing  in  wealth  and  num 
bers.  Their  first  popular  legislature  of  which  we  have  records,  was  convened 
in  1674, 5  but  it  exhibited  an  unfavorable  specimen  of  republican  government. 
Jarring  interests  and  conflicting  creeds  produced  violent  debates  and  irreconcil 
able  discord.  For  a  long  time  the  colony  was  distracted  by  quarrels,  and 
anarchy  prevailed.  At  length  the  Stono  Indians  gathered  in  bands,  and  plun 
dered  the  plantations  of  grain  and  cattle,  and  even  menaced  the  settlers  with 
destruction.  The  appearance  of  this  common  enemy  healed  their  dissensions, 
and  the  people  went  out  as  brothers  to  chastise  the  plunderers.  They  com 
pletely  subdued  the  Indians,  in  1680.  Many  of  them  were  made  prisoners, 
and  sold  for  slaves  in  the  West  Indies,  and  the  Stonos  never  afterward  had  a 
tribal  existence. 

Wearied  by  the  continual  annoyance  of  the  Indians,  many  English  families 


1  Culpepper  afterward  became  surveyor-general  of  the  province,  and  in  1680.  he  was  employed 
in  laying  out  the  new  city  of  Charleston."  [See  next  page.]    His  previous  expulsion  from  the  southern 
colony,  was  on  account  of  his  connection  with  a  rebellious  movement  in  1672. 

2  Page  211.  3  Page  167.  4  Page  98. 

5  The  settlers  brought  with  them  an  unfinished  copy  of  the  "  Fundamental  Constitutions"  but 
they  at  once  perceived  the  impossibility  of  conformity  to  that  scheme  of  government.  They  held  a 
"parliamentary  convention"  in  1672,  and  twenty  delegates  were  elected  by  the  people  to  act  with 
the  governor  and  the  council,  as  a  legislature.  Thus  early,  representative  government  was  estab 
lished,  but  its  operations  seem  not  to  have  been  very  successful,  and  a  legislature  proper,  of  which 
we  have  any  record,  was  not  organized  until  1674,  when  an  upper  and  a  lower  House  was  estab 
lished,  and  laws  for  the  province  wero  enacted. 


166 


THE     COLONIES. 


[1665. 


CHARLESTON   IN    1680. 


crossed  the  Ashley,  and  seated  themselves  upon  the  more  eligible  locality  of 
Oyster  Point,  where  they  founded  the  present  city  of  Charleston,1  in  1680. 

There  a  flourishing  village  soon  appeared ; 
and  after  the  subjugation  of  the  savages,2 
the  old  settlement  was  abandoned,  and  now 
not  a  vestige  of  it  remains  upon  the  culti 
vated  plantation  at  Old  Town,  where  it 
stood.  The  Dutch  settlers3  spread  over 
the  country  along  the  Edisto  and  San- 
tee,  and  planted  the  seeds  of  future  flour 
ishing  communities,  while  immigrants  from 
different  parts  of  Europe  and  from  New 
England  swelled  the  population  of  Charles 
ton  and  vicinity.  Nor  did  they  neglect  political  affairs.  While  they  were 
vigilant  in  all  that  pertained  to  their  material  interests,  they  were  also  aspir 
ants,  even  at  that  early  day,  for  political  independence. 

Another  popular  legislature  was  convened  at  Charleston  in  1682.  It  ex 
hibited  more  harmony  than  the  first,4  and  several  useful  laws  were  framed. 
Emigration  was  now  pouring  in  a  tide  of  population  more  rapid  than  any  of  the 
colonies  below  New  England  had  yet  experienced.  Ireland,  Scotland,5  Holland, 
and  France,  contributed  largely  to  the  flowing  stream.  In  1686-7,  quite  a 
large  number  of  Huguenots,  who  had  escaped  from  the  fiery  persecutions  which 
were  revived  in  France  by  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,6  landed  at 
Charleston.  English  hatred  of  the  French7  caused  the  settlers  to  look  with 

o 

jealousy  upon  these  refugees,  and  for  more  than  ten  years  [1686  to  1697]  the 
latter  were  denied  the  rights  of  citizenship. 

Shaftesbury's  scheme  of  government  was  as  distasteful  to  the  people  of 
South  Carolina,  as  to  those  of  the  northern  colony,5  and  they  refused  to  accept 
it.  They  became  very  restive,  and  seemed  disposed  to  cast  off  all  allegiance  to 
the  proprietors  and  the  mother  country.  At  this  crisis,  James  Colleton,  a 
brother  of  one  of  the  proprietors,  was  appointed  governor  [1686].  and  was 
vested  with  full  powers  to  bring  the  colonists  into  submission.  His  administra 
tion  of  about  four  years  was  a  very  turbulent  one.  He  was  in  continual  colli- 

1  Note  1,  page  165.     The  above  engraving  illustrates  the  manner  of  fortifying  towns,  as  a  de 
fense  against  foes.     It  exhibits  the  walls  of  Charleston  in  1 680,  and  the'  location  of  churches  in 
1704.     The  points  marked  a  a  a,  etc.,  are  bastions  for  cannons.     P,  English  church;  Q,  French 
church ;  R,  Independent  church ;  S,  Anabaptist  church ;  and  T,  Quaker  meeting-house. 

2  Page  165. 

3  They  had  founded  the  village  of  Jamestown  several  miles  up  the  Ashley  River. 

4  Page  164. 

6  In  1684,  Lord  Cardon,  and  ten  Scotch  families,  who  had  suffered  persecution,  came  to  South 
Carolina,  and  settled  at  Port  Royal.  The  Spaniards  at  St.  Augustine  claimed  jurisdiction  over  Port 
Royal;  and  during  the  absence  of  Cardon  [1686],  they  attacked  and  dispersed  the  settlers,  and  des 
olated  their  plantations. 

6  In  the  city  of  Nantes,  Henry  the  Fourth  of  France  issued  an  edict,  in  1598.  in  favor  of  the 
Huguenots,  or  Protestants,  allowing  them  free  toleration.  The  profligate  Louis  the  Fourteenth, 
stung  with  remorse  in  his  old  age,  sought  to  gain  the  favor  of  Heaven  by  bringing  his  whole  people 
into  the  bosom  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  He  revoked  the  famous  edict  in  1686,  and  instantly 
the  fires  of  persecution  were  kindled  throughout  the  empire.  Many  thousands  of  the  Protestants 
left  France,  and  found  refuge  in  other  countries.  7  Page  180.  8  Page  97- 


m5-]  THE    CAROLINAS. 

167 

sion  with  the  people,  and  at  length  drove  them  to  open  rebellion.  They  seized 
the  public  records,  imprisoned  the  secretary  of  the  province,  and  called  a  new 
Assembly.  Pleading  the  danger  of  an  Indian  or  Spanish  invasion,1  the  gov 
ernor  called  out  the  militia,  and  proclaimed  the  province  to  be  under  martial 
law.2  This  measure  only  increased  the  exasperation  of  the  people,  and  he  was 
impeached,  and  banished  from  the  province  by  the  Assembly,  in  1690. 

While  this  turbulence  and  misrule  was  at  its  height,  Sothel  arrived  from 
North  Carolina,  pursuant  to  his  sentence  of  banishment,3  and  the  people  un 
wisely  consented  to  his  assumption  of  the  office  of  governor.4  They  soon 
repented  their  want  of  judgment.  For  two  years  he  plundered  and  oppressed 
them,  and  then  [1692]  the  Assembly  impeached  and  banished  him  also.  Then 
came  Philip  Ludlow  to  re-establish  the  authority  of  the  proprietors,  but  the 
people,  thoroughly  aroused,  resolved  not  to  tolerate  even  so  good  a  man  as  he, 
if  his  mission  was  to  enforce  obedience  to  the  absurd  Fundamental  Constitu 
tions?  After  a  brief  and  turbulent  administration,  he  gladly  withdrew  to  Vir 
ginia,  and  soon  afterward  [1693],  the  proprietors  abandoned  Shaftesbury's 
scheme,  and  the  good  Quaker,  John  Archdale,  was  sent,  in  1695,  to  administer 
a  more  simple  and  republican  form  of  government,  for  both  the  Carolinas.  His 
administration  was  short,  but  highly  beneficial  ;6  and  the  people  of  South  Car 
olina  always  looked  back  to  the  efforts  of  that  good  man,  with  gratitude.  He 
healed  dissensions,  established  equitable  laws,  and  so  nearly  effected  an  entire 
reconciliation  of  the  English  to  the  French  settlers,  that  in  the  year  succeeding 
his  departure  from  the  province,  the  Assembly  admitted  the  latter  [1697]  to  all 
the  privileges  of  citizens  and  freemen.  From  the  close  of  Archdale' s  adminis 
tration,  the  progress  of  the  two  Carolina  colonies  should  be  considered  as  separ 
ate  and  distinct,  although  they  were  not  politically  separated  until  1729.7 

NORTH     CAROLINA. 

We  may  properly  date  the  permanent  prosperity  of  North  Carolina  from  the 
adminstration  of  Archdale,8  when  the  colonists  began  to  turn  their  attention  to 
the  interior  of  the  country,  where  richer  soil  invited  the  agriculturist,  and  the 
fur  of  the  beaver  and  otter  allured  the  adventurous  hunter.  The  Indians  alono- 

o 

the  sea-coast  were  melting  away  like  frost  in  the  sunbeams.  The  powerful 
Hatteras  tribe,9  which  numbered  three  thousand  in  Raleigh's  time,  were  reduced 
to  fifteen  bowmen  ;  another  tribe  had  entirely  disappeared ;  and  the  remnants 
of  some  others  had  sold  their  lands  or  lost  them  by  fraud,  and  were  driven  back 
to  the  deep  wilderness.  Indulgence  in  strong  drinks,  and  other  vices  of  civiliz- 

1  The  Spaniards  at  St.  Augustine  had  menaced  the  English  settlements  in  South  Carolina,  and, 
as  we  have  seen  [note  5,  page  ]  66],  had  actually  broken  up  a  little  Scotch  colony  at  Port  Royal. 

2  Note  8,  page  170.  3  Page  165. 

4  On  his  arrival,  Sothel  took  sides  with  the  people  against  Colleton,  arid  thus,  in  the  moment  of 
their  anger,  he  unfortunately  gained  their  good  will  and  confidence.  b  Page  164. 

6  The  culture  of  rice  was  introduced  into  South  Carolina  during  Archdale's  administration. 
Some  seed  was  given  to  the  governor  by  the  captain  of  a  vessel  from  Madagascar.     It  was  distrib 
uted  among  several  planters,  and  thus  its  cultivation  began. 

7  Page  171.  B  Page  165.  °  Note  5,  page  20. 


168  THE     COLONIES.  [16G5. 

ation,  had  decimated  them,  and  their  beautiful  land,  all  the  way  to  the  Yadkin 
and  Catawba,  was  speedily  opened  to  the  sway  of  the  white  man. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  eighteenth  century,  religion  began  to  exert  an 
influence  in  North  Carolina.  The  first  Anglican1  church  edifice  was  then  built 
in  Chowan  county,  in  1705.  The  Quakers2  multiplied;  and  in  1707,  a  com 
pany  of  Huguenots,3  who  had  settled  in  Virginia,  came  and  sat  down  upon  the 
beautiful  banks  of  the  Trent,  a  tributary  of  the  Neuse  River.  Two  years  later 
[1709],  a  hundred  German  families,  driven  from  their  homes  on  the  Rhine,  by 
persecution,  penetrated  the  interior  of  North  Carolina,  and  under  Count  Graf- 
fenried,  founded  settlements  along  the  head  waters  of  the  Neuse,  and  upon  the 
Roanoke.  While  settlements  were  thus  spreading  and  strengthening,  and  gen 
eral  prosperity  blessed  the  province,  a  fearful  calamity  fell  upon  the  inhabitants 
of  the  interior.  The  broken  Indian  tribes  made  a  last  effort,  in  1711,  to  regain 
the  beautiful  country  they  had  lost.  The  leaders  in  the  conspiracy  to  crush 
the  white  people,  were  the  Tuscaroras4  of  the  inland  region,  and  the  Corees5 
further  south  and  near  the  sea-board.  They  fell  like  lightning  from  the  clouds 
upon  the  scattered  German  settlements  along  the  Roanoke  and  Pamlico  Sound. 
In  one  night  [Oct.  2,  1711],  one  hundred  and  thirty  persons  perished  by  the 
hatchet.  Along  Albemarle  Sound,  the  savages  swept  with  the  knife  of  mur 
der  in  one  hand,  and  the  torch  of  desolation  in  the  other,  and  for  three  days 
they  scourged  the  white  people,  until  disabled  by  fatigue  and  drunkenness. 
Those  who  escaped  the  massacre  called  upon  their  brethren  of  the  southern 
colony  for  aid,  and  Colonel  Barnwell,  with  a  party  of  Carolinians  and  friendly 
Indians  of  the  southern  nations,6  marched  to  their  relief.  He  drove  the  Tus 
caroras  to  their  fortified  town  in  the  present  Craven  county,  and  there  made  a 
treaty  of  peace  with  them.  His  troops  violated  the  treaty  on  their  way  back, 
by  outrages  upon  the  Indians,  and  soon  hostilities  were  renewed.  Late  in  the 
year  [Dec.,  1712],  Colonel  Moore7  arrived  from  South  Carolina  with  a  few  white 
men  and  a  large  body  of  Indians,  and  drove  the  Tuscaroras  to  their  fort  in  the 
present  Greene  county,  wherein  [March,  1713]  he  made  eight  hundred  of  them 
prisoners.  The  remainder  of  the  Tuscaroras  fled  northward  in  June,  and  join 
ing  their  kindred  on  the  southern  borders  of  Lake  Ontario,  they  formed  the 
sixth  nation  of  the  celebrated  IROQUOIS  confederacy  in  the  province  of  New 
York.8  A  treaty  of  peace  was  made  with  the  Corees  in  1715,  and  North  Car 
olina  never  afterward  suffered  from  Indian  hostilities.9 

SOUTH     CAROLINA. 

Although  really  united,  the  two  colonies  acted  independently  of  each  other 
from  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Soon  after  the  commencement  of 

1  The  established  Church  of  England  was  so  called,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  Romish  Church. 

2  Page  122.  3  Page  49.  *  Page  25.  5  Page  20. 

15  They  consisted  of  Creeks,  Catawbas,  Cherokees,  and  Yamassees.    See  pages  26  to  30,  inclusive. 

7  A  son  of  James  Moore,  who  was  governor  of  South  Carolina  in  1700.  8  Page  23. 

8  The  province  issued  bills  of  credit  (for  the  first  time)  to  the  amount  of  about  forty  thousand 
dollars,  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  war. 


THE     CAROLINAS.  ^gg 

Queen  Anne's  War1  [May,  1702],  Governor  Moore  of  South  Carolina,  proposed 
an  expedition  against  the  Spaniards  at  St.  Augustine.2  The  Assembly  assented, 
and  appropriated  almost  ten  thousand  dollars  for  the  service.  Twelve  hundred 
men  (one  half  Indians)  were  raised,  and  proceeded,  in  two  divisions,  to  the 
attack.  The  main  division,  under  the  governor,  went  by  sea,  to  blockade  the 
harbor,  and  the  remainder  proceeded  along  the  coast,  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Daniels.  The  latter  arrived  first,  and  attacked  and  plundered  the 
town.  The  Spaniards  retired  within  their  fortress  with  provisions  for  four 
months ;  and  as  the  Carolinians  had  no  artillery,  their  position  was  impreg 
nable.  Daniels  was  then  sent  to  Jamaica,  in  the  West  Indies,  to  procure  bat 
tery  cannon,  but  before  his  return,  two  Spanish  vessels  had  appeared,  and  so 
frightened  Governor  Moore  that  he  raised  the  blockade,  and  fled.  Daniels 
barely  escaped  capture,  on  his  return,  but  he  reached  Charleston  in  safety. 
This  ill-advised  expedition  burdened  the  colony  with  a  debt  of  more  than 
twenty-six  thousand  dollars,  for  the  payment  of  which,  bills  of  credit  were 
issued.  This  was  the  first  emission  of  paper  money  in  the  Carolinas. 

A  more  successful  expedition  was  undertaken  by  Governor  Moore,  in  De 
cember,  1703,  against  the  Apalachian3  Indians,  who  were  in  league  with  the 
Spaniards.  Their  chief  villages  were  between  the  Alatamaha  and  Savannah 
Rivers.  These  were  desolated.  Almost  eight  hundred  Indians  were  taken 
prisoners,  and  the  whole  territory  of  the  Apalachians  was  made  tributary  to  the 
English.  The  province  had  scarcely  become  tranquil  after  this  chastisement  of 
the  Indians,  when  a  new  cause  for  disquietude  appeared.  Some  of  the  proprie 
tors  had  long  cherished  a  scheme  for  establishing  the  Anglican  Church,4  as  the 
State  religion,  in  the  Carolinas.  When  Nathaniel  Johnson  succeeded  Governor 
Moore,  he  found  a  majority  of  churchmen  in  the  Assembly,  and  by  their  aid, 
the  wishes  of  the  proprietors  were  gratified.  The  Anglican  Church  was  made 
the  established  religion,  and  Dissenters5  were  excluded  from  all  public  offices. 
This  was  an  usurpation  of  chartered  rights ;  and  the  aggrieved  party  laid  the 
matter  before  the  imperial  ministry.  Their  cause  was  sustained ;  and  by  order 
of  Parliament,  the  colonial  Assembly,  in  November,  1706,  repealed  the  law  of 
disfranchisement,  but  the  Church  maintained  its  dominant  position  until  the 
Revolution. 

The  ire  of  the  Spaniards  was  greatly  excited  by  the  attack  upon  St.  Augus 
tine,6  and  an  expedition,  composed  of  five  French  and  Spanish  vessels,7  with  a 
large  body  of  troops,  was  sent  from  Havana  to  assail  Charleston,  take  posses 
sion  of  the  province,  and  annex  it  to  the  Spanish  domain  of  Florida.8  The 
squadron  crossed  Charleston  bar  in  May,  1706,  and  about  eight  hundred  troops 
were  landed  at  different  points.  The  people  seized  their  arms,  and,  led  by  the 
governor  and  Colonel  Rhett,  they  drove  the  invaders  back  to  their  vessels,  after 

1  Page  135.  2  Pa£e  51- 

3  A  tribe  of  the  Mobilian  family  [page  29]  situated  south  of  the  Savannah  River. 

4  Note  1,  page  168.  5  Note  2,  page  76.  6  Page  51. 

7  It  will  be  remembered  [see  page  135]  that  in  1702,  England  declared  war  against  France,  and 
that  Spain  was  a  party  to  the  quarrel.  ™a°c 


170  THE     COLONIES.  [1665. 

killing  or  capturing  almost  three  hundred  men.  They  also  captured  a  French 
vessel,  with  its  crew.  It  was  a  complete  victory.  So  the  storm  which  appeared 
so  suddenly  and  threatening,  was  dissipated  in  a  day,  and  the  sunshine  of  peace 
and  prosperity  again  gladdened  the  colony. 

A  few  years  later,  a  more  formidable  tempest  brooded  over  the  colony, 
when  a  general  Indian  confederacy  was  secretly  formed,  to  exterminate  the 
white  people  by  a  single  blow.  Within  forty  days,  in  the  spring  of  1715,  the 
Indian  tribes  from  the  Cape  Fear  to  the  St.  Mary's,  and  back  to  the  mountains, 
had  coalesced  in  the  conspiracy;  and  before  the  people  of  Charleston  had  any 
intimation  of  danger,  one  hundred  white  victims  had  been  sacrificed  in  the 
remote  settlements.  The  Creeks,1  Yamasees,2  and  Apalachians3  on  the  south, 
confederated  with  the  Cherokees,4  Catawbas,5  and  Congarees*  on  the  west,  in  all  six 
thousand  stron^ :  wrhile  more  than  a  thousand  warriors  issued  from  the  Neuse 

O  J 

region,  to  avenge  their  misfortunes  in  the  wrars  of  1712-1 3. 7  It  was  a  cloud 
of  fearful  portent  that  hung  in  the  sky ;  and  the  people  were  filled  with  terror, 
for  they  knew  not  at  what  moment  the  consuming  lightning  might  leap  forth. 
At  this  fearful  crisis,  Governor  Craven  acted  with  the  utmost  wisdom  and 
energy.  He  took  measures  to  prevent  men  from  leaving  the  colony ;  to  secure 
all  the  arms  and  ammunition  that  could  be  found,  and  to  arm  faithful  negroes 
to  assist  the  white  people.  He  declared  the  province  to  be  under  martial  law,8 
and  then,  at  the  head  of  twelve  hundred  men,  black  and  white,  he  marched  to 
meet  the  foe  who  were  advancing  with  the  knife,  hatchet,  and  torch,  in  fearful 
activity.  The  Indians  were  at  first  victorious,  but  after  several  bloody  encount 
ers,  the  Yamassees  and  their  southern  neighbors  were  driven  across  the  Savan 
nah  [May,  1715],  and  halted  not  until  they  found  refuge  under  Spanish  guns 
at  St.  Augustine.  The  Cherokees  and  their  northern  neighbors  had  not  yet 
engaged  in  the  war,  and  they  returned  to  their  hunting  grounds,  deeply 
impressed  with  the  strength  and  greatness  of  the  white  people. 

And  now  the  proprietary  government  of  South  Carolina  was  drawing  to  a 
close.  The  governors  being  independent  of  the  people,  were  often  haughty  and 
exacting,  and  the  inhabitants  had  borne  the  yoke  of  their  rule  for  many  years, 
with  great  impatience.  While  their  labor  wras  building  up  a  prosperous  State, 
the  proprietors  refused  to  assist  them  in  times  of  danger,  or  to  re-imburse 
their  expenses  in  the  protection  of  the  province  from  invasion.  The  whole 
burden  of  debt  incurred  in  the  war  with  the  Yamassees,  was  left  upon  the 
shoulders  of  the  people.  The  proprietors  not  only  refused  to  pay  any  por 
tion  of  it,  but  enforced  their  claims  for  quit-rents  with  great  severity.  The 
people  saw  no  hope  in  the  future,  but  in  royal  rule  and  protection.  So  they 
met  in  convention ;  resolved  to  forswear  all  allegiance  to  the  proprietors ;  and 
on  Governor  Johnson's  refusal  to  act  as  chief  magistrate,  under  the  king,  they 

1  Page  30.  "-  Page  30.  3  Note  3,  page  168.  "  Page  27.  5  Page  26. 

6  This  was  a  small  tribe  that  inhabited  the  country  in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  city  of  Colum 
bia,  in  South  Carolina,  7  Page  168. 

8  Martial  law  may  be  proclaimed  by  rulers,  in  an  emergency,  and  the  civil  law,  for  the  time 
being,  is  made  subservient  to  the  military.  The  object  is  to  allow  immediate  and  energetic  action 
for  repelling  invasions,  or  for  other  purposes. 


-1755-]  GEORGIA. 

1<1 

appointed  [December  21,  1719]  Colonel  Moore1  governor  of  the  colony  The 
matter  was  laid  before  the  imperial  government,  when  the  colonists  were  su<- 
tamed,  and  bouth  Carolina  became  a  royal  province.2 

The  people  of  North  Carolina3  also  resolved  on  a  change  of  government - 
and  after  a  continued  controversy  for  ten  years,  the  proprietors,  in  1729  sold 
to  the  king,  for  about  eighty  thousand  dollars,  all  their  claims  to  the  soil  and 
incomes  in  both  provinces.  North  and  South  Carolina  were  then  separated. 
George  Burrington  was  appointed  the  first  royal  governor  over  the  former  and 
Robert  Johnson  over  the  latter.  From  that  period  until  the  commencement  of 
the  French  and  Indian  war,4  the  general  history  of  the  CAKOLOAS  presents  but 
few  features  of  interest,  except  the  efforts  made  for  defending  the  colony  against 
the  Spaniards  and  the  Indians.  The  people  gained  very  little  by  a  change  of 
owners  ;  and  during  forty-five  years,  until  the  revolution  made  the  peopb 
independent,  there  was  a  succession  of  disputes  with  the  royal  governors. 


CHAPTER     X . 

GEORGIA.      [1732.] 

THE  colony  founded  by  Oglethorpe  on  the  Savannah  River  rapidly 
increased  in  numbers,  and  within  eight  years,  twenty-five  hundred  immigrants 
were  sent  over,  at  an  expense  to  the  trustees5  of  four  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
Yet  prosperity  did  not  bless  the  enterprise.  Many  of  the  settlers  were  unac 
customed  to  habits  of  industry,  and  were  mere  drones ;  and  as  the  use  of  slave 
labor  was  prohibited,  tillage  was  neglected.  Even  the  industrious  Scotch,  Ger 
man,  and  Swiss  families  who  came  over  previous  to  1740,  could  not  give  that 
vitality  to  industrial  pursuits,  which  was  necessary  to  a  development  of  the 
resources  of  the  country.  Anxious  for  the  permanent  growth  of  the  colony, 
Oglethorpe  went  to  England  in  1734,  and  returned  in  1736,  with  about  three 
hundred  immigrants.  Among  them  were  one  hundred  and  fifty  Highlanders, 
well  skilled  in  military  affairs.  These  constituted  the  first  army  of  the  colony 
during  its  early  struggles.  John  Wesley,  founder  of  the  Methodist  denom 
ination,  also  came  with  Oglethorpe,  to  make  Georgia  a  religious  colony,  and  to 
spread  the  gospel  among  the  Indians.  He  was  unsuccessful ;  for  his  strict 
moral  doctrines,  his  fearless  denunciations  of  vice,  and  his  rigid  exercise  of 
ecclesiastical  authority  made  him  quite  unpopular  among  the  great  mass  of  the 
colonists,  who  winced  at  restraint.  The  eminent  George  Whitefield  also  visited 
Georgia  in  1738,  when  only  twenty-three  years  of  age,-  and  succeeded  in  estab 
lishing  an  orphan  asylum  near  Savannah,  which  flourished  many  years,  and 

1  Note  7,  page  168. 

2  The  first  governor,  by  royal  appointment,  was  Francis  Nicholson,  who  had  been  successively 
.governor  of  New  York  [page  144],  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  Nova  Scotia. 

'     3  Page  167.  4  Page  179.  5  Page  100. 


172  THE     COLONIES.  [1732. 

was  a  real  blessing.  The  Christian  efforts  of  those  men,  prosecuted  with  the 
most  sincere  desire  for  the  good  of  their  fellow-mortals,  were  not  appreciated. 
Their  seed  fell  upon  stony  ground,  and  after  the  death  of  Whitefield,  in  1770, 
his  "House  of  Mercy"  in  Georgia,  deprived  of  his  sustaining  influence,  became 
a  desolation. 

A  cloud  of  trouble  appeared  in  the  Southern  horizon.  The  rapid  increase 
of  the  new  colony  excited  the  jealousy  of  the  Spaniards  at  St.  Augustine,  and 
the  vigilant  Oglethorpe,  expecting  such  a  result,  prepared  to  oppose  any  hos 
tile  movements  against  his  settlement.  He  established  a  fort  on  the  site  of 
Augusta,  as  a  defence  against  the  Indians,  and  he  erected  fortifications  at 
Darien,  on  Cumberland  Island,  at  Frederica  (St.  Simon's  Island),  and  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  St.  John,  the  southern  boundary  of  the  English  claims. 
Spanish  commissioners  came  from  St.  Augustine  to  protest  against  these  prepar 
ations,  and  to  demand  the  immediate  evacuation  of  the  whole  of  Georgia,  and 
of  all  South  Carolina  below  Port  Royal.1  Oglethorpe,  of  course,  refused  com 
pliance,  and  the  Spaniards  threatened  him  with  war.  In  the  winter  of  1736-7, 
Oglethorpe  went  to  England  to  make  preparations  to  meet  the  exigency.  He 
returned  in  October  following,  bearing  the  commission  of  a  brigadier,  and  lead 
ing  a  regiment  of  six  hundred  well-disciplined  troops,  for  the  defense  of  the 
whole  southern  frontier  of  the  English  possessions.2  But  for  two  years  their 
services  were  not  much  needed  ;  then  war  broke  out  between  England  and 
Spain  [November,  1739],  and  Oglethorpe  prepared  an  expedition  against  St. 
Augustine.  In  May,  1740,  he  entered  Florida  with  four  hundred  of  his  best 
troops,  some  volunteers  from  South  Carolina,  and  a  large  body  of  friendly 
Creek  Indians  ;3  in  all  more  than  two  thousand  men.  His  first  conquest  was 
Fort  Diego,  twenty  miles  from  St.  Augustine.  Then  Fort  Moosa,  within  two 
miles  of  the  city,  surrendered ;  but  when  he  appeared  before  the  town  and  for 
tress,  and  demanded  instant  submission,  he  was  answered  by  a  defiant  refusal. 
A  small  fleet  under  Captain  Price  blockaded  the  harbor,  and  for  a  time  cut  off 
supplies  from  the  Spaniards,  but  swift- winged  galleys1'  passed  through  the  block 
ading  fleet,  and  supplied  the  garrison  with  several  weeks'  provisions.  Ogle 
thorpe  had  no  artillery  with  which  to  attack  the  fortress,  and  being  warned  by 
the  increasing  heats  of  summer,  and  sickness  in  his  camp,  not  to  wait  for  their 
supplies  to  become  exhausted,  he  raised  the  siege  and  returned  to  Savannah. 

The  ire  of  the  Spaniards  was  aroused,  and  they,  in  turn,  prepared  to  invade 
Georgia  in  the  summer  of  1742.  An  armament,  fitted  out  at  Havana  and  St. 
Augustine,  and  consisting  of  thirty-six  vessels,  with  more  than  three  thousand 
troops,  entered  the  harbor  of  St.  Simon's,  and  landed  a  little  above  the  town 
of  the  same  name,  on  the  16th  of  July,  1742,  and  erected  a  battery  of  twenty 
guns.  Oglethorpe  had  been  apprised  of  the  intentions  of  the  Spaniards,  and 


1  Note  5,  page  166. 

"  His  commission  gave  him  the  command  of  the  militia  of  South  Carolina  also,  and  he  etood  as 
a  guard  between  the  English  and  Spanish  possessions  of  the  southern  country.  3  Page  30. 

4  A  low  built  vessel  propelled  by  both  sails  and  oars.  The  war  vessels  of  the  ancients  were  all 
galleys.  See  Norman  vessel,  page  35. 


1732.]  GEORGIA. 


173 


after  unsuccessfully  applying  to  the  governor  of  South  Carolina  for  troops  and 
supplies,  he  marched  to  St.  Simon's,  and  made  his  head- quarters  at  his  princi- 
fortress  at  Frederica.1  He  was  at  Fort  Simon,  near  the  landing  place  of  the 
invaders,  with  less  than  eight  hundred  men,  exclusive  of  Indians,  when  the 
enemy  appeared.  He  immediately  spiked  the  guns  of  the  fort,  destroyed  his 
stores,  and  retreated  to  Frederica.  There  he  anxiously  awaited  hoped-for  rein 
forcements  and  supplies  from  Carolina,  and  then  he  successfully  repulsed  several 
detachments  of  the  Spaniards,  who  attacked  him.  He  finally  resolved  to  make 
a  night  assault  upon  the  enemy's  battery,  at  St.  Simon's.  A  deserter  (p. 
French  soldier)  defeated  his  plan ;  but  the  sagacity  of  Oglethorpe  caused  the 
miscreant  to  be  instrumental  in  driving  the  invaders  from  the  coast.  He  bribed 
a  Spanish  prisoner  to  carry  a  letter  to  the  deserter,  which  contained  information 
respecting  a  British  fleet  that  was  about  to  attack  St.  Augustine.2  Of  course 
the  letter  was  handed  to  the  Spanish  commander,  and  the  Frenchman  was 
arrested  as  a  spy.  The  intelligence  in  Oglethorpe' s  letter  alarmed  the  enemy, 
and  while  the  officers  were  holding  a  council,  some  Carolina  vessels,  with  sup 
plies  for  the  garrison  at  Frederica,  appeared  in  the  distance.  Believing  them 
to  be  part  of  the  British  fleet  alluded  to,  the  Spaniards  determined  to  attack 
the  Georgians  immediately,  and  then  hasten  to  St.  Augustine.  On  their  march 
to  assail  Frederica,  they  were  ambuscaded  in  a  swamp.  Great  slaughter  of  the 
invaders  ensued,  and  the  place  is  still  called  Bloody  Marsh,  The  survivors 
retreated  in  confusion  to  their  vessels,  and  sailed  immediately  to  St.  Augustine.3 
On  their  way,  they  attacked  the  English  fort  at  the  southern  extremity  of  Cum 
berland  Island,4  on  the  19th  of  July,  but  were  repulsed  with  the  loss  of  two 
.galleys.  The  whole  expedition  was  so  disastrous  to  the  Spaniards,  that  the 
commander  (Don  Manuel  de  Monteano)  was  dismissed  from  the  service.  Ogle 
thorpe' s  stratagem  saved  Georgia,  and,  perhaps,  South  Carolina,  from  utter 
ruin. 

Having  fairly  established  his  colony,  Oglethorpe  went  to  England  in  1743, 
and  never  returned  to  Georgia,  where,  for  ten  years,  he  had  nobly  labored  to 
secure  an  attractive  asylum  for  the  oppressed.5  He  left  the  province  in  a  tran 
quil  state.  The  mild  military  rule  under  which  the  people  had  lived,  was 
changed  to  civil  government  in  1743,  administered  by  a  president  and  council, 
under  the  direction  of  the  trustees,0  yet  the  colony  continued  to  languish. 
Several  causes  combined  to  produce  this  condition.  We  have  already  alluded 
to  the  inefficiency  of  most  of  the  earlier  settlers,  and  the  prohibition  of  slave 
labor.7  They  were  also  deprived  of  the  privileges  of  commerce  and  of  traffic 

1  The  remains  of  Fort  Frederica  yet  formed  a  very  picturesque  ruin  on  the  plantation  of 
W.  W.  Hazzard,  Esq.,  of  St.  Simon's  Island,  in  1856. 

2  Oglethorpe  addressed  the  Frenchman  as  if  he  was  a  spy  of  the  English.     He  directed  tho 
deserter  to  represent  the  Georgians  as  in  a  weak  condition,  to  advise  the  Spaniards  to  attack  them 
immediately,  and  to  persuade  the  Spaniards  to  remain  three  days  longer,  within  which  ^  time  six 
British  men-of-war,  and  two  thousand  men,  from  Carolina,  would  probably  enter  the  haroor  ol 
Augustine. 

3  They  first  burned  Fort  Simon,  but  in  their  haste  they  left  several  of  their  cannons  and 
quantity  of  provisions  behind  them. 

4  Fort  William.     There  was  another  small  fort  on  the  northern  end  of  the  island.  calle< 
Andrew.  5  Page  100.  fl  Page  100.  7  Page  171. 


174  THE     COLONIES.  [1492. 

with  the  Indians ;  and  were  not  allowed  the  ownership,  in  fee,  of  the  lands 
which  they  cultivated.1  In  consequence  of  these  restrictions,  there  were  no 
incentives  to  labor,  except  to  supply  daily  wants.  General  discontent  pre 
vailed.  They  saw  the  Carolinians  growing  rich  by  the  use  of  slaves,  and  by 
commerce  with  the  West  Indies.  Gradually  the  restrictive  laws  were  evaded. 
Slaves  were  brought  from  Carolina,  and  hired,  first  for  a  short  period,  and  then 
for  a  hundred  years,  or  for  life.  The  price  paid  for  life-service  was  the  money 
value  of  the  slave,  and  the  transaction  was,  practically,  a  sale  and  purchase. 
Then  slave-ships  came  to  Savannah  directly  from  Africa ;  slave  labor  was  gen 
erally  used  in  1750,  and  Georgia  became  a  planting  State.  In  1752,  at  the 
expiration  of  the  twenty-one  years  named  in  the  patent,2  the  trustees  gladly 
resigned  the  charter  into  the  hands  of  the  king,  and  from  that  time  until  the 
Revolution,  Georgia  remained  a  royal  province. 


CHAP  TEE,    XI. 

A    RETROSPECT.     [1492—1756.] 

IN  the  preceding  pages  we  have  considered  the  principal  events  which 
occurred  within  the  domain  of  our  Republic  from  the  time  of  first  discoveries, 
in  1492,  to  the  commencement  of  the  last  inter-colonial  war  between  the  En 
glish  and  French  settlers,  a  period  of  about  two  hundred  and  sixty  years. 
During  that  time,  fifteen  colonies  were  planted,3  thirteen  of  which  were  com 
menced  within  the  space  of  about  fifty-six  years — from  1607  to  1673.  By  the 
union  of  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts,4  and  Connecticut  and  New  Haven,5  the 
number  of  colonies  wras  reduced  to  thirteen,  and  these  were  they  which  went 
into  the  revolutionary  contest  in  1775.  The  provinces  of  Canada  and  Nova 
Scotia,  conquered  by  the  English,  remained  loyal,  and  to  this  day  they  continue 
to  be  portions  of  the  British  empire. 

In  the  establishment  of  the  several  colonies,  which  eventually  formed  the 
thirteen  United  States  of  America,  several  European  nations  contributed  vig 
orous  materials ;  and  people  of  opposite  habits,  tastes,  and  religious  faith,  became 
commingled,  after  making  impressions  of  their  distinctive  characters  where  their 
influence  was  first  felt.  England  furnished  the  largest  proportion  of  colonists, 
and  her  children  always  maintained  sway  in  the  government  and  industry  of  the 
whole  country  ;  while  Scotland,  Ireland,  Germany,  Holland,  France,  Sweden, 
Denmark,  and  the  Baltic  region,  contributed  large  quotas  of  people  and  other 
colonial  instrumentalities.  Churchmen  and  Dissenters,6  Roman  Catholics  and 


6.  2  Page  100. 

3  Virginia,  Plymouth,  Massachusetts  Bay,  New  Hampshire,  Connecticut,  New  Haven,  Rhode 
Island,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  North  and  South  Carolina,  and 
Georgia.  4  Page  132.  &  Page  89.  6  Note  2,  page  76. 


1756-]  A    RETROSPECT.  1tr- 

175 

Quakers,1  came  and  sat  down  by  the  side  of  each  other.  For  a  while  the  dis 
sonance  of  nations  and  creeds  prevented  entire  harmony;  but  the  freedom  en 
joyed,  the  perils  and  hardships  encountered  and  endured,  the  conflicts  with 
pagan  savages  on  one  hand,  and  of  hierarchical2  and  governmental  oppression 
on  the  other,  which  they  maintained  for  generations,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  dif 
fused  a  brotherhood  of  feeling  throughout  the  whole  social  body  of  the  colonists 
and  resulted  in  harmony,  sympathy,  and  love.  And  when,  as  children  of  one 
family,  they  loyally  defended  the  integrity  of  Great  Britain  (then  become  the 
"  mother  country"  of  nearly  all)  against  the  aggressions  of  the  French  and  In 
dians3  [1756  to  1763],  and  yet  were  compelled,  by  the  unkindness  of  that 
mother,  to  sever  the  filial  bond4  [1776],  their  hearts  beat  as  with  one  pulsation, 
and  they  struck  the  dismembering  blow  as  with  one  hand. 

There  was  a  great  diversity  of  character  exhibited  by  the  people  of  the  sev 
eral  colonies,  differing  according  to  their  origin  and  the  influence  of  climate  and 
pursuits.  The  Virginians  and  their  southern  neighbors,  enjoying  a  mild  cli 
mate,  productive  of  tendencies  to  voluptuousness  and  ease,  were  from  those 
classes  of  English  society  where  a  lack  of  rigid  moral  discipline  allowed  free 
living  and  its  attendant  vices.  They  generally  exhibited  less  moral  restraint, 
more  hospitality,  and  greater  frankness,  and  social  refinement,  than  the  people 
of  New  England.  The  latter  were  from  among  the  middle  classes,  and  in 
cluded  a  great  many  religious  enthusiasts,  possessing  more  zeal  than  knowl- 
'  edge.  They  were  extremely  strict  in  their  notions ;  very  rigid  in  manners, 
and  jealous  of  strangers.  Their  early  legislation,  recognizing,  as  it  did,  the 
most  minute  regulations  of  social  life,  often  presented  food  for  merriment.6 
Yet  their  intentions  were  pure ;  their  designs  were  noble ;  and,  in  a  great  de 
gree,  their  virtuous  purposes  were  accomplished.  They  aimed  to  make  every 
member  of  society  a  Christian,  according  to  their  own  pattern  ;  and  if  they 
did  not  fully  accomplish  their  object,  they  erected  strong  bulwarks  against  those 

1  Note  6,  page  122,  and  note  3,  page  123. 

~  Hierarchy  is,  in  a  general  sense,  a  priestly  or  ecclesiastical  government.    Such  was  the  original 
form  of  government  of  the  ancient  Jews,  when  the  priesthood  held  absolute  rule. 

3  Period  IV.,  chapter  xii.,  page  179.  4  Page  251. 

5  They  assumed  the  right  to  regulate  the  expenditures  of  the  people,  even  for  wearing-apparel, 
according  to  their  several  incomes.  The  general  court  of  Massachusetts,  on  one  occasion,  required 
the  proper  officers  to  notice  the  "apparel"  of  the  people,  especially  their  "ribands  and  great  boots." 
Drinking  of  healths,  wearing  funeral  badges,  and  many  other  things  that  seemed  improper,  were 
forbidden.  At  Hartford,  the  general  court  kept  a  constant  eye  upon  the  morals  of  the  people.  Free 
men  were  compelled  to  vote  under  penalty  of  a  fine  of  sixpence ;  the  use  of  tobacco  was  prohibited 
to  persons  under  twenty  years  of  age,  without  the  certificate  of  a  physician ;  and  no  others  were 
allowed  to  use  it  more  than  once  a  day,  and  then  they  must  be  ten  miles  from  any  house.  The 
people  of  Hartford  were  all  obliged  to  rise  in  the  morning  when  the  watchman  rang  his  bell.  These 
are  but  a  few  of  the  hundreds  of  similar  enactments  found  on  the  records  of  the  New  England 
courts.  In  1646,  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  passed  a  law,  which  imposed  the  penalty  of  a 
flogging  upon  any  one  who  should  kiss  a  woman  in  the  streets.  More  than  a  hundred  years  after 
ward,  this  law  was  enforced  in  Boston.  The  captain  of  a  British  man-of-war  happened  to  return 
from  a  cruise,  on  Sunday.  His  overjoyed  wife  met  him  on  the  wharf,  and  he  kissed  her  several 
times.  The  magistrates  ordered  him  'to  be  flogged.  The  punishment  incurred  no  ignominy,  and  he 
associated  freely  with  the  best  citizens.  "When  about  to  depart,  the  captain  invited  the  magistrates 
and  others  on  board  his  vessel,  to  dine.  When  dinner  was  over,  he  caused  all  the  magistrates  to 
be  flogged,  on  deck,  in  sight  of  the  town.  Then  assuring  them  that  he  considered  accounts  settled 
between  him  and  them,  he  dismissed  them,  and  set  sail. 


176 


THE     COLONIES. 


[1492. 


EARLY   N.    E.    HOUSE.1 


DUTCHMAN. 
[1660.] 


little  vices  which  compose  great  private  and  public 
evils.  Dwelling  upon  a  parsimonious  soil,  and  pos 
sessing  neither  the  means  nor  the  inclination  for 
sumptuous  living,  indulged  in  by  their  southern  breth 
ren,  their  dwellings  were  simple,  and  their  habits 
frugal. 

In  New  York,  and  portions  of  Pennsylvania  and 
New  Jersey,  the  manners,  customs,  and  pursuits  of 

the  Dutch  prevailed  even  a  century  after  the  English 
conquest  of  New  Netherland2  [1664],  and  society  had  become 
permeated  by  English  ideas  and  customs.  They  were  plodding 
money-getters  ;  abhorred  change  and  innovation,  and  loved  ease. 
They  possessed  few  of  the  elements  of  progress,  but  many  of  the 
substantial  social  virtues  necessary  to  the  stability  of  a  State,  and 
the  health  of  society.  From  these  the  Swedes  and  Finns  upon  the 
Delaware3  did  not  differ  much  ;  but  the  habits  of  the  Quakers, 
who  finally  predominated  in  West  Jersey4  and  Pennsylvania,5 
were  quite  different.  They  always  exhibited  a  refined  simplicity 
and  equanimity,  without  ostentatious  displays  of  piety,  that  won 
esteem  ;  and  they  were  governed  by  a  religious  sentiment  without 
fanaticism,  which  formed  a  powerful  safeguard  against  vice  and 
immorality. 

In  Maryland,6  the  earlier  settlers  were  also  less  rigid  moralists  than  the 
New  Englanders,  and  greater  formalists  in  religion.  They  were  more  refined, 
equally  industrious,  but  lacked  the  stability  of  character  and  perseverance 
in  pursuits,  of  the  people  of  the  East.  But  at  the  close  of  the  period  we  have 
been  considering  [1756],  the  peculiarities  of  the  inhabitants  of  each  section 
were  greatly  modified  by  inter-migration,  and  a  general  conformity  to  the  ne 
cessities  of  their  several  conditions,  as  founders  of  new  States  in  a  wilderness. 
The  tooth  of  religious  bigotry  and  intolerance  had  lost  its  keenness  and  its 
poison,  and  when  the  representatives  of  the  several  colonies  met  in  a  general 
Congress7  [Sept.,  1774],  for  the  public  good,  they  stood  as  brethren  before  one 
altar,  while  the  eloquent  Duchc  laid  the  fervent  petitions  of  their  hearts  before 
the  throne  of  Omnipotence.8 

The  chief  pursuit  of  the  colonists  was,  necessarily,  agriculture ;  yet,  during 
the  time  we  have  considered,  manufactures  and  commerce  were  not  wholly  neg 
lected.  Necessity  compelled  the  people  to  make  many  things  which  their 
poverty  would  not  allow  them  to  buy  ;  and  manual  labor,  especially  in  the  New 
England  provinces,  was  dignified  from  the  beginning.  The  settlers  came  where 
a  throne  and  its  corrupting  influences  were  unknown,  and  where  the  idleness 
and  privileges  of  aristocracy  had  no  abiding-place.  In  the  magnificent  forests 

1  This  is  a  picture  of  one  of  the  oldest  houses  in  New  England,  and  is  a  favorable  specimen  of 
the  best  class  of  frame  dwellings  at  that  time.  It  is  yet  [1867]  standing,  we  believe,  near  Medfield, 
in  Massachusetts.  2  Page  144.  s  Page  93.  4  Page  160. 

6  Page  161.  6  Page  81.  7  Page  228.  8  Page  228. 


1?56.]  A    RETROSPECT 

1<7 

of  the  New  World,  where  a  feudal  lord1  had  never  stood,  they  began  a  life  full 
of  youth,  vigor,  and  labor,  such  as  the  atmosphere  of  the  elder  governments  of 
the  earth  could  not  then  sustain.  They  were  compelled  to  be  self-reliant  and 
what  they  could  not  buy  from  the  workshops  of  England  for  their  simple  ap 
parel  and  furniture,  and  implements  of  culture,  they  rudely  manufactured,2  and 
were  content. 

The  commerce  of  the  colonies  had  but  a  feeble  infancy :  and  never,  until 
they  were  politically  separated  from  Great  Britain  [1776],  could  their 'inter- 
change  of  commodities  be  properly  dignified  with  the  name  of  Commerce.  En 
gland  early  became  jealous  of  the  independent  career  of  the  colonists  in  respect 
to  manufactured  articles,  and  navigation  acts,3  and  other  unwise  and  unjust 
restraints  upon  the  expanding  industry  of  the  Americans,  were  brought  to  bear 
upon  them.  As  early  as  1636,  a  Massachusetts  vessel  of  thirty  tons  made  a 
trading  voyage  to  the  West  Indies;  and  two  years  later  [1638],  another  vessel 
went  from  Salem  to  New  Providence,  and  returned  with  a  cargo  of  salt,  cotton, 
tobacco,  and  negroes.4  This  was  the  dawning  of  commerce  in  America.  The 
eastern  people  also  engaged  quite  extensively  in  fishing ;  and  all  were  looking 
forward  to  wealth  from  ocean  traffic,  as  well  as  that  of  the  land,  when  the  pass 
age  of  the  second  Navigation  Act,5  in  1660,  evinced  the  strange  jealousy  of 
Great  Britain.  From  that  period,  the  attention  of  Parliament  was  often 
directed  to  the  trade  and  commerce  of  the  colonies,  and  in  1719,  the  House  of 
Commons  declared  "that  erecting  any  manufactories  in  the  colonies,  tended  to 
lessen  their  dependence  upon  Great  Britain."  Woolen  goods,  paper,  hemp, 
and  iron  were  manufactured  in  Massachusetts  and  other  parts  of  New  England, 
as  early  as  1732 ;  and  almost  every  family  made  coarse  cloth  for  domestic  use. 
Heavy  duties  had  been  imposed  upon  colonial  iron  sent  to  England ;  and  the 
colonists,  thus  deprived  of  their  market  for  pig  iron,  were  induced  to  attempt 
the  manufacture  of  steel  and  bar  iron  for  their  own  use.  It  was  not  until 
almost  a  century  [1750]  afterward  that  the  mother  country  perceived  the  folly 
of  her  policy  in  this  respect,  and  admitted  colonial  pig  iron,  duty  free,  first  into 
London,  and  soon  afterward  into  the  rest  of  the  kingdom.  Hats  were  manufac- 


1  Note  15,  page  62. 

2  From  the  beginning  of  colonization  there  were  shoemakers,  tailors,  and  blacksmiths  in  the  sev 
eral  colonies.     Chalmers  says  of  New  England  in  1673 :   "There  be  line  iron  works  which  cast  no 
guns ;  no  house  in  New  England  has  above  twenty  rooms ;  not  twenty  in  Boston  have  ten  rooms 
each ;  a  dancing-school  was  set  up  here,  but  put  down ;  a  fencing-school  is  allowed.     There  be  no 
musicians  by  trade.     All  cordage,  sail-cloth,  and  mats,  come  from  England ;  no  cloth  made  there 
worth  four  shillings  per  yard ;  no  alum,  no  copperas,  no  salt,  made  by  their  sun." 

3  The  first  Navigation  Act  [1651]  forbade  all  importations  into  England,  except  in  English 
ships,  or  those  belonging  to  English  colonies.   In  1660,  this  act  was  confirmed,  and  unjust  additions 
were  made  to  it.     The  colonies  were  forbidden  to  export  their  chief  productions  to  any  country  ex 
cept  to  England  or  its  dependencies.     Similar  acts,  all  bearing  heavily  upon  colonial  commerce, 
were  made  law,  from  time  to  time.     See  note  4,  page  109. 

4  This  was  the  first  introduction  of  slaves  into  New  England.     The  first  slaves  introduced  into 
the  English  colonies,  were  those  landed  and  sold  in  Virginia  in  1620.    [See  note  6,  page  105.]    They 
were  first  recognized  as  such,  by  law,  in  Massachusetts,  in  1641 ;  in  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island, 
about  1650;  in  New  York,  in  1656;  in  Maryland,  in  1663 ;  and  in  New  Jersey,  in  1665.     There 
were  but  few  slaves  in  Pennsylvania,  and  those  were  chiefly  in  Philadelphia.     There  were  some 
there  as  early  as  1690.     The  people  of  Delaware  held  some  at  about  the  same  time.     The  introduc 
tion  of  slaves  into  the  Carolinas  was  coeval  with  their  settlement,  and  into  Georgia  about  the  year 
1750,  when  the  people  generally  evaded  the  prohibitory  law.     Page  174.       6  Note  4,  page  109. 

12 


178  THE    COLONIES.  [1492. 

tured  and  carried  from  one  colony  to  the  other  in  exchange  ;  and  at  about  the 
same  time,  brigantines  and  small  sloops  were  built  in  Massachusetts  and  Penn 
sylvania,  and  exchanged  with  West  India  merchants  for  rum,  sugar,  wines,  and 
silks.  These  movements  were  regarded  with  disfavor  by  the  British  Govern 
ment,  and  unwisely  considering  the  increase  of  manufactures  in  the  colonies  to 
be  detrimental  to  English  interests,  greater  restrictions  were  ordained.  It  was 
enacted  that  all  manufactories  of  iron  and  steel  in  the  colonies,  should  be  con 
sidered  a  "common  nuisance,"  to  be  abated  within  thirty  days  after  notice 
being  given,  or  the  owner  should  suffer  a  fine  of  a  thousand  dollars.1  The  ex 
portation  of  hats  even  from  one  colony  to  another  was  prohibited,  and  no  hatter 
was  allowed  to  have  more  than  two  apprentices  at  one  time.  The  importation 
of  sugar,  rum,  and  molasses  was  burdened  with  exorbitant  duties ;  and  the  Caro 
linians  w^ere  forbidden  to  cut  down  the  pine-trees  of  their  vast  forests,  and  con 
vert  their  wood  into  staves,  and  their  juice  into  turpentine  and  tar,  for  commer 
cial  purposes.2  These  unjust  and  oppressive  enactments  formed  a  part  of  that 
"bill  of  particulars"  which  the  American  colonies  presented  in  their  account 
with  Great  Britain,  when  they  gave  to  the  world  their  reasons  for  declaring 
themselves  "  free  and  independent  States." 

From  the  beginning,  education  received  special  attention  in  the  colonies, 
particularly  in  New  England.  Schools  for  the  education  of  both  white  and 
Indian  children  were  formed  in  Virginia  as  early  as  1621 ;  and  in  1692,  Wil 
liam  and  Mary  College  was  established  at  Williamsburg.3  Harvard  College,  at 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  was  founded  in  1637.  Yale  College,  in  Connecti 
cut,  was  established  at  Saybrook  in  1701,4  and  was  removed  to  its  present  loca 
tion,  in  New  Haven,  in  1717.  It  was  named  in  honor  of  Elihu  Yale,  pres 
ident  of  the  East  India  Company,  and  one  of  its  most  liberal  benefactors.  The 
college  of  New  Jersey,  at  Princeton,  called  Nassau  Hall,  was  incorporated  in 
1738  ;&  and  King's  (now  Columbia)  College,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  was 
foudned  in  1750.  The  college  of  Philadelphia  was  incorporated  in  1760. 
The  college  of  Rhode  Island  (now  Brown  University)  was  established  at  War 
ren  in  1764.  Queen's  (now  Rutger's)  College,  in  New  Jersey,  was  founded 
in  1770 ;  and  Dartmouth  College,  at  Hanover,  New  Hamshire,  was  opened  in 

1  A  law  was  enacted  in  1750,  which  prohibited  the  "erection  or  contrivance  of  any  mill  or  other 
engine  for  slitting  or  rolling  iron,  or  any  plating  forge  to  work  with  a  tilt  hammer,  or  any  furnace 
for  making  steel  in  the  colonies."    Such  was  the  condition  of  manufactures  in  the  United  States  one 
hundred  years  ago.     Notwithstanding  we  are  eminently  an  agricultural  people,  the  census  of  1850 
shows  that  we  have,  in  round  numbers,  $530,000,000  invested  in  manufactures.     The  value  of 
raw  material  is  estimated  at  $550,000,000.     The  amount  paid  for  labor  during  that  year,  was 
$240,000,000,  distributed  among  1,050,000  operatives.     The  value  of  manufactured  articles  is  esti 
mated  at  more  than  a  thousand  millions  of  dollars! 

2  For  a  hundred  years  the  British  government  attempted  to  confine  the  commerce  of  the  colo 
nies  to  the  interchange  of  their  agricultural  products  for  English  manufactures  only.    The  trade  of  the 
growing  colonies  was  certainly  worth  securing.     From  1738  to  1748,  the  average  value  of  exports 
from  Great  Britain  to  the  American  colonies,  was  almost  three  and  a  quarter  millions  of  dollars 
annually. 

3  The  schools  previously  established  did  not  flourish,  and  the  funds  appropriated  for  their  sup 
port  were  given  to  the  college. 

4  In  1700,  ten  ministers  of  the  colony  met  at  Saybrook,  and  each  contributed  books  for  tho 
establishment  of  a  college.     It  was  incorporated  in  1701.     See  note  8,  page  158. 

6  It  was  a  feeble  institution  at  first.     In  1747,  Governor  Belcher  became  its  patron. 


175G']  THE    FRENCH    AND    INDIAN    WAR.  -,  KQ 

*  T «/ 

1771.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  colonies  could  boast  of  no  less  than  nine  col 
leges  when  the  War  for  Independence  commenced— three  of  them  under  the 
supervision  of  Episcopalians,  three  under  Congregationalists,  one  each  under 
Presbyterians,  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  and  the  Baptists.  But  the  pride 
and  glory  of  New  England  have  ever  been  its  common  schools.  Those  received 
the  earliest  and  most  earnest  attention.  In  1636,  the  Connecticut  Legislature 
enacted  a  law  which  required  every  town  that  contained  fifty  families,  to  main 
tain  a  good  school,  and  every  town  containing  one  hundred  householders,  to 
have  a  grammar  school.1  Similar  provisions  for  general  education  soon  pre 
vailed  throughout  New  England ;  and  the  people  became  remarkable  for  their 
intelligence.  The  rigid  laws  which  discouraged  all  frivolous  amusements, 
induced  active  minds,  during  leisure  hours,  to  engage  in  reading.  The  sub 
jects  contained  in  books  then  in  general  circulation,  were  chiefly°History  and 
Theology,  and  of  these  a  great  many  were  sold.  A  traveler  mentions  the  fact, 
that,  as  early  as  1686,  several  booksellers  in  Boston  had  "  made  fortunes  by 
their  business."2  But  newspapers,  the  great  vehicle  of  general  intelligence  to 
the  popular  mind  of  our  day,  were  very  few  and  of  little  worth,  before°the  era 
of  the  Revolution.3 

Such,  in  brief  and  general  outline,  were  the  American  people,  and  such  their 
political  and  social  condition,  at  the  commencement  of  the  last  inter-colonial 
war,  which  we  are  now  to  consider,  during  which  they  discovered  their  strength, 
the  importance  of  a  continental  union,  and  their  real  independence  of  Great 
Britain. 


C  IIAPTER    XII. 

THE  FRENCH  AND  INDIAN  WAR.  [1756—1763.] 

WE  are  now  to  consider  one  of  the  most  important  episodes  in  the  history 
of  the  United  States,  known  in  Europe  as  the  SEVEN  YEARS'  WAR,  and  in 

1  These  townships  were,  in  general,  organized  religious  communities,  and  had  many  interests  in 
common. 

2  Previous  to  1753,  there  had  been  seventy  booksellers  in  Massachusetts,  two  in  New  Hamp 
shire,  two  in  Connecticut,  one  in  Rhode  Island,  two  in  New  York,  and  seventeen  in  Pennsylvania. 

3  The  first  newspaper  ever  printed  in  America  was  the  Boston  Neivs  Letter,  printed  in  1704. 
The  next  was  established  in  Philadelphia,  in  1719.     The  first  in  New  York  was  in  1725  ;  in  Mary 
land,  in  1728 ;  in  South  Carolina,  in  1731 ;  in  Rhode  Island,  in  1782 ;  in  Virginia,  in  1736;  in  New 
Hampshire,  in  1753;  in  Connecticut,  in  1755;  in  Delaware,  in  1761;  in  North  Carolina,  in  1763; 
in  Georgia,  in  1763;  and  in  New  Jersey,  in  1777.     In  1850,  there  were  published  in  the  United 
States,  2,800  newspapers  and  magazines,  having  a  circulation  of  5,000,000  of  copies.     The  number 
of  copies  printed  during  that  whole  year  was  about  423,000,000. 

4  We  have  no  exact  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  colonies ;  but  Mr.  Bancroft,  after  a 
careful  examination  of  many  official  returns  and  private  computations,  estimates  the  number  of 
white  people  in  the  colonies,  at  the  commencement  of  the  French  and  Indian  War,  to  have  been 
about  1,165,000,  distributed  as  follows:  In  New  England  (N.  H,  Mass.,  R.  L,  and  Conn.),  425,000; 
in  the  middle  colonies  (N.  Y.,  N.  J.,  Penn.,  Del.,  and  Md.),  457,000 ;  and  in  the  southern  colonic-s 
(Va.,  N.  and  S.  Carolina,  and  Geo.),  283,000.     The  estimated  number  of  slaves,  260,000,  of  whom 
about  11,000  were  in  New  England;  middle  colonies,  71,000;  and  the  southern  colonies,  178.000. 
Of  the  1,165,000  white  people,  Dr.  Franklin  estimated  that  only  about  80,000  were  of  foreign  birth, 
showing  the  fact  that  emigration  to  America  had  almost  ceased.     At  the  beginning  of  the  Revolu 
tion,  in  1775,  the  estimated  population  of  the  thirteen  colonies  was  2,803,000.     The  documents  of 
Congress,  in  1775,  gives  the  round  number  of  3,000,000. 


180  THE     COLONIES.  [1756. 

America  as  the  FRENCH  AND  INDIAN  WAR.  It  may  with  propriety  be  con 
sidered  introductory  to  the  War  for  Independence,  which  resulted  in  the  birth 
of  our  Republic.  The  first  three  inter-colonial  wars,  or  the  conflicts  in  America 
between  the  English  and  French  colonies,  already  noticed,1  originated  in  hostil 
ities  first  declared  by  the  two  governments,  and  commenced  in  Europe.  The 
fourth  and  last,  which  resulted  in  establishing  the  supremacy  of  the  English  in 
America,  originated  here  in  disputes  concerning  territorial  claims.  For  a  hun 
dred  years,  the  colonies  of  the  two  nations  had  been  gradually  expanding  and 
increasing  in  importance.  The  English,  more  than  a  million  in  number,  occu 
pied  the  seaboard  from  the  Penobscot  to  the  St.  Mary,  a  thousand  miles  in 
extent,  all  eastward  of  the  great  ranges  of  the  Alleghanies,  and  far  northward 
toward  the  St.  Lawrence.  The  French,  not  more  than  a  hundred  thousand 
strong,  made  settlements  along  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  shores  of  the  great  lakes, 
on  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries,  and  upon  the  borders  of  the  Gulf  of  Mex 
ico.  They  early  founded  Detroit  [1683],  Kaskaskia  [1684],  Vincennes  [1690], 
and  New  Orleans  [1717].  The  English  planted  agricultural  colonies;  the. 
French  were  chiefly  engaged  in  traffic  with  the  Indians.  This  trade,  and  the 
operations  of  the  Jesuit2  missionaries,  who  were  usually  the  self-denying  pio 
neers  of  commerce  in  its  penetration  of  the  wilderness,  gave  the  French  great 
influence  over  the  tribes  of  a  vast  extent  of  country  lying  in  the  rear  of  the 
English  settlements.3 

France  and  England  at  that  time  were  heirs  to  an  ancient  quarrel.  Origin 
ating  far  back  in  feudal  ages,  and  kept  alive  by  subsequent  collisions,  it  burned 
vigorously  in  the  bosoms  of  the  respective  colonists  in  America,  where  it  was 
continually  fed  by  frequent  hostilities  on  frontier  ground.  They  had  ever 
regarded  each  other  with  extreme  jealousy,  for  the  prize  before  them  was 
supreme  rule  in  the  New  World.  The  trading  posts  and  missionary  stations 
of  the  French,  in  the  far  north-west,  and  in  the  bosom  of  a  dark  wilderness, 
several  hundred  miles  distant  from  the  most  remote  settlement  on  the  English 
frontier,  attracted  very  little  attention,  until  they  formed  a  part  of  more  exten 
sive  operations.  But  when,  after  the  capture  of  Louisburg,4  in  1745,  the  French 
adopted  vigorous  measures  for  opposing  the  extension  of  British  power  in  Amer 
ica  :  when  they  built  strong  vessels  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Ontario5 — made  treaties 
of  friendship  with  the  Delaware6  and  Shawnee7  tribes  ;  strengthened  Fort  Niag 
ara  ;8  and  erected  a  cordon  of  fortifications,  more  than  sixty,  in  number,  between 
Montreal  and  New  Orleans — the  English  were  aroused  to  immediate  and  effective 
action  in  defense  of  the  territorial  claims  given  them  in  their  ancient  charters. 
By  virtue  of  these,  they  claimed  dominion  westward  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  south 
of  the  latitude  of  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Erie ;  while  the  French  claimed  a  title 
to  all  the  territory  watered  by  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries,  under  the 
more  plausible  plea,  that  they  had  made  the  first  explorations  and  settlements 

1  King  William's  War  (page  130);  Queen  Anne's  War  (page  135);  and  King  George's  War  (page 
336).  2  Note  4,  page  130.  3  Chiefly  of  the  Algonquin  nation.  Page  17. 

4  Page  138.  5  At  Fort  Frontenac,  now  Kingston,  Upper  Canada. 

0  Page  20.  7  Page  19.  »  Page  200. 


1763.]  THE    FRENCH    AND    INDIAN    WAR. 

in  that  region.1     The  claims  of  the  real  owner,  the  Indian,  were  lost  sight  of 
in  the  discussion.2 

These  disputes  soon  ended  in  action.  The  territorial  question  was  speedily 
brought  to  an  issue.  In  1749,  George  the  Second  granted  six  hundred  thou 
sand  acres  of  land,  on  the  south-east  bank  of  the  Ohio  River,  to  a  company 
composed  of  London  merchants  and  Virginia  land  speculators,  with  the  exclusive 
privilege  of  traffic  with  the  Indians.  It  was  called  The  Ohio  Company. 
Surveyors  were  soon  sent  to  explore,  and  make  boundaries,  and  prepare  for 
settlements;  and  English  traders  went  even  as  far  as  the  country  of  the 
Miamies3  to  traffic  with  the  natives.  The  French  regarded  them  as  intruders, 
and,  in  1753,  seized  and  imprisoned  some  of  them.  Apprehending  the  loss  of 
traffic  and  influence  among  the  Indians,  and  the  ultimate  destruction  of  their 
line  of  communication  between  Canada  and  Louisiana,  the  French  commenced 
the  erection  of  forts  between  the  Alleghany  River  and  Lake  Erie,  near  the 
present  western  line  of  Pennsylvania.4  The  Ohio  Company  complained  of 
these  hostile  movements ;  and  as  their  grant  lay  within  the  chartered  limits  of 
Virginia,  the  authorities  of  that  colony  considered  it  their  duty  to  interfere. 
Robert  Dinwiddie,  the  lieutenant-governor,  sent  a  letter  of  remonstrance  to  M. 
De  St.  Pierre,  the  French  commander.5  George  Washington  was  chosen  to  be 
the  bearer  of  the  dispatch.  He  was  a  young  man,  less  than  twenty-two  years 
of  age,  but  possessed  much  experience  of  forest  life.  He  already  held  the  com 
mission  of  adjutant-general  of  one  of  the  four  militia  districts  of  Virginia. 
From  early  youth  he  had  been  engaged  in  land  surveying,  had  become  accus 
tomed  to  the  dangers  and  hardships  of  the  wilderness,  and  was  acquainted  with 
the  character  of  the  Indians,  and  of  the  country  he  was  called  upon  to  traverse. 

Young  Washington,  as  events  proved,  was  precisely  the  instrument  needed 
for  such  a  service.  His  mission  involved  much  personal  peril  and  hardship. 
It  required  the  courage  of  the  soldier,  and  the  sagacity  of  the  statesman,  to 
perform  the  duty  properly.  The  savage  tribes  through  which  he  had  to  pass, 
were  hostile  to  the  English,  and  the  French  he  was  sent  to  meet  were  national 
enemies,  wily  and  suspicious.  With  only  two  or  three  attendants,6  Washington 
started  from  Williamsburg  late  in  autumn  [Oct.  31,  1753],  and  after  journey 
ing  full  four  hundred  miles  (more  than  half  the  distance  through  a  dark  wilder 
ness),  encountering  almost  incredible  hardships,  amid  snow,  and  icy  floods,  and 
hostile  Indians,  he  reached  the  French  outpost  at  Venango  on  the  4th  of  De- 


Page  180. 


2  When  the  agent  of  the  Ohio  Company  went  into  the  Indian  country,  on  the  borders  of  tho 
Ohio  River,  a  messenger  was  sent  by  two  Indian  sachems,  to  make  the  significant  inquiry,  "Where 
is  the  Indian's  land ?  The  English  claim  it  all  on  one  side  of  the  river,  the  French  on  the  other; 
where  does  the  Indian's  land  lay?"  3  Pa?°  19- 

4  Twelve  hundred  men  erected  a  fort  on  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  at  Presque  Isle,  now 
Erie ;  soon  afterward,  another  was  built  at  Le  Bceuf,  on  the  Venango  (French  Creek),  now  the  vil 
lage  of  Waterford;  and  a  third  was  erected  at  Venango,  at  the  junction  of  French  Creek  and 
Alleghany  River,  now  the  village  of  Franklin. 

5  Already  the  governors  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania  had  received  orders  from  the  impel 
government,  to  repel  the  French  by  force,  whenever  they  were  "  found  within  the  undoubted  li 
of  their  province." 

6  He  was  afterward  joined  by  two  others  at  Wills'  Creek  (now  Cumberland),  in  Maryland. 


182  THE     COLONIES.  [1756. 

cember.  He  was  politely  received,  and  his  visit  was  made  the  occasion  of  great 
conviviality  by  the  officers  of  the  garrison.  The  free  use  of  wine  made  the 
Frenchmen  incautious,  and  they  revealed  to  the  sober  Washington  their  hostile 
designs  against  the  English,  which  the  latter  had  suspected.  He  perceived  the 
necessity  of  dispatching  business,  and  returning  to  Williamsburg,  as  speedily 
as  possible  ;  so,  after  tarrying  a  day  at  Venango,  he  pushed  forward  to  the 
head-quarters  of  St.  Pierre,  at  Le  Boeuf.  That  officer  entertained  him  politely 
during  four  days,  and  then  gave  him  a  written  answer  to  Dinwiddie's  remon 
strance,  enveloped  and  sealed.  Washington  retraced  his  perilous  pathway 
through  the  wilderness,  and  after  an  absence  of  eleven  weeks,  he  again  stood  in 
the  presence  of  Governor  Dinwiddie,  on  the  16th  of  January,  1754,  his  mission 
fulfilled  to  the  satisfaction  of  all.  His  judgment,  sagacity,  courage,  and  execu 
tive  force — qualities  which  eminently  fitted  him  for  the  more  important  duties 
as  chief  of  the  Revolutionary  armies,  more  than  twenty  years  afterward  [1775] 
—were  nobly  developed  in  the  performance  of  his  mission.  They  were  publicly 
acknowledged,  and  were  never  forgotten. 

Already  the  Virginians  were  restive  under  royal  rule,  and  at  that  time 
were  complaining  seriously  of  an  obnoxious  fee  allowed  by  the  Board  of  Trade, 
in  the  issue  of  patents  for  lands.  The  House  of  Burgesses  refused,  at  first,  to 
pay  any  attention  to  Dinwiddie's  complaints  against  the  French ;  but  at  length 
they  voted  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  the  support  of  troops  which  had  been 
enlisted  to  march  into  the  Ohio  country.  The  revelations  made  to  Washington, 
and  the  tenor  of  St.  Pierre's  reply,  confirmed  the  suspicions  of  Dinwiddie,  and 
showed  the  wisdom  of  the  legislative  co-operation.  St.  Pierre  said  he  was  acting 
in  obedience  to  the  orders  of  his  superior,  the  Marquis  Du  Quesne,1  at  Montreal, 
and  refused  to  withdraw  his  troops  from  the  disputed  territory.  Dinwiddie 
immediately  prepared  an  expedition  against  the  French,  and  solicited  the  co-op 
eration  of  the  other  colonies.  It  was  the  first  call  for  a  general  colonial  union 
against  a  common  enemy.  All  hesitated  except  North  Carolina.  The  legisla 
ture  of  that  colony  promptly  voted  four  hundred  men,  and  they  were  soon  on 
the  march  for  Winchester,  in  Virginia.  They  eventually  proved  of  little  use, 
for  becoming  doubtful  as  to  their  pay,  a  greater  part  of  them  had  disbanded 
before  reaching  Winchester.  Some  volunteers  from  South  Carolina  and  New 
York,  also  hastened  toward  the  seat  of  future  war.  The  Virginians  responded 
to  the  call,  and  a  regiment  of  six  hundred  men  was  soon  organized,  with  Colonel 
Joshua  Fry  as  its  commander,  and  Major  Washington  as  his  lieutenant.  The 
troops  rendezvoused  at  Alexandria,  and  from  that  city,  Washington,  at  the  head 
of  the  advanced  corps,  marched  [April  2,  1754]  toward  the  Ohio. 

Private  and  public  interest  went  hand  in  hand.  While  these  military  prep 
arations  were  in  progress,  the  Ohio  Company  had  sent  thirty  men  to  construct 
a  fort  at  the  confluence  of  the  Alleghany  and  Monongahela  Rivers,  now  the  site  of 
Pittsburg.  They  had  just  commenced  operations  [April  18],  when  a  party  of 
French  and  Indians,  under  Contrecoeur,  attacked  and  expelled  them,  completed 

1  Pronounced  Du  Kane. 


1763']  THE    FRENCH    AND    INDIAN    WAR. 

loo 

the  fortification,  and  named  it  Du  Quesne,  in  honor  of  the  governor-general  of 
Canada.  When  intelligence  of  this  event  reached  Washington  on  his  march 
he  hastened  forward  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  to  a  point  on  the  Monon' 
gahela,  less  than  forty  miles  from  Fort  Du  Quesne.  There  he  was  informed 
that  a  strong  force  was  marching  to  intercept  him,  and  he  cautiously  fled  back 
to  the  Great  Meadows,  where  he  erected  a  stockade,2  and  called  it  Fort  Neces 
sity.3  Before  completing  it,  a  few  of  his  troops  attacked  an  advanced  party  of 
the  French,  under  Jumonville.  They  were  surprised  at  the  dead  of  nicrht 
[May  28],  and  the  commander  and  nine  of  his  men  were  slain.  Of  the  fifty 
who  formed  the  French  detachment,  only  about  fifteen  escaped.  This  was  the 
first  blood-shedding  of  that  long  and  eventful  conflict  known  as  the  French  and 
Indian  War.  Two  days  afterward  [May  30],  Colonel  Fry  died,  and  the 
whole  command  devolved  on  Washington.  Troops  hastened  forward  to  join  the 
young  leader  at  Fort  Necessity,  and  with  about  four  hundred  men,  he  proceeded 
toward  Fort  Du  Quesne.  M.  de  Villiers,  brother  of  the  slain  Jumonville,  had 
marched  at  about  the  same  time,  at  the  head  of  more  than  a  thousand  Indians 
and  some  Frenchmen,  to  avenge  the  death  of  his  kinsman.  Advised  of  his 
approach,  Washington  fell  back  to  Fort  Necessity,  and  there,  on  the  3d  of  July, 
he  was  attacked  by  almost  fifteen  hundred  foes.  After  a  conflict  of  about  ten 
hours,  de  Villiers  proposed  an  honorable  capitulation.4  Washington  signed  it 
on  the  morning  of  the  4th,  and  marching  out  of  the  stockade  witii  the  honors 
of  war,  departed,  with  his  troops,  for  Virginia. 

It  was  during  this  military  campaign,  that  a  civil  movement  of  great  import 
ance  was  in  progress.  The  English  and  French  governments  had  listened  to 
the  disputes  in  America  with  interest.  At  length  the  British  ministry,  per 
ceiving  war  to  be  inevitable,  advised  the  colonies  to  secure  the  continued 
friendship  of  the  Six  NATIONS,'  and  to  unite  in  a  plan  for  general  defense. 
All  the  colonies  were  invited  to  appoint  delegates  to  meet  in  convention  at 
Albany,  in  the  summer  of  1754.  Only  seven  responded  by  sending  delegates.6 
The  convention  was  organized  on  the  19th  of  June.7  Having  renewed  a  treaty 
with  the  Indians,  the  subject  of  colonial  union  was  brought  forward.  A  plan 
of  confederation,  similar  to  our  Federal  Constitution,  drawn  up  by  Dr.  Franklin, 
was  submitted.8  It  was  adopted  on  the  4th  of  July,  1754,  and  was  ordered  to 
be  laid  before  the  several  colonial  Assemblies,  and  the  imperial  Board  of  Trade,9 

1  Page  182. 

2  Stockade  is  a  general  name  of  structures  for  defense,  formed  by  driving  strong  posts  in  the 
ground,  so  as  to  make  a  safe  inclosure.     It  is  the  same  as  a  palisade.     See  picture  on  page  127. 

3  Near  the  national  road  from  Cumberland  to  Wheeling,  in  the  south-eastern  part  of  Fayette 
county,  Pennsylvania.     The  Great  Meadows  are  on  a  fertile  bottom  about  four  miles  from  the  foot 
of  Laurel  Hill,  and  fifty  from  Cumberland. 

4  A  mutual  restoration  of  prisoners  was  to  take  place,  and  the  English  were  not  to  erect  any 
establishment  beyond  the  mountains,  for  the  space  of  a  year.     The  English  troops  were  to  march, 
unmolested,  back  to  Virginia.  5  Page  25. 

6  New  Hampshire,   Massachusetts,  Khode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and 
Maryland. 

7  James  Delancy,  of  New  York  was  elected  president.     There  were  twenty-five  delegates  in  all. 

8  Franklin  was  a  delegate  from  Pennsylvania.     The  idea  of  union  was  not  a  new  one.     William 
Penn  suggested  the  advantage  of  a  union  of  all  the  English  colonies  as  early  as  1*700;  and  Coxe, 
Speaker  of  the  New  Jersey  Assembly,  advocated  it  in  1722.     Now  it  first  found  tangible  expression 
under  the  sanction  of  authority.  9  Note  5,  page  13J-. 


184  THE     COLONIES.  [1756. 

for  ratification.1  Its  fate  was  singular.  The  Assemblies  considering  it  too 
aristocratic — giving  the  royal  governor  too  much  power — refused  their  assent ; 
and  the  Board  of  Trade  rejected  it  because  it  was  too  democratic.''  Although 
a  legal  union  was  not  consummated,  the  grand  idea  of  political  fraternization 
then  began  to  bud.  It  blossomed  in  the  midst  of  the  heat  of  the  Stamp  Act 
excitement  eleven  years  later  [1765],  and  its  fruit  appeared  in  the  memorable 
Congress  of  1774. 

The  convention  at  Albany  had  just  closed  its  labors,  when  the  Indians  com 
menced  murderous  depredations  upon  the  New  England  frontiers  [August  and 
September,  1754] ;  and  among  the  tribes  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  French  emis 
saries  were  busy  arousing  them  to  engage  in  a  war  of  extermination  against  the 
English.  Even  in  full  view  of  these  menaces,  some  of  the  colonies  were  tardy 
in  preparations  to  avert  the  evil.  Shirley  was  putting  forth  energetic  efforts  in 
Massachusetts ;  New  York  voted  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  for  military  serv 
ice,  and  Maryland  thirty  thousand  dollars  for  the  same.  The  English  govern 
ment  sent  over  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  the  use  of  the  colonists,  and  with  it  a 
commission  to  Governor  Sharpe  of  Maryland,  appointing  him  commander-in- 
chief  of  all  the  colonial  forces.  Disputes  about  military  rank  and  precedence 
soon  ran  high  between  the  Virginia  regimental  officers,  and  the  captains  of 
independent  companies.  To  silence  these,  Dinwiddie  unwisely  dispensed  with 
all  field  officers,  and  broke  the  Virginia  regiments  into  separate  companies.  This 
arrangement  displeased  Washington ;  he  resigned  his  commission,  and  the  year 
1754  drew  to  a  close  without  any  efficient  preparations  for  a  conflict  with  the 
French.3 

CAMPAIGN     OF     1755. 

Yet  war  had  not  been  declared  by  the  two  nations ;  and  for  more  than  a 
year  and  a  half  longer  the  colonies  were  in  conflict,  before  England  and  France 
formally  announced  hostility  to  each  other.  In  the  mean  while  the  British 
government,  perceiving  that  a  contest,  more  severe  than  had  yet  been  seen, 
must  soon  take  place  in  America,  extended  its  aid  to  its  colonies.  Edward 
Braddock,  an  Irish  officer  of  distinction,  arrived  in  Chesapeake  Bay,  with  two 
regiments  of  his  countrymen,  on  the  20th  of  February,  1755.  He  had  been 

1  It  proposed  a  general  government  to  be  administered  by  one  chief  magistrate,  to  be  appointed 
by  the  crown,  and  a  council  of  forty-eight  members,  chosen  by  the  several  legislatures.     This  coun 
cil,  answering  to  our  Senate,  was  to  have  power  to  declare  war,  levy  troops,  raise  money,  regulate 
trade,  conclude  peace,  and  many  other  things  necessary  for  the  general  good.      The  delegates  from 
Connecticut  alone,  objected  to  the  plan,  because  it  gave  the  governor-general  veto  power,  or  the 
right  to  refuse  his  signature  to  laws  ordained  by  the  Senate,  and  thus  prevent  them  becoming  stat 
utes. 

2  The  Board  of  Trade  had  proposed  a  plan  which  contained  all  the  elements  of  a  system  for  the 
utter  enslavement  and  dependence  of  the  Americans.    They  proposed  a  general  government,  composed 
of  the  governors  of  the  several  colonies,  and  certain  select  members  of  the  several  councils.     These 
were  to  have  power  to  draw  on  the  British  Treasury  for  money  to  carry  on  the  impending  war :  the 
sum  to  be  reimbursed  by  taxes  imposed  upon  the  colonists  by  Parliament.     The  colonists  preferred 
to  do  their  own  fighting,  and  levy  their  own  taxes,  independent  of  Great  Britain. 

3  According  to  a  return  made  to  the  Board  of  Trade  at  about  this  time,  the  population  of  the  colo 
nies  amounted  to  one  million  four  hundred  and  eighty-five  thousand,  six  hundred  and  thirty-four. 
Of  these,  two  hundred  and  ninety -two  thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirty-eight  were  negroes. 


1?63.]  THE    FRENCH    AND    INDIAN    WAR. 

appointed  commander-in-chief  of  all  the  British  and  provincial  forces  in  Amer 
ica  ;  and  at  his  request,  six  colonial  governors1  met  in  convention  at  Alexandria, 
in  April  following,  to  assist  in  making  arrangements  for  a  vigorous  campaign. 
Three  separate  expeditions  were  planned ;  one  against  Fort  du  Quesne,  to°bc 
led  by  Braddock;  a  second  against  Niagara  and  Frontenac  (Kingston),  to  bo 
commanded  by  Governor  Shirley ;  and  a  third  against  Crown  Point,  on  Lako 
Ohamplain,  under  General  William  Johnson,2  then  an  influential  resident  among 
the  Mohawk  nation  of  the  IROQUOIS  confederacy.3  Already  a  fourth  expedition 
had  been  arranged  by  Shirley  and  Governor  Lawrence  of  Nova  Scotia,  designed 
to  drive  the  French  out  of  that  province,  and  other  portions  of  ancient  Acadie.4 
These  extensive  arrangements,  sanctioned  by  the  imperial  government,  awakened 
the  most  zealous  patriotism  of  all  the  colonists,  and  the  legislatures  of  the  sev 
eral  provinces,  except  Pennsylvania  and  Georgia,  voted  men  and  supplies  for 
the  impending  war.  The  Quaker  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania  was  opposed  to 
military  movements ;  the  people  of  Georgia  were  too  poor  to  contribute. 

There  was  much  enthusiasm  in  New  England,  and  the  eastern  expedition 
first  proceeded  to  action.  Three  thousand  men,  under  General  John  Winslow,5 
sailed  from  Boston  on  the  20th  of  May,  1755,  and  landed  at  the  head  of  the 
Bay  of  Fundy.  There  they  were  joined  by  Colonel  Monckton  with  three  hun 
dred  British  regulars6  from  the  neighboring  garrison,  and  that  officer,  having 
official  precedence  of  Winslow,  took  the  command.  They  captured  the  forts  in 
possession  of  the  French  there,  in  June,  without  difficulty,  and  placed  the  whole 
region  under  martial  rule.7  This  was  the  legitimate  result  of  war.  But  the 
cruel  sequel  deserves  universal  reprobation.  The  total  destruction  of  the  French 
settlements  was  decided  upon.  Under  the  plea  that  the  Acadians  would  aid 
their  French  brethren  in  Canada,  the  innocent  and  happy  people  were  seized  in 
their  houses,  fields,  and  churches,  and  conveyed  on  board  the  English  vessels. 
Families  were  broken,  never  to  be  united ;  and  to  compel  the  surrender  of  those 
who  'fled  to  the  woods,  their  starvation  was  insured  by  a  total  destruction  of 
their  growing  crops.  The  Acadians  were  stripped  of  every  thing,  and  those 
who  were  carried  away,  were  scattered  among  the  English  colonies,  helpless 
beggars,  to  die  heart-broken  in  a  strange  land.  In  one  short  month,  their 
paradise  had  become  a  desolation,  and  a  happy  people  were  crushed  into  the  dust. 

The  western  expedition,  under  Braddock,  was  long  delayed  on  account  of 
difficulties  in  obtaining  provisions  and  wagons.  The  patience  of  the  commander 
was  sorely  tried,  and  in  moments  of  petulance  he  used  expressions  against  the 
colonists,  which  they  long  remembered  with  bitterness.  He  finally  commenced 
his  march  from  Will's  Creek  (Cumberland)  on  the  10th  of  June,  1755,  with 
about  two  thousand  men,  British  and  provincials.  Anxious  to  reach  Fort  du 

1  Shirley,  of  Massachusetts;  Dinwiddie,  of  Virginia;  Delancey,  of  New  York;  Sharpe,  of  Mary 
land;  Morris,  of  Pennsylvania;  and  Dobbs.  of  North  Carolina.  Admiral  Keppel,  commander  of  the 
British  fleet,  was  also  present.  a  Page  190.  3  Page  25.  4  Page  58. 

6  He  was  a  gj-eat  grandson  of  Edward  Winslow,  the  third  governor  of  Plymouth.  He  was  a 
major-general  in  the  Massachusetts  militia,  but  on  this  occasion  held  the  office  of  lieutenant-colonel. 

6  This  term  is  used  to  denote  soldiers  who  are  attached  to  the  regular  army,  and  as  distinguished 
from  volunteers  and  militia.      The  latter  term  applies  to  the  great  body  of  citizens  who  are  liable 
do  perpetual  military  duty  only  in  time  of  war.  7  ^oto  8>  Pa£e  170> 


THE     COLONIES.  [1756. 

Quesne  before  the  garrison  should  receive  re-inforcements,  he  made  forced 
marches  with  twelve  hundred  men,  leaving  Colonel  Dunbar, 
his  second  in  command,  to  follow  with  the  remainder,  and 
the  wagons.  Colonel  Washington1  had  consented  to  act  as 
Braddock's  aid,  and  to  him  was  given  the  command  of  the 
provincials.  Knowing,  far  better  than  Braddock,  the  perils 
of  their  march  and  the  kind  of  warfare  they  might  expect,  he 
ventured,  modestly,  to  give  advice,  founded  upon  his  experi- 

FORT  DU   QUESNE.  -_,   '       ,       ,         *M,  ,  1*1.,  /• 

ence.  But  the  haughty  general  would  listen  to  no  suggestions, 
especially  from  a  provincial  subordinate.  This  obstinacy  resulted  in  his  ruin. 
When  within  ten  miles  of  Fort  du  Quesne,  and  while  marching  at  noon-day,  on 
the  9th  of  July,  in  fancied  security,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Monongahela,  a 
volley  of  bullets  and  a  cloud  of  arrows  assailed  the  advanced  guard,  under 
Lieutenant- Colonel  Gage.2  They  came  from  a  thicket  and  ravine  close  by, 
where  a  thousand  dusky  warriors  lay  in  ambush.  Again  Washington  asked 
permission  to  fight  according  to  the  provincial  custom,  but  was  refused. 
Braddock  must  maneuver  according  to  European  tactics,  or  not  at  all.  For 
three  hours,  deadly  volley  after  volley  fell  upon  the  British  columns,  while 
Braddock  attempted  to  maintain  order,  where  all  was  confusion.  The  slain 
soon  covered  the  ground.  Every  mounted  officer  but  Washington  was  killed  or 
maimed,  and  finally,  the  really  brave  Braddock  himself,  after  having  several 
horses  shot  under  him,  was  mortally  wounded.3  Washington  remained  unhurt.4 
Under  his  direction  the  provincials  rallied,  while  the  regulars,  seeing  their  gen 
eral  fall,  were  fleeing  in  great  confusion.  The  provincials  covered  their  retreat 
so  gallantly,  that  the  enemy  did  not  follow.  A  week  after 
ward,  Washington  read  the  impressive  funeral  service  of  the 
Anglican  Church,6  over  the  corpse  of  Braddock,  by  torch 
light  [July  15,  1755] ;  and  he  was  buried,  where  his  grave 
may  now  [1867]  be  seen,  near  the  National  road,  between  the 
fifty-third  and  fifty-fourth  mile  from  Cumberland,  in  Mary 
land.  Colonel  Dunbar  received  the  flying  troops,  and  marched 
to  Philadelphia  in  August,  with  the  broken  companies.  Wash 
ington,  with  the  southern  provincials,  went  back  to  Virginia. 
GEN.  BRADDOCK.  Thus  ended  the  second  expedition  of  the  campaign  of  1755. 

1  Page  181.  2  Afterward  General  Gage,  commander-in-chief  of  the  British  troops  at 

Boston,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution.     Page  226. 

3  Braddock  was  shot  by  Thomas  Faucett,  one  of  the  provincial  soldiers.     His  plea  was  self- 
preservation.     Braddock  had  issued  a  positive  order,  that  none  of  the  English  should  protect  them 
selves  behind  trees,  as  the  French  and  Indians  did.     Faucett's  brother  had  taken  such  position,  and 
when  Braddock  perceived  it,  he  struck  him  to  the  earth  with  his  sword.     Thomas,  on  seeing  his 
brother  fall,  shot  Braddock  in  the  back,  and  then  the  provincials,  fighting  as  they  pleased,  were 
saved  from  utter  destruction. 

4  Dr.  Craik,  who  was  with  "Washington  at  this  time,  and  also  attended  him  in  his  last  illness, 
says,  that  while  in  the  Ohio  country  with  him,  fifteen  years  afterward,  an  old  Indian  chief  came,  as 
he  said,  "  a  long  way"  to  see  the  Virginia  colonel  at  whom  he  fired  his  rifle  fifteen  times  during  the 
battle  on  the  Monongahela,  without  hitting  him.     "Washington  was  never  wounded  in  battle.     On 
this  occasion  he  had  two  horses  shot  under  him.  and  four  bullets  passed  through  his  coat.    Writing 
of  this  to  his  brother,  he  remarked,  "By  the  all-powerful  dispensations  of  Providence,  I  have  been 
protected  beyond  all  human  probability  or  expectation,    *     *     *    although  death  was  leveling  my 
companions  on  every  side."  B  Note  1,  page  168.     See  picture  on  page  187. 


BURIAL  OF  BRADUOCK. 


17630  THE    FRENCH    AND    INDIAN    WAR. 

The  third  expedition,  under  Governor  Shirley,  designed  to  operate  a«ainst 
the  French  posts  at  Niagara  and  Frontenac,  experienced  less  disasters,  but  was 
quite  as  unsuccessful.  It  was  late  in  August  before  Shirley  had  collected  the 
main  body  of  his  troops  at  Oswego,  from  whence  he  intended  to  go  to  Niagara 
by  water.  His  force  was  twenty-five  hundred  strong  on  the  1st  of  September, 
yet  circumstances  compelled  him  to  hesitate.  The  prevalence  of  storms,  and 
of  sickness  in  his  camp,  and,  finally,  the  desertion  of  the  greater  part  of  his 
Indian  allies,1  made  it  perilous  to  proceed,  and  he  relinquished  the  design. 
Leaving  sufficient  men  to  garrison  the  forts  which  he  had  commenced  at 
Oswego,2  he  marched  the  remainder  to  Albany  [Oct.  24],  and  returned  to 
Massachusetts. 

The  fourth  expedition,  under  General  Johnson,  prepared  for  attacking 
Crown  Point,3  accomplished  more  than  that  of  Braddock4  or  Shirley,  but  failed 
to  achieve  its  main  object.  In  July  [1755],  about  six  thousand  troops, 
drawn  from  New  England,  New  York,  and  New  Jersey,  had  assembled  at  the 
head  of  boat  navigation  on  the  Hudson  (now  the  village  of  Fort  Edward),  fifty 
miles  north  of  Albany.  They  were  under  the  command  of  General  Lyman,5 
of  Connecticut ;  and  before  the  arrival  of  General  Johnson,  in  August,  with 
cannons  and  stores,  they  had  erected  a  strong  fortification,  which  was  afterward 
called  Fort  Edward.6  On  his  arrival,  Johnson  took  command,  and  with  the 
main  body  of  the  troops,  marched  to  the  head  of  Lake  George,  about  fifteen 
miles  distant,  where  he  established  a  camp,  protected  on  both  sides  by  an  im 
passable  swamp. 

While  the  provincial  troops  were  making  these  preparations,  General  the 
Baron  Dieskau  (a  French  officer  of  much  repute),  with  about  two  thousand 
men,  chiefly  Canadian  militia  and  Indians,  was  approaching  from  Montreal, 
by  way  of  Lake  Champlain,  to  meet  the  English.7  When  Johnson  arrived  at 
Lake  George,  on  the  7th  of  September,  Indian  scouts  informed  him  that  Dies 
kau  was  disembarking  at  the  head  of  Lake  Champlain  (now  the  village  of 

1  Tribes  of  the  Six  NATIONS  [page  25],  and  some  Stockbridge  Indians.  The  latter  were  called 
Housatonics,  from  the  river  on  which  they  were  found.  They  were  a  division  of  the  Mohegan 
[page  21]  tribe. 

'2  Fort  Ontario  on  the  east,  and  Fort  Pepperell  on  the  west  of  Oswego  River.  Fort  Pepperell 
was  afterward  called  Fort  Oswego.  See  map,  page  192.  The  house  was  built  of  stone,  and  the 
walls  were  three  feet  thick.  It  was  within  a  square  inclosure  composed  of  a  thick  wall,  and  two 
strong  square  towers. 

8  Upon  this  tongue  of  land  on  Lake  Champlain,  the  French  erected  a  fortification,  which  they 
called  Fort  St.  Frederick.  On  the  Vermont  side  of  the  lake,  opposite,  there  was  a  French  settle 
ment  as  early  as  1731.  In  allusion  to  the  chimnies  of  their  houses,  which  remained  long  after  the 
settlement  was  destroyed,  it  is  still  known  as  Chimney  Point. 

4  Page  185. 

5  Born  in  Durham,  Connecticut,  in  the  year  1716.     He  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  and  be 
came  a  lawyer.     He  was  a  member  of  the  colonial  Assembly  in  1750,  and  performed  important 
services  during  the  whole  war  that  soon  afterward  ensued.     He  commanded  the  expedition  that 
captured  Havana  in  1762 ;  and  at  the  peace,  in  1763,  he  became  concerned  in  lands  in  the  Missis 
sippi  region.     He  died  in  Florida  in  1775. 

0  It  was  first  called  Fort  Lyman.  Johnson,  meanly  jealous  of  General  Lyman,  changed  the 
name  to  Fort  Edward. 

7  Dieskau  and  his  French  troops,  on  their  way'from  France,  narrowly  escaped  capture  by  Ad 
miral  Boscawen,  who  was  cruising,  with  an  English  fleet,  off  Newfoundland.  They  eluded  his  fleet 
during  a  fog,  and  went  in  safety  up  the  St.  Lawrence. 


190 


THE    COLONIES. 


[1756. 


FORT   EDWARD. 


Whitehall),  preparatory  to  marching  against  Fort  Edward.  The  next  scouts 
brought  Johnson  the  intelligence  that  Dieskau?s  Indians, 
terrified  by  the  English  cannons  when  they  approached 
Fort  Edward,  had  induced  him  to  change  his  plans,  and 
that  he  was  marching  to  attack  his  camp.  Colonel 
Ephraim  Williams,  of  Deerfield,  Massachusetts,  was  imme 
diately  sent  [Sept.  8],  with  a  thousand  troops  from  that 
colony,  and  two  hundred  Mohawks,1  under  the  famous  chief, 
Hendrick,  to  intercept  the  enemy.  They  met  in  a  narrow 
defile,  four  miles  from  Lake  George.  The  English  sud 
denly  fell  into  an  ambuscade.  Williams  and  Hendrick 
were  both  killed,2  and  their  followers  fell  back  in  great  con 
fusion,  upon  Johnson's  camp,  hotly  pursued  by  the  victors.  One  of  the  Mas 
sachusetts  regiments,  which  fought  bravely  in  this  action,  was  commanded  by 
Timothy  Ruggles,  who  was  president  of  the  Stamp  Act  Congress,3  held  at  New 
York  in  1765,  but  who,  when  the  Revolution  broke  out,  was  active  on  the  side 
of  the  Crown. 

The  commander-in-chief  was  assured  of  the  disaster  before  the  flying  fugi 
tives  made  their  appearance.  He  immediately  cast  up  a  breastwork  of  logs  and 
limbs,  placed  upon  it  two  cannons  which  he  had  received  from  Fort  Edward 
two  days  before,  and  when  the  enemy  came  rushing  on, 
close  upon  the  heels  of  the  English,  he  was  prepared  to 
receive  them.  The  fugitives  had  just  reached  Johnson's 
camp  when  Dieskau  and  his  flushed  victors  appeared. 
Unsuspicious  of  heavy  guns  upon  so  rude  a  pile  as  John 
son's  battery  exhibited,  they  rushed  forward,  with  sword, 
pike,  and  tomahawk,  and  made  a  spirited  attack.  One 
volley  from  the  English  cannons  made  the  Indians  flee  in 
terror  to  the  shelter  of  the  deep  forests  around.  The  Ca 
nadian  militia  also  fled,  as  General  Lyman  and  a  body  of 
troops  approached  from  Fort  Edward ;  and,  finally,  the  French  troops,  after 
continuing  the  conflict  several  hours,  and  losing  their  commander,4  withdrew, 
and  hastened  to  Crown  Point.  Their  baggage  was  captured  by  some  New 
Hampshire  troops  from  Fort  Edward,  and  the  defeat  was  complete. 

General  Johnson  erected  a  fortification  on  the  site  of  his  camp,  at  the  head 
of  the  lake,  and  called  it  Fort  William  Henry.  It  was  constructed  under  the 
direction  of  Richard  Gridley,  who  commanded  the  artillery  in  the  siege  of 
Louisburg,  ten  years  before.6  Being  informed  that  the  French  were  strength- 

1  Page  23. 

2  "While  on  his  way  north,  Williams  stopped  at  Albany,  made  his  will,  and  bequeathed  certain 
property  to  found  a  free  school  for  western  Massachusetts.     That  was -the  foundation  of  "Williams' 
College" — his  best  monument.     The  rock  near  which  his  body  was  found,  on  the  right  side  of  the 
road  from  Glenn's  Falls  to  Lake  George,  still  bears  his  name  ;  and  a  collection  of  water  on  the  bat 
tle-ground,  is  called  Bloody  Pond.  9  3  Page  215. 

*  Dieskau  was  found  mortally  wounded,  carried  into  the  English  camp,  and  there  tenderly 
treated.  He  was  afterward  conveyed  to  New  York,  from  whence  he  sailed  to  England,  where  he 
died.  6  Not-3  1,  page  137. 


SIR  WILLIAM  JOHNSON. 


1763.] 


THE    FRENCH    AND    INDIAN    WAR. 


191 


ening  their  works  at  Crown  Point,  and  were  fortifying  Ticonderoga,1  he  thought 

it  prudent  to  cease  offensive  operations.     He  garrisoned  Fort  Edward  and  fort 

William  Henry,  returned  to  Albany,  and  as  the  season  was 

advanced  [October,  1755],  he  dispersed  the  remainder  of  his 

troops.   For  his  services  in  this  campaign,  the  king  conferred 

the  honor  of  knighthood  upon  him,  and  gave  him  twenty-five 

thousand  dollars  with  which  to  support  the  dignity.     This 

honor  and  emolument  properly  belonged  to  General  Lyman, 

the  real  hero  of  the  campaign.2  Johnson  had  Sir  Peter  Warren 

and  other  friends  at  court,  and  so  won  the  unmerited  prize. 


FORT  WILLIAM 
HENRY. 


ABERCROMBIE. 


CAMPAIGN     OF     1756. 

The  home  governments  now  took  up  the  quarrel.     The  campaign  of  1755, 
having  assumed  all  the  essential  features  of  regular  war,  and  there  appearing 
no  prospect  of  reconciliation  of  the  belligerents,  England  formally  proclaimed 
hostilities  against  France,  on  the  17th  of  May,  1756,  and  the  latter  soon  after 
ward  [June  9]    reciprocrated   the   action.       Governor 
Shirley,  who  had  become  commander-in  chief,  after  the 
death  of  Braddock,  was  superseded  by  General  Aber- 
crombie3  in  the  spring  of  1756.     He  came  as  the  lieu 
tenant  of  Lord  Loudon,  whom  the  king  had  appointed 
to  the  chief  command  in  America,  and  also  governor  of 
Virginia.     Loudon  was  an  indolent  man,  and  a  remark 
able  procrastinater,  and  the  active  general-in-chief  was 
Abercrombie,   who,   also,  was  not  remarkable  for  his 
skill  and  forethought  as  a  commander.       He  arrived 
with  several  British  regiments  early  in  June.       The 
plan  of  the  campaign  for  that  year  had  already  been  arranged  by  a  convention 
of  colonial  governors  held  at  Albany  early  in  the  season.     Ten  thousand  men 
were  to  attack  Crown  Point;4  six  thousand  were  to  proceed  against  Niagara;6 
three  thousand  against  Fort  du  Quesne  ;6  and  two  thousand  were  to  cross  the 
country  from  the  Kennebec,  to  attack  the  French  settlements  on  the  Chaudiere 
River. 

The  command  of  the  expedition  against  Crown  Point  was  intrusted  to  Gen 
eral  Winslow,7  who  had  collected  seven  thousand  men  at  Albany,  when  Aber- 

1  Page  196. 

2  Lyman  urged  Johnson  to  pursue  the  French,  and  assail  Crown  Point.     The  Mohawks  burned 
for  an  opportunity  to  avenge  the  death  of  Hendrick.     But  Johnson  preferred  ease  and  safety,  and 
spent  the  autumn  in  constructing  Fort  William  Henry.     He  meanly  withheld  all  praise  from  Ly^ 
man,  in  his  dispatches  to  government.     Johnson  was  born  in  Ireland,  in  1714.     He  came  to  Amer 
ica  to  take  charge  of  the  lands  of  his  uncle,  Admiral  Warren  [page  137],  on  the  Mohawk  River, 
and  gained  great  influence  over  the  Indians  of  New  York.     He  died  at  his  seat  (now  the  village 
of  Johnstown)  in  the  Mohawk  valley,  in  1774. 

8  A  strong  party  in  England,  irritated  by  the  failures  of  the  campaign  of  1755,  cast  the  blame 
of  Braddock's  defeat  and  other  disasters,  upon  the  Americans,  and  finally  procured  the  recall  of 
Shirley.  He  completely  vindicated  his  character,  and  was  afterward  appointed  governor  of  the 
Bahama  Islands.  4  Page  200.  6  Page  200.  °  Page  186.  7  Page  185. 


192 


THE     COLONIES. 


[1756. 


crombie  arrived.  Difficulties  immediately  occurred,  respecting  military  rank, 
and  caused  delay.  They  were  not  adjusted  when  the  tardy  Loudon  arrived,  at 
midsummer ;  and  his  arrogant  assumption  of  superior  rank  for  the  royal  officers, 
increased  the  irritation  and  discontent  of  the  provincial  troops.  When  these 
matters  were  finally  adjusted,  in  August,  the  French  had  gained  such  positive 
advantages,  that  the  whole  plan  of  the  campaign  was  disconcerted. 

Baron  Dieskau1  wTas  succeeded  by  the  Marquis  de  Montcalm,  in  the  com 
mand  of  the  French  troops  in  Canada.  Perceiving  the  delay  of  the  English, 
and  knowing  that  a  large  number  of  their  troops  was  at  Albany,  short  of  pro 
visions,  and  suffering  from  small -pox,  and  counting  wisely  upon  the  inefficiency 
of  their  commander-in-chief,  he  collect3d  about  five  thousand  Frenchmen,  Ca 
nadians,  and  Indians,  at  Frontenac,2  and  crossing  Lake  Ontario,  landed,  with 
thirty  pieces  of  cannon,  a  few  miles  east  of  Oswego.  Two  days  afterward,  he 
appeared  before  Fort  Ontario  [Aug.  11,  1756],  on  the  east  side  of  the  river, 
then  in  command  of  Colonel  Mercer.  After  a  short  but  brave  resistance,  the 
garrison  abandoned  the  fort  [Aug.  12],  and  withdrew  to  an  older  fortification, 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river.3  Their  commander  was  killed,  and  they  were 
soon  obliged  to  surrender  themselves  [Aug.  14]  prisoners 
of  war.  The  spoils  of  victory  for  Montcalm,  were  four 
teen  hundred  prisoners,  a  large  amount  of  military  stores, 
consisting  of  small  arms,  ammunition,  and  provisions  ;  one 
hundred  and  thirty-four  pieces  of  cannon,  and  several  ves 
sels,  large  and  small,  in  the  harbor.  After  securing  them, 
he  demolished  the  forts,4  and  returned  to  Canada.  The 
whole  country  of  the  Six  NATIONS  was  now  laid  open  to 
the  incursions  of  the  French. 

The  loss  of  Oswego  was  a  severe  blow  to  the  English.  When  intelligence 
of  that  event  reached  Loudon,  he  recalled  the  troops  then  on  their  way  toward 
Lake  Champlain ;  and  all  the  other  expeditions  were  abandoned.  Forts  Wil 
liam  Henry5  and  Edward0  were  strengthened  ;  fifteen  hundred  volunteers  and 
drafted  militia,  under  Washington,  were  placed  in  stockades7  for  the  defense  of 
the  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  frontiers ;  and  on  the  western  borders  of  the 
Carolinas  several  military  posts  were  established  as  a  protection  against  the 


FORTS   AT   OSWEGO. 


1  Page  189.  .    2  Note  5,  page  180. 

3  A  palisaded  block-house,  built  by  order  of  Governor  Burnet  in 
1727,  near  the  spot  where  Fort  Pepperell  was  erected.     A  redoubt 
or  block-house  is  a  fortified  building,  of  peculiar  construction,  well  cal 
culated  for  defense.     They  were  generally  built  of  logs,  in  the  form 
represented  in  the  engraving.     They  were  usually  two  stories,  with 
narrow  openings  through  which  to  fire  muskets  from  within.     They 
were  sometimes  prepared  with  openings  for  cannons. 

4  This  was  to  please  the  Six  NATIONS,  who  had  never  felt  con 
tented  with  this  supporter  of  power  in  their  midst.     The  demolition 
of  these  forts,  induced  the  Indians  to  assume  an  attitude  of  neutrality, 
lay  a  solemn  treaty. 

6  Page  191.    It  commanded  a  view  of  the  lake  from  its  head  to 
the  Narrows,  fifteen  miles. 
c  Page  100.     The  Hudson  is  divided  at  Fort  Edward,  into   two  channels,  by  Roger's  Island, 
upon  which  the  provincial  troops  out  of  the  fort,  usually  encamped.  7  Note  2,  page  183. 


BLOCK   HOUSE. 


1763.]  THE    FRENCH    AND    INDIAN    WAR. 

Cherokees1  and  Creeks,2  whom  French  emissaries  were  exciting  to  hostilities 
against  the  English.  Hitherto,  since  the  commencement  of  hostilities,  some  of 
the  colonial  Assemblies  had  been  slow  to  make  appropriations  for  the  support 
of  the  war.  Pennsylvania  and  South  Carolina,  actuated  by  different  motives, 
had  held  back,  but  now  the  former  made  an  appropriation  of  thirty  thousand 
pounds,  to  be  issued  in  paper,  and  the  latter  granted  four  thousand  pounds 
toward  enlisting  two  companies  for  the  public  service. 

The  most  important  achievement  of  the  provincials  during  that  year,  was 
the  chastisement  of  the  Indians  at  Kittaning,  their  chief  town,  situated  on  the 
Alleghany  River.  During  several  months  they  had  spread  terror  and  desola 
tion  along  the  western  frontiers  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  and  almost  a 
thousand  white  people  had  been  murdered  or  carried  into  captivity.  These  acts 
aroused  the  people  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Dr.  Franklin  undertook  the  military 
command  of  the  frontier,  with  the  rank  of  colonel.  His  troops  were  voluntary 
militia.  Under  his  directions,  a  chain  of  forts  and  blockhouses  was  erected 
along  the  base  of  the  Kittaning  mountains,  from  the  Delaware  to  the  Maryland 
line.  Franklin  soon  perceived  that  he  was  not  in  his  right  place,  and  he 
abandoned  military  life  forever.  The  Indians  continuing  their  depredations, 
Colonel  John  Armstrong  of  Pennsylvania,3  accompanied  by  Captain  Mercer4  of 
Virginia,  with  about  three  hundred  men,  attacked  them  on  the  night  of  the  8th 
of  September  [1756],  killed  their  principal  chiefs,  destroyed  their  town,  and 
completely  humbled  them.  Thus  ended  the  campaign  of  1756.  The  French 
still  held  in  possession  almost  all  of  the  territory  in  dispute,  and  of  the  most 
important  of  their  military  posts.  They  had  also  expelled  the  English  from 
Oswego  and  Lake  George,  and  had  compelled  the  powerful  Six  NATIONS  to 
make  a  treaty  of  neutrality.  On  the  whole,  the  campaign  of  1756  closed  with 
advantages  on  the  part  of  the  French. 

CAMPAIGN    OF     1757. 

A  military  council  was  held  at  Boston  on  the  19th  of  January,  1757,  when 
Lord  Loudon  proposed  to  confine  the  operations  of  that  year  to  an  expedition 
against  Louisburg,5  and  to  the  defense  of  the  frontiers.  Because  he  was  com- 
mander-in-chief,  wiser  and  better  men  acquiesced  in  his  plans,  but  deplored  his 
want  of  judgment  and  executive  force.  The  people  of  New  England,  in  par 
ticular,  were  greatly  disappointed  when  they  ascertained  that  the  execution  of 
their  favorite  scheme  of  driving  the  French  from  Lake  Champlain  was  to  be 
deferred.  However,  the  general  ardor  of  the  colonists  was  not  abated,  and  the 
call  for  troops  was  so  promptly  responded  to,  that  Loudon  found  himself  at  the 
head  of  six  thousand  provincials  on  the  first  of  June.  The  capture  of  Louis- 
burg  was  London's  first  care.  He  sailed  from  New  York  on  the  20th  of  that 
month,  and  on  arriving  at  Halifax  ten  days  afterward  [June  30],  he  was  joined 


i  pao-e  27.  3  Page  30. 

M  He°was  a  general  in*  the  war  for  Independence,  twenty  years  later.     See  note^,  page  249. 

4  Page  269. 

lo 


194 


THE     COLONIES. 


[1756. 


by  Admiral  Holborne,  with  a  powerful  naval  armament  and  five  thousand  land 
troops,  from  England.  They  were  about  to  proceed  to  Cape  Breton,1  when 
they  were  informed  that  six  thousand  troops  wrere  in  the  fortress  at  Louisburg,2 
and  that  a  French  fleet,  larger  than  Holborne's,  was  lying  in  that  harbor. 
The  latter  had  arrived  and  taken  position  while  Loudon  was  moving  slowly, 
with  his  characteristic  indecision.  The  enterprise  was  abandoned,  and  Loudon 
returned  to  New  York  [Aug.  31],  to  hear  of  defeat  and  disgrace  on  the  north 
ern  frontier,  the  result  of  his  ignorance  and  utter  unskillfulness. 

Montcalm  had  again  borne  away  important  trophies  of  victory.  Toward 
the  close  of  July,  he  left  Ticonderoga  with  about  nine  thousand  men  (of  whom 
two  thousand  were  Indians),  and  proceeded  to  .besiege  Fort  William  Henry,  at 
the  head  of  Lake  George.3  The  garrison  of  three  thousand  men  was  commanded 
by  Colonel  Monro,  a  brave  English  officer,  who  felt  strengthened  in  his  position 
by  the  close  proximity  of  his  chief,  General  Webb,  who  was  at  the  head  of  four 
thousand  troops  at  Fort  Edward,4  only  fifteen  miles  distant.  But  his  confidence 
in  his  commanding  general  was  sadly  misplaced.  When  Montcalm  demanded  a 
surrender  of  the  fort  and  garrison  [August  3,  1757],  Monro  boldly  refused,  and 
sent  an  express  to  General  Webb,  for  aid.  It  was  not  furnished.  For  six  days 
Montcalm  continued  the  siege,  and  expresses  were  sent  daily  to  Webb  for  rein 
forcements,  but  in  vain.  Even  when  General  Johnson,0  with  a  corps  of 
provincials  and  Putnam's  Rangers,6  had,  on  reluctant  permission,  marched 
several  miles  in  the  direction  of  the  beleaguered  fort,  Webb 
recalled  them,  and  sent  a  letter  to  Monro,  advising  him  to 
surrender.  That  letter  was  intercepted  by  Montcalm,7  and 
with  a  peremptory  demand  for  capitulation,  he  sent  it  to 
Monro.  Perceiving  further  resistance  to  be  useless,  Monro 
yielded.  Montcalm  was  so  pleased  with  the  bravery  dis 
played  by  the  garrison,  that  he  agreed  upon  very  honorable 
terms  of  surrender,  and  promised  the  troops  a  safe  escort  to 
Fort  Edward.  His  Indians,  expecting  blood  and  booty, 
were  enraged  by  the  merciful  terms,  and  at  the  moment 
when  the  English  entered  the  forests  a  mile  from  Fort  Wil 
liam  Henry,  the  savages  fell  upon  them  with  great  fury, 
slaughtered  a  large  number,  plundered  their  baggage,  and 
pursued  them  to  within  cannon  shot  of  Fort  Edward. 
Montcalm  declared  his  inability  to  restrain  the  Indians,  and 
expressed  his  deep  sorrow.  The  fort  and  all  its  appendages  were  burned 
or  otherwise  destroyed.8  It  was  never  rebuilt ;  and  until  1854,  nothing  marked 

1  Xote  5,  page  137.  2  Page  ]37.  3  Page  191.  4  Page  190.  5  Page  190. 

0  Israel  Putnam,  afterward  a  major-general  in  the  army  of  the  Revolution.  He  now  held  the 
commission  of  major,  and  with  Major  Rogers  and  his  rangers,  performed  important  services  during 
the  whole  French  and  Indian  War. 

7  It  is  said  that  Montcalm  was  just  on  the  point  of  raising  the  siege  and  returning  to  Ticon 
deroga,  when  Webb's  cowardly  letter  fell  into  his  hands.  The  number  and  strength  of  Johnson's 
troops  had  been  greatly  exaggerated,  and  Montcalm  was  preparing  to  flee. 

b  Major  Putnam  visited  the  ruins  while  the  fires  were  yet  burning,  and  he  described  the  scene 
as  very  appalling.  The  bodies  of  murdered  Englishmen  were  scattered  in  every  direction,  some  of 


LAKE  GEORGE  AND 
VICINITY. 


1763.]  FRENCH    AND    INDIAN    WAR. 

its  site  but  an  irregular  line  of  low  mounds  on  the  border  of  the  lake,  a  short 
distance  from  the  village  of  Caldwell.  Since  then  a  hotel  has  been  erected 
upon  the  spot,  for  the  accommodation  of  summer  tourists.  Thus  ended  the 
military  operations  of  the  inefficient  Earl  of  Loudon,  for  the  year  1757. 

The  position  of  affairs  in  America  now  alarmed  the  English  people.  The 
result  of  the  war,  thus  far,  was  humiliating  to  British  pride,  while  it  incited 
the  French  to  greater  efforts  in  the  maintenance  of  their  power  in  the  West. 
In  the  Anglo-American1  colonies  there  was  much  irritation.  Thoroughly 
imbued  with  democratic  ideas,  and  knowing  their  competency,  unaided  by  royal 
troops,  to  assert  and  maintain  their  rights,  they  regarded  the  interferences  of 
the  home  government  as  clogs  upon  their  operations.  Some  of  the  royal  gov 
ernors  were  incompetent  and  rapacious,  and  all  were  marked  by  a  haughty 
deportment,  offensive  to  the  sturdy  democracy  of  the  colonists.  Their  demands 
for  men  and  money,  did  not  always  meet  with  cheerful  and  ample  responses : 
and  the  arrogant  assumption  of  the  English  officers,  disgusted  the  commanders 
of  the  provincial  troops,  and  often  cooled  the  zeal  of  whole  battalions  of  brave 
Americans.  Untrammeled  by  the  orders,  exactions,  and  control  of  imperial 
power,  the  Americans  would  probably  have  settled  the  whole  mitter  in  a  single 
campaign;  but  at  the  close  of  the  second  year  of  the  war  [1756]  the  result 
appeared  more  uncertain  and  remote  than  ever.  The  people  of  England  had 
perceived  this  clearly,  and  clamored  for  the  dismissal  of  the  weak  and  corrupt 
ministry  then  in  power.  The  popular  will  prevailed,  and  William  Pitt,  by  far 
the  ablest  statesman  England  had  yet  produced,  was  called  to  the  control  of 
public  affairs  in  June,  1757.  Energy  and  good  judgment  marked  every  move 
ment  of  his  administration,  especially  in  measures  for  prosecuting  the  war  in 
America.  Lord  Loudon  was  recalled,2  and  General  Abercrombie3  was  appointed 
to  succeed  him.  A  strong  naval  armament  was  prepared  and  placed  under  the 
command  of  Admiral  Boscawen  ;  and  twelve  thousand  additional  English  troops 
were  allotted  to  the  service  in  America.4  Pitt  addressed  a  letter  to  the  several 
colonies,  asking  them  to  raise  and  clothe  twenty  thousand  men.  He  promised, 
in  the  name  of  Parliament,  to  furnish  arms,  tents,  and  provisions  for  them ; 
and  also  to  reimburse  the  several  colonies  all  the  money  they  should  expend  in 
raising  and  clothing  the  levies.  These  liberal  offers  had  a  magical  effect,  and 
an  excess  of  levies  soon  appeared.  New  England  alone  raised  fifteen  thousand 
men;5  New  York  furnished  almost  twenty-seven  hundred,  New  Jersey  one 

them  half  consumed  among  the  embers  of  the  conflagration.  Among  the  dead  were  more  than  ono 
hundred  women,  many  of  whom  had  been  scalped  [note  4,  page  14]  by  the  Indians. 

1  This  is  the  title  given  to  Americans  who  are  of  English  descent.     Those  who  are  descendants 
of  the  Saxons  who  settled  in  England,  are  called  Anglo-Saxons. 

2  Pitt  gave  as  a  chief  reason  for  recalling  Loudon,  that  he  could  never  hear  from  him.  and  did 
not  know  what  he  was  about.     Loudon  was  always  arranging  great  plans,  but  executed  nothing. 
It  was  remarked  to  Dr.  Franklin,  when  he  made  inquiries  concerning  him,  tl:at  he  was  ''like  St. 
George  on  the  signs — always  on  horseback,  but  never  rides  forward."  3  Page  191. 

4  Pitt  had  arranged  such  an  admirable  militia  system  for  home  defense,  that  a  large  number  of 
the  troops  of  the  standing  army  could  be  spared  for  foreign  service. 

5  Public  and  private  advances  during  1758,  in  Massachusetts  alone,  amounted  to  more  than  r 
million  of  dollars.     The  taxes  on  real  estate,  in  order  to  raise  money,  were  enormous ;  in  many 
instances  equal  to  two  thirds  of  the  income  of  the  tax-payers.     Yet  it  was  levied  by  their  own  repre 
sentatives,  and  they  did  not  murmur.     A  few  years  later,  an  almost  nominal  tax  in  the  form  ot  duty 


196 


THE     COLONIES. 


[1756. 


LOUD   AiHIERST. 


thousand,  Pennsylvania  almost  three  thousand,  and  Virginia  over  two  thousand. 
Some  came  from  other  colonies.  Royal  American  troops  (as  they  were  called) 
organized  in  the  Carolinas,  were  ordered  to  the  North  ;  and  when  Abercromlbie 
took  command  of  the  army  in  the  month  of  May,  1758,  he  found  fifty  thousand 
men  at  his  disposal ;  a  number  greater  than  the  whole  male  population  of  the 
French  dominions  in  America,  at  that  time.1 

CAMPAIGN     OF     1758. 

The  plan  of  the  campaign  of  1758,  was  comprehensive.  Louisburg,2  Ticon- 
deroga,  and  Fort  du  Quesne,3  were  the  principal  points  of  operations  pecified  in 
it.  This  was  a  renewal  of  Shirley's  scheme,  and  ample 
preparations  were  made  to  carry  it  out.  The  first  bloAV 
was  directed  against  Louisburg.  Admiral  Boscawen 
arrived  at  Halifax  early  in  May,  with  about  forty  armed 
vessels  bearing  a  land  force  of  over  twelve  thousand  men, 
under  General  Amherst*  as  chief,  and  General  Wolfe5  as 
his  lieutenant.  They  left  Halifax  on  the  28th  of  May, 
and  on  the  8th  of  June,  the  troops  landed,  without  much 
opposition,  on  the  shore  of  Gabarus  Bay,  near  the  city 
of  Louisburg.0  The  French,  alarmed  by  this  demonstra 
tion  of  power,  almost  immediately  deserted  their  outposts, 

and  retired  within  the  town  and  fortress.  After  a  vigorous  resistance  of  almost 
fifty  days,  and  when  all  their  shipping  in  the  harbor  was  destroyed,  the  French 
surrendered  the  town  and  fort,  together  with  the  island  of  Cape  Breton  and 
that  of  St.  John  (now  Prince  Edward),  and  their  dependencies,  by  capitulation, 
on  the  26th  of  July,  1758.  The  spoils  of  victory  were  more  than  five  thousand 
prisoners,  and  a  large  quantity  of  munitions  of  war.  By  this  victory,  the 
English  became  masters  of  the  coast  almost  to  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 
When  Louisburg  fell,  the  power  of  France  in  America  began  to  wane,  and  from 
that  time  its  decline  was  continual  and  rapid. 

Activity  now  prevailed  everywhere.  While  Amherst 
and  Wolfe  were  conquering  in  the  East,  Abercrombie  and 
young  Howe  were  leading  seven  thousand  regulars,  nine 
thousand  provincials,  and  a  heavy  train  of  artillery, 
against  Ticonderoga,  then  occupied  by  Montcalm  with 
about  four  thousand  men.  Abercrombie' s  army  had  ren 
dezvoused  at  the  head  of  Lake  George,  and  at  the  close 
of  a  calm  Sabbath  evening  [July,  1758]  they  went  down 
that  beautiful  sheet  of  water  in  flat-boats,  and  at  dawn 

upon  an  article  of  Iuxur3r,  levied  without  their  consent,  excited  the  people  of  that  colony  to  rebellion. 
See  page  169. 

1  The  total  number  of  inhabitants  in  Canada,  then  capable  of  bearing  arms,  did  not  exceed 
twenty  thousand.     Of  them,  between  four  and  five  thousand  were  regular  troops. 

2  Page  229.  3  Page  186. 

4  Lord  Jeffrey  Amherst  was  born  in  Kent,  England,  in  1717.  He  was  commander-in-chief  of 
the  army  in  England,  during  a  part  of  our  war  for  independence,  and  afterward  He  died  in  1797, 
aged  eighty  years.  6  Note  8,  page  200.  6  Note  5,  page  137. 


TICONDEROGA. 


1763.] 


THE    F-RENCH    AND    INDIAN 


197 


LORD   HOWE. 


[July  6]  landed  at  its  northern  extremity.  The  whole 
country  from  there  to  Ticonderoga  was  then  covered 
with  a  dense  forest,  and  tangled  morasses  lay  in  the 
pathway  of  the  English  army.  Led  by  incompetent 
guides,  they  were  soon  bewildered,  and  while  in  this 
condition,  they  were  suddenly  attacked  by  a  French 
scouting  party.  The  enemy  was  repulsed,  but  the  vic 
tory  was  at  the  expense  of  the  life  of  Lord  Howe.1  He 
fell  at  the  head  of  the  advanced  guard,  and  a  greater 
part  of  the  troops,  who  considered  him  the  soul  of  the 
expedition,  retreated  in  confusion  to  the  landing-place. 

In  the  midst  of  the  temporary  confusion  incident  to  the  death  of  Howe, 
intelligence   reached  Abercrombie   that   a  reinforcement   for   Montcalm   was 

approaching.  Deceived  concern 
ing  the  strength  of  the  French 
lines  across  the  neck  of  the  pen 
insula  on  which  the  for  tress  stood,2 
he  pressed  forward  to  the  attack 
without  his  artillery,  and  ordered 
his  troops  to  scale  the  breast 
works  [July  8],  in  the  face  of 
the  enemy's  fire.  These  proved 
much  stronger  than  he  antici 
pated,3  and  after  a  bloody  con 
flict  of  four  hours,  Abercrombio 
fell  back  to  Lake  George,  leav 
ing  almost  two  thousand  of  his  men  dead  or  wounded,  in  the  deep  forest.4  He 
hastened  to  his  former  camp  at  the  head  of  the  lake,  and  then,  on  the  urgent 
solicitation  of  Colonel  Bradstreet,  he  detached  three  thousand  men  under  that 
officer,  to  attack  the  French  post  at  Frontenac.5  They  went  by  way  of  Oswego 

1  Lord  Howe  was  brother  of  Admiral  Lord  Howe,  who  commanded  the  British  fleet  on  tho 
American  coast,  in  1776-77,  and  of  Sir  William  Howe,  the  commander  of  the  land  forces.  He  was 
greatly  beloved  by  the  troops;  and  Mante,  who  was  in  tho  service,  remarks:  "With  him  the  soul 
of  the  expedition  seemed  to  expire."  He  was  only  thirty-four  years  of  age  when  he  fell.  Tho 
legislature  of  Massachusetts  Bay  appropriated  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  a 
monument  to  his  memory,  in  Westminster  Abbey.  His  remains  were  conveyed  to  Albany  by 
Captain  (afterward  General)  Philip  Schuyler,  and  there  placed  in  a  vault  belonging  to  the  family 
of  that  officer.  They  were  afterward  removed  to  a  place  under  the  chancel  of  St.  Fetor's  Church, 
on  State-street,  Albany,  where  they  remain.  At  the  time  of  their  removal,  it  was  ibund  that  Lord 
Howe's  hair,  which  was  very  short  when  he  was  killed,  had  grown  several  inches,  and  exhibited 
beautiful  smooth  and  glossy  locks. 

3  The  diagram  (p.  196)  shows  the  general  form  of  the  principal  works.  The  ground  on  which 
Ticonderoga  stood  is  about  one  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  lake.  Water  is  upon  three  sides, 
and  a  deep' morass  extends  almost  across  the  fourth,  forming  a  narrrow  neck,  where  the  French  ha  I 
erected  a  strong  line  of  breastworks  with  batteries.  This  line  was  about  a  mile  north-west  of  tho 
fortress,  which  occupied  the  point  of  the  peninsula.  The  ruins  of  the  fort,  delineated  in  the  abovo 
sketch,  are  yet  [1867]  quite  picturesque. 

3  The  breastworks  were  nine  feet  in  height,  covered  in  front  by  sharpened  branches  of  felled 
trees,  pointing  outward  like  a  mass  of  bayonets. 

4  Among 'the  wounded  was  Captain  Charles  Lee,  afterward  a  general  in  tho  armv  of  the  Revo 
lution.     See  note  4,  page  248.  *  Pago  18°- 


RUIXS   OF   TICOXDEROGA. 


198  THE     COLONIES.  [1756. 

and  Lake  Ontario,  and  two  days  after  landing  [August  27,  1758],  they  cap 
tured  the  fort,  garrison,  and  shipping,  without  much  resistance.1  Bradstreet 
lost  only  three  or  four  men  in  the  conflict,  but  a  fearful  sickness  broke  out  in 
his  camp,  and  destroyed  about  five  hundred  of  them.  With  the  remainder,  ho 
slowly  retraced  his  steps,  and  at  the  carrying-place  on  the  Mohawk,  where  the 
village  of  Rome  now  stands,  his  troops  assisted  in  building  Fort  Stanwix.2  Aber- 
crombic,  in  the  mean  while,  after  garrisoning  Fort  George,3  returned  with  the 
remainder  of  his  troops  to  Albany. 

The  expedition  against  Fort  du  Quesne,4  in  the  West,  was  commanded  by 
General  John  Forbes,  who,  in  July,  had  about  nine  thousand  men  at  his  dis 
posal,  at  Fort  Cumberland  and  Raystown,  including  the  Virginia  troops  under 
Colonel  Washington,  the  Carolina  Royal  Americans,  and  an  auxiliary  force  of 
Cherokee  Indians.  Protracted  sickness,  and  perversity  of  will  and  judgment 
on  the  part  of  Forbes,  caused  delays  almost  fatal  to  the  expedition.  Contrary 
to  the  advice  of  Washington,  he  insisted,  under  the  advice  of  some  Pennsylvania 
land  speculators,  in  constructing  a  new  road,  further  north,  over  the  mountains, 
instead  of  following  the  one  made  by  Braddock.  His  progress  was  so  slow,  that 
in  September,  when  it  was  known  that  not  more  than  eight  hundred  men  were 
at  Fort  du  Quesne,6  Forbes,  with  six  thousand  troops,  was  yet  east  of  the  Al- 
leghanies.  Major  Grant,  at  the  head  of  a  scouting  party  of  Colonel  Boquet's 
advanced  corps,  was  attacked  [Sept.  21],  defeated,  and  made  prisoner.  Still 
Forbes  moved  slowly  and  methodically,  and  it  was  November  [Nov.  8]  before 
he  joined  Boquct  with  the  main  body,  fifty  miles  from  the  point  of  destination. 
The  approach  of  winter,  and  discontent  of  the  troops,  caused  a  council  of  war 
to  decide  upon  abandoning  the  enterprise,  when  three  prisoners  gave  informa 
tion  of  the  extreme  weakness  of  the  French  garrison.  Washington  was  imme 
diately  sent  forward,  and  the  whole  army  prepared  to  follow.  Indian  scouts 
discovered  the  Virginians  when  they  were  within  a  day's  march  of  the  fort, 
and  their  fear  greatly  magnified  the  number  of  the  provincials.  The  French 
garrison,  reduced  to  five  hundred  men,  set  fire  to  the  fort  [Nov.  24],  and  fled 
down  the  Ohio  in  boats,  in  great  confusion,  leaving  every  thing  behind  them. 
The  Virginians  took  possession  the  following  day.  Forbes  left  a  detachment 
of  four  hundred  and  fifty  men,  to  repair  and  garrison  the  fort,  and  then 
hastened  back  to  go  into  winter  quarters.  The  name  of  Fort  du  Quesne  was 
changed  to  Fort  Pitt,  in  honor  of  the  great  English  statesman.8 

1  They  made  eight  hundred  prisoners,  and  seized  nino  armed  vessels,  sixty  cannons,  sixteen 
mortars,  a  large  quantity  of  ammunition  and  stores,  and  goods  designed  for  traffic  with  the  Indians. 
Among  Bradstreet's  subalterns,  was  Nathaniel  Woodlmll,  afterward  a  general  at  the  commencement 
of  the  war  for  Independence.     [See  note  3,  page  252.]     Stark,  Ward,  Pomeroy,  Gridley,  Putnam, 
Schuyler,  and  many  others  who  were  distinguished  in  the  Revolutionary  struggle,  were  active  par 
ticipants  in  the  scenes  of  the  French  and  Indian  War. 

2  Page  278. 

3  Fort  George  was  erected  about  a  mile  south-east  of  the  ruins  of  Fort  William  Henry,  at  the 
head  of  Lake  George.     The  ruins  of  the  main  work,  or  citadel,  are  still  [1867]  quite  prominent. 

4  Page  186. 

6  The  capture  of  Fort  Frontenac  spread  alarm  among  the  French  west  of  that  important  post, 
because  their  supplies  from  Canada  were  cut  off.  It  so  affected  the  Indians  with  fear,  that  a  greater 
part  of  those  who  were  allied  to  the  French,  deserted  them,  and  Fort  du  Quesne  was  feebly  gar 
risoned.  6  Page  195. 


1763-J  THE    FRENCH    AND    INDIAN    WAR. 

With  this  event,  closed  the  campaign  of  1758,  which  resulted  in  groat  gain 
to  the  English.  They  had  effectually  humbled  the  French,  by  capturing  three 
of  their  most  important  posts,1  and  by  weakening  the  attachment  of  their 
Indian  allies.  M-:ny  of  the  Indians  had  not  only  deserted  the  French,  but  at 
a  great  council  held  at  Easton,  on  the  Delaware,  during  the  summer  of  that  year 
they  had,  with  the  Six  NATIONS,'  made  treaties  of  friendship  or  neutrality 
with  the  English.3  The  right  arm  of  French  success  was  thus  paralyzed,  and 
peace  was  restored  to  the  frontiers  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia. 

CAMPAIGN     OF     1759. 

Four  years  had  elapsed  since  the  commencement  of  this  inter-colonial  war. 
The  final  struggle  was  now  at  hand.  Encouraged  by  the  success  of  the  cam 
paigns  just  closed,  Pitt  conceived  the  magnificent  scheme  of  conquering  all 
Canada,  and  destroying,  at  one  blow,  the  French  dominion  in  America.  That 
dominion  was  now  confined  to  the  region  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  for  more  distant 
settlements  in  the  west  and  south,  were  like  weak  colonies  cut  off  from  the 
parent  country.  Pitt  had  the  rare  fortune  to  possess  the  entire  confidence  and 
esteem  of  the  Parliament  and  the  colonists.  The  former  was  dazzled  by  his 
greatness  ;  the  latter  were  deeply  impressed  with  his  justice.  He  had  promptly 
reimbursed  all  the  expenses  incurred  by  the  provincial  Assemblies  during  the 
campaign,4  amounting  to  almost  a  million  of  dollars,  and  they  as  promptly  sec 
onded  his  scheme  of  conquest,  which  had  been  communicated  to  them  under  an 
oath  of  secresy.  The  unsuccessful  Abercrombie5  was  succeeded  by  the  success 
ful  Amherst,6  and  early  in  the  spring  of  1759,  the  new  commander-in-chief 
found  twenty  thousand  provincial  troops  at  his  disposal.  A  competent  land  and 
naval  force  was  also  sent  from  England  to  co-operate  with  the  Americans,  and 
the  campaign  opened  with  brilliant  prospects  for  the  colonies.  The  general 
plan  of  operations  against  Canada  was  similar  to  that  of  Phipps  and  Winthrop 
in  1690. 7  A  strong  land  and  naval  force,  under  General  Wolfe,  was  to  ascend 
the  St.  Lawrence,  and  attack  Quebec.  Another  force,  under  Amherst,  was  to 
drive  the  French  from  Lake  Champlain,  seize  Montreal,  and  join  Wolfe  at 
Quebec  ;  and  a  third  expedition,  commanded  by  General  Prideaux,  was  to  cap 
ture  Fort  Niagara,  and  then  hasten  down  Lake  Ontario  to  Montreal. 

On  the  22d  of  July,  1759,  General  Amherst  appeared  before  Ticonderogcs, 
with  eleven  thousand  men.  The  French  commander  had  just  heard  of  the 
arrival  of  Wolfe  at  Quebec  [June  27],  and  offered  no  resistance.  The  garrison 
left  the  lines  on  the  23d  of  July,  and  retired  within  the  fort,  and  three  days 
afterward  [July  26]  they  abandoned  that  also,  partially  demolished  it,  and  fled 
to  Crown  Point.  Amherst  pursued  them,  and  on  his  approach,  they  took  to 
their  boats  [Aug.  1],  and  went  down  the  lake  to  Isle  Aux  Noix,8  in  the  Sorel 

1  Louisburg,  Frontenac,  and  Du  Quesne.     Others,  except  Quebec,  were  stockades.     Note  2, 
page  183.  "  P«g»  25i 

3  The  chief  tribes  represented,  were  the  Delawares,  Shawnees,  Nanticokea,  Mohegans,  Conors. 
and  Monseys.     The  Twightwees,  on  the  Ohio  [page  19],  had  always  remained  tin  friends 
English.  "Page  195.  Pago  191.  , 

6  Pao-e  196  1  Page  131.  8  Pronounced  0  Aoo-afi. 


200 


THE    COLONIES. 


[1756 


CiiUWN  POINT." 


River.  Amherst  remained  at  Crown  Point  long  enough  to  construct  a  sufficient 
number  of  rude  boats  to  convey  his  trooos,  artillery,  and  bag 
gage,  and  then  started  to  drive  his  enemy  before  him,  across  the 
St.  Lawrence.  It  was  now  mid-autumn  [Oct.  11],  and  heavy 
storms  compelled  him  to  return  to  Crown  Point,  and  place  his 
troops  in  winter  quarters.1  While  there,  they  constructed  that 
strong  fortress,  whose  picturesque  ruins,  after  the  lapse  of  almost 
a  hundred  years,  yet  [1867]  attest  its  strength. 
Accompanied  by  Sir  William  Johnson,  as  his  lieuten 
ant,  Prideaux  collected  his  forces  (chiefly  provincials)3 
at  Oswego,  and  sailed  from  thence  to  Niagara.  He 
landed  without  opposition,  on  the  17th  of  July,  and  im 
mediately  commenced  the  siege.  On  the  same  day  he 
was  lulled,  by  the  bursting  of  a  gun,  and  was  succeeded 
in  command  by  General  Johnson.  The  beleaguered  gar 
rison,  in  daily  expectation  of  reinforcements  which  had 
been  ordered  from  the  southern  and  western  forts,  held 
out  bravely  for  three  weeks,  when,  on  the  24th  of  July, 
the  expected  troops  appeared.  They  were  almost  three  thousand  strong,  one 
half  being  French  regulars,  and  the  remainder  Indians,  many  of  them  from  the 
Creek4  and  Cherokee5  nations.  A  severe  conflict  ensued.  The  relief  forces 
were  completely  routed,  and  on  the  following  day  [July  25],  Fort  Niagara  and 
its  dependencies,  and  the  garrison  of  seven  hundred  men,  were  surrendered  to 
Johnson.  The  connecting  link  of  French  military  posts  between  Canada  and 
Louisiana6  was  effectually  broken,  never  again  to  be  united.  Encumbered  with 
his  prisoners,  and  unable  to  procure  a  sufficient  number  of  vessels  for  the  pur 
pose,  Johnson  could  not  proceed  to  Montreal,  to  co-operate  with  Amherst  and 
Wolfe  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  according  to  the  original  plan.7  He  garrisoned 
Fort  Niagara,  and  returned  home. 

Animated  with  high  hopes,  Wolfe3  left  Louisburg,   with  eight  thousand 
troops,  under  a  convoy  of  twenty-two  line-of-battle  ships,  and  as  many  frigates 


FORT   NIAGARA. 


1  "While  at  Crown  Point,  Major  Rogers,  at  the  head  of  his  celebrated  Rangers,  went  on  an  ex 
pedition  against  the  St.  Francis  Indians,  who  had  long  been  a  terror  to  the  frontier  settlements  of 
New  England.     The  village  was  destroyed,  a  large  number  of  Indians  were  slain,  and  the  Rangers 
were  completely  victorious.     They  suffered  from  cold  and  hunger  while  on  their  return,  and  many 
were  left  dead  in  the  forest  before  the  party  reached  the  nearest  settlement  at  Bellows  Falls. 
Rogers  went  to  England  after  the  war,  returned  in  1775,  joined  the  British  army  at  New  York, 
and  soon  went  to  England  again,  where  he  died. 

2  The  above  diagram  shows  the  general  form  of  the  military  works  at  Crown  Point.     These, 
like  the  ruins  at  Ticonderoga,  are  quite  picturesque  remains  of  the  past.   A  A  A  shows  the  position 
of  the  strong  stone  barracks,  portions  of  which  are  yet  standing.   W  shows  the  place  of  a  very  deep 
well,  dug  through  the  solid  rock.     It  was  filled  up,  and  so  remained  until  a  few  years  ago,  when 
some  money-diggers,  foolishly  believing  there  was  treasure  at  the  bottom,  cleaned  it  out.     They 
found  nothing  but  a  few  scraps  of  iron  and  other  rubbish. 

3  Johnson's  influence  over  the  Six  Nations,  made  many  of  them  disregard  the  treaty  of  neutral 
ity  made  with  Montcalm   [note  4,  page   192],  and  a  considerable  number  accompanied  him  to 
Niagara..  4  Page  30.  6  Page  27.  6  Page  180.  7  Page  199. 

8  James  "Wolfe  was  the  son  of  a  British  general,  and  was  born  in  Kent,  England,  in  1726.  Be 
fore  he  was  twenty  years  of  age,  he  was  distinguished  in  battle.  IIo  was  now  only  thirty-three 
years  old. 


1763.] 


THE    FRENCH    AND    INDIAN    WAR. 


201 


GENERAL    WOLFE. 


and  smaller  armed  vessels,  commanded  by  Admirals  Holmes  and  Saunders,  and, 

on  the  27th  of  June,  landed  upon  Orleans  Island,  a  few  miles  below  Quebec. 

That  city  then,  as  now,  consisted  of  an  Upper  and  Lower  Town,  the  former 

within  fortified  walls,  upon  the  top  and  declivities  of  a  high  peninsula  •  the 

latter  lying  upon  a  narrow  beach  at  the  edge  of  the 

water.     Upon  the  heights,  three  hundred  feet  above  the 

water,  was  a  level  plateau  called  the  -Plains  of  Abra 
ham.     At  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Charles,  which  here 

enters  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  French  had  moored  several 

floating  batteries.1     The  town  was  strongly  garrisoned 

by  French  regulars,  and  along  the  north  bank  of  the 

St.  Lawrence,  from  the  St.  Charles  to  the  Montmorenci 

River,  was  the  main  French  army,  under  Montcalm,2  in 

a  fortified  camp.     It  was  composed  chiefly  of  Canadian 

militia  and  Indians. 

On  the  30th  of  July,  the  English,  after  a  slight  skirmish,  took  possession 

of  Point  Levi,  opposite  Quebec,  and  throwing  hot  shot  from  a  battery,  they 

almost  destroyed  the  Lower  Town.  They  could  not  damage  the  strong  fortifi 
cations  of  the  city  from  that  distance, 
and  Wolfe  resolved  to  attack  the 
French  camp.  He  had  already  land 
ed  a  large  force,  under  Generals 
Townshend  and  Murray,  and  formed 
a  camp  [July  10,  1759],  below  the 
River  Montmorenci.  General  Monck- 
ton,  with  grenadiers3  and  other  troops, 
crossed  from  Point  Levi,  and  landed 

MILITARY   OPERATIONS   AT   QUEBEC.  upon  the  fc^    [July  g^  at  fa  ^Q 

of  the  high  river  bank,  just  above  that  stream.  Murray  and  Townshend  were 
ordered  to  force  a  passage  across  the  Montmorenci,  and  co-operate  with  him, 
but  Monckton  was  too  eager  for  attack  to  await  their  coming.  He  unwisely 
rushed  forward,  but  was  soon  repulsed,  and  compelled  to  take  shelter  behind  a 
block-house4  near  the  beach,  just  as  a  heavy  thunder-storm,  which  had  been 
gathering  for  several  hours,  burst  upon  the  combatants.  Night  came  on  before 
it  ceased,  and  the  roar  of  the  rising  tide  warned  the  English  to  take  to  their 
boats.  Five  hundred  of  their  number  had  perished. 

Two  months  elapsed,  and  yet  the  English  had  gained  no  important  advan 
tages.     Wolfe  had  received  no  intelligence  from  Amherst,  and  the  future  ap- 


1  These  were  a  kind  of  flat-boats,  with  proper  breastworks  or  other  defenses,  and  armed  with 
cannons. 

2  He  was  descended  from  a  noble  family.    He  was  appointed  governor  of  Canada  in  1756.     His 
remains  are  beneath  the  Ursuline  convent  at  Quebec. 

3  Grenadiers  are  companies  of  the  regular  army,  distinguished  from  the  rest  by  some  peculiarity 
of  dress  and  accoutrements,  and  always  composed  of  the  tallest  and  most  muscular  men  in  the  serv 
ice.     They  are  generally  employed  in  bayonet  charges,  and  sometimes  carry  grenades,  a  kind  of 
small  bomb-shell.  *  Xote  3,  page  192. 


202  THE     COLONIES.  [1756. 

peared  gloomy.  The  exposure,  fatigue,  and  anxiety  which  he  had  endured 
produced  a  violent  fever,  and  at  the  beginning  of  September  [1759],  he  lay 
prostrate  in  his  tent.  He  called  a  council  of  war  at  his  bedside,  and,  on  the 
suggestion  of  Townshend,  it  was  resolved  to  scale  the  heights  of  Abraham,1  and 
assail  the  town  on  its  weakest  side.  Wolfe  heartily  approved  of  the  design. 
A  plan  was  speedily  matured,  and  feeble  as  he  was,  the  commander-in-chief 
determined  to  lead  the  assault  in  person.  The  camp  at  the  Montmorenci  was 
broken  up  [Sept.  8],  and  the  attention  of  Montcalm  was  diverted  from  the  real 
designs  of  the  English,  by  seeming  preparations  to  again  attack  his  lines.  The 
affair  was  managed  so  secretly  and  skillfully,  that  even  De  Bourgainville,  wTho 
had  been  sent  up  the  St.  Lawrence  by  Montcalm,  with  fifteen  hundred  men, 
to  watch  the  movements  of  the  English,  had  no  suspicion  of  their  designs. 

All  preparations  having  been  completed,  the  English  ascended  the  river,  in 
several  vessels  of  the  fleet,  on  the  evening  of  the  12th  of  September.  They 
went  several  miles  above  the  intended  landing-place.  Leaving  the  ships  at 
midnight,  they  embarked  in  flat  boats,  with  muifled  oars,  and  moved  silently 
down  to  the  mouth  of  a  ravine,  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  city,  and  landed.2 
At  dawn  [Sept.  13],  Lieutenant-Colonel  Howe3  led  the  van  up  the  tangled 
ravine,  in  the  face  of  a  sharp  fire  from  a  guard  above.  He  wras  followed  by  the 
generals  and  the  remainder  of  the  troops,  with  artillery ;  and  at  sunrise  the 
whole  army  stood  in  battle  array  upon  the  Plains  of  Abraham.  It  was  an 
apparition  little  anticipated  by  the  vigilant  Montcalm.  He 
perceived  the  peril  of  the  city ;  and  marching  his  whole  army 
immediately  from  his  encampment,  crossed  the  St.  Charles,  and 
between  nine  and  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  confronted  the 
English.  A  general,  fierce,  and  bloody  battle  now  ensued.  Al 
though  twice  severely  wounded,  Wolfe  kept  his  feet;  and  as 
the  two  armies  closed  upon  each  other,  he  placed  himself  at  the 
head  of  his  grenadiers,  and  led  them  to  a  charge.  At  that  mo 
ment  a  bullet  entered  his  breast.  He  was  carried  to  the  rear, 
and  a  few  moments  afterward,  Monckton,  who  took  the  com 
mand,  also  fell,  severely  wounded.  Townshend  continued  the 
battle.  Montcalm  soon  received  a  fatal  wound  ;4  and  the  French, 
terribly  pierced  by  English  bayonets,  and  smitten  by  Highland  broadswords, 
broke  and  fled.  Wolfe  died  just  as  the  battle  ended,  with  a  smile  upon  his  lips, 
because  his  ears  heard  the  victory- shouts  of  his  army.  Five  hundred  Frcnch- 


MOXUMENT  TO  WOLFE 
AND  MONTCALM. 


1  The  declivity  from  Cape  Diamond,  on  which  the  chief  fortress  stands,  along  the  St.  Lawrence 
to  the  cove  below  Sillery,  was  called  by  the  general  name  of  the  Heights  of  Abraham,  the  plains  of 
that  name  being  on  the  top.  See  map  on  page  201. 

3  This  place  is  known  as  Wolfe's  Cove ;  and  the  ravine,  which  here  breaks  the  steepness  of  the 
rocky  shore,  and  up  which  the  English  clambered,  is  called  Wolfe's  Ravine. 

3  Afterward  General  Sir  William  Howe,  the  commander-in-chkf  of  the  English  forces  in  Amer 
ica,  when  the  Revolution  had  fairly  commenced.     Page  247. 

4  He  \vas  carried  into  the  city,  and  when  told  that  he  must  die,  he  said,  "  So  much  the  better ; 
I  shall  then  be  spared  the  mortification  of  seeing  the  surrender  of  Quebec."     His  remains  are  yet 
in  Quebec ;  those  of  Wolfe  were  conveyed  to  England.     People  of  the  two  nations  have  long  dwelt 
peaceably  together  in  that  ancient  city,  and  they  have  united  in  erecting  a  tall  granite  obelisk, 
dedicated  to  the  linked  memory  of  Wolfe  and  Montcalm. 


' 


EDIEAJIPIBI 


1763.]  THE    FRENCH    AND    INDIAN"    WAR.  9Q3 

men  were  killed,  and  (including  the  wounded)  a  thousand  were  taken  prisoners. 
The  English  lost  six  hundred,  in  killed  and  wounded. 

General  Townshend  now  prepared  to  besiege  the  city.  Threatened  famine 
within  aided  him;  and  five  days  after  the  death  of  Wolfe  [Sept.  18,  1759], 
Quebec,  with  its  fortifications,  shipping,  stores,  and  people,  was  surrendered  to 
the  English,  and  five  thousand  troops,  under  General  Murray,  immediately  took 
possession.  The  fleet,  with  the  sick  and  the  French  prisoners,  sailed  for 
Halifax.  The  campaign  now  ended,  yet  Canada  was  not  conquered.  The 
French  yet  held  Montreal,  and  had  a  considerable  land  and  naval  force  abovo 
Quebec. 

CAMPAIGN     OF     17  GO. 

Notwithstanding  these  terrible  disasters,  the  French  were  not  dismayed, 
and  early  in  the  spring  of  1760,  Vaudreuil,  then  governor-general  of  Canada, 
sent  M.  Levi,  the  successor  of  Montcalm,  to  recover  Quebec.  He  went  down 
the  St.  Lawrence,  with  six  frigates  and  a  strong  land  force.  General  Murray 
marched  out,  and  met  him  at  Sillery,  about  three  miles  above  Quebec,  and 
there,  on  the  4th  of  April,  was  fought  one  of  the  most  sanguinary  battles  of  tho 
war.  Murray  was  defeated.  He  lost  all  his  artillery,  and  about  a  thousand 
men,  but  succeeded  in  retreating  to  the  city  with  the  remainder.  Lcvi  now 
laid  siege  to  Quebec,  and  Murray's  condition  was  becoming  perilous,  from  the 
want  of  supplies,  when  an  English  squadron,  with  reinforcements  and  provisions, 
appeared  [May  9]  in  the  St.  Lawrence.  Levi  supposed  it  to  be  the  whole 
British  fleet,  and  at  once  raised  the  siege  [May  10],  and  fled  to  Montreal,  after 
losing  most  of  his  shipping. 

Now  came  the  final  struggle.  The  last  stronghold  of  the  French  was  now 
to  be  assailed  ;  and  Vandreuil  gathered  all  his  forces  at  Montreal  for  the 
conflict.  Amherst  had  made  extensive  preparations  during  the  summer ;  and 
early  in  September  [Sept.  6—7],  three  English  armies  met  before  the  doomed 
city.  Amherst,  at  the  head  of  ten  thousand  troop.3,  and  a  thousand  warriors 
of  the  Six  NATIONS,  under  General  Johnson,1  arrived  on  the  6th,  and  was 
joined,  the  same  day,  by  General  Murray,  and  four  thousand  troops,  from 
Quebec.  The  next  day,  Colonel  Haviland  arrived,  with  three  thousand  troops, 
from  Crown  Point,2  having  taken  possession  of  Isle  Aux-Noix3  on  tho  way. 
Against  such  a  crushing  force,  resistance  would  be  vain ;  and  Vandreuil  im 
mediately  signed  a  capitulation  [Sept.  8,  1760],  surrendering  Montreal,  and 
all  other  French  posts  in  Canada,  into  the  hands  of  the  English.4  The  regular 
troops,  made  prisoners  at  Montreal,  were  to  be  sent  to  France ;  and  the  Cana 
dians  were  guarantied  perfect  security  in  person,  property,  and  religion."' 
General  Gage0  was  appointed  governor  at  Montreal ;  and  Murray,  with  four 
thousand  men,  garrisoned  Quebec. 

1  Page  190.  2  Page  198.  3  Note  8,  page  197. 

4  The  chief  posts  surrendered  were  Presque  Isle  (now  Erie,  Pennsylvania),  Detroit,  and  Mac 
kinaw. 

6  They  were  chiefly  Roman  Catholics,  and  that  is  yet  tha  prevailing  religion  in  Lower  Canada. 
6  Pages  18G  and  226. 


204  THE     COLONIES.  [1756. 

The  conquest  of  Canada  produced  great  joy  in  the  Anglo-American 
colonies,1  and  in  none  was  it  more  intense  than  in  that  of  New  York, 
because  its  whole  northern  frontier  lay  exposed  to  the  enemy.  The  exultation 
was  very  great  in  New  England,  too,  for  its  eastern  frontiers  were  now  relieved 
from  the  terrible  scourge  of  Indian  warfare,  by  which  they  had  been  desolated 
six  times  within  a  little  more  than  eighty  years.  In  these  wars,  too,  the 
Indians  had  become  almost  annihilated.  The  subjugation  of  the  French  seemed 
to  be  a  guaranty  of  peace  in  the  future,  and  the  people  everywhere  assembled 
to  utter  public  thanksgiving  to  HIM  who  rules  the  nations. 

Although  the  war  had  ceased  in  America,  the  French  and  English  contin 
ued  it  upon  the  ocean,  and  among  the  West  India  Islands,  with  almost  con 
tinual  success  for  the  latter,  until  1763,  when  a  definitive  treaty  of  peace,2 
agreed  upon  the  year  before,  was  signed  at  Paris  [February  10,  1763],  by 
which  France  ceded  to  Great  Britain  all  her  claimed  possessions  in  America, 
eastward  of  the  Mississippi,  north  of  the  latitude  of  Iberville  River.3  At  tho 
same  timo,  Spain,  with  whom  the  English  had  been  at  war  for  a  year  previously, 
ceded  [February  10.  1763]  East  and  West  Florida  to  the  British  crown.  And 
now,  England  held  undisputed  possession  (except  by  the  Indians)  of  the  whob 
Continent,  from  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  frozen  North,  and  from 
ocean  to  ocean.4 

The  storm  of  war  still  lowered  in  the  southern  horizon,  when  the  French 
dominion  ceased  in  Canada.  While  the  English  were  crushing  the  Gallic  power 
in  the  north,  the  frontier  settlements  of  the  Carolinas  were  suffering  dreadfully 
from  frequent  incursions  of  Indian  war  parties.  French  emissaries  were  busy 
among  the  Cherokees,  hitherto  the  treaty  friends  of  the  English  ;  and  their 
influence,  and  some  wrongs  inflicted  upon  the  Indians  by  some  frontier  Virginia 
Rangers,  produced  hostilities,  and  a  fierce  war  was  kindled  in  March,  1760.5 
The  whole  western  frontier  of  the  Carolinas  was  desolated  in  the  course  of  a  few 
weeks.  The  people  called  aloud  for  help,  and  Amherst  heeded  their  supplica 
tions.  Early  in  April,  Colonel  Montgomery,  with  some  British  regulars  and 
provincial  troops,  marched  from  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and  laid  waste  a 
portion  of  the  Cherokee  country.6  Those  bold  aboriginal  highlanders  were  not 
subdued;  but  when,  the  following  year,  Colonel  Grant  led  a  stronger  force 
against  them,7  burned  their  towns,  desolated  their  fields,  and  killed  many  of 
their  warriors,  they  humbly  sued  for  peace  [June,  1761],  and  ever  afterward 
remained  comparatively  quiet. 

The  storm  in  the  South  had  scarcely  ceased,  when  another,  more  porten 
tous  and  alarming,  gathered  in  the  North-west.  Pontiac,  a  sagacious  chief  of 

1  Note  1.  page  193.         2  France  and  England,  Spain  and  Portugal,  wore  parties  to  this  treat}-. 

3  New  Orleans,  and  the  whole  of  Louisiana,  was  ceded  by  France  to  Spain  at  the  same  time, 
and  she  relinquished  her  entire  possessions  in  North  America.     In  1800,  Spain,  by  a  secret  treaty, 
retroceded  Louisiana  to  France;  and  in  1803,  Napoleon  sold  it  to  the  United  States  for  fifteen  mil 
lions  of  dollars.     See  page  390. 

4  The  cost,  to  England,  of  this  Seven  Fears'  War,  as  the  conflict  was  called  in  Europe,  was  five 
hundred  and  sixty  millions  of  dollars.  6  Page  27.  6  Page  27. 

7  Marion,  Moultrie,  and  several  other  men,  afterward  distinguished  in  the  war  for  Independ 
ence,  accompanied  Grant  on  this  occasion. 


17G3.]  THE    FRENCH    AND    INDIAN    WAR. 


205 


the  Ottawas,1  who  had  been  an  early  ally  of  the  French,  secretly  confederated 
several  of  the  ALGONQUIN  tribes,  in  1763,  for  the  purpose  of  expelling  the 
English  from  the  country  west  of  the  Alleghanies.2  After  the  fall  of  Montreal,3 
Pontiac  had  professed  an  attachment  to  the  English  ;  and  as  there  seemed  safety 
for  settlers  west  of  the  mountains,  immigration  began  to  pour  its  living  stream 
over  those  barriers.  Like  Philip  of  Mount  Hope,4  Pontiac  saw,  in  the  future, 
visions  of  the  displacement,  perhaps  destruction,  of  his  race,  by  the  pale-faces ; 
and  he  determined  to  strike  a  blow  for  life  and  country.  So  adroitly  were  his 
plans  matured,  that  the  commanders  of  the  western  forts  had  no  suspicions  of 
his  conspiracy  until  it  was  ripe,  and  the  first  blow  had  been  struck,  in  the 
month  of  June.  Within  a  fortnight,  all  the  posts  in  possession  of  the  English, 
west  of  Oswego,  fell  into  his  hands,  except  Niagara,5  Fort  Pitt,6  and  Detroit. 
Colonel  Bouquet  saved  Pittsburg;7  Niagara  was  not  attacked;  and  Detroit, 
after  sustaining  a  siege  of  almost  twelve  months,  was  relieved  by  Colonel  Brad- 
street,8  who  arrived  there  with  reinforcements,  in  May,  1764.  The  Indians 
were  now  speedily  subdued,  their  power  was  broken,  and  the  hostile  tribes  sent 
their  chiefs  to  ask  for  pardon  and  peace.  The  haughty  Pontiac  refused 
to  bow  to  the  white  people,  and  took  refuge  in  the  country  of  the  Illinois, 
where  he  was  treacherously  murdered9  in  1769.  This  was  the  last  act  in  the 
dramaof  the  FRENCH  AND  INDIAN  WAR.10 

In  our  consideration  of  the  history  of  the  United  States,  wo  have  now 
arrived  at  a  point  of  great  interest  and  importance.  We  have  traced  the  growth 
of  the  colonies  through  infancy  and  youth,  as  their  interests  and  destinies  gradu 
ally  commingled,  until  they  really  formed  one  people,11  strong  and  lusty,  like 

1  Page  18. 

2  The  confederation  consisted  of  the  Ottawas,  Miamies,  "Wyandots,  Chippewas,  Pottawatomies, 
Mississaguies,  Shawnoese,  Outagamies  or  Foxes,  and  Winnebagoes.  TheSenecas,  the  most  westerly 
clan  of  the  Six  NATIONS,  also  joined  in  the  conspiracy.  3  Page  203. 

4  Page  124.  6  Page  200.  6  Page  198. 

7  Henry  Bouquet  was  a  brave  English  officer.  He  was  appointed  lieutenant-colonel  in  1756, 
and  was  in  the  expedition  against  Fort  du  Quesne  (page  198).  In  17G3,  Amherst  sent  him  from 
Montreal,  with  provisions  and  military  stores  for  Fort  Pitt.  His  arrival  was  timely,  and  he  saved 
the  garrison  from  destruction.  The  following  year  he  commanded  an  expedition  against  the  Indians 
in  Ohio,  and  was  successful.  His  journal  was  published  after  the  war.  8  Page  198. 

u  An  English  trader  bribed  a  Peoria  Indian  to  murder  him,  for  which  ho  gave  him  a  barrel  of 
rum.  The  place  of  his  death  was  Cahokia,  a  small  village  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi,  a  little 
below  St.  Louis.  Pontiac  was  one  of  the  greatest  of  all  the  Indian  chiefs  known  to  the  white  peo 
ple,  arid  deserved  a  better  fate.  It  is  said,  that  during  the  war  of  1763,  he  appointed  a  commissary, 
and  issued  bills  of  credit.  So  highly  was  he  esteemed  by  the  French  inhabitants,  that  these  were 
received  by  them.  Montcalm  thought  much  of  him;  and  at  the  time  of  his  death,  Pontiac  was 
dressed  in  a  French  uniform,  presented  to  him  by  that  commander.  See  page  202.  Pontiac  was 
buried  where  the  city  of  St.  Louis  now  stands,  and  that  busy  mart  is  his  monument,  though  not  his 
memorial. 

w  The  work  most  accessible  to  the  general  reader,  in  which  the  details  of  colonial  events  may 
be  found,  is  Graham's  Colonial  History  of  the  United  States,  in  two  volumes  octavo,  published  by 
Blanchard  and  Lea,  Philadelphia. 

11  It  must  not  be  understood,  that  there  was  yet  a  perfect  unity  of  feeling  among  the  various 
colonists.  Sectional  interests  produced  sectional  jealousies,  and  these  worked  much  mischief,  even 
while  soldiers  from  almost  every  colony  were  fighting  shoulder  to  shoulder  [page  190]  in  the  conti 
nental  army.  Burnaby,  who  traveled  in  America  at  this  period,  expressed  the  opinion,  that 
sectional  jealousy  and  dissimilarity  would  prevent  a  permanent  union ;  yet  he  avers  that  the  people 
were  imbued  with  ideas  of  independence,  and  that  it  was  frequently  remarked  among  them,  that 
;i  the  tide  of  dominion  was  running  westward,  and  that  America  was  destined  to  be  the  mistress  of 
the  world."  The  colonists  themselves  were  not  unmindful  of  the  importance  of  their  position,  and 


206  THE     COLONIES.  [1756. 

the  mature  man,  prepared  to  vindicate  natural  rights,  and  to  fashion  political  and 
social  systems  adapted  to  their  position  and  wants.  We  view  them  now,  con 
scious  of  their  physical  and  moral  strength,  possessing  clear  views  of  right  and 
justice,  and  prepared  to  demand  and  defend  both.  This  is  the  point  in  the 
progress  of  the  new  and  growing  nation  to  which  our  observation  is  now 
directed,  when  the  great  question  was  to  be  decided,  whether  independent  self- 
control  should  be  enjoyed,  or  continued  vassalage  to  an  ungenerous  parent 
should  be  endured.  Our  next  topic  will  be  the  events  connected  with  the 
settlement  of  that  question.  It  is  a  topic  of  highest  significance.  It  looms  up 
in  the  panorama  of  national  histories  like  some  giant  Alp,  far  above  its  fellows, 
isolated  in  grandeur,  yet  assimilated  in  sympathy  with  all  others. 


they  gave  freely  of  their  substance  to  carry  on  the  contest  for  the  mastery.  Probably,  the  "Seven 
Years'  War''  cost  the  colonies,  in  the  aggregate,  full  twenty  millions  of  dollars,  besides  the  flower 
of  their  youth ;  and,  in  return,  Parliament  granted  them,  during  the  contest,  at  different  periods, 
about  five  millions  and  a  half  of  dollars.  Parliament  subsequently  voted  one  million  of  dollars  to 
the  colonies,  but,  on  account  of  the  troubles  arising  from  the  Stamp  Act  and  kindred  measures,  min 
isters  withheld  the  sum. 

The  following  is  a  list,  taken  from  official  records,  of  "  The  grants  in  Parliament  for  Rewards, 
Encouragement,  and  Indemnification  to  the  Provinces  in  North  America,  for  their  Services  and  Ex 
penses  during  the  last  [seven  years']  War : 

"  On  the  3d  of  February,  1756,  as  a  free  gift  and  reward  to  the  colonies  of  New  England,  New 
York,  and  Jersey,  for  their  past  services,  and  as  an  encouragement  to  continue  to  exert  themselves 
with  vigor,  $575,000. 

"May  19th,  1757.  For  the  use  and  relief  of  the  provinces  of  North  and  South  Carolina,  and 
Virginia,  in  recompense  for  services  performed  and  to  be  performed,  $250,000. 

"June  1st,  1758.  To  reimburse  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  their  expenses  in  furnishing 
provisions  and  stores  to  the  troops  raised  by  them  in  1756,  $136,900."  To  reimburse  the  province 
of  Connecticut  their  expenses  for  ditto,  $68,680. 

"April  30th,  1759.  As  a  compensation  to  the  respective  colonies  for  the  expenses  of  clothing, 
pay  of  troops,  etc.,  $1,000,000. 

"March  31st,  1760.  For  the  same,  $1,000,000.  For  the  colony  of  New  York,  to  reimburse 
their  expenses  in  furnishing  provisions  and  stores  to  the  troops  in  1756,  $14,885. 

"Jan.  20th,  1761.  As  a  compensation  to  the  respective  colonies  for  clothing,  pay  of  the  troops, 
etc.,  $1,000,000. 

"Jan.  26th,  1762.     Ditto,  $666,666. 

"March  15th,  1763.     Ditto,  $666,666. 

"April  22d,  1770.  To  reimburse  the  province  of  New  Hampshire  their  expenses  in  furnishing 
provisions  and  stores  to  the  troops  in  the  campaign  of  1756,  $30,045.  Total,  $5,408,842." 

In  a  pamphlet,  entitled  Eights  of  BRITAIN  and  Claims  of  AMERICA,  an  answer  to  the  Declara 
tion  of  the  Continental  Congress,  setting  forth  the  causes  and  the  necessity  of  their  taking  up  arms, 
printed  in  17  76,' is  a  table  showing  the  annual  expenditures  of  the  British  government  in  support  of 
the  civil  and  military  powers  of  the  American  colonies,  from  the  accession  of  the  family  of  Hanover, 
in  1714,  until  1775.  The  expression  of  the  writer  is,  "Employed  in  the  defense  of  America."  This 
is  incorrect;  for  the  wars  with  the  French  on  this  continent,  which  cost  the  greatest  amount  of 
money,  were  wars  for  conquest  and  territory,  though  ostensibly  for  the  defense  of  the  Anglo-Amer 
ican  colonies  against  the  encroachments  of  their  Gallic  neighbors.  During  the  period  alluded  to 
(sixty  years),  the  sums  granted  for  the  army  amounted  to  $43,899,625;  for  the  navy,  $50,000,000; 
money  laid  out  in  Indian  presents,  in  holding  Congresses,  and  purchasing  cessions  of  land, 
$30,500,000;  making  a  total  of  $123,899,625.  Within  that  period  the  following  bounties  on 
American  commodities  were  paid:  On  indigo,  $725,110;  on  hemp  and  flax,  $27,800;  on  naval 
stores  imported  into  Great  Britain  from  America,  $7,293,810;  making  the  total  sum  paid  on  ac 
count  of  bounties,  $8,047,320.  The  total  amount  of  money  expended  in  sixty  years  on  account  of 
America,  $131,946,945. 


PATRICK    HENRY   BEFORE   THE   VIRGINIA   ASSEMBLY. 


FIFTH    PERIOD. 


THE  REVOLUTION.     PRELIMINARY  EYEXTS. 
17G1—1775. 


JAMES   OTIS 


CHAPTER    I. 

PRINCIPLES,  like  the  ultimate  particles  of 
matter,  and  the  laws  of  God,  are  eternal,  inde 
structible,  and  unchangeable.  They  have 

existed  in  the  moral  realm  of  our  world  since  the  advent  of  man ;  and  devious 
as  may  be  their  manifestations,  according  to  circumstances,  they  remain  the 
same,  inherently,  and  always  exhibit  the  same  tendencies.  When  God  gave  to 
man  an  intelligent  soul,  and  invested  him  with  the  prerogatives  of  moral  free 
agency,  then  was  born  that  instinctive  love  of  liberty  which,  through  all  past 
time,  has  manifested  itself  in  individuals  and  in  societies ;  and  in  every  age,  the 
consciences  of  men  have  boldly  and  indignantly  asked,  in  the  presence  of 
oppression, 

"  If  I'm  design'd  yon  lordling's  slave, 

By  Nature's  laws  designed  ; 
"Why  was  an  independent  wish 

E'er  planted  in  my  mind  ? 
If  not,  why  am  I  subject  to 

His  cruelty  or  scorn? 
Or  why  has  man  the  will  and  pow'r 

To  make  his  fellow  mourn?" 1 

1  Burns. 


208  THE    REVOLUTION".  [1761. 

Nations,  like  men,  have  thus  spoken.  The  principles  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty,  and  the  inalienable  rights  of  man  which  they  involve,  were  recognized 
and  asserted  long  before  Columbus  left  Palos  for  the  New  World.1  Their 
maintenance  had  shaken  thrones  and  overturned  dynasties  before  Charles  the 
First  was  brought  to  the  block  ;*  and  they  had  lighted  the  torch  of  revolution  long 
before  the  trumpet- tones  of  James  Otis3  and  Patrick  Henry4  aroused  the  Anglo- 
Americans0  to  resist  British  aggression.  From  the  earliest  steps  in  the  progress 
of  the  American  colonies,  we  have  seen  the  democratic  theories  of  all  past  reform 
ers  developed  into  sturdy  democratic  practice ;  and  a  love  of  liberty  which  had 
germinated  beneath  the  heat  of  persecution  in  the  Old  World,  budded  and 
blossomed  all  over  the  New,  wherever  English  hearts  beat,  or  English  tongues 
gave  utterance.  Nor  did  English  hearts  alone  cherish  the  precious  seedling, 
nor  English  tongues  alone  utter  the  noble  doctrines  of  popular  sovereignty  ;  but 
in  the  homes  of  all  in  this  beautiful  land,  whatever  country  gave  the  inmates 
birth,  there  was  a  shrine  of  freedom,  and  a  refuge  for  the  oppressed.  Here 
king-craft  and  priest-craft  never  had  an  abiding-place,  and  their  ministers  were 
always  weak  in  the  majestic  presence  of  the  popular  will. 

Upon  the  bleak  shores  of  Massachusetts  Bay ;  upon  the  banks  of  the  Hud 
son,  the  Delaware,  the  Potomac,  and  the  James ;  and  amid  the  pine-forests  or 
beneath  the  palmettos  of  the  Carolinas,  and  the  further  South,  the  colonists, 
from  the  very  beginning,  had  evinced  an  impatience  of  arbitrary  rule ;  and 
every  manifestation  of  undue  control  by  local  magistrates  or  distant  monarchs — 
every  effort  to  abridge  their  liberties  or  absorb  their  gains,  stimulated  the 
growth  of  democratic  principles.  These  permeated  the  whole  social  and  politi 
cal  life  in  America,  and  finally  evolved  from  the  crude  materials  of  royal 
charters,  religious  covenants,  and  popular  axioms,  that  galaxy  of  representative 
governments  which,  having  the  justice  of  the  English  Constitution,  the  truth 
of  Christian  ethics,  and  the  wisdom  of  past  experience  for  their  foundation, 
were  united  in  "the  fullness  of  time,"  in  that  symmetrical  combination  of  free 
institutions  known  as  the  REPUBLIC  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  or  AMERICA. 

It  is  a  common  error  to  regard  the  Revolution  which  attended  the  birth  of 
this  Republic,  as  an  isolated  episode  in  the  history  of  nations,  having  its  causes 
in  events  immediately  preceding  the  convulsion.  It  wTas  not  the  violent  result 
of  recent  discontents,  but  the  culmination  of  a  lon^  series  of  causes  tending  to 

o  O 

such  a  climax.  The  parliamentary  enactments  which  kindled  the  rebellion  in 
1775,  were  not  oppressive  measures  entirely  novel.  They  had  their  counter 
parts  in  the  British  statute  books,  even  as  early  as  the  restoration  of  monarchy 
[1660J0  a  hundred  years  before,  when  navigation  laws,7  intended  to  crush  the 
growing  commerce  of  the  colonies  were  enacted.  They  were  only  re-assertions 
of  tyrannical  legislative  power  and  royal  prerogatives,  to  which  the  colonies,  in 
the  weakness  of  their  infancy  and  early  youth,  were  compelled  to  submit.  Now 
they  had  grown  to  maturity,  and  dared  to  insist  upon  receiving  exact  justice. 

1  Page  39.  2  Note  3,  page  108.  3  Page  212.  4  Note  1,  page  214. 

5  Note  1,  page  193.  °  Page  109.  7  Note  4,  page  109. 


1775.]  PRELIMINARY    EVENTS.  209 

They  had  recently  emerged  from  an  exhausting  war,  which,  instead  of  weaken 
ing  them,  had  taught  them  their  real  moral,  political,  and  physical  strength. 
They  had  also  learned  the  important  lesson  of  power  in  union,  and  profited  by 
its  teachings.  Having  acquired  a  mastery  over  the  savages  of  the  wilderness, 
and  assisted  in  breaking  the  French  power  on  their  frontiers,  into  atoms. 1  they 
felt  their  manhood  stirring  within  them,  and  they  tacitly  agreed  no  longer  to 
submit  to  the  narrow  and  oppressive  policy  of  Great  Britain.  Their  industry 
and  commerce  were  too  expansive  to  be  confined  within  the  narrow  limits  of 
those  restrictions  which  the  Board  of  Trade,2  from  time  to  time,  had  imposed, 
and  they  determined  to  regard  them  as  mere  ropes  of  sand.  For  long  and 
gloomy  years  they  had  struggled  up,  unaided  and  alone,  from  feebleness  to 
strength.  They  had  built  fortifications,  raised  armies,  and  fought  battles,  for 
England's  glory  and  their  own  preservation,  without  England's  aid,  and  often 
without  her  sympathy.3  And  it  was  not  until  the  growing  importance  of  the 
French  settlements  excited  the  jealousy  of  Great  Britain,  that  her  ministers 
perceived  the  expediency  of  justice  and  liberality  toward  her  colonies,  in  order 
to  secure  their  loyalty  and  efficient  co-operation.4  Compelled  to  be  self-reliant 
from  the  beginning,  the  colonists  were  made  strong  by  the  mother's  neglect ; 
and  when  to  that  neglect  she  added  oppression  and  scorn,  they  felt  justified  in 
using  their  developed  strength  in  defense  of  their  rights. 

The  colonists  had  grown  strong,  not  only  in  material  prosperity,  percep 
tions  of  inalienable  rights,  and  a  will  to  be  free,  but  in  many  things  in  which 
the  strength  and  beauty  of  a  State  consist,  they  exhibited  all  the  most  prom 
inent  developments  of  a  great  nation.  A  love  for  the  fine  arts  had  been  grow 
ing  apace  for  many  years ;  and  when  the  Revolution  broke  out,  West5  and 
Copley,6  natives  of  America,  were  wearing,  in  Europe,  the  laurel-crowns  of 
supreme  excellence  as  painters.  Literature  and  science  were  beginning  to  be 
highly  appreciated,  and  the  six  colonial  colleges7  were  full  of  students.  God 
frey,  the  glazier,  who  invented  the  quadrant,  had  flourished  and  passed  away  ;8 


1  Page  203.  2  Note  5,  page  134 

3  Georgia,  alone,  received  parliamentary  aid  [page  100],  in  the  establishment  of  settlements.  In 
all  the  other  colonies,  where  vast  sums  were  expended  in  fitting  out  expeditions,  purchasing  the 
soil  of  the  Indians,  and  sustaining  the  settlers,  neither  the  crown  nor  parliament  ever  contributed 
a  farthing  of  pecuniary  aid.  The  settling  of  Massachusetts  alone,  cost  a  million  of  dollars.  Lord 
Baltimore  spent  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  colonizing  Maryland ;  and  William  Penn  became 
deeply  involvedJn  debt,  in  his  efforts  to  settle  and  improve  Pennsylvania.  4  Page  197. 

6  Benjamin  "West  was  born  in  Chester  county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1738.  His  parents  were 
Quakers.  He  commenced  art-life  as  a  portrait-painter,  when  wealthy  men  furnished  him  with 
means  to  go  to  Italy.  He  soon  triumphed,  went  to  England,  was  patronized  by  the  king,  and 
became  the  most  eminent  historical  painter  of  his  age.  He  died  in  London  in  1820,  in  the  eighty- 
second  year  of  his  age. 

6  John  Singleton  Copley  was  also  born  in  1738,  in  the  city  of  Boston.      He  became  a  pupil  of 
Smibert  [note  8,  page  158],  and  became  an  eminent  portrait-painter.     His  family  relations  identified 
him  with  the  Royalists  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution,  and  he  went  to  England  to  seek 
employment,  where  he  was  patronized  by  West.     There  he  painted  two  memorable  pictures ;  one 
for  the  House  of  Lords,  the  other  for  the  House  of  Commons.    These  established  his  fame,  and  led  to 
fortune     His  son  became  lord  chancellor  of  England,  and  was  made  a  peer,  with  the  title  of  Lord 
Lyndhurst.     Copley  died  in  England,  in  1815,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years. 

7  Page  178. 

8  Thomas  Godfrey  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  was  born  in  1704.      He  was  the  real 
inventor  of  the  quadrant  known  as  Hadley's.     See  Lossiug's  Eminent  Americans. 

13 


210 


THE    REVOLUTION. 


[1761. 


Bartram,  the  farmer,  had  become  "American  Botanist  to  his  Majesty;"1 
Franklin,  the  printer,  was  known,  wherever  civilization  had  planted  her  ban 
ners,  as  the  lightning-tamer  and  profound  moral  philosopher ;  and  Rittenhouse, 
the  clock-maker,  had  calculated  and  observed  the  transit  of  Venus,  and  con- 


structed  that  Planetarium  which  is  yet  a  wonder  in  the  world  of  mechanism.3 
Theology  and  the  legal  profession,  had  taken  high  ground.  Edwards3  had 
written  his  great  work  on  The  Freedom  of  the  Will,  and  was  among  the 
dead ;  and  already  Otis,4  Henry,6  Dickenson,6  Rutledge,7  and  other  lawyers, 
had  made  their  brilliant  marks,  and  were  prepared  to  engage  in  the  great  strug 
gle  at  hand.  All  classes  of  men  had  noble  representatives  in  the  colonies,  when 
the  conflict  commenced. 

There  was  no  cause  for  complaint  on  the  part  of  the  colonists,  of  the  willful 
exercise  of  tyrannical  power,  for  purposes  of  oppression,  by  Great  Britain. 

1  See  Lossing's  Eminent  Americans.    ' 

2  David  Rittenhouse  was  born  in  Roxborough,  Pennsylvania,  in  1732.     As  he  exhibited  great 
mechanical  genius,  his  father  apprenticed  him  to  a  clock-maker,  and  he  became  one  of  the  most 
eminent  mechanicians  and  mathematicians  of  his  time.     He  discovered  that  remarkable  feature  in 
algebraic  analysis,  called  fluxions,  and  applied  it  to  the  mechanic  arts.     He  constructed  a  machine 
which  represented  the  motions  of  the  solar  system.     That  Planetarium  is  now  in  the  possession  of 
the  College  of  New  Jersey,  at  Princeton.     Rittenhouse  succeeded  Franklin  as  president  of  the 
American"  Philosophical  Society.     He  died  in  1793,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four  years. 

3  Jonathan  Edwards  was  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  American  divines.     He  was  born  in  East 
Windsor,  Connecticut,  in  1703,  and  died  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  while  president  of  the  college, 
in  1758.  4  Page  212.  6  Page  214.  B  Page  219.  7  Page  310. 


1775.] 


PRELIMINARY    EVENTS. 


211 


There  was  no  motive  for  such  a  course.  But  they  reasonably  complained  of 
an  unjust  and  illiberal  policy,  which  accomplished  all  the  purposes  of  absolute 
tyranny.  The  rod  of  iron  was  often  covered  with  velvet,  and  was  wielded  as 
often  by  ignorant,  rather  than  by  wicked,  hands.  Yet  the  ignorant  hand,  with 


7&K£4^_^) 


the  concealed  rod.  smote  as  lustily  and  offensively,  as  if  it  had  boon  a  wicked 
one,  and  the  rod  bare.  The  first  form  of  governmental  and  proprietary  oppres 
sion1  was  in  the  appointment  of  local  rulers.  The  people  were  not  represented 
in  the  appointing  power.  Then  came  commercial  restrictions,2  prohibitions  to 
manufacture,3  imposts  upon  exchanges,1'  and  direct  taxation,  by  enactments  of 
parliament,  in  which  the  colonists  were  not  represented.  At  the  beginning, 
they  had  asserted,  and  during  their  whole  progress  they  had  maintained,  that 
important  political  maxim,  that  TAXATION  without  REPRESENTATION,  is  tyranny. 
This  was  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  their  political  creed — this  was  the  test  of 
all  parliamentary  measures  — this  was  the  strong  rock  upon  which  the  patriots 
of  the  Revolution  anchored  their  faith  and  hope. 

When  the  French  and  Indian  War  was  closed   by  the  treaty  of  Paris, 

1  Three  forms  of  government  had  existed,  namely,  charter,  proprietary,  and  royal.  The  Non- 
England  governments  were  based  upon  royal  charters ;  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and 
the  Carolinas,  were  owned  and  governed  by  individuals  or  companies,  and  the  remainder  were 
immediately  subject  to  the  crown.  Notwithstanding  this  diversity  in  the  source  of  government,  the 
anti-monarchical  spirit  pervaded  tho  people  of  all,  from  the  beginning,  and  gave  binh  to  popular 
legislative  assemblies. 

8  Note  3,  page  177.  8  Pages  177  and  173.  '  Page  17S. 


212  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1761. 

in  1763,  the  colonists  looked  forward  to  long  years  of  prosperity  and 
repose.  A  young  monarch,1  virtuous  and  of  upright  intentions,  had  been 
recently  [1761]  seated  upon  the  British  throne.  Having  confidence  in  his 
integrity,  and  having  lately  felt  the  justice  of  the  government,  under  the  direc 
tion  of  Pitt,2  they  were  disposed  to  forget  past  grievances ;  and  being  identified 
with  the  glory  of  England,  now  become  one  of  the  first  powers  on  the  earth, 
they  were  fond  of  their  connection.  But  the  serenity  of  the  political  sky  soon 
disappeared,  and  it  was  not  long  before  violent  tempests  were  raging  there. 
Even  before  the  treaty  at  ParisT  a  cloud  had  arisen  which  portended  future 
trouble.  The  war  had  exhausted  the  British  treasury,3  and  ministers  devised 
various  schemes  for  replenishing  it.  They  had  observed  the  resources  of  the 
colonists,  as  manifested  by  their  efforts  during  the  recent  struggle,4  and  as  they 
were  relieved  from  further  hostilities  by  the  subjugation  of  Canada6  [1759], 
the  government  looked  to  them  for  aid.  Instead  of  asking  it  as  a  favor ,  it  was 
demanded  as  a  right ;  instead  of  inviting  the  colonial  Assemblies  to  levy  taxes 
and  make  appropriations,  government  assumed  the  right  to  tax  their  expanding 
commerce ;  and  then  commenced  a  vigorous  enforcement  of  existing  revenue 
laws,  which  had  hitherto  been  only  nominally  oppressive.6 

One  of  the  first  acts  which  revealed  the  intentions  of  Parliament  to  tax  the 
colonies  by  enforcing  the  revenue  laws,  was  the  authorization,  in  1761,  of 
Writs  of  Assistance.  These  were  general  search-warrants,  which  not  only 
allowed  the  king's  officers  who  held  them,  to  break  open  any  citizen's  store  or 
dwelling,  to  search  for  and  seize  foreign  merchandise,  on  which  a  duty  had  not 
been  paid,  but  compelled  sheriffs  and  others  to  assist  in  the  work.  The  people 
could  not  brook  such  a  system  of  petty  oppression.  The  sanctities  of  private 
life  might  be  invaded,  at  any  time,  by  hirelings,  and  the  assertion,  based  upon 
the  guaranties  of  the  British  Constitution,  that  "  every  Englishman's  house  is 
his  castle,"  would  not  be  true.  These  writs  were  first  issued  in  Massachusetts, 
and  immediately  great  excitement  prevailed.  Their  legality  was  questioned,  and 
the  matter  was  brought  before  a  court  held  in  the  old  town  hall  in  Boston. 
The  advocate  for  the  Crown  (Mr.  Gridley)  argued,  that  as  Parliament  was  the 
supreme  legislature  for  the  whole  British  nation,  and  had  authorized  these 
writs,  no  subject  had  a  right  to  complain.  He  was  answered  by  James  Otis,7 


1  George  the  Third.     He  was  crowned  in  17  61,  at  the  age  of  twenty  years.     He  reigned  almost 
sixty  years,  and  died  in  1820.  2  Page  195.  3  Note  4.  page  204. 

4  French  and  Indian  War.  6  Page  204. 

6  Commercial  restrictions  were  imposed  upon  the  colonies  as  early  as  1651  [note  4,  page  109]. 
In  16j60,  1672,  1676,  1691,  and  1692,  attempts  were  made  by  parliament  to  derive  a  revenue  by  a 
tariff-taxation  upon  the  colonies.     In  1696  a  proposition  was  made  to  levy  a  direct  tax  upon  the 
colonies.     Then,  not  only  in  Britain,  but  in  America,  the  power  of  parliament  (wherein  the  colonists 
were  not  represented),  to  tax  those  colonies,  was  strenuously  denied. 

7  James  Otis  was  born  in  Barnstable,  Massachusetts,  in  1725,  and  became  the  leader  of  the 
Revolutionary  party  in  that  province,  at  the  beginning.     He  was  wounded  by  a  blow  from  a  cudgel, 
in  the  hands  of  a  British  official  in.  1769,  and  never  fairly  recovered.     For  years  he  was  afflicted 
with  occasional  lunacy,  and  presented  but  a  wreck  of  the  orator  and  scholar.     The  following  anec 
dote  is  related  of  Mr.  Otis,  as  illustrative  of  his  ready  use  of  Latin,  even  during  moments  of  mental 
aberration.     Men  and  boys,  heartless  or  thoughtless,  would  sometimes  make  themselves  merry  at 
his  expense,  when  he  was  seen  in  the  streets  afflicted  with  lunacy.     On  one  occasion  he  was  pass 
ing  a  crockery  store,  when  a  young  man,  who  had  a  knowledge  of  Latin,  sprinkled  some  water 


1775.]  PRELIMINARY    EVENTS.  218 

the  younger,  then  advocate-general  of  the  province.  On  that  occasion,  the 
intense  fire  of  his  patriotism  beamed  forth  with  inexpressible  brilliancy,  and  his 
eloquence  was  like  lightning,  far-felt  and  consuming.  On  that  day  the  trumpet 
of  the  Revolution  was  sounded.  John  Adams  afterward  said.  ' '  The  seeds  of 
patriots  and  heroes  were  then  and  there  sown  ;'?and  when  the  orator  exclaimed, 
"  To  my  dying  day  I  will  oppose,  with  all  the  power  and  faculties  God  has  given 
me,  all  such  instruments  of  slavery  on  one  hand,  and  villany  on  the  other,"  the 
independence  of  the  colonies  was  proclaimed.1  From  that  day  began  the  triumphs 
of  the  popular  will.  Very  few  writs  were  issued,  and  these  were  ineffectual. 

Young  King  George  unwisely  turned  his  back  upon  Pitt,2  and  listened  to 
the  councils  of  Bute,3  an  unprincipled  Scotch  adventurer,  who  had  been  his 
tutor.  Disastrous  consequences  ensued.  Weak  and  corrupt  men  controlled 
his  cabinet,  and  the  pliant  Parliament  approved  of  illiberal  and  unjust  measures 
toward  the  colonists.  The  Sugar  bill,4  which  had  produced  a  great  deal  of  ill- 
feeling  in  the  colonies,  was  re-enacted ;  and  at  the  same  time,  George  Grenville, 
then  prime  minister,  proposed  ''certain  stamp  duties  on  the  colonies."  The 
subject  was  left  open  for  consideration  almost  a  year,  when,  in  the  spring  of 
1765,  in  defiance  of  the  universal  opposition  of  the  Americans,  the  famous 
Stamp  Act,  which  declared  that  no  legal  instrument  of  writing  should  be  valid, 
unless  it  bore  a  government  stamp,  became  a  law.6  Now  was  executed,  without 
hesitation,  a  measure  which  no  former  ministry  had  possessed  courage  or  reck 
lessness  enough  to  attempt.8 


upon  him  from  a  sprinkling-pot  with  which  he  was  wetting  the  floor  of  the  second  story,  at  the  same 
time  saying,  Pluit  tantum,  nescio  quantum.  Scis  ne  tu?  "It  rains  so  much,  I  know  not  how  much. 
Do  you  know?"  Otis  immediately  picked  up  a  missile,  and,  hurling  it  through  the  window  of  the 
crockery  store,  it  smashing  every  thing  in  its  way,  exclaimed,  Fregi  tot,  nescio  quot  Scis  ne  tu  ? 
"I  have  broken  so  many,  I  know  not  how  many.  Do  you  know?"  Mr.  Otis,  according  to  his 
expressed  desire,  was  killed  by  lightning  in  1782.  See  portrait  at  the  head  of  this  chapter. 

1  Later  than  this  [1768],  Otis  wrote  to  a  friend  in  London,  and  said:  "Our  fathers  were  a  good 
people ;  we  have  been  a,  free  people,  arid  if  you  will  not  let  us  remain  so  any  longer,  we  shall  be  a 
great  people,  and  the  present  measures  can  have  no  tendency  but  to  hasten  with  great  rapidity, 
events  which  every  good  and  honest  man  would  wish  delayed  for  ages."  He  evidently  alluded  to 
the  future  independence  of  the  colonies.  •» 

8  Pitt,  disgusted  by  the  ignorance  and  assurance  of  Bute  and  the  misplaced  confidence  of  the 
king,  resigned  his  office,  and  retired  to  his  country  seat  at  Hayes.  The  king  esteemed  him  highly, 
but  was  too  much  controlled  by  Bute  to  follow  his  own  inclinations.  It  was  not  long,  however, 
before  public  affairs  became  so  complicated,  that  the  king  was  compelled  to  call  upon  the  great 
commoner  to  untangle  them. 

3  Bute  was  a  gay  Scotch  earl,  poor  and  proud.     He  became  a  favorite  with  the  mother  of  George 
the  Third,  was  appointed  his  tutor,  and  acquired  such  influence  over  the  mind  of  the  prince,  that  on 
his  accession  to  the  throne,  ho  made  him  his  chief  minister  and  adviser.     The  English  people  were 
much  incensed ;  and  the  unwise  measures  of  the  early  years  of  George's  reign,  were  properly  laid 
to  the  charge  of  Bute.     A  placard  was  put  up  in  London,  with  the  words,  "No  Scotch  minister — 
no  petticoat  government."     The  last  clause  referred  to  the  influence  of  the  queen  mother. 

4  A  bill  which  imposed  a  duty  upon  sugar,  coffee,  indigo,  &c.,  imported  into  the  colonies  from 
the  West  Indies. 

5  The  stamps  were  upon  blue  paper,  in  the  form  seen  in  the  engrnving  on  page  213,  and  were 
to  be  attached  to  every  piece  of  paper  or  parchment,  on  which  a  legal  instrument  was  written. 
For  these  stamps  government  charged  specific  prices :  for  example,  for  a  common  property  deed, 
one  shilling  and  sixpence ;  for  a  diploma  or  certificate  of  a  college  degree,  two  pounds,  &c.,  &c, 

6  During  Robert  Walpole's  administration  [1732],  a  stamp  duty  was  proposed.     He  said,  "I 
will  leave  the  taxation  of  America  to  some  of  my  successors,  who  have  more  courage  than  I  have. 
Sir  William  Keith,  governor  of  Pennsylvania,  proposed  such  a  tax  in  1739.     Franklin  thought  it 
just,  when  a  delegate  in  the  Colonial  Congress  at  Albany,  in  1754  [page  183].     But  when  it  was 
proposed  to  Pitt  in  1759,  he  said,  "I  will  never  burn  my  fingers  with  an  American  Stamp  Act. 


214 


THE     REVOLUTION. 


[1761. 


The  colonists  had  watched  with  anxiety  the  growth  of  this  new  germ  of 
oppression ;  and  the  intelligence  of  the  passage  of  the  Act  produced  general 
and  intense  indignation  in  America.  The  hearts  of  the  people  were  yet  thrilled 
by  the  eloquent  denunciations  of  Otis ;  and  soon  Patrick  Henry  sent  forth  a 


response  equally  eloquent  from  the  heaving  bosom  of  the  Virginia  Assembly.1 
The  people,  in  cities  and  villages,  gathered  in  excited  groups,  and  boldly 
expressed  their  indignation.  The  pulpit  denounced  the  wicked  scheme,  and 

1  Patrick  Henry  was  a  very  Boanerges  at  the  opening  of  the  Revolution.  He  was  born  in 
Hanover  County,  Virginia,  in  1736.  In  youth  and  manhood  he  was  exceedingly  indolenjt  and  dull. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  his  eloquence  suddenly  beamed  forth  in  a  speech  in  court,  in  his  native 
county,  and  he  soon  became  a  leading  man  in  Virginia,  He  was  elected  the  first  Republican  gov 
ernor  of  his  State,  in  1776,  and  held  that  office  again  in  1784.  He  died  in  1799,  at  the  age  of 
almost  sixty-three  years.  At  the  time  alluded  to  in  the  text,  Henry  introduced  a  series  of  resolu 
tions,  highly  tinctured  with  rebellious  doctrines.  He  asserted  the  general  rights  of  all  the  colonies; 
then  the  exclusive  right  of  the  Virginia  Assembly  to  tax  the  people  of  that  province,  and  boldly 
declared  that  the  people  were  not  bound  to  obey  any  law  relative  to  taxation,  which  did  not  pro 
ceed  from  their  representatives.  The  last  resolution  declared  that  whoever  should  dissent  from  the 
doctrines  inculcated  in  the  others,  should  be  considered  an  "enemy  of  the  colonies."  The  introduc 
tion  of  these  resolutions  produced  great  excitement  and  alarm.  Henry  supported  them  with  all  the 
power  of  his  wonderful  eloquence.  Some  rose  from  their  seats,  and  others  sat  in  breathless  silence. 
At  length,  when  alluding  to  tyrants,  he  exclaimed,  "  Cassar  had  his  Brutus,  Charles  the  First  his 
Cromwell,  and  George  the  Third" — there  was  a  cry  of  "  Treason !  Treason !"  He  paused  a  moment, 
and  said — "may  profit  by  their  example.  If  that  be  treason,  make  the  most  of  it."  [See  picture 
at  the  head  of  this  chapter.]  A  part  of  his  resolutions  were  adopted,  and  these  formed  the  first 
gauntlet  of  defiance  cast  at  the  feet  of  the  British  monarch.  Their  power  was  felt  throughout  the 
land. 


1775.]  PRELIMINARY    EVENTS.  215 

associations  of  Sons  of  Liberty1  in  every  colony  put  forth  their  energies  in 
defense  of  popular  freedom.  The  press,  then  assuming  great  power,  spoke  out 
like  an  oracle  of  Truth.  In  several  cities  popular  excite 
ment  created  mobs,  and  violence  ensued.  The  Stamps 
were  seized  on  their  arrival,  and  secreted  or  burned. 
Stamp  distributors2  were  insulted  and  despised ;  and  on 
the  first  of  November,  1765,  when  the  law  was  to  take 
effect,  there  were  no  officials  courageous  enough  to 
enforce  it. 

The  people  did  not  confine  their  opposition  to  expres 
sions  at  indignation  meetings,  and  acts  of  violence.  The 
public  sentiment  took  a  more  dignified  form,  and  assumed 
an  aspect  of  nationality.  There  was  a  prevailing  desire 
for  a  general  Congress,  and  several  colonies,  in  the  midst  of  the  great  excite 
ment,  appointed  delegates  for  that  purpose.  They  met  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  on  the  7th  of  October,  1765,3  continued  in  session  fourteen  days,  and  in 
three  well -written  documents,4  they  ably  set  forth  the  grievances  and  the  rights 
of  the  colonists,  and  petitioned  the  king  and  parliament  for  a  redress  of  the 
former,  and  acknowledgment  of  the  latter.  The  proceedings  of  this  Second 
Colonial  Congress*  were  applauded  by  all  the  provincial  Assemblies,  and  the 
people  of  America  were  as  firmly  united  in  heart  and  purpose  then,  as  they 
were  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  more  than  ten  years  later. 

At  length  the  momentous  day — the  first  of  November — arrived.  It  was 
observed  as  a  day  of  fasting  and  mourning.  Funeral  processions  paraded  the 
streets  of  cities,  and  bells  tolled  funeral  knells.  The  colors  of  sailing  vesseb 
were  placed  at  half-mast,  and  the  newspapers  exhibited  the  black-line  tokens 
of  public  grief.  The  courts  were  now  closed,  legal  marriages  ceased,  ships 
remained  in  port,  and  for  some  time  all  business  was  suspended.  But  the  lull 
in  the  storm  was  of  brief  duration.  The  people  were  only  gathering  strength 
for  more  vigorous  achievements  in  defense  of  their  rights.  The  Sons  of  Lib 
erty  put  forth  new  efforts ;  mobs  began  to  assail  the  residences  of  officials,  and 
burn  distinguished  royalists,  in  effigy.6  Merchants  entered  into  agreements 

1  These  associations  were  composed  of  popular  leaders  and  others,   who  leagued  with   the 
avowed  determination  to  resist  oppression  to  the  uttermost.     After  their  organization  in  the  differ 
ent  colonies,  they  formed  a  sort  of  national  league,  and  by  continual  correspondence,  aided  effectu 
ally  in  preparing  the  way  for  the  Revolution. 

2  Men  appointed  by  the  crown  to  sell  the  government  stamps,  or  stamped  paper. 

3  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  South 
Carolina,  were  represented.     The  Assemblies  of  those  not  represented,  declared  their  readiness  to 
agree  to  whatever  measures  the  Congress  might  adopt.     Timothy  Ruggles,  of  Massachusetts  (who 
afterward  commanded  a  corps  of  Tories)  [note  4,  page  224],  presided. 

4  A  Declaration  of  Rights,  written  by  John  Cruger,  of  New  York ;  a  Memorial  to  both  Houses  of 
Parliament,  by  Robert  R.  Livingston,  of  New  York ;  and  a  Petition  to  the  king,  by  James  Otis,  of 
Massachusetts.  5  Page  183. 

6  Public  indignation  is  thus  sometimes  manifested.  A  figure  of  a  man  intended  to  represent 
the  obnoxious  individual,  is  paraded,  and  then  hung  upon  a  scaffold,  or  burned  at  a  stake,  as  an 
intimation  of  the  deserved  fate  of  the  person  thus  represented.  It  was  a  common  practice  in  En 
gland  at  the  time  in  question,  and  has  been  often  done  in  our  own  country  since.  Nowhere  was 
popular  indignation  so  warmly  manifested  as  in  New  York.  Cadwallader  Golden,  a  venerable 
Scotchman  of  eighty  years,  was  acting-governor  of  New  York.  He  refused  to  deliver  up  the 


216 


THE    REVOLUTION. 


[1761. 


not  to  import  goods  from  Great  Britain  while  the  obnoxious  Act  remained  a  law  ; 
and  domestic  manufactures  were  commenced  in  almost  every:  family.1  The 
wealthiest  vied  with  the  middling  classes  in  economy,  and  wore  clothing  of 
their  own  manufacture.  That  wool  might  not  become  scarce,  the  use  of  sheep 


flesh  for  food,  was  discouraged.  Soon,  from  all  classes  in  America,  there  went 
to  the  ears  of  the  British  ministry,  a  respectful  but  firm  protest.  It  was 
seconded  by  the  merchants  and  manufacturers  of  London,  whose  American 
trade  was  prostrated,2  and  the  voice,  thus  made  potential,  was  heard  and  heeded 
in  high  places. 

stamped  paper  on  the  demand  of  the  people,  when  they  proceeded  to  hang  him  in  effigy,  near  the 
spot  where  Leisler  was  executed  [page  148]  seventy-five  years  before.  They  also  burned  his  fine 
coach  in  front  of  the  fort,  near  the  present  Bowling  Green,  and  upon  the  smoking  pile  they  cast  his 
effigy.  Golden  was  a  man  of  great  scientific  attainments.  He  wrote  a  History  of  the  Five  Nations 
[page  23],  and  was  in  constant  correspondence  with  some  of  the  most  eminent  philosophers  and 
scholars  of  Europe.  A  life  of  Colden,  from  the  pen  of  John  "W.  Francis,  M.D.,  L.LD.,  may  be  found 
in  the  American  Medical  and  Philosophical  Register,  1811.  He  died  in  September,  1776. 

1  The  newspapers  of  the  day  contain  many  laudatory  notices'  of  the  conformity  of  wealthy 
people  to  these  agreements.  On  one  occasion,  forty  or  fitly  young  ladies,  who  called  themselves 
"Daughters  of  Liberty,"  met  at  the  house  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Morehead,  in  Boston,  with  their  spinning- 
wheels,  and  spun  two  hundred  and  thirty-two  skeins  of  yarn,  during  the  day,  and  presented  them 
to  the  pastor.  It  is  said  "there  were  upward  of  one  hundred  spinners  in  Mr.  Morehead's  Society." 
"Within  eighteen  months,"  wrote  a  gentleman  at  Newport,  R.  I.,  "four  hundred  and  eighty-seven 
yards  of  cloth,  and  thirty-six  pairs  of  stockings,  have  been  spun  and  knit  in  the  family  of  James 
Nixon,  of  this  town." 

3  Half  a  million  of  dollars  were  due  them  by  the  colonists,  at  that  time,  not  a  dime  of  which 
could  be  collected  under  the  existing  state  of  things. 


1775.]  PRELIMINARY    EVENTS.  217 

While  these  events  were  in  progress,  Grenville  had  been  succeeded  in  office 
by  the  Marquis  of  Rockingham,  a  friend  of  the  colonies,  and  an  enlightened 
statesman.  William  Pitt,1  who  had  been  called  from  his  retirement  by  the 
voice  ,of  the  people,  hoping  much  from  the  new  ministry,  appeared  in  Parlia 
ment,  and  was  there  the  earnest  champion  of  the  Amer 
icans.  Justice  and  expediency  demanded  a  repeal  of  the 
Stamp  Act,  and  early  in  January,  1766,  a  bill  for  that 
purpose  was  introduced  into  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
was  warmly  supported  by  Pitt,  Colonel  Barro,  and  others.  /^S§^f  -tilf 
Then  Edmund  Burke  first  appeared  as  the  champion  of  ylH^^.^^ 
right ;  and  during  the  stormy  debates  on  the  subject, 
which  ensued,  he  achieved  some  of  those  earliest  and 
most  wonderful  triumphs  of  oratory,  which  established  his 

f  -,  -,  ,    5.  ,,          :  •  i     a        mi  WILLIAM  PITT. 

fame,  and  endeared  him  to  the  American  people.  The 
obnoxious  act  was  repealed  on  the  18th  of  March,  1766,  when  London  ware 
houses  were  illuminated,  and  flags  decorated  the  shipping  in  the  Thames.  In 
America,  public  thanksgivings,  bonfires,  and  illuminations,  attested  the  general 
joy ;  and  Pitt,3  who  had  boldly  declared  his  conviction  that  Parliament  had  no 
right  to  tax  the  colonies  without  their  consent,4  was  lauded  as  a  political  Mes 
siah.  Non-importation  associations  were  dissolved,  business  was  resumed,  and  the 
Americans  confidently  expected  justice  from  the  mother  country,  and  a  speedy 
reconciliation.  Alas  !  the  scene  soon  changed. 

Another  storm  soon  began  to  lower.  Pitt,  himself  tenacious  of  British 
honor,  and  doubtful  of  the  passage  of  the  Repeal  Bill  without  some  concessions, 
had  appended  to  it  an  act,  which  declared  that  Parliament  possessed  the  power 
"  to  bind  the  colonies,  in  all  cases  whatsoever."  The  egg  of  tyranny  which 
lay  concealed  in  this  "  declaratory  act,"  as  it  was  called,  was  not  perceived  by 
the  colonists,  while  their  eyes  were  filled  with  tears  of  joy  ;  but  when  calm  re 
flection  came,  they  saw  clearly  that  germ  of  future  oppressions,  and  were 
uneasy.  They  perceived  the  Repeal  Bill  to  be  only  a  truce  in  the  war  upon 
freedom  in  .America,  and  they  watched  every  movement  of  the  government 
party  with  suspicion.  Within  a  few  months  afterward,  a  brood  of  obnoxious 
measures  were  hatched  from  that  egg,  and  aroused  the  fiercest  indignation  of 
the  colonists. 

The  American  people,  conscious  of  rectitude,  were  neither  slow  nor  cautious 

1  Note  2,  page  213. 

2  Edmund  Burke  was  born  in  Ireland,  in  1730.     He  became  a  lawyer,  and  was  a  very  popular 
writer,  as  well  as  a  speaker.     He  was  in  public  office  about  thirty  years,  arid  died  in  1797. 

3  William  Pitt  was  born  in  England  in  1708,  and  held  many  high  offices  of  trust  and  emolu 
ment.     During  an  exciting  debate  in  Parliament,  on  American  affairs,  in  the  spring  of  1778,  he 
swooned,  and  died  within  a  month  afterward. 

4  "  Taxation,"  said  Pittr  "is  no  part  of  the  governing  or  legislative  power.     Taxes  are  the  vol 
untary  gift  or  grant  of  the  commons  alone."     "I  rejoice,"  he  said,  "that  America  has  resisted. 
Three  millions  of  people,  so  dead  to  all  the  feelings  of  liberty,  as  voluntarily  to  become  slaves,  would 
have  been  fit  instruments  to  make  slaves  of  the  rest."     And  Colonel  Barre  declared  that  the  colon 
ists  were  planted  by  English  oppression,  grew  by  neglect,  and  in  all  the  essential  elements  of  ^a  free 
people,  were  perfectly  independent  of  Great  Britain.    He  then  warned  the  government  to  act  justly, 
or  the  colonies  would  be  lost  to  Great  Britain  forever. 


218  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1761. 

in  exhibiting  their  indignation,  and  this  boldness  irritated  their  oppressors.  A 
large  portion  of  the  House  of  Lords,1  the  whole  bench  of  bishops,2  and  many  of 
the  Commons,  were  favorable  to  coercive  measures  toward  the  Americans.  Not 
doubting  the  power  of  Parliament  to  tax  them,  they  prevailed  on  the  ministry 
to  adopt  new  schemes  for  replenishing  the  exhausted  treasury3  from  the  coffers 
of  the  colonists,  and  urged  the  justice  of  employing  arms,  if  necessary,  to  en 
force  obedience.  Troops  were  accordingly  sent  to  America,  in  June,  1766  ; 
and  a  Mutiny  Act  was  passed,  which  provided  for  their  partial  subsistence  by 
the  colonies.4  The  appearance  of  these  troops  in  New  York,  and  the  order  for 
the  people  to  feed  and  shelter  the  avowed  instruments  of  their  own  enslavement, 
produced  violent  outbreaks  in  that  city,  and  burning  indignation  all  over  the 
land.  The  Assembly  of  New  York  at  once  arrayed  itself  against  the  govern 
ment,  and  refused  compliance  with  the  demands  of  the  obnoxious  act. 

In  the  midst  of  the  darkness,  light  seemed  to  dawn  upon  the  Americans. 
Early  in  the  month  of  July,  Pitt  was  called  to  the  head  of  the  British  ministry, 
and  on  the  30th  of  that  month,  he  was  created  Earl  of  Chatham.  He  opposed 
the  new  measures  as  unwise  and  unjust,  and  the  colonists  hoped  for  reconcilia 
tion  and  repose.  But  Pitt  could  not  always  prevent  mischief.  During  his 
absence  from  Parliament,  on  account  of  sickness,  the  Chancellor  of  the  Ex 
chequer  (Charles  Townshend)  coalesced  with  Grenville  in  bringing  new  tax 
ation  schemes  before  that  body.6  A  bill  was  passed  in  June,  1767,  for  levying 
duties  upon  tea,  glass,  paper,  painters'  colors,  etc.,  which  should  be  imported 
into  the  colonies.  Another  was  passed,  in  July,  for  establishing  a  Board  of 
Trade  in  the  colonies,  independent  of  colonial  legislation,  and  for  creating  resi 
dent  commissioners  of  customs  to  enforce  the  revenue  laws.8  Then  another,  a 
few  days  later,  which  forbade  the  New  York  Assembly  to  perform  any  legisla 
tive  act  whatever,  until  it  should  comply  with  the  requisitions  of  the  Mutiny 
Act.  These  taxation  schemes,  and  blows  at  popular  liberty,  produced  excite 
ment  throughout  the  colonies,  almost  as  violent  as  those  on  account  of  the 
Stamp  Act.7  The  colonial  Assemblies  boldly  protested ;  new  non-importation 
associations  were  formed ;  pamphlets  and  newspapers  were  filled  with  inflam 
matory  appeals  to  the  people,  defining  their  rights,  and  urging  them  to  a  united 
resistance  ;8  and  early  in  1768,  almost  every  colonial  Assembly  had  boldly  ex- 

1  Every  peer  in  the  British  realm  is  a  legislator  by  virtue  of  his  title ;  and  when  they  are  assem 
bled  for  legislative  duties,  they  constitute  the  House  of  Lords,  or  upper  branch  of  the  legislature, 
answering,  in  some  degree,  to  our  Senate. 

8  Two  archbishops,  and  twenty-four  bishops  of  England  and  Wales,  have  a  right  to  sit  and  vote 
in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  have  the  same  political  importance  as  the  peers.  By  the  act  of  union 
between  Ireland  and  England,  four  "lords  spiritual"  from  among  the  archbishops  and  bishops  of  the 
former  country,  have  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Lords.  The  "  lords  temporal  and  lords  spiritual"  con 
stitute  the  House  of  Lords.  The  House  of  Commons  is  composed  of  men  elected  by  the  people,  and 
answers  to  the  House  of  Representatives  of  our  Federal  Congress.  3  Page  212. 

4  This  act  also  allowed  military  officers,  possessing  a  warrant  from  a  justice  of  the  peace,  to 
break  into  any  house  where  he  might  suspect  deserters  were  concealed.     Like  the  Writs  of  Assist 
ance  [page  212],  this  power  might  be  used  for  wicked  purposes. 

5  In  January,  1767,  Grenville  proposed  a  direct  taxation  of  the  colonies  to  the  amount  of  twenty 
thousand  dollars. 

6  Note  6,  page  212,  and  note  5,  page  134.  7  Page  215. 

8  Among  the  most  powerful  of  these  appeals,  were  a  series  of  letters,  written  by  John  Dicken- 
son  of  Philadelphia,  and  entitled  Letters  of  a  Pennsylvania  farmer.  Like  Paine's  Crisis,  ten  years 


.1775.] 


PRELIMINARY    EVENTS. 


219 


pressed  its  conviction,  that  Parliament  had  no  right  to  tax  the  colonies.  These 
expressions  were  in  response  to  a  circular  issued  by  Massachusetts  [Feb.,  1768] 
to  the  several  Assemblies,  asking  their  co-operation  in  obtaining  a  redress  of 
grievances.  That  circular  greatly  offended  the  Ministry  ;  and  the  governor  of 


Massachusetts  was  instructed  to  command  the  Assembly,  in  the  king's  name,  to 
rescind  the  resolution  adopting  it.  The  Assembly,  on  the  30th  of  June  follow 
ing,  passed  an  almost  unanimous  vote  not  to  rescind,1  and  made  this  very  order 
an  evidence  of  the  intentions  of  government  to  enslave  the  colonists,  by  restrain 
ing  the  free  speech  and  action  of  their  representatives. 

The  British  Ministry,  ignorant  and  careless  concerning  the  character  and 
temper  of  the  Americans,  disregarded  the  portentous  warnings  which  every 
vessel  from  the  New  World  bore  to  their  ears.  Having  resolved  on  employing 
physical  force  in  the  maintenance  of  obedience,  and  not  doubting  its  potency, 


later  [note  4,  page  250],  these  Letters  produced  a  wide-spread  and  powerful  effect  on  the  public 
mind.  James  Otis  asserted,  in  a  pamphlet,  that  "taxes  on  trade  [tariffs],  if  designed  to  raise  a 
revenue,  were  as  much  a  violation  of  their  rights  as  any  other  tax."  John  Dickenson  was  born  in 
Maryland,  in  November,  1732.  He  studied  law  in  England  for  three  years,  and  made  his  first  ap 
pearance  in  public  life,  as  a  member  of  the  Pennsylvania  Assembly.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Stamp  Act  Congress  [page  215],  and  of  the  Continental  Congress  [page  226],  He  was  an  eloquent 
speaker,  and  elegant  writer.  He  was  opposed  to  the  independence  of  the  colonies,  but  acquiesced, 
and  was  an  able  member  of  the  convention  that  framed  the  Federal  Constitution.  He  remained  long 
in  public  life,  and  died  in  1808,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years. 

1  James  Otis  and  Samuel  Adams  were  the  principal  speakers  on  this  occasion.  "When  Lord 
Hillsborough  [colonial  secretary]  knows,"  said  the  former,  "that  we  will  not  rescind  our  acts,  he 
should  appeal  to  Parliament  to  rescind  theirs.  Let  Britons  rescind  their  measures,  or  the  colonies 
are  lost  to  them  forever." 


220  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1761. 

they  became  less  regardless  of  even  the  forms  of  justice,  and  began  to  treat  the 
colonists  as  rebellious  subjects,  rather  than  as  free  British  brethren.  Ministers 
sent  orders  to  the  colonial  Assemblies,  warning  them  not  to  imitate  the  factious 
disobedience  of  Massachusetts  ;  and  the  royal  governors  were  ordered  to  enforce 
submission  by  all  means  in  their  power.  The  effect  of  these  circulars  was  to 
disgust  and  irritate  the  Assemblies,  and  to  stimulate  their  sympathy  for  Massa 
chusetts,  now  made  the  special  object  of  displeasure. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  general  excitement,  in  May,  1768,  that  the  new 
commissioners  of  customs  arrived  at  Boston.  They  were  regarded  with  as 
much  contempt  as  were  the  tax-gatherers  in  Judea,  in  the  time  of  our  Saviour.1 
It  was  difficult  to  restrain  the  more  ignorant  and  excitable  portion  of  the  pop 
ulation  from  committing  personal  violence.  A  crisis  soon  arrived.  In  June, 
1768,  the  sloop  Liberty,  belonging  to  John  Hancock,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the 
popular  mind  in  Boston,2  arrived  at  that  port  with  a  cargo  of  Madeira  wine. 
The  commissioners  demanded  the  payment  of  duties,  and  when  it  was  refused, 
they  seized  the  vessel.  The  news  spread  over  the  town,  and  the  people  re 
solved  on  immediate  and  effectual  resistance.  An  assemblage  of  citizens  soon 
became  a  mob,  who  dragged  a  custom-house  boat  through  the  town,  burned  it 
upon  the  Common,  assailed  the  commissioners,  damaged  their  houses,  and  com 
pelled  them  to  seek  safety  in  Castle  William,  a  small  fortress  at  the  entrance 
to  the  harbor.3  Alarmed  by  these  demonstrations  of  the  popular  feeling,  Gov 
ernor  Bernard  unwisely  invited  General  Gage,4  then  in  command  of  British 
troops  at  Halifax,  to  bring  soldiers  to  Boston  to  overawe  the  inhabitants.6  They 
came  in  September  [Sept.  27,  1768],  seven  hundred  in  number,  and  on  a  quiet 
Sabbath  morning,  landed  under  cover  of  the  cannons  of  the  British  ships  which 
brought  them,  and  with  drums  beating,  and  colors  flying,  they  marched  to  the 
Common,6  with  all  the  parade  of  a  victorious  army  entering  a  conquered  city. 
Religion,'  popular  freedom,  patriotism,  were  all  outraged,  and  the  cup  of  the 
people's  indignation  was  full.7  The  colonists  were  taught  the  bitter,  but  neces 
sary  lesson,  that  armed  resistance  must  oppose  armed  oppression.8 

Like  the  Assembly  of  New  York,  that  of  Massachusetts  refused  to  afford 


1  The  publicans,  or  toll-gatherers  of  Judea,  being  a  standing  monument  of  the  degradation  of  the 
Jews  under  the  Roman  yoke,  were  abhorred.  One  of  the  accusations  against  our  Saviour  was,  that 
he  did  "eat  with  publicans  and  sinners."  a  Page  231. 

8  About  three  miles  south-east  from  Boston.  The  fortress  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  in 
1798;  and  the  following  year  it  was  visited  by  President  Adams,  and  named  Fort  Independence,  its 
present  title.  In  connection  with  Castle  William,  we  find  the  first  mention  of  the  tune  of  "  Yankee 
Doodle."  In  the  Boston  Journal  of  the  Times,  September  29,  1768,  is  the  following:  "The  fleet 
was  brought  to  anchor  near  Castle  William  ;  that  night  there  was  throwing  of  sky-rockets ;  and 
those  passing  in  boats  observed  great  rejoicings,  and  that  the  Yankee  Doodk  Song  was  the  capital 
piece  in  the  band  of  music."  4  Page  186. 

8  The  British  ministry  had  already  resolved  to  send  troops  to  Boston  to  subdue  the  rebellious 
propensities  of  the  people. 

6  A  large  public  park  on  the  southern  slope  of  Beacon  HilL 

7  As  the  people  refused  to  supply  the  troops  with  quarters,  they  were  placed,  some  in  the  State 
House,  some  in  Faneuil  Hall  [page  225],  and  others  in  tents  on  the  Common.     Cannons  were 
planted  at  different  points;  sentinels  challenged  the  citizens  as  they  passed;  and  the  whole  town 
had  the  appearance  of  a  camp. 

8  There  were,  at  that  time,  full  two  hundred  thousand  men  in  the  colonies  capable  of  bearing 
arms. 


1775.]  PRELIMINARY    EVENTS.  221 

food  and  shelter  for  the  royal  troops  in  that  province,  and  for  this  offense.  Par 
liament,  now  become  the  supple  instrument  of  the  crown,  censured  their  dis 
obedience,  approved  of  coercive  measures,  and,  by  resolution,  prayed  the  king 
to  revive  a  long  obsolete  statute  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  by  which  the  governor 
of  the  refractory  colony  should  be  required  to  arrest,  and  send  to  England  for 
trial,  on  a  charge  of  treason,  the  ringleaders  in  the  recent  tumults.  The  colo 
nial  Assembly  indignantly  responded,  by  re-asserting  the  chartered  privileges 
of  the  people,  and  denying  the  right  of  the  king  to  take  an  offender  from  the 
country,  for  trial.  And  in  the  House  of  Commons  a  powerful  minority  battled 
manfully  for  the  Americans.  Burke  pronounced  the  idea  of  reviving  that  old 
statute,  as  " horrible."  "  Can  you  not  trust  the  juries  of  that  country?"  he 
asked.  "If  you  have  not  a  party  among  two  millions  of  people,  you  must 
either  change  your  plans  of  government,  or  renounce  the  colonies  forever." 
Even  Grenville,  the  author  of  the  Stamp  Act,  opposed  the  measure,  yet  a  ma 
jority  voted  in  favor  of  the  resolution,  on  the  26th  of  January,  1769. 

The  British  troops  continued  to  be  a  constant  source  of  irritation,  while, 
month  after  month,  the  colonies  were  agitated  by  disputes  with  the  royal  gov 
ernors,  the  petty  tyranny  of  lesser  officials,  and  the  interference  of  the  imperial 
government  with  colonial  legislation.  The  Assembly  of  Massachusetts,  encour 
aged  by  the  expressed  sympathy  of  the  other  colonies,  firmly  refused  to  appro 
priate  a  single  dollar  for  the  support  of  the  troops.  They  even  demanded  their 
withdrawal  from  the  city,  and  refused  to  transact  any  legislative  business  while 
they  remained.  Daily  occurrences  exasperated  the  people  against  the  troops, 
and  finally,  on  the  2d  of  March,  1770,  an  event,  apparently  trifling  in  its  char 
acter,  led  to  bloodshed  in  the  streets  of  Boston.  A  rope-maker  quarreled  with 
a  soldier,  and  struck  him.  Out  of  this  affray  grew  a  fight  between  several  sol 
diers  and  rope-makers.  The  latter  were  beaten,  and  the  result  aroused  the 
vengeance  of  the  more  excitable  portion  of  the  inhabitants.  A  few  evenings 
afterward  [March  5],  about  seven  hundred  of  them  assembled  in  the  streets, 
for  the  avowed  purpose  of  attacking  the  troops.1  A  sentinel  was  assaulted  near 
the  custom-house,  when  Captain  Preston,  commander  of  the  guard,  went  to  his 
rescue  with  eight  armed  men.  The  mob  dared  the  soldiers  to  fire,  and  attacked 
them  with  stones,  pieces  of  ice,  and  other  missiles.  One  of  the  soldiers  who 
received  a  blow,  fired,  and  his  six  companions  also  discharged  their  guns. 
Three  of  the  citizens  were  killed,  and  five  were  danger 
ously  wounded.2  The  mob  instantly  retreated,  when  all 

1  These  were  addressed  by  a  tall  man,  disguised  by  a  white  wig  and 
a  scarlet  cloak,  who  closed  his  harangue  by  shouting,  "  To  the  main 
guard!  to  the  main  guard!"  and  then  disappeared.    It  was  always  be 
lieved  that  the  tall  man  was  Samuel  Adams,  one  of  the  most  inflexible 
patriots  of  the  Revolution,  and  at  that  time  a  popular  leader.     He  was 
a  descendant  of  one  of  the  early  Puritans  [page  75],  and  was  born  in 
Boston  in  1722.     He  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence;  was  afterward   governor  of  Massachusetts;    and   died  in 

1803.     A  purer  patriot  than  Samuel  Adams,  never  lived.  SAMUEL  ADAMS. 

2  The  leader  of  the  mob  was  a  powerful  mulatto,  named  Crispus 

Attacks.  He  and  Samuel  Gray  and  James  Caldwell,  were  killed  instantly ;  two  others  received 
mortal  wounds. 


222  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1761. 

the  bells  of  the  city  rang  an  alarum,  and  in  less  than  an  hour  several  thou 
sands  of  exasperated  citizens  were  in  the  streets.  A  terrible  scene  of  blood 
would  have  ensued,  had  not  Governor  Hutchinson  assured  the  people  that 
justice  should  be  vindicated  in  the  morning.  They  retired,  but  with  firm  re 
solves  not  to  endure  the  military  despotism  any  longer. 

The  morning  of  the  6th  of  March  was  clear  and  frosty.  At  an  early  hour 
Governor  Hutchinson  was  called  upon  to  fulfill  his  promise.  The  people  de 
manded  the  instant  removal  of  the  troops  from  Boston,  and  the  trial  of  Captain 
Preston  and  his  men,  for  murder.  These  demands  were  complied  with.  The 
troops  were  removed  to  Castle  William  [March  12,  1770],  and  Preston,  ably 
defended  by  John  Adams  and  Josiah  Quincy,  two  of  the  popular  leaders,  was 
tried  and  acquitted,  with  six  of  his  men,  by  a  Boston  jury.  The.  other  two  sol 
diers  were  found  guilty  of  manslaughter.  This  result  was  a  comment  on  the 
enforcement  of  the  statute  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  highly  favorable  to  the  Amer 
icans.  It  was  so  regarded  in  England,  and  was  used  with  good  efiect  by  the 
opposition  in  Parliament.  It  showed  that  in  the  midst  of  popular  excitement, 
the  strong  conservative  principles  of  justice  bore  rule.  The  victims  of  the  riot 
were  regarded  as  martyrs  to  liberty,1  and  for  many  years,  the  memory  of  the 
"Boston  Massacre,"  as  itwras  called,  was  kept  alive  by  anniversary  orations  in 
the  city  and  vicinity. 

Perceiving  the  will  and  the  power  of  the  colonists  in  resisting  taxation  with 
out  their  consent,  the  British  ministry  now  wavered.  On  the  very  day  of  the 
bloody  riot  in  Boston  [March  5],  Lord  North,  who  was  then  the  English  prime 
minister,  proposed  to  Parliament  a  repeal  of  all  duties  imposed  by  the  act  of 
1767,2  except  that  upon  tea.  An  act  to  that  efiect  was  passed  a  month  after 
ward  [April  12].  This  concession  was  wrung  from  the  minister  partly  by  the 
clamor  of  English  merchants  and  manufacturers,  who  again  felt  severely  the 
operations  of  the  non-importation  associations  in  America.  As  tea  was  a  lux 
ury,  North  supposed  the  colonists  would  not  object  to  the  small  duty  laid  upon 
that  article,  and  he  retained  it  as  a  standing  assertion  of  the  right  of  Parliament 
to  impose  such  duties.  The  minister  entirely  mistook  the  character  of  the  peo 
ple  he  was  dealing  with.  It  was  not  the  petty  amount  of  duties  of  which  they 
complained,  for  all  the  taxes  yet  imposed  were  not  in  the  least  burdensome  to 
them.  They  were  contending  for  a  great  principle,  which  lay  at  the  foundation 
of  their  liberties;  and  they  regarded  the  imposition  of  a  duty  upon  one  article 
as  much  a  violation  of  their  sacred  rights,  as  if  ten  were  included.  They  ac 
cepted  the  ministerial  concession,  but,  asserting  their  rights,  continued  their 
non-importation  league  against  the  purchase  and  use  of  tea.3 


1  They  were  buried  with  great  parade.  All  the  bells  of  Boston  and  vicinity  tolled  a  funeral 
knell  while  the  procession  was  moving ;  and  as  intended,  the  affair  made  a  deep  impression  on  the 
public  mind.  2  Page  218. 

3  Even  before  North's  proposition  was  made  to  Parliament,  special  agreements  concerning  tho 
disuse  of  tea,  had  been  made.  Already  the  popular  feeling  on  this  subject  had  been  manifested  to 
ward  a  Boston  merchant  who  continued  to  sell  tea.  A  company  of  half-grown  boys  placed  an  effigy 
near  his  door,  with  a  finger  upon  it  pointing  toward  his  store.  While  a  man  was  attempting  to 
pull  it  down,  he  was  pelted  with  dirt  and  stones.  He  ran  into  the  store,  and  seizing  a  gun.  dis 
charged  its  contents  among  the  crowd.  A  boy  named  Snyder  was  killed,  and  Christopher  Gore 


1775.]  PRELIMINARY     EVENTS.  223 

The  spirit  of  opposition  was  not  confined  to  the  more  northern  and  eastern 
colonies.  It  was  rife  below  the  Roanoke,  and  was  boldly  made  manifest  when 
occasion  required.  In  1771,  the  Carolinas,  hitherto  exempted  from  violent  out 
bursts  of  popular  indignation,  although  never  wanting  in  zeal  in  opposing  the 
Stamp  Act,  and  kindred  measures,  became  the  theater  of  great  excitement.  To 
satisfy  the  rapacity  and  pride  of  royal  governors,  the  industry  of  the  province 
of  North  Carolina,  especially,  was  enormously  taxed.1  The  oppression  was  real, 
not  an  abstract  principle,  as  at  the  North.  The  people  in  the  interior  at  length 
formed  associations,  designed  to  resist  unjust  taxation,  and  to  control  public 
affairs.  They  called  themselves  Regulators  ;  and  in  1771,  they  were  too  nu 
merous  to  be  overawed  by  local  magistrates.  Their  operations  assumed  the 
character  of  open  rebellion ;  and  in  the  spring  of  that  year,  Governor  Tryon2 
marched  into  that  region  with  an  armed  force,  to  subdue  them.  They  met  him 
upon  Alamance  Creek,  in  Alamance  county,  on  the  16th  of  May,  and  there  a 
bloody  skirmish  ensued.  The  Regulators  were  subdued  and  dispersed,  and 
Tryon  marched  back  in  triumph  to  the  sea-board,  after  hanging  six  of  the  lead 
ers,  on  the  19th  of  June  following.  These  events  aroused,  throughout  the  South, 
the  fiercest  hatred  of  British  power,  and  stimulated  that  earnest  patriotism  so 
early  displayed  by  the  people  below  the  Roanoke,  when  the  Revolution  broke  out.3 

The  upper  part  of  Narraganset  Bay  exhibited  a  scene,  in  the  month  of 
June,  1772,  which  produced  much  excitement,  and  widened  the  breach  between 
Great  Britain  and  her  colonies.  The  commander  of  the  British  armed  schooner 
Gaspz.  stationed  there  to  assist  the  commissioners  of  customs4  in  enforcing  the 
revenue  laws,  annoyed  the  American  navigators  by  haughtily  commanding  them 
to  lower  their  colors  when  they  passed  his  vessel,  in  token  of  obedience.  The 
William  Tells  of  the  bay  refused  to  bow  to  the  cap  of  this  petty  Gesler.5  For 
such  disobedience,  a  Providence  sloop  was  chased  by  the  schooner.  The  latter 
grounded  upon  a  low  sandy  point;  and  on  that  night  [June  9,  1772],  sixty -four 
armed  men  went  down  from  Providence  in  boats,  captured  the  people  on  board 
the  Gasp^  and  burned  the  vessel.  Although  a  large  reward  was  offered  for  the 
perpetrators  (who  were  well  known  in  Providence6),  they  were  never  betrayed. 

(afterward  governor  of  Massachusetts)  was  wounded.  The  affair  produced  great  excitement.  At 
about  the  same  time,  three  hundred  "mistresses  of  families1'  in  Boston  signed  a  pledge  of  total  ab 
stinence  from  the  use  of  tea,  while  the  duty  remained  upon  it.  A  few  days  afterward  a  large  num 
ber  of  young  ladies  signed  a  similar  pledge. 

1  Governor  Tryon  caused  a  palace  to  be  erected  for  his  residence,  at  Newbern,  at  a  cost  of 
$75,000,  for  the  payment  of  which  the  province  was  taxed.     This  was  in  1768,  and  was  one  of  the 
principal  causes  of  discontent,  which  produced  the  outbreak  here  mentioned. 

2  Page  248.  3  Page  237.  4  Pago  220. 

5  Gesler  was  an  Austrian  governor  of  one  of  the  cantons  of  Switzerland.     He  placed  his  cap  on 
a  pole,  at  a  gate  of  the  town,  and  ordered  all  to  bow  to  it,  when  they  should  enter.    William  Tell,  a 
brave  leader  of  the-  people,  refused.     He  was  imprisoned  for  disobedience,  escaped,  aroused  his 
countrymen  to  arms,  who  drove  their  Austrian  masters  out  of  the  land,  and  achieved  the  indepen 
dence  of  Switzerland. 

6  One  of  the  leaders  was  Abraham  "Whipple,  a  naval  commander  during  the  Revolution  [page 
310].     Several  others  were  afterward  distinguished  for  bravery  during  that  struggle.     Four  years 
afterward,  when  Sir  James  Wallace,  a  British  commander,  was  in  the  vicinity  of  Newport,  Whipple 
became  known  as  the  leader  of  the  attack  on  the   Gaspe.     Wallace  sent  him  the  following  letter: 
"You,  Abraham  Whipple,  on  the  9th  of  June,  1772,  burned  his  majesty's  vessel,  the  Gaspe.  and  I 
will  hang  you  at  the  yard-arm."     To  this  Whipple  replied :  "  To  Sir  James  Wallace.     Sir:  Always 
catch  a  man  before  you  hang  him. — JAMES  WHIPPLE." 


.,      THE     REVOLUTION.  [1761. 

These  rebellious  acts,  so  significant  of  the  temper  of  the  Americans,  greatly 
perplexed  the  British  ministry.  Lord  North1  would  gladly  have  conciliated 
them,  but  he  was  pledged  by  words  and  acts  to  the  maintenance  of  the  asserted 
principle,  that  Parliament  had  the  undoubted  right  to  tax  the  colonies  without 
their  consent.  He  labored  hard  to  perceive  some  method  by  which  conciliation 
and  parliamentary  supremacy  might  be  made  to  harmonize,  and  early  in  1773, 
a  new  thought  upon  taxation  entered  his  brain.  The  East  India  Company,* 
having  lost  their  valuable  tea  customers  in  America,  by  the  operation  of  the 
non-importation  associations,  and  having  more  than  seventeen  millions  of  pounds 
of  the  article  in  their,  warehouses  in  England,  petitioned  Parliament  to  take  off 
the.  duty  of  three  pence  a  pound,  levied  upon  its  importation  into  America. 
The  company  agreed  to  pay  the  government  more  than 
an  equal  amount,  in  export  duty,  if  the  change  should  be 
made.  Here  was  an  excellent  opportunity  for  the  gov 
ernment  to  act  justly  and  wisely,  and  to  produce  a  per 
fect  reconciliation ;  but  the  stupid  ministry,  fearing  it 
might  be  considered  a  submission  to  "rebellious  sub 
jects,"  refused  the  olive  branch  of  peace.  Continuing 
to  misapprehend  the  real  question  at  issue,  North  intro 
duced  a  bill  into  Parliament,  allowing  the  company  to 

LORD   NORTH.  .  J 

export  their  teas  to  America  on  their  own  account,  with 
out  paying  an  export  duty.  As  this  would  make  tea  cheaper  in  America  than 
in  England,  he  concluded  the  Americans  would  not  object  to  paying  the  three 
pence  duty.  This  concession  to  a  commercial  monopoly,  while  spurning  the 
appeals  of  a  great  principle,  only  created  contempt  and  indignation  throughout 
the  colonies. 

Blind  as  the  minister,  the  East  India  Company  now  regarded  the  American 
market  as  open  for  their  tea,  and  soon  after  the  passage  of  the  bill  [May  10, 
1773],  several  large  ships,  heavily  laden  with  the  article,  were  on  their  way 
across  the  Atlantic.  Intelligence  of  these  movements  reached  America  before 
the  arrival  of  any  of  the  ships,  arid  the  people  in  most  of  the  sea-board  towns, 
where  consignments  of  tea  had  been  made,  resolved  that  it  should  not  even  be 
landed.  The  ships  which  arrived  at  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  returned  to 
England  with  their  cargoes.  At  Charleston  it  was  landed,  but  was  not  allowed 
to  be  sold ;  while  at  Boston,  the  attempts  of  the  governor  and  his  friends,3  who 

1  Frederick,  Earl  of  Guilford  (Lord  North),  was  a  man  of  talent,  sincerely  attached  to  English 
liberty,  and  conscientious  in  the  performanance  of  his  duties.     Like  many  other  statesmen  of  his 
time,  he  utterly  misapprehended  the  character  of  the  American  people,  and  could  not  perceive  the 
justice  of  their  claims.     He  was  prime  minister  during  the  whole  of  our  War  for  Independence. 
He  was  afflicted  with  blindness  during  the  last  years  of  his  life.     He  died  in  July,  1792,  at  the  age 
of  sixty  years. 

2  The  English  East  India  Company  was  formed  and  chartered  in  1600,  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  on  a  trade  by  sea,  between  England  and  the  countries  lying  east  of  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  [note  1,  page  37].     It  continued  prosperous;  and  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  the 
governor  of  its  stations  in  India,  under  the  pretense  of  obtaining  security  for  their  trade,  subdued 
small  territories,  and  thus  planted  the  foundation  of  that  great  British  empire  in  the  East,  which 
now  comprises  the  whole  of  Hindostan,  from  Cape  Comorin  to  the  Himalaya  mountains,  with  a 
population  of  more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty  millions  of  people. 

8  The  public  mind  in  Massachusetts  was  greatly  inflamed  against  Governor  Hutchinson  at  this 


1775.]  PRELIMINARY     EVENTS.  225 

were  consignees,  to  land  the  tea  in  defiance  of  the  public  feeling,  resulted  in  the 

destruction  of  a  large  quantity  of  it.     On  a  cold  moonlight  night  [December 

16,  1773],  at  the  close  of  the  last  of  several  spirited 

meetings  of  the  citizens  held  at  Faneuil  Hall,1  a  party 

of  about  sixty  persons,  some  disguised  as   Indians, 

rushed  on  board  two  vessels  in  the  harbor,  laden  with 

tea,  tore  open  the  hatches,  and  in  the  course  of  two 

hours,  three  hundred  and  forty-two  chests  containing 

the  proscribed  article,  were  broken  open,  and  their 

contents  cast  into  the  water.     This  event  produced  a 

powerful  sensation  throughout  the  British  realm,  and 

f   .  °.  FANEUIL   HALL. 

led  to  very  important  results. 

While  the  American  colonies,  and  even  Canada,  Nova  Scotia,  and  the 
British  West  Indies,  sympathized  with  the  Bostonians,  and  could  not  censure 
them,  the  exasperated  government  adopted  retaliatory  measures,  notwithstand 
ing  payment  for  all  damage  to  their  property  was  promised  to  the  East  India 
Company.  Parliament,  by  enactment  [March  7,  1774],  ordered  the  port  of 
Boston  to  be  closed  against  all  commercial  transactions  whatever,  and  the  re 
moval  of  the  custom-house,  courts  of  justice,  and  other  public  offices,  to  Salem. 
The  Salem  people  patriotically  refused  the  proffered  advantage  at  the  expense 
of  their  neighbors ;  and  the  inhabitants  of  Marblehead,  fifteen  miles  distant, 
offered  the  free  use  of  their  harbor  and  wharves,  to  the  merchants  of  Boston. 
Soon  after  the  passage  of  the  Boston  Port  Bill,  as  it  was  called,  another  act, 
which  leveled  a  blow  at  the  charter  of  Massachusetts,  was  made  a  law  [March 
28,  1774].  It  was  equivalent  to  a  total  subversion  of  the  charter,  inasmuch 
as  it  deprived  the  people  of  many  of  the  dearest  privileges  guarantied  by  that 
instrument.2  A  third  retaliatory  act  was  passed  on  the  21st  of  April,  provid 
ing  for  the  trial,  in  England,  of  all  persons  charged  in  the  colonies  with  mur 
ders  committed  in  support  of  government,  giving,  as  Colonel  Barro  said, 
"encouragement  to  military  insolence  already  so  insupportable."  A  fourth 
bill,  providing  for  the  quartering  of  troops  in  America,  was  also  passed  by 
large  majorities  in  both  Houses  of  Parliament ;  and  in  anticipation  of  rebellion 
in  America,  a  fifth  act  was  passed,  making  great  concessions  to  the  Roman 
Catholics  in  Canada,  known  as  the  Quebec  Act.  This  excited  the  animosity  of 


time,  whose  letters  to  a  member  of  Parliament,  recommending  stringent  measures  toward  the  col 
onies,  had  been  procured  in  England,  and  sent  to  the  speaker  of  the  colonial  Assembly,  by  Dr. 
Franklin.  At  about  the  same  time,  Parliament  had  passed  a  law,  making  the  governor  and  judges 
of  Massachusetts  independent  of  the  Assembly  for  their  salaries,  these  being  paid  out  of  the  reve 
nues  in  the  hands  of  the  commissioners  of  customs.  This  removal  of  these  officials  beyond  all  de- 
pendenco  upon  the  people,  constituted  them  fit  instruments  of  the  crown  for  oppressing  the  inhabit 
ants,  and  in  that  aspect  the  colonists  viewed  the  measure,  and  condemed  it. 

1  Because  tho  Revolutionary  meetings  in  Boston  were  held  in  Faneuil  Hall,  it  was  (and  still  is) 
called  The  Cradle  of  Liberty.     It  was  built,  and  presented  to  the  town,  by  Peter  Faneuil,  in  1 742. 
The  picture  shows  its  form  during  the  Revolution.    The  vane  on  the  steeple,  in  the  form  of  a  grass 
hopper  (symbolical  of  devouring),  yet  [1867]  holds  its  original  place. 

2  It  empowered  sheriffs  appointed  by  the  crown,  to  select  juries,  instead  of  leaving  that  power 
with  the  selectmen  of  the  towns,  who  were  chosen  by  the  people.     It  also  prohibited  all  town 
meetings  and  other  gatherings.     It  provided  for  the  appointment  of  the  council,  judges,  justices  of 
the  peace,  etc.,  by  the  crown1  or  its  representative. 

15 


226  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1761. 

all  Protestants.     These  measures  created  universal  indignation  toward  the  gov 
ernment,  and  sympathy  for  the  people  of  Boston, 

On  the  first  of  June,  1774,  the  Boston  Port  Bill  went  into  operation.  It 
was  a  heavy  blow  for  the  doomed  town.  Business  was  crushed,  and  great  suf 
fering  ensued.  The  utter  prostration  of  trade  soon  produced  wide-spread  dis 
tress.  The  rich,  deprived  of  their  rents,  became  straitened ;  and  the  poor, 
denied  tht  privilege  of  laboring,  were  reduced  to  beggary.  All  classes  felt  the 
scourge  of  the  oppressor,  but  bore  it  with  remarkable  fortitude.  They  were 
conscious  of  being  right,  and  everywhere,  tokens  of  the  liveliest  sympathy  were 
manifested.  Flour,  rice,  cereal  grains,  fuel,  and  money,  were  sent  to  the  suffer 
ing  people  from  the  different  colonies  ;  and  the  city  of  London,  in  its  corporate 
capacity,  subscribed  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  the  poor  of  Boston. 

For  the  purpose  of  enforcing  these  oppressive  laws,  General  Gage,  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  British  army  in  America,1  was  appointed  governor  of 
Massachusetts,  and  an  additional  military  force  was  ordered  to  Boston.  These 
coercive  demonstrations  greatly  increased  the  public  irritation,  and  diminished 
the  hopes  of  reconciliation.  Slavish  submission  or  armed  resistance,  was  now 
the  alternative  presented  to  the  American  people.  Committees  of  correspond 
ence  which  had  been  formed  in  every  colony  in  1773, 2  had  been  busy  in  the 
interchange  of  sentiments  and  opinions,  and  throughout  the  entire  community 
of  Anglo-Americans  there  was  evidently  a  general  consonance  of  feeling,  favor 
able  to  united  efforts  in  opposing  the  augmenting  tyranny  of  Great  Britain. 
Yet  they  hesitated,  and  resolved  to  deliberate  in  solemn 
"  ^fii^  .  council  before  they  should  appeal  to  "  the  last  argument 
of  kings."3 

The  patriots  of  Massachusetts  stood  not  alone  in 
their  integrity.     In  all  the  colonies  the  WHIGS*  were 


as  inflexible  and  bold,  and  as  valiantly  defied  the  power 

of  royal  governors,  when  unduly  exercised.  But  those  of  Massachusetts,  being 
the  special  objects  of  ministerial  vengeance,  suffered  more,  and  required  more 
boldness  to  act  among  bristling  bayonets  and  shotted  cannons,  prepared  ex 
pressly  for  their  bosoms.  Yet  they  grew  stronger  every  day  under  persecu 
tion,  and  bolder  as  the  frowns  of  British  power  became  darker.5  Even  while 

1  Page  220. 

2  At  a  consultation  of  leading  members  of  the  Virginia  House  of  Assembly,  in  March,  1773,  held 
in  the  old  Raleigh  tavern  at  Williamsburg,  at  which  Patrick  Henry,  Thomas  Jefferson,  Richard 
Henry  Lee,  and  others,  were  present,  it  was  agreed  to  submit  a  resolution  in  the  House  the  follow 
ing  day,  appointing  a  committee  of  vigilance  and  correspondence,  and  recommending  the  same  to 
the  other  colonies.     The  measure  was  carried,  and  these  committees  formed  one  of  the  most  power 
ful  engines  in  carrying  on  the  work  of  the  Revolution.   Similar  committees  had  already  been  formed 
in  several  towns  in  Massachusetts. 

3  These  words,  in  Latin,  were  often  placed  upon  cannon.     Before  the  armory,  at  Richmond. 
Virginia,  was  destroyed,  in  April,  1865,  several  old  French  cannons,  made  of  brass,  were  there,  on 
two  of  which  these  words  appeared.     They  also  appear  upon  some  French  cannon  at  West  Point. 

4  The  terms,  WHIG  and  TORY,  had  long  been  used  in  England  as  titles  of  political  parties.    Tho 
former  denoted  the  opposers  of  royalty ;  the  latter  indicated  its  supporters.     These  terms  were 
introduced  into  America  two  or  three  years  before  the  Revolution  broke  out,  and  became  the  dis 
tinctive  titles  of  the  patriots  and  loyalists. 

6  Even  the  children  seemed  to  lose  their  timidity,  and  became  bolder.    They  nobly  exhibited  it 


1775.] 


PRELIMINARY    EVENTS. 


227 


troops,  to  overawe  them  were  parading  the  streets  of  Boston,  sturdy  representa 
tives  of  the  people  assembled  at  Salem,1  and  sent  forth  an  invitation  to  all  the 
colonies  to  appoint  delegates  to  meet  in  a  general  Congress  at  Philadelphia  on 
the  5th  of  September  following.  It  met  with  a  hearty  response  from  twelve  of 


the  thirteen  colonies,  and  the  Press  and  the  Pulpit  seconded  the  measures  with 
great  emphasis.  Some  newspapers  bore  a  significant  device.  It  was  a  snake 
cut  into  thirteen  parts,  each  part  bearing  the  initials  of  a  colony  upon  it,  as 
seen  in  the  engraving.2  Under  these  were  the  significant  words,  Unite  or  die. 
The  delegates  were  all  appointed  before  the  close  of  August,  and  the  FIRST 


on  one  occasion.  They  were  in  the  habit  of  building  mounds  of  snow  in  winter,  on  Boston  Com 
mon.  These  the  soldiers  battered  down,  so  as  to  annoy  the  boys.  This  being  repeated,  a  meeting 
of  larger  boys  was  held,  and  a  deputation  was  sent  to  General  Gage,  to  remonstrate.  "  We  come, 
sir,"  said  the  tallest  boy,  "to  demand  satisfaction."  ""What!"  exclaimed  Gage;  "have  your 
fathers  been  teaching  you  rebellion,  and  sent  you  here  to  exhibit  it?"  "  Nobody  sent  us  here,  sir," 
said  the  boy.  while  his  eyes  flashed  with  indignation.  "  Wo  have  never  insulted  nor  injured  your 
troops,  but  they  have  trodden  down  our  snow-hills,  and  broken  the  ice  on  our  skating-grounds. 
We  complained ;  and,  calling  us  young  rebels,  told  us  to  help  ourselves  if  we  could.  We  told  tho 
captain  of  this,  and  he  laughed  at  us.  Yesterday  our  works  were  destroyed  for  the  third  time,  and 
we  will  bear  it  no  longer."  Gage  admired  the  spirit  of  the  boys,  promised  them  redress,  and  turn 
ing  to  an  officer,  he  said,  "The  very  children  here  draw  in  a  love  of  liberty  with  the  air  they 
breathe  " 

1  At  that  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Massachusetts,  the  patriots  matured  a  plan  for  a 
general  Congress,  provided  for  munitions  of  war  to  resist  British  power  in  their  own  province^  and 
formed  a  general  non-importation  league  for  the  whole  country.  In  the  midst  of  their  proceedings, 
General  Gage  sent  his  secretary  to  dissolve  them,  but  the  doors  of  the  Assembly  chamber  were 
locked,  and  the  key  was  in  Samuel  Adams's  pocket.  Having  finished  their  business,  the  Assembly 
adjourned,  and  thus  ended  the  last  session  of  that  body,  under  a  royal  governor.  5  Page  226. 


228  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1761. 

CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS'  assembled  in  Carpenter's  Hall,  Philadelphia,  on  the 
5th  of  September,  1774,  the  day  named  in  the  circular.  All  but  Georgia  were 
represented.  Peyton  Randolph,  of  Virginia,  was  appointed  President,  and 
Charles  Thomson  of  Pennsylvania,  Secretary.3  The  regular  business  of  the 
Congress  commenced  on  the  morning  of  the  7th,3  after  an  impressive  prayer  for 
Divine  guidance,  uttered  by  the  Rev.  Jacob  Duche,4  of  Philadelphia.  They 
remained  in  session  until  the  26th  of  October,  during  which  time  they  matured 
measures  for  future  action,  which  met  with  the  general  approbation  of  the 
American  people.5  They  prepared  and  put  forth  sev 
eral  State  papers,6  marked  by  such  signal  ability  and 
wisdom,  as  to  draw  from  the  Earl  of  Chatham  these 
words  in  the  House  of  Lords  :  "I  must  declare  and 
avow,  that  in  all  my  reading  and  study  of  history — 
(and  it  has  been  my  favorite  study — I  have  read  Thu- 
cydides,  and  have  studied  and  admired  the  master 
States  of  the  world) — that  for  solidity  of  reasoning, 
force  of  sagacity,  and  wisdom  of  conclusion,  under 
such  a  complication  of  circumstances,  no  nation  or 

body  of  men  can  stand  in  preference  to  the  general  Congress  at  Philadelphia.7 
In  all  its  proceedings  Congress  manifested  decorum,  firmness,8  moderation, 

1  This  name  was  given  to  distinguish  it  from  the  two  colonial  Congresses  [pages  183  and  215] 
already  held;  one  at  Albany  in  1754,  the  other  at  New  York  in  1765. 

2  Thomson  was  secretary  of  Congress,  perpetually,  from  1774,  until  the  adoption  of  the  Federal 
Constitution,  and  the  organization  of  the  new  government,  in  1789.     Watson  relates  that  Thomson 
had  just  come  into  Philadelphia,  with  his  bride,  and  was  alighting  from  his  chaise,  when  a  messen 
ger  from  the  delegates  in  Carpenter's  Hall  came  to  him,  and  said  they  wanted  him  to  come  and 
take  minutes  of  their  proceedings,  as  he  was  an  expert  at  such  business.     For  his  first  year's  serv 
ice,  he  received  no  pay.     So  Congress  informed  his  wife  that  they  wished  to  compensate  her  for  the 
absence  of  her  husband  during  that  time,  and  wished  her  to  name  what  kind  of  a  piece  of  plate  she 
would  like  to  receive.     She  chose  an  urn,  and  that  silver  vessel  is  yet  in  the  family.     Thomson  was 
born  in  Ireland  in  1730,  came  to  America  when  eleven  years  of  age,  and  died  in  1824,  at  the  ago 
of  ninety-four  years. 

3  When  the  delegates  had  assembled  on  the  5th,  no  one  seemed  inclined  to  break  the  silence, 
and  deep  anxiety  was  depicted  in  every  countenance.     Soon  a  grave-looking  man,  in  a  suit  of 
"minister's  gray,"  and  unpowdered  wig,  arose,  and,  with  a  sweet,  musical  voice,  he  uttered  a  few 
eloquent  words,  that  electrified  the  whole  audience.     "  Who  is  he  ?"  was  a  question  that  went 
from  lip  to  lip.     A  few  who  knew  him,  answered,  "  It  is  Patrick  Henry,  of  Virginia."     There  was 
no  longer  any  hesitation.     He  who,  nine  years  before,  had  cast  the  gauntlet  of  defiance  at  the  feet 
of  British  power,  now  set  in  motion  that  august  machinery  of  civil  power,  which  assisted  in  work 
ing  out  the  independence  of  the  United  States. 

4  Duche  was  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  afterward  became  a  Tory. 

5  They  prepared  a  plan  for  a  general  commercial  non-intercourse  with  Great  Britain  and  her 
West  India  possessions,  which  was  called  TJie  American  Association,  and  was  recommended  for 
adoption  throughout  the  country.     It  consisted  of  fourteen  articles.     In  addition  to  the  non-inter 
course  provisions,  it  was  recommended  to  abandon  the  slave-trade,  to  improve  the  breed  of  sheep, 
to  abstain  from  all  extravagance  in  living  and  indulgence  in  horse-racing,  etc.,  and  the  appointment 
of  a  committee  in  every  town  to  promote  conformity  to  the  requirements  of  the  Association.     It 
was  signed  by  the  fifty-two  members  present. 

6  A  Bill  of  Rights;  an  address  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  written  by  John  Jay;  another  to 
the  several  Anglo-American  colonies,  written  by  William  Livingston ;  another  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Quebec,  and  a  petition  to  the  king.  In  these,  the  grievances  and  the  rights  of  the  colonies  were  ably 
set  forth. 

7  He  also  said,  in  a  letter  to  Stephen  Sayre,  on  the  24th  of  December,  1774:   "I  have  not 
words  to  express  my  satisfaction  that  the  Congress  has  conducted  this  most  arduous  and  delicate 
business,  with  such  manly  wisdom  and  calm  resolution,  as  do  the  highest  honor  to  their  deliberation." 

8  On  the  8th  of  October,  they  unanimously  resolved,  "That  this  Congress  approve  the  opposition 


1775.]          FIRST   YEAR    OF    THE    WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE.         229 

and  loyalty ;  and  when  the  delegates  resolved  to  adjourn,  to  meet  again  at  the 
same  place  on  the  10th  of  May  following  [1775],  unless  the  desired  redress  of 
grievances  should  be  obtained,  they  did  so  with  an  earnest  hope  that  a  reconcil 
iation  might  speedily  take  place,  and  render  another  national  council  unneces 
sary.  But  they  were  doomed  to  bitter  disappointment.  Great  Britain  was 
blind  and  stubborn  still. 


CHAPTER     II. 

FIRST  YEAR  OF  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.  [1775.] 

PERSUADED  that  war  was  inevitable,  the  colonists  began  to  prepare  for  that 
event,  during  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1774.  They  practiced  daily  in  mil 
itary  exercises  ;  the  manufacture  of  arms  and  gunpowder  wras  encouraged ;  and 
throughout  Massachusetts  in  particular,  where  the  heel  of  the  oppressor  bore 
heaviest,  the  people  were  enrolled  in  companies.  Fathers  and  sons,  encouraged 
by  the  gentler  sex,  received  lessons  together  in  the  art  of  war,  and  prepared  to 
take  arms  at  a  moment's  warning.  From  this  circumstance,  they  were  called 
minute-men.  The  Whig1  journals  grew  bolder  every  hour.  Epigrams,  para 
bles,  sonnets,  dialogues,  and  every  form  of  literary  expression,  remarkable  for 
point  and  terseness,  filled  their  columns.  We  give  a  single  specimen  of  some 
of  the  rhymes  of  the  day  : 

"  THE    QUARREL   WITH   AMERICA   FAIRLY   STATED. 

"  Rudely  forced  to  drink  tea,  Massachusetts  in  anger 
Spills  the  tea  on  John  Bull ;  John  falls  on  to  bang  her ; 
Massachusetts,  enraged,  calls  her  neighbors  to  aid, 
And  give  Master  John  a  severe  bastinade. 
Now,  good  men  of  the  law !  pray,  who  is  in  fault, 
The  one  who  began  or  resents  the  assault?" 

The  Massachusetts  leaders,  in  the  mean  while,  were  laboring,  with  intense 
zeal,  to  place  the  province  in  a  condition  to  rise  in  open  and  united  rebellion, 
when  necessity  should  demand.  And  all  over  the  land,  the  provincial  assem 
blies,  speakers  at  public  gatherings,  and  from  the  pulpit,  were  boldly  proclaim 
ing  the  right  of  resistance.  These  demonstrations  alarmed  General  Gage,2  and 
he  commenced  fortifying  Boston  Neck.3  He  also  seized  and  conveyed  to 

of  the  inhabitants  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  to  the  execution  of  the  late  acts  of  Parliament,  and  if  the 
same  shall  be  attempted  to  be  carried  into  execution  by  force,  in  such  case  all  America  ought  to 
support  them  in  their  opposition."  This  resolution,  in  letter  and  spirit,  was  the  embodiment  of  the 
revolutionary  sentiment.  1  Note  4,  page  226. 

a  Thomas  Gage  was  a  native  of  England.  He  was  governor  of  Montreal  [page  203]  in  1760,  and 
commander-in-chief  of  the  British  army  in  America,  in  1763.  He  was  appointed  governor  of 
Massachusetts,  in  1774;  left  America  in  1775;  and  died  in  1787. 

3  The  peninsula  of  Boston  was  originally  connected  with  the  main  land  by  a  narrow  isthmus 
called  the  Neck.  It  has  been  greatly  widened  by  filling  in  the  marginal  morasses ;  and  over  it  now 
passes  the  fine  avenue  which  connects  the  city  with  Roxbury,  on  the  main. 


230  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1175. 

the  city  large  quantities  of  ammunition  found  in  the  neighboring  villages,  and 
employed  stringent  measures  for  preventing  intercourse  between  the  patriots  in 
the  city  and  in  the  country.  The  exasperated  people  needed  but  the  electric 
spark  of  even  a  slight  offense  to  kindle  their  suppressed  indignation  into  a 
blaze.  They  were  ready  to  sound  the  battle-cry,  and  evoke  the  sword  of  rebel 
lion  from  its  scabbard  ;  and  they  were  even  anxious  to  attack  the  soldiers  in 
Boston,  but  they  were  restrained  by  prudent  conselors.1 

A  rumor  went  abroad  on  the  third  of  September,  that  British  ships  were 
cannonading  Boston.  From  the  shores  of  Long  Island  Sound  to  the  green 
hills  of  Berkshire,  "  To  arms  !  to  arms  !"  was  the  universal  shout.  Instantly, 
on  every  side,  men  of  all  ages  were  seen  cleansing  and  burnishing  their  weap 
ons  ;  and  within  two  days,  full  thirty  thousand  minute-men  were  under  arms, 
and  hastening  toward  that  city.  They  were  met  by  a  contradiction  of  the 
rumor;  but  the  event  conveyed  such  a  portentous  lesson  to  Gage,  that  he 
pushed  forward  his  military  operations  with  as  much  vigor  as  the  opposition  of 
the  people  would  allow.3  He  thought  it  expedient  to  be  more  conciliatory ; 
and  he  summoned  the  colonial  Assembly  to  meet  at  Salem  on  the  5th  of  Octo 
ber.  Then  dreading  their  presence,  he  revoked  the  order.  Ninety  delegates 
met,  however,  and  organized  by  the  appointment  of  John  Hancock3  president. 
They  then  went  to  Cambridge,  where  they  formed  a  Provincial  Congress,  inde 
pendent  of  royal  authority  (the  first  in  America),  and  labored  earnestly  in 
preparations  for  that  armed  resistance,  now  become  a  stern  necessity.  They 
made  provisions  for  an  army  of  twelve  thousand  men  ;  solicited  other  New  En 
gland  colonies  to  augment  it  to  twenty  thousand;  and  appointed  Jedediah 
Preble  and  Artemas  Ward4  men  of  experience  in  the  French  and  Indian  war,5 
generals  of  all  the  troops  that  might  be  raised. 

The  Americans  were  now  fairly  aroused  to  action.  They  had  counted  the 
cost  of  armed  rebellion,  and  were  fully  resolved  to  meet  it.  The  defiant 
position  of  the  colonists  arrested  the  attention  of  all  Europe.  When  the  Brit 
ish  Parliament  assembled  early  in  1775,  that  body  presented  a  scene  of  great 
excitement.  Dr.  Franklin  and  others,6  then  in  England,  had  given  a  wide  cir 
culation  to  the  State  papers  put  forth  by  the  Continental  Congress  ;7  and  the 

1  Many  hundreds  of  armed  men  assembled  at  Cambridge.  At  Charlestown,  the  people  took 
possession  of  the  arsenal,  after  Gage  had  carried  oft'  the  powder.  At  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  they  cap 
tured  the  fort,  and  carried  off  the  ammunition.  At  Newport,  R.  L,  the  people  seized  the  powder, 
and  took  possession  of  forty  pieces  of  cannon  at  the  entrance  of  the  harbor.  In  New  York,  Phila 
delphia,  Annapolis,  Williamsburg,  Charleston,  and  Savannah,  the  people  took  active  defensive 
measures,  and  the  whole  country  was  in  a  blaze  of  indignation. 

8  Carpenters  refused  to  work  on  the  fortifications,  and  much  of  the  material  was  destroyed  by 
fire,  at  night,  in  spite  of  the  vigilance  of  the  guards.  Gage  sent  to  New  York  for  timber  and  work 
men  ;  but  the  people  there  would  not  permit  either  to  leave  their  port. 

8  John  Hancock  was  one  of  the  most  popular  of  the  New  England  patriots,  throughout  the 
whole  war.  He  was  born  in  Braintree,  Massachusetts,  in  1737,  was  educated  at  Harvard  College; 
became  a  counting-room  clerk  to  his  uncle,  and  inherited  that  gentleman's  great  wealth.  He 
entered  public  life  early ;  was  a  representative  in  the  Continental  Congress,  and  was  its  president 
when  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  adopted.  He  was  afterward  governor  of  Massachusetts. 
Mr.  Hancock  died  in  October,  1793,  at  the  age  of 'fifty-six  years. 

4  Note  5,  page  238.  6  Page  179. 

6  Dr.  Franklin  had  then  been  agent  in  England,  for  several  of  the  colonies,  for  about  ten  years. 

7  Note  6,  page  228. 


1775.]          FIRST    YEAR    OF    THE    WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE. 


231 


English  mind  was  already  favorably  influenced  in  favor  of  the  Americans. 
Pitt  came  on  crutches1  from  his  retirement,  to  cast  the  weight  of  his  mighty 
influence  into  the  scale  of  justice,  by  action  in  the  House  of  Lords.  He  pro 
posed  [January  7,  1775]  conciliatory  measures.  They  were  rejected,  as  well 


as  others  offered  by  Burke,  Conway,  and  Hartly ;  and  in  their  stead,  Parlia 
ment,  in  March,  struck  another  severe  blow  at  the  industry  of  New  England, 
by  prohibiting  fishing  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland.2  Already  Lord  North 
had  moved,  in  the  House  of  Commons  [February,  1775],  for  an  address  to  the 
king,  affirming  that  Massachusetts  was  in  a  state  of  rebellion.  The  Ministers 
also  endeavored  to  promote  dissensions  in  America,  by  crippling  the  trade  of 
New  England  and  other  colonies,  but  exempting  New  York,  Delaware,  and 
North  Carolina.  The  bait  of  favor  for  these  three  colonies  was  indignantly 

1  Pitt  was  greatly  afflicted  with  the  gout.     Sometimes  he  was  confined  to  his  house  for  weeks 
by  it ;  and  he  was  sometimes  seen  on  the  floor  of  Parliament  leaning  upon  crutches,  and  his  legs 
swathed  in  flannels.     In  this  condition  he  made  two  of  his  most  eloquent  speeches  in  favor  of  the 
Americans. 

2  At  that  time,  there  were  employed  by  the  Americans,  in  the  British  Newfoundland  fisheries, 
four  hundred  ships,  two  thousand  fishing  shallops,  and  twenty  thousand  men.      On  account  of  this 
blow  to  the  fishing  trade,  a  great  many  inhabitants  of  Nantucket  and  vicinity,  chiefly  Quakers,  went 
to  North  Carolina,  and  in  Orange  and  Guilford  counties,  became  planters.     Their  descendants  are 
yet  numerous  there.     The  principal  meeting-house  is  at  New  Garden. 


232  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1775. 

spurned — the  scheme  of  disunion  signally  failed.  Common  dangers  and  com 
mon  interests  drew  the  ligaments  of  fraternity  closer  than  ever.  When  the 
trees  budded,  and  the  flowers  bloomed  in  the  spring  of  1775,  all  hope  of  recon 
ciliation  had  vanished.  It  was  evident  that 

"  King,  Commons,  and  Lords,  were  uniting  amain," 

to  destroy  the  Liberty  Tree,  planted  by  faithful  hands.  The  people  of  the  col 
onies,  though  weak  in  military  resources,  were  strong  in  purpose ;  and,  relying 
upon  the  justice  of  their  cause,  and  the  assistance  of  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent, 
they  resolved  to  defy  the  fleets  and  armies  of  Great  Britain. 

There  was  great  moral  sublimity  in  the  rising  of  the  colonies  against  the 
parent  country ;  for  it  was  material  weakness  arrayed  against  great  material 
strength.  There  were  more  than  three  thousand  British  troops  in  Boston,  on  the 
first  of  April,  1775.  Confident  in  his  power,  Gage  felt  certain  that  he  could 
repress  insurrections,  and  keep  the  people  quiet.  Yet  he  felt  uneasy  concerning 
the  gathering  of  ammunition  and  stores,1  by  the  patriots,  at  Concord,  sixteen  miles 
from  Boston.  Toward  midnight,  on  the  18th  [April],  he  secretly  dispatched 
eight  hundred  men,  under  lieutenant-colonel  Smith  and  Major  Pitcairn,  to 
destroy  them.  So  carefully  had  he  arranged  the  expedition,  that  he  believed 
it  to  be  entirely  unknown  to  the  patriots.  All  his  precautions  were  vain.  The 
vigilant  Dr.  Warren,3  who  was  secretly  watching  all  the  movements  of  Gage, 
became  aware  of  the  expedition  early  in  the  evening ;  and  when  it  moved, 
Paul  Revere,8  one  of  the  most  active  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty  in  Boston,  had 
landed  at  Charlestown,  and  was  on  his  way  to  Concord  to  arouse  the  inhabitants 
and  minute-men.  Soon  afterward,  church-bells,  muskets,  and  cannons  spread 
the  alarm  over  the  country  ;  and  when,  at  dawn,  on  the  19th  of  April.  1775 — 
a  day  memorable  in  the  annals  of  our  Republic — Pitcairn,  with  the  advanced 
guard,  reached  Lexington,  a  few  miles  from  Concord,  he  found  seventy  deter 
mined  men  drawn  up  to  oppose  him.  Pitcairn  rode  forward  and  shouted, 
"  Disperse  !  disperse,  you  rebels  !  Down  with  your  arms,  and  disperse !" 
They  refused  obedience,  and  he  ordered  his  men  to  fire.  That  dreadful  order 
was  obeyed,  and  the  FIRST  BLOOD  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  flowed  upon  the  tender 
grass  on  the  Green  at  Lexington.  Eight  citizens  were  killed,  several  were 
wounded,  and  the  remainder  were  dispersed.  The  last  survivor  of  that  noble 
band4  died  in  March,  1854,  at  the  age  of  almost  ninety-six  years. 


1  Early  in  the  year,  secret  orders  had  been  sent  by  the  ministry  to  the  royal  governors,  to 
remove  all  ammunition  and  stores  out  of  the  reach  of"  the  people,  if  they  made  any  hostile  demon 
strations. 

2  Afterward  killed  in  the  battle  on  Breed's  Hill.     See  page  235. 

3  Revere  was  an  engraver,  and  previous  to  this  time  had  executed  some  creditable  specimens 
of  his  art.     He  engraved  a  picture  of  the  naval  investment  of  Boston,  in  1768,  and  of  the  Boston 
Massacre,  in  1770.     As  a  Grand  Master  of  the  Masonic  order,  he  was  very  influential;  yet,  like 
those  of  Isaac  Sears,  of  New  York,  his  eminent  services  in  the  cause  of  freedom  have  been  over 
looked.     Their  fame  is  eclipsed  by  men  of  greater  minds,  but  of  no  sturdier  patriotism. 

4  Jonathan  Harrington,  who  played  the  fife  for  the  minute-men,  on  the  morning  of  the  battle. 
The  writer  visited  him  in  1848,  when  he  was  ninety  years  of  age.     He  then  had  a  perfect  recollec 
tion  of  the  events  of  that  morning.     A  portrait  of  him,  as  he  appeared  at  that  time,  is  published  ia 
Lossing's  Pictorial  Field  Book  of  the  Revolution,  page  554,  vol.  i. 


1775.]          FIRST    YEAR    OF    THE    WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE.        233 

Confident  of  full  success,  the  British  now  pressed  forward  to  Concord,  and 
destroyed  the  stores.  They  were  terribly  annoyed  by  the  minute-men  on  their 
way,  who  fired  upon  them  from  behind  walls,  trees,  and  buildings.  Having  accom 
plished  their  purpose,  and  killed  several  more  patriots  in  a  skirmish  there,  the 
royal  troops  hastily  retreated  to  Lexington.  The  country  was  now  thoroughly 
aroused,  and  minute-men  were  gathering  by  scores.  Nothing  but  the  timely 
arrival  of  Lord  Percy  with  reinforcements,1  saved  the  eight  hundred  men  from 
total  destruction.  The  whole  body  now  retreated.  All  the  way  back  to 
Bunker's  Hill,2  in  Charlestown,  the  troops  were  terribly  assailed  by  the  patri 
ots  ;  and  when,  the  following  morning,  they  crossed  over  to  Boston,  they  ascer 
tained  their  loss  to  be,  in  killed  and  wounded,  two  hundred  and  seventy-three. 
The  loss  of  the  Americans  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  was  one  hundred 
and  three.3 

The  initial  blow  for  freedom  had  now  been  struck.  It  was  appalling  to 
friend  and  foe.  The  news  of  this  tragedy  spread  over  the  country  like  a  blaze 
of  lightning  from  a  midnight  cloud,  and  like  the  attendant  thunder-peal,  it 
aroused  all  hearts.  From  the  hills  and  valleys  of  New  England,  the  patriots 
went  forth  by  hundreds,  armed  and  unarmed;  and  before  the  close  of  the 
month  [April  1775],  an  army  of  twenty  thousand  men  were  forming  camps  and 
piling  fortifications  around  Boston,  from  Roxbury  to  the  river  Mystic,  deter 
mined  to  confine  the  fierce  tiger  of  war,  which  had  tasted  their  blood,  upon  that 
little  peninsula.  The  provincial  Congress,4  sitting  at  Watertown',  with  Dr. 
Warren  at  its  head,  worked  day  and  night  in  consonance  with  the  gathering 
army.  They  appointed  military  officers,  organized  a  commissariat  for  supplies, 
issued  bills  of  credit  for  the  payment  of  troops  (for  which  the  province  was 
pledged),  to  the  amount  of  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars,  and  declared 
[May  5]  General  Gage  to  be  an  "inveterate  enemy"  of  the  people.  And  as 
the  intelligence  went  from  colony  to  colony,  the  people  in  each  were  equally 
aroused.  Arms  and  ammunition  were  seized  by  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  provin 
cial  Congresses  were  formed,  and  before  the  close  of  summer,  the  power  of 
every  royal  governor,  from  Massachusetts  to  Georgia,  was  utterly  destroyed. 
Everywhere  the  inhabitants  armed  in  defense  of  their  liberties,  and  took  vigor 
ous  measures  for  future  security. 

Some  aggressive  enterprises  were  undertaken  by  volunteers.  The  most 
important  of  these  was  the  seizure  of  the  strong  fortresses  of  Ticonderoga5  and 
Crown  Point,8  on  Lake  Champlain,  chiefly  by  Connecticut  and  Vermont 

1  Earl  Percy  was  a  son  of  the  Duke  of  Northumberland.  When  he  was  marching  out  of  Bos 
ton,  his  band  struck  up  the  tune  of  Yankee  Doodle,  in  derision.  He  saw  a  boy  at  Roxbury  making 
himself  very  merry  as  he  passed.  Percy  inquired  why  he  was  so  merry.  "To  think,"  said  the  lad, 
"  how  you  will  dance  by-and-by  to  Clievy  Cho,se."  Percy  was  often  much  influenced  by  presenti 
ments,  and  the  words  of  the  boy  made  him  moody.  Percy  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  Earl 
Percy  who  was  slain  in  the  battle  of  Chevy  Chase,  and  he  felt  all  day  as  if  some  great  calamity 
might  befall  him.  2  Page  235. 

3  Appropriate  monuments  have  been  erected  to  the  memory  of  the  slain,  at  Lexington,  Concord, 
and  Acton.  Davis,  the  commander  of  the  militia  at  Concord,  was  from  Acton,  and  so  were  most 
of  his  men.  The  estimated  value  of  the  property  destroyed  by  the  invaders,  was  as  follows :  In 
Concord,  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars ;  in  Lexington,  eight  thousand  three 
hundred  and  five  dollars;  in  Cambridge,  six  thousand  and  ten  dollars.  4  Page  230. 

5  Page  196.  6  Page  200. 


234  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1775. 

militia,  under  the  command  of  Colonels  Ethan  Allen  and  Benedict  Arnold. 
Ticonderoga  and  its  garrison  were  taken  possession  of  at  dawn,  on  the  10th  of 
May,  1775  j1  and  two  days  afterward,  Colonel  Seth  Warner,  of  the  expedition, 
with  a  few  men,  captured  Crown  Point.  The  spoils  of  victory  taken  at  these 
two  posts,  consisting  of  almost  one  hundred  and  fifty  pieces  of  cannon,  and  a 
large  quantity  of  ammunition  and  stores,  were  of  vast  consequence  to  the  Amer 
icans.  A  few  months  later  [March,  1776],  some  of  these  cannons  were  hurling 
death-shots  into  the  midst  of  the  British  troops  in  Boston.2 

Having  repudiated  royal  authority,  the  people  of  Massachusetts  were  obe 
dient  to  their  chosen  rulers,  and  efiicient  civil  government  was  duly  inaugur 
ated.  On  the  19th  of  May  [1775],  the  provincial  Congress  of  Massachusetts 
clothed  the  Committee  of  Safety,  sitting  at  Cambridge,  with  full  powers  to 
regulate  the  operations  of  the  army.  Artemas  Ward  was  appointed  commander- 
in-chief,  Richard  Gridley,3  chief  engineer,  and  Israel  Putnam,  John  Stark,  and 
other  veterans,  who  had  served  bravely  in  the  French  and  Indian  war,  were 
appointed  to  important  commands.  The  military  genius  developed  in  that  old 
conflict,  was  now  brought  into  requisition.  Day  by  day  the  position  of  the 
British  army  became  more  perilous.  Fortunately  for  its  safety,  large  reinforce 
ments,  under  those  three  experienced  commanders,  Generals  Howe,  Clinton, 
and  Burgoyne,  arrived  on  the  25th  of  May.  It  was  timely :  and  then  the 
whole  British  force  in  Boston  amounted  to  about  twelve  thousand  men,  besides 
several  well-manned  vessels  of  war,  under  Admiral  Graves.  Gage  now  resolved 
to  attack  the  Americans  and  penetrate  the  country. 

Preparatory  to  an  invasion  of  the  province,  Gage  issued  a  proclamation 
[June  10,  1775],  declaring  all  Americans  inarms  to  be  rebels  and  traitors,  and 
offering  a  free  pardon  to  all  who  should  return  to  their  allegiance,  except  those 
arch-offenders,  John  Hancock  and  Samuel  Adams.4  These  he  intended  to 
seize  and  send  to  England  to  be  hanged.  The  vigilant  patriots,  aware  of  Gage's 
hostile  intentions,  strengthened  their  intrenchments  on  Boston  Neck,5  and  on 
the  evening  of  the  16th  of  June,  General  Ward  sent  Colonel  Prescott"  with  a 
detachment  of  one  thousand  men,  to  take  possession  of,  and  fortify,  Bunker's 
Hill,  in  Charlestown,  which  commanded  an  important  part  of  Boston  and  the 
surrounding  water.  By  mistake  they  ascended  Breed's  Hill,  within  cannon 
shot  of  the  city,  and  laboring  with  pick  and  spade  all  that  night,  they  had  cast 
up  a  strong  redoubt7  of  earth,  on  the  summit  of  that  eminence,  before  the  Brit-. 

1  Allen  was  in  chief  command.  Having  taken  possession  of  the  fort  and  garrison  by  surprise, 
he  ascended  to  the  door  of  the  commandant's  apartment,  and  awoke  Captain  De  La  Place,  by  heavy 
blows  with  the  hilt  of  his  sword.  The  astonished  commander,  followed  by  his  wife,  came  to  the 
door.  He  knew  Allen.  "  What  do  you  want?"  he  inquired.  "  I  want  you  to  surrender  this  fort," 
Allen  answered.  "By  what  authority  do  you  demand  it?"  asked  De  La  Place.  "By  the  Great 
Jehovah  and  the  Continental  Congress!"  said  Allen,  with  the  voice  of  a  Stentor.  The  captain  sub 
mitted,  and  the  fortress  became  a  possession  of  the  patriots.  2  Page  247. 

3  Note  1,  page  138.  4  Note  1.  page  221.  5  Note  3,  page  229. 

6  William  Prescott  was  born  at  Groton,  Massachusetts,  in  1726.     He  was  at  Louisburg  [page 
137]  in  1745.     After  the  battle  of  Bunker's  Hill,  he  served  under  Gates,  until  the  surrender  of 
Burgoyne,  when  he  left  the  army.     He  died  in  1795. 

7  A  redoubt  is  a  small  fortification  generally  composed  of  earth,  and  having  very  few  features 
of  a  regular  fort,  except  its  arrangement  for  the  use  of  cannons  and  muskets.     They  are  often  tern- 


1775.] 


FIRST    TEAR    OF    THE    WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE. 


235 


ish  were  aware  of  their  presence.     Gage  and  his  officers,  were  greatly  astonished 
at  the  apparition  of  this  military  work,  at  the  dawn  of  the  17th. 

The  British  generals  were  not  only  astonished,  but  alarmed,  and  at  once 
perceived  the  necessity  for  driving  the  Americans  from  this  commanding 
position,  before  they  should  plant  a  heavy  battery  therej  for  in  that  event, 
Boston  must  be  evacuated  before  sunrise.  The  drums  beat 
to  arms,  and  soon  the  city  was  in  a  great  tumult.  The  im 
minent  danger  converted  many  Tories  into  professedly 
warm  Whigs,  for  the  days  of  British  rule  appeared  to  be 
closing.  Every  eminence  and  roof  in  Boston 
swarmed  with  people  and  at  about  sunrise 
[June  17,  1775],  a 
heavy  cannonade  was 
opened  upon  the  re 
doubt,  from  a  battery 
on  Copp's  Hill,  in 
Boston, l  and  from  the 
shipping  in  the  har 
bor,  but  with  very 
little  effect.  Hour 
after  hour  the  patriots 
toiled  on  in  the  com 
pletion  of  their  work, 
and  at  noon-day,  their 
task  was  finished,  and  they  laid  aside  their  implements  of  labor  for  knapsacks 
and  muskets.  General  Howe,  with  General  Pigot,  and  three  thousand  men. 
crossed  the  Charles  River  at  the  same  time,  to  Morton's  Point,  at  the  foot  of 
the  eastern  slope  of  Breed's  Hill,  formed  his  troops  into  two  columns,  and 
marched  slowly  to  attack  the  redoubt.  Although  the  British  commenced  firing 
cannons  soon  after  they  began  to  ascend  the  hill,  and  the  great  guns  of  the 
ships,  and  the  battery  on  Copp's  Hill,  poured  an  incessant  storm  upon  the 
redoubt,  the  Americans  kept  perfect  silence  until  they  had  approached  within 
close  musket  shot.  Hardly  an  American  could  be  seen  by  the  slowly  approach 
ing  enemy,  yet  behind  those  rude  mounds  of  earth,  lay  fifteen  hundred  deter 
mined  men,2  ready  to  pour  deadly  volleys  of  musket-balls  upon  the  foe,  when 
their  commanders  should  order  them. 


PLAN  OF  BUNKER'S  HILL  BATTLE. 


MONUMENT. 


porary  structures,  cast  up  in  the  progress  of  a  siege,  or  a  protracted  battle.     The  diagram  A,  on  the 
map.  shows  the  form  of  the  redoubt,  a  is  the  entrance. 

1  That  portion  of  Copp's  Hill,  where  the  British  battery  was  constructed,  is  a  burial-ground,  in 
which  lie  many  of  the  earlier  residents  of  that  city.     Among  them,  the  Mather  family,  distinguished 
in  the  early  history  of  the  Commonwealth.     See  page  133. 

2  During  the  forenoon,  General  Putnam  had  been  busy  in  forwarding  reinforcements  for  Pres- 
cott,  and  when  the  battle  began,  about  five  hundred  had  been  added  to  the  detachment.     Yet  he 
found  it  difficult  to  urge  many  of  the  raw  recruits  forward ;  and  after  th£  war,  he  felt  it  necessary  to 
ariso  in  the  church  of  which  he  was  a  member,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  congregation,  acknowl 
edge  the  sin  of  swearing  on  that  occasion.     He  partially  justified  himself  by  saying,  "  It  was  almost 
enough  to  make  an  angel  swear,  to  see  the  cowards  refuse  to  secure  a  victory  so  nearly  won.' 


236  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1775. 

It  was  now  three  o] clock  in  the  afternoon.  When  the  British  column  was 
within  ten  rods  of  the  redoubt,  Prescott  shouted  Firs !  and  instantly  whole 
platoons  of  the  assailants  were  prostrated  by  well-aimed  bullets.1  The  survivors 
fell  back  in  great  confusion,  but  were  soon  rallied  for  a  second  attack.  They 
were  again  repulsed,  with  heavy  loss,  and  while  scattering  in  all  directions, 
General  Clinton  arrived  with  a  few  followers,  and  joined  Howe,  as  a  volunteer. 
The  fugitives  were  again  rallied,  and  they  rushed  up  to  the  redoubt  in  the  face 
of  a  galling  fire.  For  ten  minutes  the  battle  raged  fearfully,  and,  in  the  mean 
while,  Charlestown,  at  the  foot  of  the  eminence,  having  been  fired  by  a  carcass2 
from  Copp's  Hill,3  sent  up  dense  columns  of  smoke,  which  completely  enveloped 
the  belligerents.  The  firing  in  the  redoubt  soon  grew  weaker,  for  the  ammu 
nition  of  the  Americans  had  become  exhausted.  It  ceased  altogether,  and  then 
the  British  scaled  the  bank  and  compelled  the  Americans  to  retreat,  while  they 
fought  fiercely  with  clubbed  muskets.4  Overpowered,  they  fled  across  Charles- 
town  Neck,5  gallantly  covered  by  Putnam  and  a  few  brave  men,  and  under  that 
commander,  they  took  position  on  Prospect  Hill,  and  fortified  it.  The  British 
took  possession  of  Bunker's  Hill,6  and  erected  a  fortification  there.  There  was 
absolutely  no  victory  in  the  case.  Completely  exhausted,  both  parties  sought 
rest,  and  hostilities  ceased  for  a  time.  The  Americans  had  lost,  in  killed, 
wounded,  and  prisoners,  about  four  hundred  and  fifty  men.  The  loss  of  the 
British  from  like  causes,  was  almost  eleven  hundred.7  This  was  the  first  real 
battle*  of  the  Revolution,  and  lasted  almost  two  hours. 

Terrible  for  the  people  of  Boston  and  vicinity,  were  the  events  of  that  bright 
and  cloudless,  and  truly  beautiful  June  day.  All  the  morning,  as  we  have 
observed,  and  during  the  fierce  conflict,  roofs,  steeples,  and  every  high  place,  in 
and  around  the  city,  were  filled  with  anxious  spectators.  Almost  every  family 
had  a  representative  among  the  combatants ;  and  in  an  agony  of  suspense, 
mothers,  wives,  sisters,  and  daughters,  gazed  upon  the  scene.  Many  a  loved 


1  Prescott  ordered  his  men  to  aim  at  the  waistbands  of  the  British,  and  to  pick  off  their  officers, 
whose  fine  clothes  would  distinguish  them.     It  is  said  that  men,  at  the  first  onset  in  battle,  always 
fire  too  high,  hence  the  order  to  aim  at  the  waistbands. 

2  A  carcass  is  a  hollow  case,  formed  of  ribs  of  iron  covered  with  cloth  or  metal,  with  holes  in  it. 
Being  filled  with  combustibles  and  set  on  fire,  it  is  thrown  from  a  mortar,  like  a  bomb-shell,  upon 
the  roofs  of  buildings,  and  ignites  them.     A  bomb-shell  is  a  hollow  ball  with  an  orifice,  filled  with 
powder  (sometimes  mixed  with  slugs  of  iron),  which  is  ignited  by  a  slow  match  when  fired,  explodes, 
and  its  fragments  produce  terrible  destruction.  3  See  map  on  page  235. 

4  Most  of  the  American  muskets  were  destitute  of  bayonets,  and  they  used  the  large  end  as 
clubs.  This  is  a  last  resort. 

6  Charlestown,  like  Boston,  is  on  a  peninsula,  almost  surrounded  by  water  and  a  marsh.  The 
Neck  was  a  narrow  causeway,  connecting  it  with  the  main.  Charlestown  was  a  flourishing  rival  of 
Boston,  at  the  time  of  the  battle.  It  was  then  completely  destroyed.  Six  hundred  buildings  per 
ished  in  the  flames.  Burgoyne,  speaking  of  the  battle  and  conflagration,  said,  it  was  the  most  awful 
and  sublime  sight  he  had  ever  witnessed. 

6  As  the  battle  took  place  on  Breed's,   and  not  on  Bunker's   Hill,  the   former  name  should 
have  been  given  to  it ;  but  the  name  of  Bunker's  Hill  has  become  too  sacred  in  the  records  of  patriot 
ism  to  be  changed. 

7  The  provincial  Congress  estimated  the  loss  at  about  fifteen  hundred ;  General  Gage  reported 
one  thousand  and  fifty-four.     Of  the  Americans,  only  one  hundred  and  fifteen  were  killed ;  the 
remainder  were  wounded  or  made  prisoners. 

8  A  battle  is  a  conflict  carried  on  by  large  bodies  of  troops,  according  to  the  rules  of  military 
tactics;  a  skirmish  is  a  sudden  and  irregular  fight  between  a  few  troops. 


1775.]          FIRST  TEAR    OF    THE    WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE.          237 

one  perished ;  and  there  the  country  lost  one  of  its  most  promising  children, 
and  freedom  a  devoted  champion.  Dr.  Warren,  who 
had  just  been  appointed  major-general,  had  crossed 
Charlestown  Neck  in  the  midst  of  flying  balls  from  the 
British  shipping,  and  reached  the  redoubt  on  Breed's 
Hill,  at  the  moment  when  the  enemy  scaled  its  banks. 
He  was  killed  by  a  musket  ball,  while  retreating. 
Buried  where  he  fell,  near  the  redoubt,  the  tall  Bunker 
Hill  monument  of  to-day,  standing  on  that  spot,  com 
memorates  his  death,  as  well  as  the  patriotism  of  his 
countrymen.  JOSEPH  AVARREX 

The   storm  was  not  confined  to   the   east.     While 

these  events  wore  occurring  in  New  England,  the  Revolution  wras  making  rapid 
progress  elsewhere.  Even  before  the  tragedy  at  Lexington  and  Concord, 
Patrick  Henry2  had  again  aroused  his  countrymen  by  his  eloquence,  and  in  the 
Virginia  Assembly,  convened  at  Richmond,  on  the  23d  of  March,  1775,  he 
concluded  a  masterly  speech  with  that  noted  sentiment,  which  became  the  war- 
cry  of  the  patriots,  "  GIVE  ME  LIBERTY,  OR  GIVE  ME  DEATH  !"  When, 
twenty-six  days  later  [April  20],  Governor  Dunmore,  by  ministerial  command,3 
seized  and  conveyed  on  board  a  British  vessel  of  war,  a  quantity  of  gunpowder 
belonging  to  the  colony,  that  same  inflexible  patriot  went  at  the  head  of  armed 
citizens,  and  demanded  and  received  from  the  royal  representative,  full  restitu 
tion.  And  before  the  battle  of  Bunker's  Hill,  the  exasperated  people  had 
driven  Dunmore4  from  his  palace  at  Williamsburg  [June],  and  he  was  a  refugee, 
shorn  of  political  power,  on  board  a  British  man-of-war  in  the  York  River. 

Further  south,  still  bolder  steps  had  been  taken.  The  people  in  the  inte 
rior  of  North  Carolina,  where  the  Regulator  Movement  occurred  four  years 
earlier,  asserted  their  dignity  and  their  rights  as  freemen,  in  a  way  that  aston 
ished  even  the  most  sanguine  and  determined  patriots  elsewhere.  A  convention 
of  delegates  chosen  by  the  people,  assembled  at  Charlotte,  in  Mecklenberg 
county,  in  May,  1775,  and  by  a  series  of  resolutions,  they  virtually  declared 
their  constituents  absolved  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  crown,5  organized 
local  government,  and  made  provisions  for  military  defense.  In  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia,  also,  arms  and  ammunition  had  been  seized  by  the  people,  and 
all  royal  authority  was  repudiated. 

While  the  whole  country  was  excited  by  the  rising  rebellion,  and  on  the 

1  Joseph  "Warren  was  born  in  Roxbury,  in  1740.  He  was  at  the  head  of  his  profession  as  a 
physician,  when  the  events  of  the  approaching  revolution  brought  him  into  public  life.  He  was 
thirty-live  years  of  age  when  he  died.  His  remains  rest  in  St.  Paul's  church,  in  Boston. 

-  Note  1,  page  214.  3  Note  1,  page  232. 

4  Dunmore  was  strongly  suspected  of  a  desire  to  have  the  hostile  Indians  west  of  the  Allegha- 
nies  annihilate  the  Virginia  troops  sent  against  them  in  the  summer  of  1774.      They  suffered  ter 
rible  loss  in  a  battle  at  Point  Pleasant  on  the  Ohio,  in  October  of  that  year,  in  consequence  of  tha 
failure  of  promised  aid  from  Dunmore.     They  subdued  the  Indians,  however. 

5  This  "Declaration  of  Independence,"  as  it  is  called,  was  made  about  thirteen  months  previous 
to  the  general  Declaration  put  forth  by  the  Continental  Congress,  and  is  one  of  the  glories  of  the 
people  of  North  Carolina.     It  consisted  of  a  series  of  twenty  resolutions,  and  was  read,  from  time  to 
time,  to  other  gatherings  of  the  people,  after  the  convention  at  Charlotte. 


233  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1775. 

very  day  [May  10]  when  Allen  and  Arnold  took  Ticonderoga,1  the  SECOND 
CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS  convened  at  Philadelphia.  Notwithstanding  New 
England  was  in  a  blaze  of  war,  royal  authority  had  virtually  ceased  in  all  the 
colonies,  and  the  conflict  for  independence  had  actually  begun,2  that  august 
body  held  out  to  Great  Britain  a  loyal,  open  hand  of  reconciliation.  Congress 
sent  [July,  1775]  a  most  loyal  petition  to  the  king,  and  conciliatory  addresses 
to  the  people  of  Great  Britain.  At  the  same  time  they  said  firmly,  "  We  have 
counted  the  cost  of  this  contest,  and  find  nothing  so  dreadful  as  voluntary 
slavery."  They  did  not  foolishly  lose  present  advantages  in  waiting  for  a  reply, 
but  pressed  forward  in  the  work  of  public  security.  Having  resolved  on  armed 
resistance,  they  voted  to  raise  an  army  of  twenty  thousand  men ;  and  two  days 
before  the  battle  of  Bunker's  Hill  [June  15,  1775],  they  elected  GEORGE 
WASHINGTON  commander-in-chief  of  all  the  forces  raised,  or  to  be  raised,  for 
the  defense  of  the  colonies.3  That  destined  Father  of  his  Country,  was  then 
forty-three  years  of  age.  They  also  adopted  the  incongruous  mass  of  undis 
ciplined  troops  at  Boston,4  as  a  CONTINENTAL  ARMY,  and  appointed  general 
officers5  to  assist  Washington  in  its  organization  and  future  operations. 

General  Washington  took  command  of  the  army  at  Cambridge,  on  the  3d 
of  July,  and  with  the  efficient  aid  of  General  Gates,  who  was  doubtless  the  best 
disciplined  soldier  then  in  the  field,  order  was  soon  brought  out  of  great  con 
fusion,  and  the  Americans  were  prepared  to  commence  a  regular  siege  of  the 
British  army  in  Boston.6  To  the  capture  or  expulsion  of  those  troops,  the 
efforts  of  Washington  were  mainly  directed  during  the  summer  and  autumn  of 
1775.  Fortifications  were  built,  a  thorough  organization  of  the  army  was 
effected,  and  all  that  industry  and  skill  could  do,  with  such  material,  in  perfect 
ing  arrangements  for  a  strong  and  fatal  blow,  was  accomplished.  The  army, 


1  Page  234.  a  Page  232. 

8  Washington  was  a  delegate  in  Congress  from  Virginia,  and  his  appointment  was  wholly  unex 
pected  to  him.  When  the  time  came  to  choose  a  commander-in-chief,  John  Adams  arose,  and  after 
a  brief  speech,  in  which  he  delineated  the  qualities  of  the  man  whom  he  thought  best  fitted  for  the 
important  service,  he  expressed  his  intenton  to  propose  a  member  from  Virginia  for  the  office  of 
generalissimo.  All  present  understood  the  allusion,  and  the  next  day,  Thomas  Johnson,  of  Mary 
land,  nominated  Colonel  Washington,  and  he  was,  by  unanimous  vote,  elected  commander-in-chief. 
At  the  same  time  Congress  resolved  that  they  would  "  maintain  and  assist  him,  and  adhere  to  him, 
with  their  lives  and  fortunes,  in  the  cause  of  American  liberty."  When  President  Hancock 
announced  to  Washington  his  appointment,  he  modestly,  and  with  great  dignity,  signified  his  accept 
ance  in  the  following  terms:  "  Mr.  President — Though  I  am  truly  sensible  of  the  high  honor  done 
me,  in  this  appointment,  yet  I  feel  great  distress,.from  a  consciousness  that  my  abilities  and  military 
experience  may  not  be  equal  to  the  extensive  and  important  trust.  However,  as  the  Congress 
desire  it,  I  will  enter  upon  the  momentous  duty,  arid  exert  every  power  I  possess  in  their  service, 
and  for  the  support  of  the  glorious  cause.  I  beg  they  will  accept  my  most  cordial  thanks  for  this 
distinguished  testimony  of  their  approbation.  But  lest  some  unlucky  event  should  happen,  unfavor 
able  to  my  reputation,  I  beg  it  may  be  remembered  by  every  gentleman  in  this  room,  that  I,  this 
day,  declare  with  the  utmost  sincerity,  I  do  not  think  myself  equal  to  the  command  I  am  honored 
with.  As  to  pay,  sir,  I  beg  leave  to  assure  the  Congress  that,  as  no  pecuniary  consideration  could 
have  tempted  me  to  accept  the  arduous  employment,  at  the  expense  of  my  domestic  ease  and  hap 
piness.  I  do  not  wish  to  make  any  profit  from  it.  I  will-  keep  an  exact  account  of  my  expenses. 
Those,  I  doubt  not,  they  will  discharge,  and  that  is  all  I  desire."  4  Page  232. 

6  Artcmas  Ward,  Charles  Lee,  Philip  Schuyler,  and  Israel  Putnam,  were  appointed  major- 
generals;  Horatio  Gates,  adjutant-general;  and  Seth  Pomeroy,  Richard  Montgomery,  David  Wooster, 
William  Heath,  Joseph  Spencer,  John  Thomas,  John  Sullivan,  and  Nathaniel  Green  (all  New 
England  men),  brigadier-generals.  6  Page  232.  ^ 


1775.] 


FIRST   YEAR    OP    THE    WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE. 


239 


fourteen  thousand  strong  at  the  close  of  the  year,  extended  from  Roxbury  on 
the  right,  to  Prospect  Hill,  two  miles  north-west  of  Breed's  Hill,  on  the  left. 
The  right  was  commanded  by  General  Ward,  the  left  by  General  Lee.  The 
centre,  at  Cambridge,  was  under  the  immediate  control  of  the  commander-in- 
chief. 


At  the  close  of  May,  Congress  sent  an  affectionate  address  to  the  people  of 
Canada.  They  were  cordially  invited  to  join  their  Anglo-American1  neighbors3 
in  efforts  to  obtain  redress  of  grievances,  but  having  very  little  sympathy  in 
language,  religion,  or  social  condition  with  them,  they  refused,  and  were  neces 
sarily  considered  positive  supporters  of  the  royal  cause.  The  capture  of  the 
two  fortresses  on  Lake  Champlain3  [May,  1775],  having  opened  the  way  to  the 
St.  Lawrence,  a  well-devised  plan  to  take  possession  of  that  province  and  pre 
vent  its  becoming  a  place  of  rendezvous  and  supply  of  invading  armies  from 
Great  Britain,  was  matured  by  Congress  and  the  commander-in-chief.4  To 

1  Note  1,  page  193. 

2  The  Congress  of  1774,  made  an  appeal  To  the  inhabitants  of  Quebec,  in  which  was  clearly  set 
forth  the  grievances  of  the  colonists,  and  an  invitation  to  fraternize  with  those  already  in  union. 

3  Page  234.  '        . 

4  A  committee  of  Congress,  consisting  of  Dr.  Franklin,  Thomas  Lynch,  and  Benjamin  Harrison, 
went  to  Cambridge,  in  August,  and  there  the  plan  of  the  campaign  against  Canada  was  arranged. 


240  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1775. 

accomplish  this,  a  body  of  New  York  and  New  England  troops  were  placed 
under  the  command  of  Generals  Schuyler1  and  Montgomery,2  and  ordered  to 
proceed  by  way  of  Lake  Champlain  to  Montreal  and  Quebec. 

Had  Congress  listened  to  the  earnest  advice  of  Colonel  Ethan  Allen,  to 
invade  Canada  immediately  after  the  capture  of  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point, 
the  result  of  the  expedition  would  doubtless  have  been  very  different,  for  at  that 
time  the  British  forces  in  the  province  were  few,  and  they  had  made  no  prepar 
ations  for  hostilities.  It  was  near  the  close  of  August  before  the  invading  army 
appeared  before  St.  John  on  the  Sorcl,  the  first  military  post  within  the  Cana 
dian  line.  Deceived  in  regard  to  the  strength  of  the  garrison  and  the  dispo 
sition  of  the  Canadians  and  the  neighboring  Indians,  Schuyler  fell  back 
to  Isle  Aux  Noix,3  and  after  making  preparations  to  fortify  it,  he  hastened  to 
Ticonderoga  to  urge  forward  more  troops.  Sickness  compelled  him  to  return 
to  Albany,  and  the  whole  command  devolved  upon  Montgomery,  his  second  in 
command.  That  energetic  officer  did  not  remain  long  within  his  island  intrench- 
ments,  and  toward  the  close  of  September,  he  laid  siege  to  St.  John.  The  gar 
rison  maintained  an  obstinate  resistance  for  more  than  a  month,  and  Montgomery 
twice  resolved  to  abandon  it.  During  the  siege,  small  detachments  of  brave 
men  went  out  upon  daring  enterprises.  One,  of  eighty  men,  under  Colonel 
Ethan  Allen,4  pushed  across  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  attacked  Montreal  [Sep 
tember  25,  1775],  then  garrisoned  by  quite  a  strong  force  under  General 
Prescott.5  This  was  done  at  the  suggestion  of  Colonel  John  Brown,  who  was 
to  cross  the  river  with  his  party,  a  little  above,  and  co-operate  with  Allen.  He 
failed  to  do  so,  and  disaster  ensued.  Allen  and  his  party  were  defeated,  and 
he  was  made  prisoner  and,  with  several  of  his  men,  was  sent  to  England  in  irons. 
Another  expedition  under  Colonel  Bedell,  of  New  Hampshire,  was  more  suc 
cessful.  They  captured  the  strong  fort  (but  feeble  garrison)  at  Chambly 
[October  30],  a  few  miles  north  of  St.  John;  and  at  about  the  same  time,  Sir 
Guy  Carleton,  governor  of  Canada,  with  a  reinforcement  for  the  garrison  of  St. 
John,  was  repulsed  [November  1]  by  a  party  under  Colonel  Warner,  at 
Longueil,  nearly  opposite  Montreal.  These  events  alarmed  Preston,  the  com 
mander  of  St.  John,  and  he  surrendered  that  post  to  Montgomery,  on  the  3d  of 
November. 

When  the  victory  was  complete,  the  Americans  pressed  on  toward  Mont- 


1  Philip  Schuyler  was  born  at  Albany,  New  York,  in  1733,  and  was  one  of  the  wisest  and  best 
men  of  his  time.     He  was  a  captain  under  Sir  William  Johnson  [page  190]  in  1755,  and  was  active 
in  the  public  service,  chiefly  in  civil  affairs,  from  that  time  until  the  Revolution.     During  that 
struggle,  he  was  very  prominent,  and  after  the  war,  was  almost  continually  engaged  in  public  life, 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1804. 

2  Richard  Montgomery  was  born  in  Ireland,  in  1737.     He  was  with  "Wolfe,  at  Quebec  [page 
201],  and  afterward  married  a  sister  of  Chancellor  Livingston,  and  settled  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
lie  gave  promise  of  great  military  ability,  when  death  ended  his  career.     See  portrait  on  page  242. 

3  Note  8,  pag->  197. 

4  Ethan  Allen  was  born  in  Litchfield  county,  Connecticut.     He  went  to  Vermont  at  an  early 
age,  and  in  1770  was  one  of  the  bold  leaders  there  in  the  opposition  of  the  settlers  to  the  territorial 
claims  of  New  York.     He  was  never  engaged  in  active  military  services  after  his  capture.     He  died 
in  Vermont  in  February,  1789,  and  his  remains  lie  in  a  cemetery  two  miles  from  Burlington,  near 
tho  Winooski.  6  Page  271. 


1775.]          FIRST   YEAR    OF    THE   WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE.        241 

real.  Governor  Carleton,  conscious  of  his  weakness,  immediately  retreated  on 
board  one  of  the  vessels  of  a  small  fleet  lying  in  the  river,  and  escaped  to  Que 
bec;  and  on  the  following  day  [November  13],  Montgomery  entered  the  city 
in  triumph.  He  treated  the  people  humanely,  gained  their  respect,  and  with 
the  woolen  clothing  found  among  the  spoils,  he  commenced  preparing  his  sol 
diers  for  the  rigors  of  a  Canadian  winter.  There  was  no  time  to  be  lost,  by 
delays.  Although  all  their  important  posts  in  Canada  were  in  possession  of  the 
patriots,  yet,  Montgomery  truly  said,  in  a  letter  to  Congress,  "  till  Quebec  is 
taken,  Canada  is  unconquered."  Impressed  with  this  idea,  he  determined  to 
push  forward  to  the  capital,  notwithstanding  the  inclemency  of  the  weather  and 
the  desertion  of  his  troops.  Winter  frosts  were  binding  the  waters,  and  blind 
ing  snow  was  mantling  the  whole  country. 

The  spectacle  presented  by  this  little  army,  in  the  midst  of  discouragements 
of  every  kind,  was  one  of  great  moral  grandeur.  Yet  it  was  not  alone  at  that 
perilous  hour ;  for  while  this  expedition,  so  feeble  in  number  and  supplies,  was 
on  its  way  to  achieve  a  great  purpose,  another,  consisting  of  a  thousand  men, 
under  Colonel  Benedict  Arnold,1  had  left  Cambridge  [Sept.,  1775],  and  was 
making  its  way  through  the  deep  wilderness  by  the  Kennebec  and  Chaudiere* 
Rivers,  to  join  Montgomery  before  the  walls  of  Quebec.  That  expedition  was 
one  of  the  most  wonderful  on  record.  For  thirty-two  days  they  traversed  a 
gloomy  wilderness,  without  meeting  a  human  being.  Frost  and  snow  were 
upon  the  ground,  and  ice  was  upon  the  surface  of  the  marshes  and  the  streams, 
which  they  were  compelled  to  traverse  and  ford,  sometimes  arm-pit  deep  in 
water  and  mud.  Yet  they  murmured  not ;  and  even  women  followed  in  their 
train.3  After  enduring  incredible  toils  and  hardships,  exposed  to  intense  cold 
and  biting  hunger,  they  arrived  at  Point  Levi,4  opposite  Quebec,  on  the  9th  of 
November.  Four  days  afterward  [Nov.  13],  and  at  about  the  same  time  when 
Montgomery  entered  Montreal,  the  intrepid  Arnold,  with  only  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  half-naked  men,  not  more  than  four  hundred  muskets,  and  no  artil 
lery,  crossed  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Wolfe's  Cove,5  ascended  to  the  Plains  of 
Abraham,6  and  boldly  demanded  a  surrender  of  the  city  and  garrison  within  the 
massive  walls.  Soon  the  icy  winds,  and  intelligence  of  an  intended  sortie7  from 
the  garrison,  drove  Arnold  from  his  bleak  encampment,  and  he  ascended  the 
St.  Lawrence  to  Point  au  Trembles,  twenty  miles  above  Quebec,  and  there 

1  Page  234.  2  Pronounced  Sho-de-are. 

3  Judge  Henry,  of  Pennsylvania,  then  a  young  man,  accompanied  the  expedition.     He  wrote 
an  account  of  the  siege  of  Quebec,  and  in  it  he  mentions  the  wives  of  Sergeant  Grier  and  of  a  pri 
vate  soldier,  who  accompanied  them.     "Entering  the  ponds,"  he  says,  "and  breaking  the  ice  here 
and  there  with  the  butts  of  our  guns,  and  our  feet,  we  were  soon  waist-deep  in  mud  and  water.  As 
is  generally  the  case  with  youths,  it  came  to  my  mind  that  a  better  path  might  be  found  than  that 
of  the  more  elderly  guide.     Attempting  this,  the  water  in  a  trice  cooling  my  arm-pits,  made  me 
gladly  return  in  the  file.     Now,  Mrs.  Grier  had  got  before  me.     My  mind  was  humbled,  yet  aston 
ished,  at  the  exertions  of  this  good  woman."    Like  the  soldiers,  she  waded  through  the  deep  waters 
and  the  mud. 

4  Page  201.     Several  men  who  were  afterward  prominent  actors  in  the  Revolution,  accompanied 
Arnold  in  this  expedition.     Among  them,  also,  was  Aaron  Burr,  then  a  youth  of  twenty,  who  wag 
afterward  Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  6  Page  202.  6  Page  202. 

7  This  is  a  French  term,  significant  of  a  sudden  sally  of  troops  from  a  besieged  city  or  fortress, 
to  attack  the  besiegers.     See  page  434. 

16 


242 


THE    REVOLUTION. 


[1775. 


WALLS  OF  QUEBEC. 


awaited  the  arrival  of  Montgomery.  These  brave  generals  met  on  the  1st  of 
December  [1775],  and  woolen  clothes  which  Montgomery  brought  from  Mont 
real,  were  placed  on  the  shivering  limbs  of  Arnold's  troops.  The  united  forces, 
about  nine  hundred  strong,  then  marched  to  Quebec. 

It  was  on  the  evening  of  the  5th  of  December  when  the  Americans  reached 
Quebec,  and  the  next  morning  early,  Montgomery  sent  a  letter  to  Carleton,  by 
a  flag,1  demanding  an  immediate  surrender.  The  flag  was  fired  upon,  and  the 
invaders  were  defied.  With  a  few  light  cannons  and  some  mortars,  and  ex 
posed  to  almost  daily  snow-storms  in  the  open  fields,  the  Americans  besieged 
the  city  for  three  weeks.  Success  appearing  only  in  assault,  that  measure  was 
agreed  upon,  and  before  dawn,  on  the  morning  of  the  last 
day  of  the  year  [Dec.  31,  1775],  while  snow  was  falling 
thickly,  the  attempt  was  made.  Montgomery  had  formed 
his  little  army  into  four  columns,  to  assail  the  city  at  differ 
ent  points.  One  of  these,  under  Arnold,  was  to  attack  the 
lower  town,  and  march  along  the  St.  Charles  to  join  another 
division,  under  Montgomery,  who  was  to  approach  by  way 
of  Cape  Diamond,3  and  the  two  were  to  attempt  a  forced  pass 
age  into  the  city,  through  Prescott  Gate.3  At  the  same 
time,  the  other  two  columns,  under  Majors  Livingston  and 
Brown,  were  to  make  a  feigned  attack  upon  the  upper  town,  from  the  Plains 
of  Abraham.  In  accordance  with  this  plan,  Montgomery  descended  Wolfe's 
Ravine,  and  marched  carefully  along  the  ice-strewn  beach,  toward  a  pallisade 
and  battery  at  Cape  Diamond.  At  the  head  of  his  men,  in  the  face  of  the 
driving  snow,  he  had  passed  the  pallisade  unopposed, 
when  a  single  discharge  of  a  cannon  from  the  battery, 
loaded  with  grape-shot,4  killed  him  instantly,  and  slew 
several  of  his  officers,  among  whom  were  his  two  aids, 
McPherson  and  Cheeseman.  His  followers  instantly  re 
treated.  In  the  mean  while,  Arnold  had  been  severely 
wounded,  while  attacking  a  barrier  on  the  St.  Charles.5 
and  the  command  of  his  division  devolved  upon  Captain 
Morgan,6  whose  expert  riflemen,  with  Lamb's  artillery, 
forced  their  way  into  the  lower  town.  After  a  contest 
of  several  hours,  the  Americans,  under  Morgan,  were  obliged  to  surrender  them- 

1  Messengers  are  sent  from  army  to  army  with  a  white  flag,  indicating  a  desire  for  a  peaceful 
interview.     These  flags,  by  common  consent,  are  respected,  and  it  is  considered  an  outrage  to  fire 
on  the  bearer  of  one.    The  Americans  were  regarded  as  rebels,  and  undeserving  the  usual  courtesy. 

2  The  high  rocky  promontory  on  which  the  citadel  stands. 

3  Prescott  Gate  is  on  the  St.  Lawrence  side  of  the  town,  and  there  bars  Mountain-street  in  its 
sinuous  way  from  the  water  up  into  the  walled  city.    The  above  diagram  shows  the  plan  of  the  city 
walls,  and  relative  positions  of  the  several  gates  mentioned.     A  is  the  St.  Charles  River,  B  the  St. 
Lawrence,  a  Wolfe  and  Montcalm's  monument  [page  202],  &  the  place  where  Montgomery  fell,  c 
the  place  where  Arnold  was  wounded. 

4  These  are  small  balls  confined  in  a  cluster,  and  then  discharged  at  once  from  a  cannon.    They 
scatter,  and  do  great  execution. 

5  This  was  at  the  foot  of  the  precipice,  below  the  present  grand  battery,  near  St.  Paul's-street. 

6  Afterward  the  famous  General  Morgan,  whose  rifle  corps  became  so  renowned,  and  who  gained 
the  victory  at  The  Cowpens,  in  the  winter  of  1781.    See  page  331. 


GENERAL   MONTGOMERY. 


1775.]          FIRST    YEAR    OF    THE    WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE.        243 

selves  prisoners  of  war.  The  whole  loss  of  the  Americans,  under  Montgomery 
and  Arnold,  in  this  assault,  was  about  one  hundred  and  sixty.  The  British  loss 
was  only  about  twenty  killed  and  wounded. 

Colonel  Arnold, -with  the  remainder  of  the  troops,  retired  to  Sillery,  where 
he  formed  a  camp,  and  passed  a  rigorous  Canadian  winter.  He  was  relieved  from 
chief  command  by  General  Wooster,1  on  the  1st  of  April,  who  came  down  from 
Montreal  with  reinforcements,  when  another  ineffectual  attempt  was  made  to 
capture  Quebec.  When,  a  month  afterward,  General  Thomas  took  the  chief 
command  [May,  1776],  Carleton  was  receiving  strong  reinforcements  from 
England,  and  the  patriots  were  compelled  to  abandon  all  hope  of  conquering 
Canada.  They  were  obliged  to  retreat  so  hastily  before  the  overwhelming 
forces  of  Carleton,  that  they  left  their  stores  and  sick  behind  them.2  Abandon 
ing  one  post  after  another,  the  Americans  were  driven  entirely  out  of  Canada  by 
the  middle  of  June. 

The  Virginians  were  rolling  on  the  car  of  the  Revolution,  with  a  firm  and 
steady  hand,  while  the  patriots  were  suifering  defeats  and  disappointments  at 
the  North.  We  have  already  alluded  to  the  fact,  that  the  people  of  Williams- 
burg,  then  the  capital  of  Virginia,  had  driven  Lord  Dunmore,  the  royal  gov 
ernor,  away  from  his  palace,  to  take  refuge  on  board  a  ship  of  war.3  He  was 
the  first  royal  representative  who  "  abdicated  government,"  and  he  was  greatly 
exasperated  because  he  was  compelled  to  do  so  in  a  very  humiliating  manner. 
From  that  vessel  he  sent  letters,  messages,  and  addresses  to  the  Virginia  House 
of  Burgesses,4  and  received  the  same  in  return.  Each  exhibited  much  spirit. 
Finally,  in  the  autumn,  the  governor  proceeded  to  Norfolk,  with  the  fleet,  and 
collecting  a  force  of  Tories  and  negroes,  commenced  depredations  in  lower  Vir 
ginia.  With  the  aid  of  some  British  vessels,  he  attacked  Hampton,  near  Old 
Point  Comfort,5  on  the  24th  of  October,  and  was  repulsed.  He  then  declared 
open  war.  The  Virginia  militia  flew  to  arms,  and  in  a  severe  battle,  fought  on 
the  9th  of  December,  at  the  Great  Bridge,  near  the  Dismal  Swamp,  twelve 
miles  from  Norfolk,  Dunmore  was  defeated,  and  compelled  to  seek  safety  with 
the  British  shipping  in  Norfolk  harbor,  In  that  battle,  the  regiment  of  men, 
chiefly  from  Culpepper  county,  raised  by  Patrick  Henry,  and  at  the  head  of 
whom  he  demanded  payment  for  the  powder  removed  from  Williamsburg,6  did 
very  important  service.7 

1  Page  270. 

2  General  Thomas  was  seized  with  the  small-pox,  which  had  been  raging  some  time  in  the 
American  camp,  and  died  at  Chambly  on  the  30th  of  May.     He  was  a  native  of  Plymouth,  Mass.. 
and  was  one  of  the  first  eight  brigadiers  appointed  by  Congress  [note  5,  page  238].     Carleton 
treated  the  prisoners  and  sick  with  great  humanity.     He  afterward,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  be 
came  Lord  Dorchester.     He  died  in  1808,  aged  eighty-three  years. 

3  Page  237.  4  Page  71.  5  Page  64.  °  Page  237. 
7  This  regiment  had  adopted  a  flag  with  the  significant  device  of  a  coiled 

rattle-snake,  seen  in  the  engraving.    This  device  was  upon  many  flags  in  the 

army  and  navy  of  the  Revolution.     The  expression,  "  Don't  tread  on  me," 

had  a  double  signification.     It  might  be  said  in  a  supplicating  tone,  "  Don't 

tread  on  me;"  or  menacingly,  "Don't  tread  on  we."      The  soldiers  were 

dressed  in  green  hunting-shirts,  with  Henry's  words,  LIBERTY  OR  DEATH 

[page  237],  in  large  white  letters,  on  their  bosoms.     They  had  bucks'  tails 

in  their  hats,  and  in  their  belts  tomahawks  and  scalping-knives.      Their       CULPEPPER  FLAG. 

fierce  appearance  alarmed  the  people,  as  they  marched  through  the  country. 


244  THE    REVOLUTION".  [1776. 

Five  days  af.er  the  battle  at  the  Great  Bridge,  the  Virginians,  under 
Colonel  Woodford,  entered  Norfolk  in  triumph  [Dec.  14,  1775],  and  the  next 
morning  they  were  joined  by  Colonel  Robert  Howe,1  with  a  North  Carolina 
regiment,  when  the  latter  assumed  the  general  command.  Dunmore  was  greatly 
exasperated  by  these  reverses,  and,  in  revenge,  he  caused  Norfolk  to  be  burned 
early  on  the  morning  of  the  1st  of  January,  1776.  The  conflagration  raged 
for  fifty  hours,  and  while  the  wretched  people  were  witnessing  the  destruction 
of  their  property,  the  modern  Nero  caused  a  cannonade  to  be  kept  up.a  When 
the  destruction  was  complete,  he  proceeded  to  play  the  part  of  a  marauder  along 
the  defenseless  coast  of  Virginia.  For  a  time  he  made  his  head  quarters  upon 
Gwyn's  island,  in  Chesapeake  Bay,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Piankatank  River, 
from  which  he  was  driven,  with  his  fleet,  by  a  brigade  of  Virginia  troops  under 
General  Andrew  Lewis.3  After  committing  other  depredations,  he  went  to  the 
West  Indies,  carrying  with  him  about  a  thousand  negroes  which  he  had  col 
lected  during  his  marauding  campaign,  where  he  sold  them,  and  in  the  follow 
ing  autumn  returned  to  England.  These  atrocities  kindled  an  intense  flame 
of  hatred  to  royal  rule  throughout  the  whole  South,  and  a  desire  for  political 
independence  of  Great  Britain  budded  spontaneously  in  a  thousand  hearts 
where,  a  few  months  before,  the  plant  of  true  loyalty  was  blooming. 


CHAPTER    III. 

SECOND  YEAR  OF  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.      [1776.] 

THERE  was  great  anxiety  in  the  public  mind  throughout  the  colonies  at  the 
opening  of  the  year  1776.  The  events  of  the  few  preceding  months  appeared 
unpropitious  for  the  republican  cause,  and  many  good  and  true  men  were  dis 
posed  to  pause  and  consider,  before  going  another  step  in  the  path  of  rebellion. 
But  the  bolder  leaders  in  the  senate  and  in  the  camp  were  undismayed ;  and 
the  hopeful  mind  of  Washington,  in  the  midst  of  the  most  appalling  discourage 
ments,  faltered  not  for  a  moment.  He  found  himself  strong  enough  to  be  the 
effectual  jailor  of  the  British  army  in  Boston,  and  now  he  was  almost  prepared 
to  commence  those  blows  which  finally  drove  that  army  and  its  Tory  abettors  to 
the  distant  shores  of  Nova  Scotia.4  He  had  partially  re-organized  the  conti- 

.  1  Page  292. 

3  When  Dunmore  destroyed  Norfolk,  its  population  was  six  thousand ;  and  so  rapidly  was  it 
increasing  in  business  and  wealth,  that  in  two  years,  from  1773  to  1775,  the  rents  in  the  city  in 
creased  from  forty  thousand  to  fifty  thousand  dollars  a  year.  The  actual  loss  by  the  cannonade  and 
conflagration  was  estimated  at  fifteen  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  personal  suffering *was  incon 
ceivable. 

3  General  Lewis  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  was  in  the  battle  when  Braddock  was  killed. 
He  was  the  commander  of  the  Virginia  troops  in  the  battle  at  Point  Pleasant  [note  4,  page  237], 
in  the  summer  of  1774.  He  left  the  army,  on  account  of  illness,  in  1780,  and  died  not  long  after 
ward,  while  absent  from  home.  *  Note  2,  page  80. 


1776.]         SECOND   YEAR  OF  THE   WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE.         245 


nental  forces  under  his  command  ;  and  on  the  first  of  January,  1776,  he  unfurled 

the  Union  Flag,  for  the  first  time,  over  the  American  camp 

at  Cambridge.1      His  army  had  then  dwindled  to  less  than 

ten  thousand  effective  men,  and  these  were   scantily  fed  and 

clothed,  and  imperfectly  disciplined.     But  the  camp  was  well 

supplied  with  provisions,  and  about  ten  thousand  minute-men,2 

chiefly  in  Massachusetts,  were  held  in  reserve,  ready  to  march 

when  called  upon. 

During  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1775,  the  Continental  Congress  had  put 
forth  all  its  energies  in  preparations  for  a  severe  struggle  with  British  power, 
now  evidently  near  at  hand.  Articles  of  war  were  agreed  to  on  the  80th  of 
June  ;  a  declaration  of  the  causes  for  taking  up  arms  was  issued  on  the  6th  of 


UNION   FLAG. 


THIS  BiH  entitle.,,,.. 
cTv"eareT'  to  'Active 
SIX  SPANISH  MILLED 
DOLLARS.or_tV 

Value  there  of 


A   BILL   OF   CREDIT,    OR   CONTINENTAL   MONEY. 


July;  and  before  the  close  of  the  year,  bills  of  credit,  known  as  "  continental 
money,"  representing  the  value  of  six  millions  of  Spanish  dollars,  had  been 
issued.3  A  naval  establishment  had  also  been  commenced;4  and  at  the  opening 


1  The  hoisting  of  that  ensign  was  hailed  by  General  ITowe,  the  British  commander  in  Boston,  with 
great  joy,  for  he  regarded  it  as  a  token  that  a  gracious  speech  of  the  king  on  American  affairs,  lately 
communicated  to  Parliament,  was  well  received  by  the  army,  and  that  submission  would  speedily 
follow.     That  flag  was  composed  of  thirteen  stripes,  alternate  red  and  white,  symbolizing  the  thir 
teen  revolted  colonies.  In  one  corner  was  the  device  of  the  British  Union  Ftag,  namely,  the  cross  of 
St.  George,  composed  of  a  horizontal  and  perpendicular  bar,  and  the  cross  of  St.  Andrew  (represent 
ing  Scotland),  which  is  in  the  form  of  x .     It  was  the  appearance  of  that  symbol  of  the  British 
union  that  misled  Howe.     This  flag  is  represented  in  the  above  little  sketch.    On  the  14th  of  June, 
1777,  Congress  ordered  "thirteen  stars,  white,  in  a  blue  field,"  to  be  put  in  the  place  of  the  British 
union  device.     Such  is  the  design  of  our  flag  at  the  present  day-    A  star  has  been  added  for  every 
new  State  admitted  into  the  Union,  while  the  original  number  of  stripes  is  retained. 

2  Page  229. 

3  The  resolution  of  the  Continental  Congress,  providing  for  the  emission  of  bills,  was  adopted  on 
the  22d  of  June,  1775.     The  bills  were  printed  and  issued  soon  after,  and  other  emissions  were 
authorized,  from  time  to  time,  during  about  four  j'ears.     At  the  beginning  of  1780,  Congress  had 
issued  two  hundred  millions  of  dollars  in  paper  money.     After  the  second  year,  these  bills  began  to 
depreciate;  and  in  1780,  forty  paper  dollars  were  worth  only  one  in  specie.     At  the  close  of  1781, 
they  were  worthless.     They  had  performed  a  temporary  good,  but  were  finally  productive  of  great 
public  evil,  and  much  individual  suffering.     Some  of  these  bills  are  yet  in  existence,  and  are  con 
sidered  great  curiosities.     They  were  rudely  engraved,  and  printed  on  thick  paper,  which  caused 
the  British  to  call  it  "the  paste-board  money  of  the  rebels."  4  Note  1,  page  307. 


246  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1776. 

of  1776,  many  expert  privateersmen1  were  hovering  along  our  coasts,  to  the 
great  terror  and  annoyance  of  British  merchant  vessels. 

There  had  been,  up  to  this  time,  a  strange  apathy  concerning  American 
affairs,  in  the  British  Parliament,  owing,  chiefly,  to  the  confidence  reposed  in 
the  puissance  of  the  imperial  government,  and  a  want  of  knowledge  relative  to 
the  real  strength  of  the  colonies.  Events  had  now  opened  the  eyes  of  British 
statesmen  to  a  truer  appreciation  of  the  relative  position  of  the  contestants,  and 
the  importance  of  vigorous  action ;  and  at  the  close  of  1775,  Parliament  had 
made  extensive  arrangements  for  crushing  the  rebellion.  An  act  was  passed 
[Nov.,  1775],  which  declared  the  revolted  colonists  to  be  rebels ;  forbade  all 
intercourse  with  them ;  authorized  the  seizure  and  destruction  or  confiscation 
of  all  American  vessels  ;  and  placed  the  colonies  under  martial  law.a  An  ag 
gregate  land  and  naval  force  of  fifty-five  thousand  men  was  voted  for  the 
American  service,  and  more  than  a  million  of  dollars  were  appropriated  for  their 
pay  and  sustenance.  In  addition  to  these,  seventeen  thousand  troops  wTere  hired 
by  the  British  government  from  the  Landgrave  of  .Hesse- Cassel,  and  other 
petty  German  rulers, 3  to  come  hither  to  butcher  loyal  subjects  who  had  peti 
tioned  for  their  rights  for  ten  long  years,  and  now,  even  with  arms  in  their 
hands,  were  praying  for  justice,  and  begging  for  reconciliation.  This  last  act 
filled  the  cup  of  government  iniquity  to  the  brim.  It  was  denounced  in  Par 
liament  by  the  true  friends  of  England,  as  "disgraceful  to  the  British  name," 
and  it  extinguished  the  last  hope  of  reconciliation.  The  sword  was  now  drawn, 
and  the  scabbard  was  thrown  away. 

Intelligence  of  the  proceedings  in  Parliament  reached  America  in  January, 
1776,  and  Congress  perceived  the  necessity  of  putting  forth  immediate  and  effi 
cient  efforts  for  the  defense  of  the  extensive  sea-coast  of  the  colonies.  Washing 
ton  was  also  urged  to  attack  the  British  in  Boston,  immediately ;  and,  by  great 
efforts,  the  regular  army  was  augmented  to  about  fourteen  thousand  men  to 
ward  the  close  of  February.  In  the  mean  while,  the  provincial  Congress  of 
Massachusetts  organized  the  militia  of  the  province  anew,  and  ten  regiments, 
making  about  three  thousand  men,  arrived  in  camp  early  in  February.  The 
entire  army  now  numbered  about  seventeen  thousand  effective  men,  while  the 
British  force  did  not  exceed  five  thousand  fit  for  duty.  Reinforcements  were 
daily  expected  from  Halifax,  New  York,  and  Ireland,  and  the  present  seemed 
a  proper  moment  to  strike.  Bills  of  credit,4  representing  four  millions  of  dol 
lars  more,  were  issued ;  Congress  promised  energetic  co-operation ;  and  on  the 

1  Private  individuals,  having  a  license  from  government  to  arm  and  equip  a  vessel,  and  with  it 
to  depredate  upon  the  commerce  of  a  nation  with  which  that  people  are  then  at  war,  are  called 
privateersmen,  and  their  vessels  are  known  as  privateers.  During  the  Revolution,  a  vast  number 
of  English  vessels  were  captured  by  American  privateersmen.  It  is,  after  all,  only  legalized  piracy, 
and  enlightened  nations  begin  to  view  it  so.  2  Note  8,  page  170. 

3  The  Landgrave  (or  petty  prince)  of  Ilesse-Cassel,  having  furnished  the  most  considerable  por 
tion  of  these  troops,  they  were  called  by  the  general  name  of  Hessians.     Ignorant,  brutal,  and 
bloodthirsty,  they  were  hated  by  the  patriots,  and  despised  even  by  the  regular  English  army.  They 
were  always  employed  in  posts  of  greatest  danger,  or  in  expeditions  least  creditable.     These  troops 
cost  the  British  government  almost  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars,  besides  the  necessity,  according 
to  the  contract,  of  defending  the  little  principalities  thus  stripped,  against  their  foes. 

4  Page  245. 


1776.]         SECOND'YEAR   OF   THE   WAR  FOR    INDEPENDENCE.         247 

1st  of  March,  Washington  felt  strong  enough  to  attempt  a  dislodgment  of  the 
enemy  from  the  crushed  city.1 

On  the  evening  of  the  2d  of  March  [1776 j,  a  heavy  cannonade  was  opened 
upon  Boston,  from  all  the  American  batteries,  and  was  continued,  with  brief 
intermissions,  until  the  4th.  On  the  evening  of  that  day,  General  Thomas,2 
with  twelve  hundred  men  with  intrenching  tools,  and  a  guard  of  eight  hundred, 
proceeded  secretly  to  a  high  hill,  near  Dorchester,  on  the  south  side  of  Boston, 
and  before  morning,  they  cast  up  a  line  of  strong  intrenchments,  and  planted 
heavy  cannons  there,  which  completely  commanded  the  city  and  harbor.  It 
was  the  anniversary  of  the  memorable  Boston  Massacre,3  and  many  patriots  felt 
the  blood  coursing  more  swiftly  through  their  veins,  as  the  recollection  of  that 
event  gave  birth  to  vengeful  feelings.  It  had  nerved  their  arms  while  toiling 
all  that  long  night,  and  they  felt  a  great  satisfaction  in  knowing  that  they  had 
prepared  works  which  not  only  greatly  astonished  and  alarmed  the  British,  but 
which  would  be  instrumental  in  achieving  a  great  victory.  •  The  enemy  felt  the 
danger,  and  tried  to  avert  it. 

Perceiving  the  imminent  peril  of  both  fleet  and  army,  General  Howe  pre 
pared  an  expedition  to  drive  the  Americans  from  their  vantage-ground  on  Dor 
chester  heights.  A  storm  suddenly  arose,  and  made  the  harbor  impassable.1 
The  delay  allowed  the  patriots  time  to  make  their  works  almost  impregnable, 
and  the  British  were  soon  compelled  to  surrender  as  prisoners  of  war,  or  to 
evacuate  the  city  immediately,  to  avoid  destruction.  As  prisoners,  they  would 
have  been  excessively  burdensome  to  the  colonies ;  so,  having  formally  agreed 
to  allow  them  to  depart  without  injury,  Washington  had  the  inexpressible 
pleasure  of  saying,  in  a  letter  written  to  the  President  of  Congress,  on  Sunday, 
the  17th  of  March,  "that  this  morning  the  ministerial  troops  evacuated  the 
town  of  Boston,  without  destroying  it,  and  that  we  are  now  in  full  possession." 
Seven  thousand  soldiers,  four  thousand  seamen,  and  fifteen  hundred  families  of 
loyalists,6  sailed  for  Halifax  on  that  day. 

The  gates  on  Boston  Neck  were  now  unbarred ;  and  General  Ward,  w^ith 
five  thousand  of  the  troops  at  Roxbury,  entered  the  city,  with  drums  beating, 
and  banners  waving,  greeted  on  every  side  with  demonstrations  of  joy  by  the 
redeemed  people.  General  Putnam  soon  afterward  [March  18]  entered  with 
another  division,  and,  in  command  of  the  whole,  he  took  possession  of  the  city 
and  all  the  forts,  in  the  name  of  the  Thirteen  United  Colonies. 

1  Page  226.  2  Pago  243.  3  Page  221. 

4  A  similar  event  occurred  to  frustrate  the  designs  of  the  British  at  Yorktown,  several  years 
afterward.     See  page  341. 

5  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Americans  were  by  no  means  unanimous  in  their  opposition 
to  Great  Britain.     From  the  beginning  there  were  many  who  supported  the  crown ;  and  as  the 
colonists  became  more  and  more  rebellious,  these  increased.     Some  because  they  believed  their 
brethren  to  be  wrong ;  others  through  timidity ;  and  a  greater  number  because  they  thought  it 
their  interest  to  adhere  to  the  king.     The  loyalists,  or  Tories,  were  the  worst  and  most  efficient  en 
emies  of  the  Wiigs  [note  4,  page  226]  during  the  whole  war.     Those  who  left  Boston  at  this  time, 
were  afraid  to  encounter  the  exasperated  patriots,  when  they  should  return  to  their  desolated  homes 
in  the  city,  from  which  they  had  been  driven  by  military  persecution.     The  churches  had  been 
stripped  of  their  pulpits  and  pews,  for  fuel,  fine  shade  trees  had  been  burned,  and  many  houses  had 
been  pillaged  and  damaged  by  the  soldiery. 


248  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1776. 

Washington  had  been  informed,  early  in  January, 
that  General  Sir  Henry  Clinton  had  sailed  from  Bos 
ton,  with  a  considerable  body  of  troops,  on  a  secret  ex 
pedition.  Apprehending  that  the  city  of  New  York 
was  his  destination,  he  immediately  dispatched  General 
Charles  Lee  to  Connecticut  to  raise  troops,  and  to  pro 
ceed  to  that  city  to  watch  and  oppose  Clinton  wherever 
he  might  attempt  to  land.  Six  weeks  before  the  evacu 
ation  of  Boston  [March  17,  1776],  Lee  had  encamped 
near  New  York  with  twelve  hundred  militia.  Already 
the  Sons  of  Liberty1  had  been  busy,  and  overt  acts  of 

rebellion  had  been  committed  by  them.  They  had  seized  the  cannons  at  Fort 
George,2  and  driven  Tryon,3  the  royal  governor,  on  board  the  Asia,  a  British 
armed  vessel  in  the  harbor.  In  March,  Clinton  arrived  at  Sandy  Hook,  just 
outside  New  York  harbor,  and  on  the  same  day,  the  watchful  Lee4  providen 
tially  entered  the  city.  The  movement,  although  without  a  knowledge  of  Clin 
ton's  position,  was  timely,  for  it  kept  him  at  bay.  Foiled  in  his  attempt  upon 
New  York,  that  commander  sailed  southward,  where  we  shall  meet  him  pres 
ently. 

The  destination  of  Howe,  when  he  left  Boston,  was  also  unknown  to  Wash 
ington.  Supposing  he,  too,  would  proceed  to  New  York,  he  put  the  main  body 
of  his  army  in  motion  toward  that  city,  as  soon  as  he  had  placed  Boston  in  a 
state  of  security.  He  arrived  in  New  York  about  the  middle  of  April  [April 
14],  and  proceeded  at  once  to  fortify  the  town  and  vicinity,  and  also  the  passes 
of  the  Hudson  Highlands,  fifty  miles  above.  In  the  mean  while,  General  Lee, 
who  had  been  appointed  to  -command  the  American  forces  in  the  South,  had 
left  his  troops  in  the  charge  of  General  Lord  Stirling5  [March  7],  and  was 
hastening  toward  the  Carolines  to  watch  the  movements  of  Clinton,  arouse  the 
Whigs,  and  gather  an  army  t^ere. 

In  the  spring  of  1776,  a  considerable  fleet,  under  Admiral  Sir  Peter  Parker, 
was  sent  from  England,  to  operate  against  the  sea-coast  towns  of  the  southern 
colonies.  Parker  was  joined  by  Clinton,  at  Cape  Fear,  in  May,  when  the  latter 
took  the  chief  command  of  all  the  land  forces.  The  fleet  arrived  off  Charleston 
bar  on  the  4th  of  June,  and  on  the  same  day,  Clinton,  with  several  hundred 
men,  landed  on  Long  Island,  which  lies  eastward  of  Sullivan's  Island.  Apprised 
of  these  hostile  designs,  and  elated  by  a  victory  obtained  by  North  Carolina 
militia,  under  Colonel  Caswell,  over  fifteen  hundred  loyalists6  [February  27, 

1  Note  1,  page  215. 

2  This  fort  stood  at  the  foot  of  Broadway,  on  a  portion  of  the  site  of  the  present  "Battery." 
8  Page  223. 

4  Charles  Lee  was  born  in  "Wales  in  1731.  He  was  a  brave  officer  in  the  British  army  during 
the  French  and  Indian  "War.  He  settled  in  Virginia  in  1773,  and  was  one  of  the  first  brigadiers  of 
the  Continental  army  appointed  by  Congress.  His  ambition  and  perversity  of  temper,  finally  caused 
his  ruin.  He  died  in  Philadelphia  in  1782.  See  page  288.  6  Page  254. 

13  These  were  chiefly  Scotch  Highlanders,  and  were  led  by  Donald  McDonald,  an  influential 
Scotchman  then  residing  at  Cross  Creek,  now  Fayetteville.  The  husband  of  Flora  McDonald,  so 
celebrated  in  connection  with  the  flight  of  the  young  Pretender  from  Scotland,  at  the  close  of  the 
rebellion  in  1745,  was  in  the  battle.  Flora  was  then  living  at  Cross  Creek. 


1776.]         SECOND    YEAR   OF  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.         249 

1776],  on  Moore's  Creek,  in  the  present  Hanover  county,  the  southern  patriots 
had  cheerfully  responded  to  the  call  of  Governor  Rutledge,  and  about  six  thou 
sand  armed  men  had  collected  in  and  near  Charleston, 
when  the  enemy  appeared.1  The  city  and  eligible 
posts  near  it,  had  been  fortified,  and  quite  a  strong 
fort,  composed  of  palmetto  logs  and  sand,  and  armed 
with  twenty-six  mounted  cannons,  had  been  erected 
upon  Sullivan's  Island,  to  command  the  channel 
leading  to  the  town.  This  fort  was  garrisoned  by 
about  five  hundred  men,  chiefly  militia,  under  Colo 
nel  William  Moultrie.2 

A  combined  attack,  by  land   and   water,  upon  GENE1AL  MOULTRIE. 

Sullivan's  Island,  was  commenced  by  the  British,  on 

the  morning  of  the  28th  of  June,  1776.  While  the  fleet  was  pouring  a  terrible 
storm  of  iron  balls  upon  Fort  Sullivan,  Clinton  endeavored,  but  in  vain,  to 
force  a  passage  across  a  narrow  creek  which  divided  the  two  islands,  in  order  to 
attack  the  yet  unfinished  fortress  in  the  rear.  But  Colonel  Thompson,  with  a 
small  battery  on  the  east  end  of  Sullivan's  Island,  repelled  every  forward 
movement  of  Clinton,  while  the  cannons  of  the  fort  were  spreading  havoc  among 
the  British  vessels.3  The  conflict  raged  for  almost  ten  hours,  and  only  ceased 
when  night  fell  upon  the  scene.  Then  the  British  fleet,  almost  shattered  into  frag 
ments,  withdrew,  and  abandoned  the  enterprise.4  The  slaughter  of  the  British 
had  been  frightful.  Two  hundred  and  twenty-five  had  been  killed  or  wounded, 
while  only  two  of  the  garrison  were  killed,  and  twenty-two  were  wounded.5  The 
British  departed  for  New  York  three  days  afterward0  [June  31,  1776],  and  for 
more  than  two  years,  the  din  of  war  was  not  heard  below  the  Roanoke.  This 
victory  had  a  most  inspiriting  effect  upon  the  patriots  throughout  the  land. 

1  General  Armstrong  of  Pennsylvania  [page  193],  had  arrived  in  South  Carolina  in  April,  and 
took  the  general  command.     Lee  arrived  on  the  same  day  when  the  British,  under  Clinton,  landed 
on  Long  Island. 

2  Born  in  South  Carolina,  in  1730.     He  was  in  the  Cherokee  war  [page  204],  in  1761.     He  was 
an  active  officer  until  made  prisoner,  in  1780,  when  for  two  years  he  was  not  allowed  to  bear  arms. 
He  died  in  1805.     General  Moultrie  wrote  a  very  interesting  memoir  of 'the  war  in  the  South. 

3  At  one  time,  every  man  but  Admiral  Parker  was  swept  from  the  deck  of  his  vessel.     Among 
those  who  were  badly  wounded,  was  Lord  William  Campbell,  the  royal  governor  of  South  Carolina, 
who  afterward  died  of  his  wounds. 

4  The  Acteon,  a  large  vessel,  grounded  on  a  shoal  between  Fort  Sullivan  and  the  city,  where 
she  was  burned  by  the  Americans. 

5  The  strength  of  the  fort  consisted  in  the  capacity  of  the  spongy  palmetto  logs,  upon  which  can 
non-balls  would  make  very  little  impression.     It  appeared  to  be  a  very  insecure  defense,  and  Lee 
advised  Moultrie  to  abandon  it  when  the  British  approached.      But  that  brave  officer  would  not 
desert  it,  and  was  rewarded  with  victory.     The  ladies  of  Charleston  presented  his  regiment  with  a 
pair  of  elegant  colors,  and  the  "slaughter  pen,"  as  Lee  ironically  called  Fort  Sullivan,  was  named 
Fort  Moultrie.     During  the  action,  the  staff,  bearing  a  large  flag,  was  cut  down  by  a  cannon-ball 
from  the  fleet.     The  colors  fell  outside  the  fort.     A  sergeant  named  Jasper,  leaped  down  from  one 
of  the  bastions,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  iron  hail  that  was  pouring  from  the  fort,  coolly  picked  up 
the  flag,  ascended  to  the  bastion,  and  calling  for  a  sponge-staff',  tied  the  colors  to  it,  stuck  it  in  the 
sand,  and  then  took  his  place  among  his  companions  in  the  fort.     A  few  days  afterward,  Governor 
Eutledge  took  his  own  sword  from  his  side,  and  presented  it  to  the  brave  Jasper ;  he  also  offered 
him  a  lieutenant's  commission,  which  the  young  man  modestly  declined,  because  he  could  neither 
read  nor  write,  saying,  "I  am  not  fit  to  keep  officers'  company — I  am  but  a  sergeant." 

6  Page  252. 


250  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1776. 

Important  events  in  the  progress  of  the  war  were  now  thickening.     Re 
bellion  had  become  revolution.     While  the  stirring  events  at  the  South,  just 

mentioned,  were  transpiring,  and  while  Wash 
ington  was  augmenting  and  strengthening  the 
continental  army  in  New  York,  and  British 
troops  and  German  hirelings1  were  approach 
ing  by  thousands,  the  Continental  Congress, 
now  in  permanent  session  in  the  State  House 
at  Philadelphia,  had  a  question  of  vast  im 
portance  under  consideration.  A  few  men,  look- 
STATE  HOUSE.  ing  beyond  the  storm-clouds  of  the  present, 

beheld  bright  visions  of  glory  for  their  country, 

when  the  people,  now  declared  to  be  rebels,2  and  out  of  the  protection  of  the 
British  king,  should  organize  themselves  into  a  sovereign  nation.  "  The  light 
ning  of  the  Crusades  was  in  the  people's  hearts,  and  it  needed  but  a  single 
electric  touch,  to  make  it  blaze  forth  upon  the  world,"  says  James,  in  writing 
of  an  earlier  disruption  of  political  systems.3  So  it  was  now,  in  the  American 
colonies.  The  noble  figure  of  an  independent  nation  stood  forth  with  a  beauty 
that  almost  demanded  worship.  The  grand  idea  began  to  flash  through  the 
popular  mind  at  the  close  of  1775 ;  and  when,  early  in  1776,  it  was  tangibly 
spoken  by  Thomas  Paine,  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  Common  Sense*  (said  to  have 
been  suggested  by  Dr.  Rush),5  and  whose  vigorous  thoughts  were  borne  by  the 
press  to  every  community,  a  desire  for  independence  filled  the  hearts  of  the 
people.  In  less  than  eighty  days  after  the  evacuation  of  Boston  [March  17, 
1776],  almost  every  provincial  Assembly  had  spoken  in  favor  of  independence  ; 
and  on  the  7th  of  June,  in  the  midst  of  the  doubt,  and  dread,  and  hesitation,  which 
for  twenty  day  shad  brooded  over  the  Continental  Congress,  Richard  Henry  Lee,6 

1  Page  246.  2  Page  246.  3  History  of  the  Crusades,  by  G.  P.  R.  James. 

*  The  chief  topic  of  this  remarkable  pamphlet,  was  the  right  and  expediency  of  colonial  inde 
pendence.  Paine  also  wrote  a  series  of  equally  powerful  papers,  called  The  Crisis.  The  first  num 
ber  was  written  in  Fort  Lee,  on  the  Hudson,  in  December,  1776,  and  published  while  Washington 
was  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware.  See  page  192.  These  had  a  powerful  effect  in  stimulating  tho 
people  to  efforts  for  independence.  They  were  highly  valued  by  the  commander-in-chief,  and  he  pro 
moted  their  circulation.  Writing  to  a  friend  soon  after  the  appearance  of  Common  Sense,  Washington 
said,  "  By  private  letters  which  I  have  lately  received  from  Virginia,  I  find  that  Common  Sense  is 
working  a  powerful  change  there  in  the  minds  of  many  men." 

6  Benjamin  Rush  was  one  of  the  most  eminent  men  of  his  time,  as  a  physician,  a  man  of  science, 
and  an  active  patriot  during  the  whole  Revolution.  He  was  born  twelve  miles  from  Philadelphia, 
in  1745.  He  was  educated  at  Princeton,  completed  his  scientific  studies  in  Edinburg,  and  after 
his  return,  he  soon  rose  to  the  highest  eminence  in  his  profession.  He  was  the  recipient  of  many 
honors,  and  as  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  in  1776,  he  advocated  and  signed  the  Declar 
ation  of  Independence.  His  labors  during  the  prevalence  of  yellow  fever  in  Philadelphia,  in  1793, 
gave  him  the  imperishable  crown  of  a  true  philanthropist.  He  founded  the  Philadelphia  Dispensary 
in  1786;  and  he  was  also  one  of  the  principal  founders  of  Dickinson  College,  at  Carlisle,  Pennsyl 
vania.  He  was  president  of  the  American  Society  for  the  abolition  of  slavery ;  of  the  Philadelphia 
Medical  Society ;  vice-president  of  the  Philadelphia  Bible  Society;  and  one  of  the  vice-presidents 
of  the  American  Philosophical  Society.  He  died  in  April,  1813,  at  the  age  of  almost  sixty-eight 
years.  ,A  portrait  of  Dr.  Rush  may  be  found  on  the  next  page. 

6  Richard  Henry  Lee  was  born  in  Westmoreland  county,  Virginia,  in  1732.  He  was  educated 
in  England,  and  was  in  public  life  most  of  the  time  after  reaching  his  majority.  He  was  one  of  the 
earliest  opposers  of  the  Stamp  Act ;  was  a  member  of  the  first  Continental  Congress,  and  signed  that 
Declaration  of  Independence  which  he  so  nobly  advocated.  He  was  afterward  a  member  of  the 
United  States  Senate;  and  soon  after  his  retirement  to  private  life,  in  1794,  he  died,  when  in  the 


1776.]          SECOND   YEAR  OF  THE   WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.         251 

of  Virginia,  arose  in  his  place,  and  with  his  clear,  musical  voice,  read  aloud 
the  Resolution,  "That  these  united  colonies  are,  and,  of  right,  ought  to  be, 
free  and  independent  States ;  that  they  are  absolved  from  all  allegiance  to  the 
British  crown,  and  that  all  political  connection  between  them  and  the  State  of 
Great  Britain,  is,  and  ought  to  be  totally  dissolved."  1 


/ 


This  was  an  exceedingly  bold  step,  and  the  resolution  did  not  meet  with 
general  favor  in  Congress,  at  first.  Many  yet  hoped,  even  against  hope,  for 
reconciliation,  and  thought  it  premature,  and  there  were  some  timid  ones  who 
trembled  while  standing  so  near  the  borders  of  high  treason.  After  debating 
the  subject  for  three  days,  the  further  consideration  of  it  was  postponed  until 
the  first  of  July.  A  committee2  was  appointed  [June  11],  however,  to  draw 

sixty-third  year  of  his  age.  A  characteristic  anecdote  is  told  of  his  son,  who  was  at  school,  in 
England,  at  the  time  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  promulgated.  One  day  a  gentleman 
asked  his  tutor,  "What  boy  is  this?"  "He  is  the  son  of  Richard  Henry  Lee,  of  America,"  tho 
tutor  replied.  The  gentleman  put  his  hand  on  the  boy's  head,  and  said,  "  We  shall  yet  see  your 
father's  head  upon  Tower  Hill."  The  boy  instantly  answered,  "  You  may  have  it  when  you  can  get 
it."  That  boy  was  the  late  Ludwell  Lee,  Esq. 

1  On  the  10th  of  May,  Congress  had,  by  resolution,  recommended  the  establishment  of  independ 
ent  State  governments  in  all  the  colonies.     This,  however,  was  not  sufficiently  national  to  suit  the 
bolder  and  wiser  members  of  that  body,  and  the  people  at  large.     Lee's  resolution  more  fully- 
expressed  the  popular  will. 

2  Thomas  Jefferson,  of  Virginia  ;  John  Adams,  of  Massachusetts  ;  Benjamin  Franklin,  of  Penn 
sylvania  ;  Roger  Sherman,  of  Connecticut  ;  and  Robert  R.  Livingston,  of  New  York.     Mr.  Lee  was 
summoned  home  to  the  bedside  of  a  sick  wife,  on  the  day  before  the  appointment  of  the  committee, 
or  he  would  doubtless  have  been  its  chairman. 


252  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1776. 

up  a  declaration  in  accordance  with  the  resolution,  and  were  instructed  to  report 
on  the  same  day  wrhen  the  latter  should  be  called  up.  Thomas  Jefferson,  of 
Virginia,  the  youngest  member  of  the  committee,  was  chosen  its  chairman,  and 
to  him  was  assigned  the  task  of  preparing  the  Declaration.  Adams  and  Frank 
lin  made  a  few  alterations  in  his  draft,  and  it  was  submitted  to  Congress  at  the 
same  hour  when  Mr.  Lee's  resolution  was  taken  up  for  consideration.  On  the 
following  day  [July  2],  the  resolution  was  adopted  by  a  large  majority.  The 
Declaration  was  debated  almost  two  days  longer ;  and  finally,  at  about  mid-day, 
on  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  the  representatives  of  thirteen  colonies  unanimously 
declared  them  free  and  independent  States,  under  the  name  of  THE  UNITED 
STATES  OF  AMERICA.  Only  John  Hancock,  the  president  of  Congress,  signed 
it  on  that  day,  and  thus  it  first  wrent  forth  to  the  world.  It  was  ordered  to  be 
written  on  parchment,  and  on  the  2d  of  August  following,  the  names  of  all  but 
two  of  the  fifty-six  signers,1  were  placed  upon  it.  These  two  were  added  after 
ward.  It  had  then  been  read  to  the  army  ;2  at  public  meetings ;  from  a  hun 
dred  pulpits,  and  in  all  legislative  halls  in  the  land,  and  everywhere  awakened 
the  warmest  responses  of  approval. 

Pursuant  to  instructions,  General  Howe  proceeded  toward  New  York,  to 
meet  General  Clinton  and  Parker's  fleet.  He  left  Halifax  on  the  llth  of  June, 
[1776],  and  arrived  at  Sandy  Hook3  on  the  29th.  On  the  2d  of  July  he  took 
possession  of  Staten  Island,  where  he  was  joined  by  Sir  Henry  Clinton  [July 
11],  from  the  South,4  and  his  brother,  Admiral  Lord  Howe  [July  12],  with  a 
fleet  and  a  large  land  force,  from  England.  Before  the  first  of  August,  other 
vessels  arrived  with  a  part  of  the  Hessian  troops,5  and  on  that  day,  almost  thirty 
thousand  soldiers,  many  of  them  tried  veterans,  stood  ready  to  fall  upon  the 
republican  army  of  seventeen  thousand  men,0  mostly  militia,  which  lay 
intrenched  in  New  York  and  vicinity,  less  than  a  dozen  miles  distant.7  The 


1  This  document,  containing  the  autographs  of  those  venerated  fathers  of  our  republic,  is  care 
fully  preserved  in  a  glass  case,  in  the  rooms  of  the  National  Institute  at  Washington  city.      Not  one 
of  all  that  band  of  patriots  now  survives.     Charles  Carrol  was  the  last  to  leave  us.     He  departed  in 
1832,  at  the  age  of  ninety  years.  See  Supplement.  It  is  worthy  of  remembrance  that  not  one  of  all 
those  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  died  with  a  tarnished  reputation.     The  memory 
of  all,  is  sweet. 

2  "Washington  caused  it  to  be  read  at  the  head  of  each  brigade  of  the  army,  then  in  New  York 
city,  on  the  9th  of  July.  That  night,  citizens  and  soldiers  pulled  down  the  leaden  equestrian  statue 
of  George  III.,  which  stood  in  the  Bowling  Green,  and  it  was  soon  afterward  converted  into  bullets 
for  the  use  of  the  Continental  army.    The  statue  was  gilded.    The  head  of  the  horse  was  toward 
the  Hudson  River.     The  Rev.  Zachariah  Greene,  who  died  at  Hempstead,  Long  Island,  in  June, 
1858,  at  the  age  of  99  years,  heard  the  Declaration  read  to  the  soldiers.     He  was  in  the  army. 

3  Sandy  Hook  is  a  low  ridge  of  sand,  extending  several  miles  down  the  New  Jersey  shore,  from 
the  entrance  to  Raritan  or  Amboy  Bay.     Between  it  and  the  shore,  the  water  is  navigable;  and 
near  the  mouth  of  Shrewsbury  River,  the  ridge  is  broken  by  an  inlet.  4  Page  249. 

6  Page  246. 

6  There  were  about  twenty-seven  thousand  men  enrolled,  but  not  more  than  seventeen  thousand 
men  were  fit  for  duty.     A  great  many  were  sick,  and  a  large  number  were  without  arms. 

7  Many  of  the  ships  passed  through  the  Narrows,  and  anchored  in  New  York  Bay.     Howe's 
flag-ship,  the  Eagle,  lay  near  Governor's  Island.     While  in  that  position,  a  bold  soldier  went  in  a 
submarine  vessel,  with  a  machine  for  blowing  up  a  ship,  and  endeavored  to  fasten  it  to  the  bottom 
of  the  Eagle,  but  failed.     He  was  discovered,  and  barely  escaped.     An  explosion  of  the  machine 
took  place  near  the  Eagk,  and  the  commander  was  so  alarmed,  that  she  was  hastily  moved  further 
down  the  Bay.     This  machine  was  constructed  by  David  Buslmell,  of  Connecticut,  and  was  called  a 
torpedo.    See  Note  2,  page  285. 


I77b  {        SECOND   YEAR   OF   THE   WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE.         253 

grand  object  in  view  was  the  seizure  of  New  York  and  the  country  along 
the  Hudson,  so  as  to  keep  open  a  communication  with  Canada,  separate  the 
patriots  of  New  England  from  those  of  the  other  States,  and  to  overrun  the  most 
populous  portion  of  the  revolted  colonies.  This  was  the  military  plan,  arranged 
by  ministers.  They  had  also  prepared  instructions  to  their  commanding  generals, 
to  be  pacific,  if  the  Americans  appeared  disposed  to  submit.  Lord  Howe1  and 
his  brother,  the  general,  were  commissioned  to  "  grant  pardon  to  all  who  deserved 
mercy,"  and  to  treat  for  peace,  but  only  on  terms  of  absolute  submission  on  the 
part  of  the  colonies,  to  the  will  of  the  king  and  parliament.  After  making  a 
foolish  display  of  arrogance  and  weakness,  in  addressing  General  Washington 
as  a  private  gentleman,2  and  being  assured  that  the  Americans  had  been  guilty 
of  no  offense  requiring  a  "pardon"  at  their  hands,  they  prepared  to  strike  an 
immediate  and  effective  blow.  The  British  army  was  accordingly  put  in  motion 
on  the  morning  of  the  22d  of  August  [1776],  and  during  that  day,  ten 
thousand  effective  men,  and  forty  pieces  of  cannon,  were  landed  on  the  west 
ern  end  of  Long  Island,  between  the  present  Fort  Hamilton  and  Gravesend 
village. 

Already  detachments  of  Americans  under  General 
Sullivan,  occupied  a  fortified  camp  at  Brooklyn, 
opposite  New  York,  and  guarded  seven  passes  on  a 
range  of  hills  which  extend  from  the  Narrows  to  the 
village  of  Jamaica.3  When  intelligence  of  the  landing 
of  the  invading  army  reached  Washington,  he  sent 
General  Putnam,4  with  large  reinforcements,  to  take 
the  chief  command  on  Long  Island,  and  to  prepare  to 
meet  the  enemy.  The  American  troops  on  the  island 
now  [August  26],  numbered  about  five  thousand:  GENERAL  PUTNVM 

The    British   moved  in   three   divisions.     The  left, 

under  General  Grant,  marched  along  the  shore  toward  Gowanus ;  the  right, 
under  Clinton  and  Cornwallis,  toward  the  interior  of  the  island  ;  and  the  cen 
ter,  composed  chiefly  of  Hessians,5  under  De  Heister,  marched  up  the  Flatbush 
road,  south  of  the  hills. 

Clinton  moved  under  cover  of  night,  and  before  dawn  on  the  morning  of 

1  Richard,  Earl  Howe,  was  brother  of  the  young  Lord  Howe  [page  197],  killed  at  Ticonderoga. 
He  was  born  in  1725,  and  died  in  1799. 

2  The  letters  of  Lord  Howe  to  the  American  commander-in-chief,  were  addressed,  "  George 
Washington,  Esq."     As  that  did  not  express  the  public  character  of  the  chief,  and  as  he  would  not 
confer  with  the  enemies  of  his  country  in  a  private  capacity,  Washington  refused  to  receive  the 
letters.     Howe  was  instructed  not  to  acknowledge  the  authority  of  Congress  in  any  way,  and  as 
Washington  had  received  his  commission  from  that  body,  to  address  him  as  "  general,"  would  have 
been  a  recognition  of  its  authority.     He  meant  no  disrespect  to  Washington.     Congress,  by  resolu 
tion,  expressed  its  approbation  of  Washington's  dignified  course. 

3  General  Nathaniel  Green  had  been  placed  in  command  of  this  division,  but  having  been  pros 
trated  by  bilious  fever,  about  a  week  before  the  landing  of  the  British  at  the  Narrows,  Sullivan  was 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  troops. 

4  Israel  Putnam  was  born  in  Salem,  Massachusetts,  in  1718.     He  was  a  very  useful  officer 
during  the  French  arid  Indian  war,  and  was  in  active  service  in  the  continental  army,  until  1779, 
when  bodily  infirmity  compelled  him  to  retire.     He  died  in  1790,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years. 

5  Page  246. 


254  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1776. 


BATTLE   OF   LONG    ISLAND. 


the  27th,  he  had  gained  possession  of  the  Jamaica 
pass,  near  the  present  East  New  York.  At  the 
same  time,  Grant  was  pressing  forward  along  the 
shore  of  New  York  Bay,  and  at  day-break,  he 
encountered  Lord  Stirling,1  where  the  monuments 
of  Greenwood  cemetery  now  dot  the  hills.  De 
Heister  advanced  from  Flatbush  at  the  same  hour, 
and  attacked  Sullivan,  who,  having  no  suspicions 
of  the  movements  of  Clinton,  was  watching  the 
Flatbush  Pass.  A  bloody  conflict  ensued,  and  while  it  was  progressing, 
Clinton  descended  from  the  wooded  hills,  by  the  way  of  Bedford,  to  gain  Sul 
livan's  rear.  As  soon  as  the  latter  perceived  his  peril,  he  ordered  a  retreat 
to  the  American  lines  at  Brooklyn.  It  was  too  late ;  Clinton  drove  him  back 
upon  the  Hessian  bayonets,  and  after  fighting  desperately,  hand  to  hand,  with 
the  foe  in  front  and  rear,  and  losing  a  greater  portion  of  his  men,  Sullivan  was 
compelled  to  surrender. 

As  usual,  misfortunes  did  not  come  single.  While  these  disasters  were 
occurring  on  the  left,  Cornwallis  descended  the  port-road  to  Gowanus,  and 
attacked  Stirling.  They  fought  desperately,  until  Stirling  was  made  prisoner.2 
Many  of  his  troops  were  drowned  while  endeavoring  to  escape  across  the  Gow 
anus  Creek,  as  the- tide  was  rising;  and  a  large  number  were  captured.  At 
noon  the  victory  for  the  British  was  complete.  About  five  hundred  Americans 
were  killed  or  wounded,  and  eleven  hundred  were  made  prisoners.  These  were 
soon  suffering  dreadful  horrors  in  prisons  and  prison-ships,  at  New  York.3 
The  British  loss  in  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners,  was  three  hundred  and  sixty- 
seven. 

It  was  with  the  deepest  anguish  that  Washington  had  viewed,  from  New 
York,  the  destruction  of  his  troops,  yet  he  dared  not  weaken  his  power  in  the 
city,  by  sending  reinforcements  to  aid  them.  He  crossed  over  on  the  following 
morning  [August  28],  with  Mifflin,4  who  had  come  down  from  the  upper  end 
of  York  island  with  a  thousand  troops,  and  was  gratified  to  find  the  enemy 
encamped  in  front  of  Putnam's  lines,  and  delaying  an  attack  until  the  British 
fleet  should  co-operate  with  him.  This  delay  allowed  Washington  time  to  form 
and  execute  a  plan  for  the  salvation  of  the  remainder  of  the  army,  now  too 
weak  to  resist  an  assault  with  any  hope  of  success.  Under  cover  of  a  heavy 
fog,  which  fell  upon  the  hostile  camps  at  midnight  of  the  29th,  and  continued 
until  the  morning  of  the  30th,  he  silently  withdrew  them  from  the  camp,5  and, 


1  William  Alexander,  Lord  Stirling,  was  a  descendant  of  the  Scotch  earl  of  Stirling,  mentioned 
in  note  2,  page  80.     He  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  1726.     He  became  attached  to  the 
patriot  cause,  and  was  an  active  officer  during  the  war.     He  died  in  1783,  aged  fifty-seven  years. 

2  Stirling  was  sent  immediately  on  board  of  the  Eagle,  Lord  Howe's  flag-ship. 

3  Among  the  prisoners  was  General  Nathaniel  Woodhull  [Note  1,  page  198],  late  president  of 
the  provincial  Congress  of  New  York.     He  was  taken  prisoner  on  the  30th,  and  after  being  severely 
wounded  at  the  time,  he  was  so  neglected,  that  his  injuries  proved  fatal  in  the  course  of  a  few  days. 
His  age  was  fifty-three.     See  Onderdonk's  Revolutionary  Incidents  of  Long  Island.  *  Page  352. 

5  During  the  night,  a  woman  living  near  the  present  Fulton  Perry,  where  the  Americans 
embarked,  having  become  offended  at  some  of  the  patriots,  sent  her  negro  servant  to  inform  the 


RETREAT  OF  THE  AMERICANS  FROM  LONG  ISLAND. 


1776.]         SECOND   YEAR   OF   THE   WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE.         257 

unperceived  by  the  British,  they  all  crossed  over  to  New  York  in  safety,  carry 
ing  every  thing  with  them  but  their  heavy  cannons.  When  the  fog  rolled  away, 
and  the  sunlight  burst  upon  Brooklyn  and  New  York,  the  last  boat-load  of 
patriots  had  reached  the  city  shore.  Mifflin,  with  his  Pennsylvania  battalion, 
and  the  remains  of  two  broken  Maryland  regiments,  formed  the  covering  party. 
Washington  and  his  staff,  who  had  been  in  the  saddle  all  night,  remained  until 
the  last  company  had  embarked.  Surely,  if  '  •  the  stars  in  their  courses  fought 
against  Sisera,"  in  the  time  of  Deborah,1  the  wings  of  the  Cherubim  of  Mercy 
and  Hope  were  over  the  Americans  on  this  occasion.  Howe,  who  felt  sure  of 
his  prey,  was  greatly  mortified,  and  prepared  to  make  an  immediate  attack 
upon  New  York,  before  the  Americans  should  become  reinforced,  or  should 
escape  from  it.2 

Unfortunately  for  the  cause  of  freedom,  at  that  time,  the  troops  under 
Washington  lacked  that  unity  of  feeling  and  moral  stamina,  so  necessary  for 
the  accomplishment  of  success  in  any  struggle.  Had  patriotism  prevailed  in 
every  heart  in  the  American  army,  it  might  have  maintained  its  position  in  the 
city,  and  kept  the  British  at  bay.  But  there  were  a  great  many  of  merely 
selfish  men  in  the  camp.  Sectional  differences3  weakened  the  bond  of  union,  and 
immorality  of  every  kind  prevailed.4  There  was  also  a  general  spirit  of  insub 
ordination,  and  the  disasters  on  Long  Island  disheartened  the  timid.  Hundreds 
deserted  the  cause,  and  went  home.  Never,  during  the  long  struggle  of  after 
years,  was  the  hopeful  mind  of  Washington  more  clouded  by  doubts,  than 
during  the  month  of  September,  1776.  In  the  midst  of  the  gloom  and  perplex 
ity,  he  called  a  council  of  war  [Sept.  12th],  and  it  was  determined  to  send  the 
military  stores  to  Dobbs?  Ferry,  a  secure  place  twenty-two  miles  up  the  Hud 
son,  and  to  retreat  to  and  fortify  Harlem  Heights,5  near  the  upper  end  of  York 

British  of  the  movement.  The  negro  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Hessians.  They  could  not  under 
stand  a  word  of  his  language,  and  detained  him  until  so  late  in  the  morning  that  his  information  was 
of  no  avail.  1  Judges,  chapter  v.,  verse  20. 

8  He  ordered  several  vessels  of  war  to  sail  around  Long  Island,  and  come  down  the  Sound  to 
Flushing  Bay,  so  as  to  cover  the  intended  landing  of  the  troops  upon  the  main  [page  258],  in 
Westchester  county.  In  the  mean  while,  Howe  made  an  overture  for  peace,  supposing  the  late  dis 
aster  would  dispose  the  Americans  to  listen  eagerly  to  almost  any  proposition  for  reconciliation. 
He  parolled  General  Sullivan,  and  by  him  sent  a  verbal  communication  to  Congress,  suggesting  a 
committee  for  conference.  It  was  appointed,  and  consisted  of  Dr  Franklin,  John  Adams,  and 
Edward  Rutledge.  On  the  llth  of  September,  they  met  Lord  Howe  at  the  house  of  Captain  Billop, 
on  Staten  Island,  opposite  Perth  Amboy.  The  committee  would  treat  only  for  independence,  and 
the  conference  had  no  practical  result,  except  to  widen  the  breach.  When  Howe  spoke  patron 
izingly  of  protection  for  the  Americans,  Dr.  Franklin  told  him  courteously,  that  the  Americans  were 
not  in  need  of  British  protection,  for  they  were  fully  able  to  protect  themselves. 

3  The  army,  which  at  first  consisted  chiefly  of  New  England  people,  had  been  reinforced  by 
others  from  New  York,  New  Jersej^,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  and  Virginia,  all  of  them 
jealous  of  their  respective  claims  to  precedence,  and  materially  differing  in  their  social  habits. 

4  Cotemporary  writers  give  a  sad  picture  of  the  army  at  this  time.     Among  many  of  the  sub 
ordinate  officers,  greed  usurped  the  place  of  patriotism.   Officers  were  elected  on  condition  that  they 
should  throw  their  pay  and  rations  into  a  joint  stock  for  the  benefit  of  a  company ;  surgeons  sold 
recommendations  for  furloughs,  for  able-bodied  men,  at  sixpence  each  ;  and  a  captain  was  cashiered 
for  stealing  blankets  from  his  soldiers.     Men  went  out  in  squads  to  plunder  from  friend  and  foe,  to 
the  disgrace  of  the  army.     Its  appointments,  too,  were  in  a  wretched  condition.     The  surgeons' 
department  lacked  instruments.    According  to  a  general  return  of  fifteen  regiments,  there  were  not 
more  than  sufficient  instruments  for  one  battalion.     [See  Washington's  Letter  to  Congress,  Sept. 
24,  1776.] 

5  These  extend  from  the  plain  on  which  the  village  of  Harlem  stands,  about  seven  and  a  half 

17 


258  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1776. 

Island.1  This  was  speedily  accomplished;  and  when,  on  the  15th,  a  strong 
detachment  of  the  British  army  crossed  the  East  River  from  Long  Island,  and 
landed  three  miles  above  the  town,  at  Kipps'  Bay  (now  foot  of  Thirty-fourth- 
street,  East  River),  without  much  opposition,2  the  greater  portion  of  the  Amer 
icans  were  busy  in  fortifying  their  new  camp  on  Harlem  Heights. 

The  invading  Britons  formed  a  line  almost  across  the  island  to  Bloomingdale, 
within  two  miles  of  the  American  intrenchments,  just  beyond  the  present  Man- 
hattanville,  while  the  main  army  on  Long  Island  was  stationed  at  different 
points  from  Brooklyn  to  Flushing.3  On  the  16th,  detachments  of  the  belliger 
ents  met  on  Harlem  plains,  and  a  severe  skirmish  ensued.  The  Americans 
were  victorious,  but  their  triumph  cost  the  lives  of  two  brave  officers — Colonel 
Knowlton  of  Connecticut,  and  Major  Leitch  of  Virginia.  Yet  the  effect  of  the 
victory  was  inspiriting ;  and  so  faithfully  did  the  patriots  ply  muscle  and  im 
plement,  that  before  Howe  could  make  ready  to  attack  them,  they  had  con 
structed  double  lines  of  intrenchments,  and  were  prepared  to  defy  him.  At 
once  perceiving  the  inutility  of  attacking  the  Americans  in  front,  he  next  en 
deavored  to  gain  their  rear.  Leaving  quite  a  strong  force  to  keep  possession 
of  the  city4  [Sept.  20],  he  sent  three  armed  vessels  up  the  Hudson  to  cut  off 
the  communications  of  the  Americans  with  New  Jersey,  while  the  great  bulk 
of  his  army  (now  reinforced  by  an  arrival  of  fresh  troops  from  England)5  made 
their  way  [Oct.  12]  to  a  point  in  Westchester  county,6  beyond  the  Harlem 
River.  When  Washington  perceived  the  designs  of  his  en 
emy,  he  placed  a  garrison  of  almost  three  thousand  men, 
under  Colonel  Magaw,  in  Fort  Washington,7  and  withdrew 
the  remainder  of  his  army8  to  a  position  on  the  Bronx  River, 
in  Westchester  county,  to  oppose  Howe,  or  retreat  in  safety 
to  the  Hudson  Highlands,  if  necessary.  He  established  his 


FORT  WASHINGTON,     head-quarters  at  White  Plains  village,  and  there,  on  the  28th 


miles  from  the  City  Hall,  New  York  to  Two  Hundred  and  Sixth-street,  near  King's  Bridge,  at  the 
upper  end  of  the  island.  1  Also  called  Manhattan.     See  note  1,  page  48. 

2.Some  Connecticut  troops,  frightened  by  the  number  and  martial  appearance  of  the  British, 
fled  at  their  approach.  Washington,  then  at  Harlem,  heard  the  cannonade,  leaped  into  his  saddle, 
and  approached  Kipp's  Bay  in  time  to  meet  the  flying  fugitives.  Mortified  by  this  exhibition  of 
cowardice  before  the  enemy,  the  commander-in-chief  tried  to  rally  them,  and  in  that  effort,  he  was 
so  unmindful  of  himself,  that  he  came  near  being  captured. 

3  Wishing  to  ascertain  the  exact  condition  of  the  British  army,  Washington  engaged  Captain 
Nathan  Hale,  of  Knowlton's  regiment,  to  secretly  visit  their  camps  on  Long  Island,  and  make 
observations.     He  was  caught,  taken  to  Howe's  head-quarters,  Turtle  Bay,  New  York,  and  exe 
cuted  as  a  spy  by  the  brutal  provost-marshal,  Cunningham.     He  was  not  allowed  to  have  a  Bible 
nor  clergyman  during  his  last  hours,  nor  to  send  letters  to  his  friends.     His  fate  and  Andre's  [page 
326]  have  been  compared.     For  particulars  of  this  affair,  see  Onderdonk's  Revolutionary  Incidents 
of  Long  Island,  etc.,  and  Lossing's  Pictorial  Field- Book  of  the  Revolution. 

4  At  one  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  21st,  a  fire  broke  out  in  a  small  groggery  near  the  foot 
of  Broad-street,  and  before  it  was  extinguished,  about  five  hundred  buildings  were  destroyed.    The 
British  charged  the  fire  upon  the  Americans.     Although  such  incendiarism  had  been  contemplated 
when  the  Americans  found  themselves  compelled  to  evacuate  the  city,  this  was  purely  accidental. 

5  The  whole  British  army  now  numbered  about  35,000  men. 
8  Throg's  Neck,  sixteen  miles  from  the  city. 

7  Fort  Washington  was  erected  early  in  1776,  upon  the  highest  ground  on  York  Island,  ten 
miles  from  the  city,  between  One  Hundred  and  Eighty-first-street  and  One  Hundred  and  Eighty- 
sixth-streets,  and  overlooking  both  the  Hudson  and  Harlem  Rivers.  There  were  a  few  traces  of 
its  embankments  yet  visible  so  late  as  1856. 

B  Nominally,  nineteen  thousand  men,  but  actually  effective,  not  more  than  half  l-hat  number. 


1776.]         SECOND  YEAR  OF  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.         259 

of  October,  a  severe  engagement  took  place.1  The  Americans  were  driven  from 
their  position,  and  three  days  afterward  [Nov.  1,  1776],  formed  a  strong  camp 
on  the  hills  of  North  Castle,  five  miles  further  north.  The  British  general 
was  afraid  to  pursue  them ;  and  after  strengthening  the  post  at  Peekskill,  at 
the  lower  entrance  to  the  Highlands,  and  securing  the  vantage-ground  at  North 
Castle,2  Washington  crossed  the  Hudson  [Nov.  12]  with  the  main  body  of  his 
army,  and  joined  General  Greene  at  Fort  Lee,  on  the  Jersey  shore,  about  two 
miles  south  of  Fort  Washington.  This  movement  was  made  on  account  of  an 
apparent  preparation  by  the  British  to  invade  New  Jersey  and  march  upon 
Philadelphia,  where  the  Congress  was  in  session.3 

General  Knyphausan  and  a  large  body  of  Hessians*  had  arrived  at  New 
York,  and  joined  the  British  army  at  Westchester,  previous  to  the  engagement 
at  White  Plains.  After  Washington  had  crossed  the  Hudson,  these  German 
troops  and  a  part  of  the  English  army,  five  thousand  strong,  proceeded  to  attack 
Fort  Washington.  They  were  successful,  but  at  a  cost  to  the  victors  of  full  one 
thousand  brave  men.5  More  than  two  thousand  Americans  were  made  prison 
ers  of  war  [Nov.  16],  and  like  their  fellow-captives  on  Long  Island,0  they  were 
crowded  into  loathsome  prisons  and  prison-ships.7  Two  days  afterward  [Nov. 
18],  Lord  Cornwallis,  with  six  thousand  men,  crossed  the  Hudson  at  Dobbs' 
Ferry,  and  took  possession  of  Fort  Lee,  which  the  Americans  had  abandoned 
on  his  approach,  leaving  all  the  baggage  and  military  stores  behind  them. 
During  the  siege,  General  Washington,  with  Putnam,  Greene,  and  Mercer, 
ascended  the  heights,  and  from  the  abandoned  mansion  of  Roger  Morris,8  sur 
veyed  the  scene  of  operations.  Within  fifteen  minutes  after  they  had  left  that 
mansion,  Colonel  Stirling,  of  the  British  army,  who  had.  just  repulsed  an 


1  The.  combatants  lost  about  an  equal  number  of  men — not  more  than  three  hundred  each  in 
killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners. 

2  General  Heath  was  left  in  command  in  the  Highlands,  and  General  Lee  afc  North  Castle. 

3  Page  250.     That  body  afterward  adjourned  to  Baltimore,  in  Maryland.     See  page  262. 

4  Page  246. 

5  The  loss  of  the  Americans,  in  killed  and  wounded,  did  not  exceed  one  hundred. 

6  Page  254. 

7  Nothing  could   exceed  the  horrors  of   these 
crowded   prisons,   as   described   by  an  eye-witness. 
The  sugar-houses  of  New  York  being  large,  were 
used  for  the  purpose,  and  therein  scores  suffered  and 
died.     But  the  most   terrible    scenes  occurred  on 
board  several  old  hulks,  which  were  anchored  in  the 
waters  around  New  York,  and  used  for  prisoners.    Of 
them  the  Jersey  was  the  most  notorious  for  the  suf 
ferings  it  contained,  and  the  brutality  of  its  officers. 

From  these  vessels,  anchored  near  the  present  Navy  THE  JERSEY  PRISON-SHIP. 

Yard,  at  Brooklyn,  almost  eleven  thousand  victims 

were  carried  ashore  during  the  war,  and  buried  in  shallow  graves  in  the  sand.  Their  remains  were 
gathered  in  1808,  and  put  in  a  vault  situated  near  the  termination  of  Front-street  and  Hudson- 
avenue,  Brooklyn.  See  Onderdonk's  Revolutionary  Incidents  of  Long  Island.  Lossing's  Field  Book, 
supplement. 

8  That  mansion,  elegant  even  now  [1867],  is  standing  on  the  high  bank  of  the  Harlem  River, 
at  One  Hundred  and  Sixty-ninth-street.    Roger  Morris  was  Washington's  companion-in-urms  on 
the  field  where  Braddock  was  defeated,  and  he  had  married  Mary  Philhpse,  a  young  lady  whose 
charms  had  captivated  the  heart  of  Washington  when  he  was  a  young  Virginia  colonel.    It  was 
the  property  of  Madame  Jumel  (widow  of  Aaron  Burr,  who  was  Yice-President  of  the  United 
States,  under  Jefferson),  at  the  time  of  her  death  in  1865. 


260  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1776. 

American  party,  came  with  his  victorious  troops,  and  took  possession  of  it.  It 
was  a  narrow  escape  for  those  chief  commanders. 

A  melancholy  and  a  brilliant  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  war  for  Inde 
pendence,  was  now  opened.  For  three  weeks  Washington,  with  his  shattered 
and  daily  diminishing  army,  was  flying  before  an  overwhelming  force  of  Brit 
ons.  Scarcely  three  thousand  troops  now  remained  in  the  American  army. 
Newark,  New  Brunswick,  Princeton,  and  Trenton,  successively  fell  into  the 
power  of  Cornwallis.  So  close  were  the  British  vanguards  upon  the  rear  of  the 
Americans,  sometimes,  that  each  could  hear  the  music  of  the  other.  Day  after 
day,  the  militia  left  the  army  as  their  terms  of  enlistment  expired,  for  late 
reverses  had  sadly  dispirited  them,  and  many  of  the  regulars1  deserted.  Loyalists 
were  swarming  all  over  the  country  through  which  they  passed,2  and  when,  on 
the  7th  of  December,  Washington  reached  the  frozen  banks  of  the  Delaware,  at 
Trenton,  he  had  less  than  three  thousand  men,  most  of  them  wretchedly  clad, 
half  famished,  and  without  tents  to  shelter  them  from  the  biting  winter  air. 
On  the  8th  that  remnant  of  an  army  crossed  the  Delaware  in  boats,  just  as  one 
division  of  Cornwallis' s  pursuing  army  marched  into  Trenton  with  all  the  pomp 
of  victors,  and  sat  down,  almost  in  despair,  upon  the  Pennsylvania  shore. 

Washington  had  hoped  to  make  a  stand  at  New  Brunswick,  but  was  disap 
pointed.  The  services  of  the  Jersey  and  Maryland  brigades  expired  on  the  day 
when  he  left  that  place,  and  neither  of  them  would  remain  any  longer  in  the 
army.  During  his  flight,  Washington  had  sent  repeated  messages  to  General 
Lee, 3  urging  him  to  leave  North  Castle,4  and  reinforce  him.  That  officer,  am 
bitious  as  he  was  impetuous  and  brave,  hoping  to  strike  a  blow  against  the 
British  that  might  give  himself  personal  renown,  was  so  tardy  in  his  obedience, 
that  he  did  not  enter  New  Jersey  until  the  Americans  had  crossed  the  Dela 
ware.  He  had  repeatedly,  but  in  vain,  importuned  General  Heath,  who  was 
left  in  command  at  Peekskill,  to  let  him  have  a  detachment  of  one  or  two  thou 
sand  men,  with  which  to  operate.  His  tardiness  in  obedience,  cost  him  his 
liberty.  Soon  after  entering  New  Jersey,  he  was  made  a  prisoner  [December 


1  Note  6,  page  185. 

2  General  Howe  had  sent  out  proclamations  through  the  country,  offering  pardon  and  protection 
to  all  who  might  ask  for  mercy.     Perceiving  the  disasters  to  the  American  arms  during  the  summer 
and  autumn,  great  numbers  took  advantage  of  these  promises,  and  signed  petitions.     They  soon 
found  that  protection  did  not  follow  pardon,  for  the  Hessian  troops,  in  their  march  through  New 
Jersey,  committed  great  excesses,  without  inquiring  whether  their  victims  were  Whigs  or  Tories. 
Note  4,  page  226.     Among  the  prominent  men  who  espoused  the  republican  cause,  and  now  aban 
doned  it,  was  Tucker,  president  of  the  New  Jersey  Convention,  which  had  sanctioned  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence,  and  Joseph  Galloway,  a  member  of  the  first  Continental  Congress.     These, 
and  other  prominent  recusants,  received  some  hard  hits  in  the  public  prints.     A  writer  in  the  Penn 
sylvania  Journal,  of  February  5,  1777,  thus  castigated  Galloway: 

"Gall'way  has  fled,  and  join' d  the  venal  Howe, 
To  prove  his  baseness,  see  him  cringe  and  bow ; 
A  traitor  to  his  country  and  its  laws, 
A  friend  to  tyrants  and  their  cursed  cause. 
Unhappy  wretch !  thy  interest  must  be  sold 
For  Continental,  not 'for  polish' d  sold. 
To  sink  the  money  thou  thyself  cried  down, 
And  stabb'd  thy  country  to  support  the  crown." 

*  Note  4,  page  185.  4  Page' 259. 


1776.]         SECOND   YEAK   OF  THE  "WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.         261 

13,  1776],  and  his  command  devolved  upon  General  Sullivan.1  At  about  the 
same  time  intelligence  reached  the  chief  that  a  British  squadron,  under  Sir 
Peter  Parker  (who,  as  we  have  seen  [page  247],  was  defeated  at  Charleston), 
had  sailed  into  Narraganset  Bay  [December  8th],  taken  possession  of  Rhode 
Island,  and  blockaded  the  little  American  fleet,  under  Commodore  Hopkins,2 
then  lying  near  Providence.  This  intelligence,  and  a  knowledge  of  the  failure 
of  operations  on  Lake  Champlain,3  coupled  with  the  sad  condition  of  the  main 
army  of  patriots,  made  the  future  appear  gloomy  indeed.4 

It  was  fortunate  for  the  patriot  cause  that  General  Howe  was  excessively 
cautious  and  indolent.  Instead  of  allowing  Cornwallis  to  construct  boats,5  cross 
the  Delaware  at  once,  overwhelm  the  patriots,  and  push  on  to  Philadelphia,  as 
he  might  have  done,  he  ordered  him  to  await  the  freezing  of  the  waters,  so  as 
to  cross  on  the  ice.  He  was  also  directed  to  place  four  thousand  German  troops 
in  cantonments  along  the  Jersey  shore  of  the  river,  from  Trenton  to  Burling 
ton,  and  to  occupy  Princeton  and  New  Brunswick  with  strong  British  detach 
ments.  Both  Congress  and  Washington  profited  by  this  delay.  Measures  for 
re-organizing  the  army,  already  planned,  were  put  in  operation.  A  loan  of  five 
millions  of  dollars,  in  hard  money,  with  which  to  pay  the  troops,  was  author 
ized.  By  the  offer  of  liberal  bounties,6  and  the  influence  of  a  stirring  appeal 
put  forth  by  Congress,  recruits  immediately  flocked  to  Washington's  standard 
at  Newtown.7  Almost  simultaneously,  Lee's  detachment  under  Sullivan,  and 
another  from  Ticonderoga,8  joined  him  ;  and  on  the  24th  of  December  he  found 
himself  in  command  of  almost  five  thousand  effective  troops,  many  of  them  fresh 
and  hopeful."  And  the  increased  pay  of  officers,  the  proffered  bounties  to  the 

1  Both  Sullivan  and  Stirling,  who  were  made  prisoners  on  Long  Island  [page  254],  had  been 
exchanged,  and  were  now  again  with  the  army.  Lee  was  captured  at  Baskingridge,  where  Lord 
Stirling  resided,  and  remained  a  prisoner  until  May,  1778,  when  he  was  exchanged  for  General 
Prescott,  who  was  captured  on  Rhode  Island.  See  page  271.  2  Note  1,  page  307. 

3  General  Gates  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  army  at  the  north,  after  the  death  of 
General  Thomas  [note  2,  page  243]  ;  and  during  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1776,  Colonel  Arnold 
became  a  sort  of  commodore,  and  commanded  flotillas  of  small  vessels  in  warfare  with  others  pre 
pared  by  General  Carleton  (the  British  commander  in  Canada),  on  Lake  Champlain.     He  had  two 
severe  engagements  (llth  and  13th  of  October),  in  which  he  lost  about  ninety  men;  the  British 
about  forty.     These  operations  were  disastrous,  yet  they  resulted  in  preventing  the  British  forces  in 
Canada  uniting  with  those  in  New  York,  and  were  thus  of  vast  importance. 

4  Although  the  Americans  had  generally  suffered  defeats,  they  had  been  quite  successful  in 
making  captives.     The  number  of  Americans  taken  by  the  British,  up  to  the  close  of  1776,  was 
four  thousand,  eight  hundred  and  fifty-four;  the  number  of  British  taken  by  the  Americans,  was 
two  thousand,  eight  hundred  and  sixty.     In  addition  to  men,  the  Americans  had  lost  twelve  brass 
cannons  and  mortars,  and  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  made  of  iron ;  twenty-three  thousand,  nine 
hundred  and  seventy-nine  empty  shells,  and  seventeen  thousand,  one  hundred  and  twenty-two 
filled ;  two  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty-four  double-headed  shot :  a  large  quantity  of  grape- 
shot;  two  thousand  eight  hundred  muskets:  four  hundred  thousand  cartridges ;  sixteen  barrels  of 
powder ;  five  hundred  intrenching  tools ;  two  hundred  barrows  and  other  instruments,  and  a  large 
quantity  of  provisions  and  stores. 

5  The  Americans  took  every  boat  they  could  find  at  Trenton,  and  cautiously  moved  them  out 
of  the  river  after  they  had  crossed. 

6  Each  soldier  was  to  have  a  bounty  of  twenty  dollars,  besides  an  allotment  of  land  at  the  close 
of  the  war.     A  common  soldier  was  to  have  one  hundred  acres,  and  a  colonel  five  hundred.     These 
were  given  to  those  only  who  enlisted  to  serve  "  during  the  war." 

7  A  small  village  north  of  Bristol,  about  two  miles  from  the  Delaware.  8  Page  234. 

0  According  to  the  adjutant's  return  to  Washington  on  the  22d  of  December,  the  American 
army  numbered  ten  thousand  one  hundred  and  six  men,  of  whom  five  thousand  three  hundred  and 
ninety-nine  were  sick,  on  command  elsewhere,  or  on  furlough,  leaving  an  effective  force  of  four 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  seven. 


262  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1776. 

soldiers,  and  the  great  personal  influence  of  the  commander-in-chief,  had  the 
effect  to  retain  in  the  service,  for  a  few  weeks  at  least,  more  than  one  half  of  the 
old  soldiers. 

There  were  about  fifteen  hundred  Hessians.1  and  a  troop  of  British  light 
horse,  at  Trenton,  and  these  Washington  determined  to  surprise.  The  British 
commanders  looked  with  such  contempt  upon  the  American  troops — the  mere 
ghost  of  an  army — and  were  so  certain  of  an  easy  victory  beyond  the  Delaware, 
where,  rumor  affirmed,  the  people  were  almost  unanimous  in  favor  of  the 
king,  that  vigilance  was  neglected.  So  confident  were  they  that  the  contest 
would  be  ended  by  taking  possession  of  Philadelphia,  that  Cornwallis  actually 
returned  to  New  York,  to  prepare  to  sail  for  England !  And  when  Rail,  the 
commander  of  the  Hessians  at  Trenton,  applied  to  General  Grant  for  a  rein 
forcement,  that  officer  said  to  the  messenger,  "Tell  the  colonel  he  is  very  safe. 
I  will  undertake  to  keep  the  peace  in  New  Jersey,  with  a  corporal's  guard." 
How  they  mistook  the  character  of  Washington  !  During  all  the  gloom  of  the 
past  month,  hope  had  beamed  brightly  upon  the  heart  of  the  commander-in- 
chief.  Although  Congress  had  adjourned  to  Baltimore2  [December  12,  1776], 
and  the  public  mind  was  filled  with  despondency,  his  reliance  upon  Providence 
in  a  cause  so  just,  was  never  shaken ;  and  his  great  soul  conceived,  and  his 
ready  hand  planned  a  bold  stroke  for  deliverance.  The  Christmas  holiday  was 
at  hand — a  day  when  Germans,  especially,  indulge  in  convivial  pleasures.  Not 
doubting  the  Hessians  would  pass  the  day  in  sports  and  drinking,  he  resolved 
to  profit  by  their  condition,  by  falling  suddenly  upon  them  while  they  were  in 
deep  slumber  after  a  day  and  night  of  carousal.  His  plan  was  to  cross  tho 
Delaware  in  three  divisions,  one  a  few  miles  above  Trenton,  another  a  few  miles 
below,  and  a  third  at  Bristol  to  attack  Count  Donop3  at  Burlington.  Small 
parties  were  also  to  attack  the  British  posts  at  Mount  Holly,  Black  Horse,  and 
Bordentown,  at  the  same  time. 

On  the  evening  of  Christmas  day  [1776],  Washington  gathered  twenty- 
four  hundred  men,  with  some  heavy  artillery,  at  McConkey's  Ferry, 
eight  or  nine  miles  above  Trenton.*  They  expected  to  cross,  reach  Trenton 
at  midnight,  and  take  the  Hessians  by  surprise.  But  the  river  was  filled 
with  floating  ice,  and  sleet  and  snow  were  falling  fast.  The  passage  was 
made  in  flat-boats ;  and  so  difficult  was  the  navigation,  that  it  was  almost  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning  [December  26]  when  the  troops  were  mustered  on 
the  Jersey  shore.  They  were  arranged  in  two  divisions,  commanded  respec 
tively  by  Greene  and  Sullivan,  and  approached  Trenton  by  separate  roads. 
The  enterprise  was  eminently  successful.  Colonel  Rail,  the  Hessian  com 
mander,  was  yet  indulging  in  wine  at  the  end  of  a  night  spent  in  card- 


1  Page  246. 

2  Alarmed  at  the  approach  of  the  British,  Congress  thought  it  prudent  to  adjourn  to  Baltimore. 
A  committee  to  represent  that  body  was  left  in  Philadelphia,  to  co-operate  with  the  army.     Congress 
assembled  at  Baltimore  on  the  20th.  3  Page  275. 

4  Taylorsville  is  the  name  of  the  little  village  at  that  place.     The  river  there,  now  spanned  by 
a  covered  bridge,  is  about  six  hundred  feet  in  width,  and  has  a  considerable  current. 


BATTLE   AT   TRENTON. 


1776.]         SECOND   YEAR   OF   THE   WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE.         263 

playing,   when  the  Americans  approached,  a  little  after  sunrise;1  and  while 

endeavoring  to  rally  his  affrighted  troops,  he  fell,  mortally  wounded,  in  the 

streets  of  Trenton.     Between  forty  and  fifty  of 

the  Hessians  were  killed  and  fatally  wounded, 

and  more  than  a  thousand  were  made  prisoners, 

together   with  arms,   ammunition,    and   stores. 

Five  hundred  British  cavalry  barely  escaped, 

and  fled  to  Bordentown.     Generals  Ewing  and 

Cadwalader,    who    commanded    the   other   two 

divisions,  destined  to  attack   the  enemy  below 

Trenton,  were  unable  to  cross  the  river  on  account  of  the  ice,  to  co-operate  with 

Washington.    With  a  strong  enemy  so  near  as  Burlington  and  Princeton,  the  com- 

mander-in-chief  thought  it  imprudent  to  remain  on  the  Jersey  shore,  so  with  his 

prisoners  and  booty  he  re-crossed  the  Delaware  on  the  evening  after  his  victory. 

This  was  indeed  a  victory  in  more  aspects  than  that  of  a  skillful  military 
operation.  The  Germans  under  Dunop,  on  the  river  below,  thoroughly 
alarmed,  fled  into  the  interior.  The  Tories  and  pliant  Whigs2  were  abashed ; 
the  friends  of  liberty,  rising  from  the  depths  of  despondency,  stood  erect  in  the 
pride  and  strength  of  their  principles ;  the  prestige  of  the  Hessian  name,  lately 
so  terrible,  was  broken,  and  the  faltering  militia,  anxious  for  bounties  and 
honors,  flocked  to  the  victorious  standard  of  Washington.  Fourteen  hundred 
soldiers,  chiefly  of  the  eastern  militia,  whose  terms  of  enlistment  would  expire 
with  the  year,  agreed  to  remain  six  weeks  longer,  on  a  promise  to  each  of  a 
bounty  of  ten  dollars.  The  military  chest  was  not  in  a  condition  to  permit  him 
to  fulfill  his  promise,  and  he  wrote  to  Robert  Morris,  the  eminent  financier  of 
the  Revolution,  for  aid,  and  it  was  given.  Fifty  thousand  dollars,  in  hard 
money,  were  sent  to  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  in  time  to  allow  Washington 
to  fulfill  his  engagement.3 

The  victory  was  also  productive  of  more  vigilant  efforts  on  the  part  of  the 

1  Rail  spent  the  night  at  the  house  of  a  loyalist,  named  Hunt.    Just  at  dawn,  a  messenger,  sent 
by  a  Tory  on  the  line  of  march  of  the  patriots,  came  in  hot  haste  to  the  colonel.     Excited  by  wine, 
and  intent  upon  his  game,  that  officer  thrust  the  note  into  his  pocket.     Like  the  Athenian  polemarch, 
who,  when  he  received  dispatches  relative  to  a  conspiracy,  refused  to  open  them,  saying,  "Busi 
ness  to-morrow,"  Rail  did  not  look  at  the  message,  but  continued  his  amusement  until  the  roll  of 
the  American  drum,  and  the  crack  of  his  rifle,  fell  upon  his  dull  ears,  and  called  him  to  duty. 

2  Note  4,  page  226. 

3  Then  it  was  that  Robert  Morris  not  only  evinced  his  faith  in  the  success  of  the  patriot  causa, 
and  his  own  love  of  country,  but  he  tested  the  strength  of  his  credit  and  mercantile  honor.     The 
sum  was  large,  and  the  requirement  seemed  almost  "impossible  to  meet.      Government  credit  was 
low,  but  confidence  in  Robert  Morris  was  unbounded.     On  leaving  his  office,  musing  upon  how  he 
should  obtain  the  money,  he  met  a  wealthy  Quaker,  and  said,  "  I  want  money  for  the  use  of  the 
army."     "Robert,  what  security  canst  thou  give?"  asked  the  Quaker.     "My  note  and  my  honor," 
promptly  replied  Morris.    "Thou  shalt  have  it,"  as  promptly  responded  the  lender,  who  offered  him 
a  considerable  sum,  and  the  next  morning  it  was  on  its  way  to  the  camp  of  Washington.     Robert 
Morris  was  a  native  of  England,  where  he  was  born  in  1733.     He  came  to  America  in  1744,  and 
became  a  merchant's  clerk  in  Philadelphia.     By  the  force  of  industry,  energy,  and  a  good  character, 
he  arose  to  the  station  of  one  of  the  first  merchants  of  his  time.     He  was  a  "signer  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  and  was  active  as  a  public  financier,  throughout  the  war.      Toward  its  close 
[1781],  he  was  instrumental  in  establishing  a  national  bank.     After  the  war,  he  was  a  state  legis 
lator,  and  Washington  wished  him  to  be  his  first  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  but  he  declined  it.     By 
land  speculations  he  lost  his  fortune,  and  died  in  comparative  poverty,  in  May,  1806,  when  a  little 
more  than  seventy  years  of  age.     See  his  portrait  on  next  page. 


264  THE    REVOLUTION".  [1776. 

invaders.  Believing  the  rebellion  to  be  at  an  end,  and  the  American  army 
hopelessly  annihilated,  when  Washington,  with  his  shivering,  half-starved 
troops,  fled  across  the  Delaware,  Cornwallis,  as  we  have  observed,  had  returned 
to  New  York  to  embark  for  England.  The  contempt  of  the  British  for  the 


"  rebels,"  was  changed  to  respect  and  fear,  and  when  intelligence  of  the  affair 
at  Trenton  reached  Howe,  he  ordered  Cornwallis  back  with  reinforcements,  to 
gain  the  advantage  lost.  Congress,  in  the  mean  while,  perceiving  the  necessity 
of  giving  more  power  to  the  coinmander-in -chief,  wisely  clothed  him  [December 
27]  with  all  the  puissance  of  a  military  dictator,  for  six  months,  and  gave  him 
absolute  control  of  all  the  operations  of  war,  for  that  period.1  This  act  was 
accomplished  before  that  body  could  possibly  have  heard  of  the  victory  at  Tren- 
ton,  for  they  were  then  in  session  in  Baltimore. 

Inspirited  by  his  success  at  Trenton,  the  panic  of  the  enemy,  and  their 
retirement  from  the  Delaware,  Washington  determined  to  recross  that  river, 
and  act  on  the  offensive.  He  ordered  General  Heath,  who  was  with  quite  a 


1  When  Congress  adjourned  on  the  12th,  to  meet  at  Baltimore,  almost  equal  powers  were  given 
to  Washington,  but  they  were  not  then  defined.  Now  they  were  so,  by  resolution.  They  wrote  to 
Washington,  when  they  forwarded  the  resolution,  "  Happy  is  it  for  this  country,  that  the  general 
of  their  forces  can  be  safely  intrusted  with  unlimited  power,  and  neither  personal  security,  liberty, 
nor  property,  be  in  the  least  degree  endangered  thereby."  At  that  time,  Congress  had  given  Gen 
eral  Putnam  almost  unlimited  command  in  Philadelphia.  All  munitions  of  war  there,  were  placed 
under  his  control.  He  was  also  authorized  to  employ  all  private  armed  vessels  in  the  Delaware,  in 
the  defense  of  Philadelphia.  See  note  1,  page  246. 


1777.]         THIRD   YEAR    OP    THE    WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE.          265 

large  body  of  New  England  troops  at  Peekskill,1  to  move  into  New  Jersey 
with  his  main  force ;  and  the  new  militia  levies  were  directed  to  annoy  the  flank 
and  rear  of  the  British  detachments,  and  make  frequent  attacks  upon  their 
outposts.  In  the  mean  while,  he  again  crossed  the  Delaware  [December  30th], 
with  his  whole  army,  and  took  post  at  Trenton,  while  the  British  and  German 
troops  were  concentrating  at  Princeton,  only  ten  miles  distant.  Such  was  the 
position  and  the  condition  of  the  two  armies  at  the  close  of  the  second  year  of 
the  War  for  Independence — the  memorable  year  when  this  great  Republic  of 
the  West  was  born. 


CHAPTER    IY. 

THIRD  YEAR  OF  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.     [1777.] 

THE  strange  apathy  of  nations,  like  individuals,  in  times  of  great  danger,  or 
when  dearest  interests  depend  upon  the  utmost  vigilance  and  care,  is  a  remark 
able  phase  in  human  character,  and  the  records  thereof  appear  as  monstrous 
anomalies  upon  the  pages  of  history.  Such  was  the  case  with  the  executive 
and  legislative  power  of  the  British  nation  during  the  momentous  year  of  1776, 
when  the  eye  of  ordinary  forecast  could  not  fail  to  perceive  that  the  integrity 
of  the  realm  was  in  imminent  danger,  and  that  the  American  colonies,  the  fair 
est  jewels  in  the  British  crown,  were  likely  to  be  lost  forever.  Such  an  apathy, 
strange  and  profound,  seemed  to  pervade  the  councils  of  the  British  Govern 
ment,  even  while  the  public  mind  of  England  was  filled  with  the  subject  of  the 
American  rebellion.  Notwithstanding  an  army  had  been  driven  from  one  city2 
[March,  1776],  a  fleet  expelled  from  another3  [June],  their  colonies  declared 
independent4  [July  4],  and  almost  thirty  thousand  of  their  choice  troops  and 
fierce  hirelings  had  been  defied  and  combatted5  [August],  Parliament  did  not 
assemble  until  the  last  day  of  October,  to  deliberate  on  these  important  mat 
ters.  Then  the  king,  in  his  speech,  congratulated  them  upon  the  success  of  the 
royal  troops  in  America,  and  assured  them  (but  without  the  shadow  of  good 
reason  for  the  belief)  that  most  of  the  continental  powers  entertained  friendly 
feelings  toward  Great  Britain.  During  a  dull  session  of  six  weeks,  new  sup 
plies  for  the  American  service  were  voted,  while  every  conciliatory  proposition 
was  rejected ;  and  when  Parliament  adjourned,  in  December,  to  keep  the 
Christmas  holidays,  the  members  appeared  to  feel  that  their  voles  had  crushed 
the  rebellion,  and  that,  on  their  re-assembling  in  January,  they  would  be  in 
vited  to  join  in  a  Te  Deum*  at  St.  Paul's,  because  of  submission  and  peace  in 

1  On  the  east  bank  of  the  Hudson,  at  the  entrance  to  the  Highlands,  forty-five  miles  from  the 
city  of  New  York.     See  page  270. 

2  Page  247.  3  Page  249.  4  Page  251.  5  Page  253. 

6  The  Te  Deum  Laudamus  ( We  praise  iliee,  0  God)  is  always  chanted  in  churches  in  England, 
and  on  the  continent,  after  a  great  victory,  great  deliverance,  etc.  There  is  something  revolting  in 


266  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1777. 

America.  At  that  very  moment,  Washington  was  planning  his  brilliant 
achievement  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware.1 

In  contrast  with  this  apathy  of  the  British  Government,  was  the  vigilance 
and  activity  of  the  Continental  Congress.  Their  perpetual  session  was  one  of 
perpetual  labor.  Early  in  the  year  [March.  1776],  the 
Secret  Committee  of  that  body  had  appointed  Silas  Deane,8 
a  delegate  from  Connecticut,  to  proceed  to  France,  as  their 
agent,  with  general  powers  to  solicit  the  co-operation  of 
other  governments.  Even  these  remote  colonists  knew 
that  the  claims  of  the  king  of  England  to  the  friendship 
of  the  continental  powers,  was  fallacious,  and  that  France, 
Spain,  and  Holland,  the  Prince  of  Orange,  and  even  Cath- 
SILAS  DEANE.  arme  of  Russia,  and  Pope  Clement  the  Fourteenth  (Gan- 

ganelli),  all  of  whom  feared  and  hated  England,  instead  of  being  friendly  to 
her,  were  anxious  for  a  pretense  to  strike  her  fiercely,  and  humble  her  pride, 
because  of  her  potency  in  arms,  her  commerce,  her  diplomacy,  and  her  strong 
Protestantism.  All  of  these  spoke  kindly  to  the  American  agent,  and  Deane 
was  successful  in  his  embassy.  He  talked  confidently,  and  by  skillful  manage 
ment,  durino-  the  summer  of  1776,  he  obtained  fifteen  thousand  muskets  from 

o 

the  French  arsenals,  and  abundant  promises  of  men  and  money.  And  when  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  had  been  made  [July  4],  Congress  appointed  a  reg 
ular  embassy3  [Sept.  22,  1776],  to  the  court  of  France,  and  finally  sent  agents 
to  other  foreign  courts.4  They  also  planned,  and  finally  executed  measures  for 
strengthening  the  bond  of  union  between  the  several  colonies,  already  made 
powerfully  cohesive  by  common  dangers  and  common  hopes.  Articles  of  Con 
federation^  which  formed  the  organic  laws  of  the  nation  until  the  adoption  of 


this  to  the  true  Christian  mind  and  heart.  War,  except  strictly  defensive  as  a  last  extremity,  is 
always  a  monstrous  injustice ;  and  for  its  success  in  soddening  God's  fair  earth  with  human  blood, 
men  in  epaulettes,  their  hands  literally  dripping  with  gore,  will  go  into  the  temple  dedicated  to  the 
Prince  of  Peace,  and  there  sing  a  Te  Deum!  1  Page  261. 

2  Silas  Deane  was  born  at  Groton,  in  Connecticut,  and  was  educated  at  Tale  College.     He  was 
elected  to  the  first  Congress  [page  228]  in  1774,  and  after  being  some  time  abroad,  as  agent  for  the 
Secret  Committee,  he  was  recalled,  on  account  of  alleged  bad  conduct.     He  published  a  defense  of 
his  character  in  1778,  but  he  failed  to  reinstate  himself  in  the  public  opinion.     He  went  to  England 
toward  the  close  of  1784,  where  he  died  in  extreme  poverty,  in  1789. 

3  The  embassy  consisted  of  Dr.  Franklin,  Silas  Deane,  and  Arthur  Lee.     Franklin  and  Lee 
joined  Deane  at  Paris,  at  the  middle  of  December,  1776.     Lee  had  then  been  in  Europe  for  some 
time,  as  a  sort  of  private  agent  of  the  Secret  Committee.  He  made  an  arrangement  with  the  French 
king  to  send  a  large  amount  of  arms,  ammunition,  and  specie,  to  the  colonists,  but  in  such  a  way 
that  it  would  appear  as  a  commercial  transaction.     The  agent  on  the  part  of  the  French  was 
Beaumarchais,  who  assumed  the  commercial  title  of  Roderique  Hortales  &  Co.,  and  Lee  took  the 
name  of  Mary  Johnson.  This  arrangement  with  the  false  and  avaricious  Beaumarchais,  was  a  source 
of  great  annoyance  and  actual  loss  to  Congress  in  after  years.     What  was  a  gratuity  on  the  part  of 
the  French  government,  in  the  name  of  Hortales  &  Co.,  Beaumarchais  afterward  presented  a  claim 
for,  and  actually  received  from  Congress  four  hundred  thousand  dollars.     Benjamin  Franklin  was 
born  in  Boston,  in  1706.     He  was  a  printer;  worked  at  his  trade  in  London  ;  became  eminent  in 
his  business  in  Philadelphia;  obtained  a  high  position  as  a  philosopher  and  statesman;  was  agent 
in  England  for  several  colonies ;  was  chief  embassador  for  the  United  States  in  Europe  during  the 
Revolution,  and  filled  various  official  stations  in  the  scientific  and  political  world.     He  was  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  men  that  ever  lived ;  and,  next  to  Washington,  is  the  best  known  and  most 
revered  of  all  Americans.     He  died  in  1790,  at  the  age  of  more  than  eighty-four  years       Arthur 
Lee  was  a  brother  of  Richard  Henry  Lee  [page  250],  and  was  born  in  Virginia,  in  17-iu.     He  was 
a  fine  scholar,  and  elegant  writer.     He  died  in  1782.  *  Holland,  Spain,  and  Prussia. 


1777.] 


THIRD  YEAR   OF   THE   WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE. 


267 


the  Federal  Constitution,  were,  after  more  than  two  years'  consideration,  ap 
proved  by  Congress,  and  produced  vastly  beneficial  results  during  the  remain 
der  of  the  struggle.1 


Such,  in  brief,  were  the  chief  operations  of  the  civil  power  of  the  revolted 
colonies.     Let  us  now  turn  to  the  military  operations  at  the  opening  of  a  new 

1  In  July,  1775,  Dr.  Franklin  submitted  a  plan  of  union  to  Congress.  On  the  llth  of  June, 
1776,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  draw  up  a  plan.  Their  report  was  laid  aside,  and  not  called 
up  until  April,  1777.  From  the  2d  of  October  until  the  15th  of  November  following,  the  subject 
was  regularly  debated  two  or  three  times  a  week,  when  thirteen  Articles  of  Confederation  were 
adopted.  The  substance  was  that  the  thirteen  confederated  States  should  be  known  as  the  United 
States  of  America ;  that  all  engage  in  a  reciprocal  treaty  of  alliance  and  friendship,  for  mutual  ad 
vantage,  each  to  assist  the  other  when  help  should  be  needed ;  that  each  State  should  have  the 
right  to  regulate  its  own  internal  affairs;  that  no  State  should  separately  send  or  receive  embassies, 
begin  any  negotiations,  contract  engagements  or  alliances,  or  conclude  treaties  with  any  foreign 
power,  without  the  consent  of  the  general  Congress  ;  that  no  public  officer  should  be  allowed  to 
accept  any  presents,  emoluments,  office,  or  title,  from  any  foreign  power,  and  that  neither  Con 
gress  nor  State  governments  should  possess  the  power  to  confer  any  title  of  nobility ;  that  none 
of  the  States  should  have  the  right  to  form  alliances  among  themselves,  without  the  consent  of 
Congress ;  that  they  should  not  have  the  power  to  levy  duties  contrary  to  the  enactments  of  Con 
gress  ;  that  no  State  should  keep  up  a  standing  army  or  ships  of  war,  in  time  of  peace,  beyond 
the  amount  stipulated  by  Congress ;  that  when  any  of  the  States  should  raise  troops  for  the  com 
mon  defense,  all  the  officers  of  the  rank  of  colonel  and  under,  should  be  appointed  by  the  Legis 
lature  of  the  State,  and  the  superior  officers  by  Congress ;  that  all  expenses  of  the  war  should  be 
paid  out  of  the  public  treasury ;  that  Congress  alone  should  have  the  power  to  coin  money ;  and 
that  Canada  might  at  any  time  be  -admitted  into  the  confederacy  when  she  felt  disposed.  The  last 
clauses  were  explanatory  of  the  power  of  certain  governmental  operations,  and  contained  details 
of  the  same.  Such  was  the  form  of  government  which  existed  for  several  years.  See  Supplement. 


268  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1777. 

year.  Congress,  we  have  observed,1  delegated  all  military  power  to  Washing 
ton,  and  he  used  it  with  energy  and  discretion.  We  left  him  at  Trenton,  pre 
pared  to  act  offensively  or  defensively,  as  circumstances  should  require.  There 
he  was  joined  by  some  troops  under  Generals  Mifflin  and  Cadwalader,  who 
came  from  Bordentown  and  Crosswicks,  on  the  night  of  the  1st  of  January. 
Yet  with  these,  his  effective  force  did  not  exceed  five  thousand  men.  Toward 
the  evening  of  the  2d  of  January,  1777,  Cornwallis,  with  a  strong  force,  ap 
proached  from  Princeton,  and  after  some  skirmishing,  the  two  armies  encamped 
on  either  side  of  a  small  stream  which  runs  through  the  town,  within  pistol- 
shot  of  each  other.  Washington  commenced  intrenching  his  camp,  and  Corn 
wallis,  expecting  reinforcements  in  the  morning,  felt  sure  of  his  prey,  and 
deferred  an  attack  for  the  night. 

The  situation  of  Washington  and  his  little  army  was  now  perilous  in  the 
extreme.  A  conflict  with  such  an  overwhelming  force  as  was  gathering, 
appeared  hopeless,  and  the  Delaware  becoming  more  obstructed  by  ice  every 
hour,  rendered  a  retreat  across  it,  in  the  event  of  a  surprise,  almost  impossible. 
A  retreat  down  the  stream  was  equally  perilous.  An  escape  under  cover  of  the 
night,  was  the  only  chance  of  safety,  but  the  ground  was  too  soft  to  allow  the 
patriots  to  drag  their  heavy  cannons  with  them  ;  and  could  they  withdraw  unob 
served  by  the  British  sentinels,  whose  hourly  cry  could  be  heard  from  the 
camp  ?  This  was  a  question  of  deep  moment,  and  there  was  no  time  for  long 
deliberation.  A  higher  will  than  man's  determined  the  matter.  The  Protector 
of  the  righteous  put  forth  his  hand.  While  a  council  of  war  was  in  session, 
toward  midnight,  the  wind  changed,  and  the  ground  was  soon  so  hard  frozen, 
that  there  could  be  no  difficulty  in  conveying  away  the  cannons.  Instantly  all 
was  in  activity  in  the  American  camp,  while  Cornwallis  and  his  army  were 
soundly  sleeping — perhaps  dreaming  of  the  expected  sure  victory  in  the  morn 
ing.  Leaving  a  few  to  keep  watch  and  feed  the  camp-fires,  to  allay  suspicion, 
Washington  silently  withdrew,  with  all  his  army,  artillery,  and  baggage ;  and 
at  dawn  [January  3,  1777],  he  was  in  sight  of  Princeton,  prepared  to  fall  upon 
Cornwallis's  reserve  there.2  The  British  general  had  scarcely  recovered  from 
his  surprise  and  mortification,  on  seeing  the  deserted  camp  of  the  Americans, 
when  the  distant  booming  of  cannons,  borne  upon  the  keen  winter  air,  fell 
ominously  upon  his  ears.  Although  it  was  mid-winter,  he  thought  it  was  the 
rumbling  of  distant  thunder.  The  quick  ear  of  General  Erskine  decided  other 
wise,  and  he  exclaimed,  l '  To  arms,  general !  Washington  has  out-generaled 
us.  Let  us  fly  to  the  rescue  at  Princeton  !"  Erskine  was  right,  for,  at  that 
moment,  Washington  and  the  British  reserve  were  combating. 

Owing  to  the  extreme  roughness  of  the  roads,  Washington  did  not  reach 
Princeton  as  early  as  he  expected,  and  instead  of  surprising  the  British,  and 
then  pushing  forward  to  capture  or  destroy  the  enemy's  stores  at  New  Bruns 
wick,  he  found  a  portion  of  the  troops  already  on  their  march  to  join  Corn- 

1  Page  264. 

2  A  brigade,  under  Lieutenant-colonel  Mawhood,  consisting  of  three  regiments  and  three  troops 
of  dragoons,  were  quartered  there. 


1777.] 


THIRD  YEAR   OF  THE   WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE. 


269 


BATTLE   AT   PRINCETON. 


wallis  at  Trenton.  A  severe  encounter  occurred,  when  the  American  militia 
giving  way,  the  British,  with  a  victorious  shout,  rushed  forward,  expecting  to 
produce  a  general  rout.  At  that  moment  Washington 
advanced  with  a  select  corps,  brought  order  out  of  con 
fusion,  and  leading  on  his  troops  with  waving  sword  and 
cheering  voice,  turned  the  tide  of  battle  and  achieved  a 
victory.  The  brave  General  Mercer,-  while  fighting  at 
the  head  of  his  men,  was  killed,  and  many  other  be 
loved  officers  were  lost  on  that  snowy  battle-field.2  Nor 
was  the  conflict  of  that  morning  yet  ended.  When  Corn- 
wallis  perceived  the  desertion  of  the  American  camp, 
and  heard  the  firing  at  Princeton,  he  hastened  with  a 
greater  portion  of  his  troops,  to  the  aid  of  his  reserve, 
and  to  secure  his  stores  at  New  Brunswick.  The  Ameri 
cans,  who  had  not  slept,  nor  scarcely  tasted  food  for 
thirty-six  hours,  were  compelled,  just  as  the  heat  of  the  first  battle  was  over,  to 
contest  with  fresh  troops,  or  fly  with  the  speed  of  strong  men.  Washington 
chose  the  latter  alternative,  and  when  Corn  wallis  entered  Princeton,  not  a 
"rebel"  was  to  be  found.3  History  has  no  parallel  to  offer  to  these  events  of 
a  few  days.  Frederic  the  Great  of  Prussia,  one  of  the  most  renowned  com 
manders  of  modern  times,  declared  that  the  achievements  of  Washington  and 
his  little  band  of  compatriots,  between  the  25th  of  December  and  the  4th  of 
January  following,  were  the  most  brilliant  of  any  recorded  in  the  annals  of 
military  performances. 

The  Americans  were  too  weak  to  attempt  the  capture  of  the  British  stores 
at  New  Brunswick,  so,  with  his  fatigued  troops  Washington  retreated  rapidly 
toward  the  hill  country  of  East  Jersey.4  Allowing  time  only  to  refresh  his 
little  army  at  Pluckemin,  he  pressed  forward  to  Morristown,  and  there  estab 
lished  his  winter  quarters.  But  he  did  not  sit  down  in  idleness.  After  plant 
ing  small  cantonments5  at  different  points  from  Princeton  to  the  Hudson 
Highlands,  he  sent  out  detachments  to  harass  the  thoroughly  perplexed  British. 
These  expeditions  were  conducted  with  so  much  skill  and  spirit,  that  on  the  first 

1  Mercer's  horse  had  been  shot  under  him,  and  he  was  on  foot  at  the  head  of  his  men,  when  a 
British  soldier  felled  him  with  a  clubbed  musket  [note  4,  page  236].     At  first,  the  British  believed 
it  to  be  Washington,  and,  with  a  shout,  they  cried,  "  The  rebel  general  is  taken."     Hugh  Mercer 
was  a  native  of  Scotland.     He  was  a  surgeon  on  the  field  of  Culloden,  and  was  practicing  medicine 
in  Fredericksburg,  Virginia,  when  the  Revolution  broke  out.     He  was  with  Washington  in  the 
French  and  Indian  War.     He  was  made  commander  of  the  flying  camp  in  1776,  and  at  the  time  of 
his  death  was  about  fifty-six  years  of  age.     The  picture  of  a  house  in  the  corner  of  the  map  of  the 
battle  at  Princeton,  is  a  representation  of  the  house  in  which  General  Mercer  died.     It  is  yet  [1867] 
standing. 

2  The  chief  of  these  were  Colonels  Haslett  and  Potter,  Major  Morris,  and  Captains  Shippen, 
Fleming  and  Neal.     The  loss  of  the  Americans  in  this  engagement,  was  about  thirty,  including  the 
officers  above  named. 

3  We  have  mentioned,  on  page  210,  the  planetarium,  at  Princeton,  constructed  by  David  Ritten- 
house.     This  excited  the  admiration  of  Cornwallis,  and  he  intended  to  carry  it  away  with  him.     It 
is  also  said  that  Silas  Deane  [page  264]  proposed  to  present  this  work  of  art  to  the  French  govern 
ment,  as  a  bonus  for  its  good  will.     Cornwallis  was  kept  too  busy  in  providing  for  his  own  safety, 
while  in  Princeton,  to  allow  him  to  rob  the  college  of  so  great  a  treasure.  *  Page  160. 

6  Permanent  stations  for  small  bodies  of  troops. 


270  THE    REVOLUTION. 

of  March,  1777,  not  a  British  nor  a  Hessian  soldier  could  be  found  in 
New  Jersey,  except  at  New  Brunswick  and  Amboy.1  Those  dreaded  bat 
talions  which,  sixty  days  before,  were  all-powerful  in  New  Jersey,  and  had 
frightened  the  Continental  Congress  from  Philadelphia,  were  now  hemmed  in 
upon  the  Raritan,  and  able  to  act  only  on  the  defensive.  Considering  the 
attending  circumstances,  this  was  a  great  triumph  for  the  Americans.  It 
revived  the  martial  spirit  of  the  people,  and  the  hopes  of  all  good  patriots ;  and 
hundreds  in  New  Jersey,  who  had  been  deceived  by  Howe's  proclamation,  and 
had  suffered  Hessian  brutality,  openly  espoused  the  Whig  cause.  Congress 
had  returned  to  Philadelphia,2  and  commenced  its  labors  with  renewed  vigor. 

It  was  almost  the  first  of  June  before  the  main  body  of  the  two  armies  com 
menced  the  summer  campaign.  In  the  mean  while,  smaller  detachments  were 
in  motion  at  various  points.  A  strong  armament  was  sent  up  the  Hudson,  in 
March,  to  destroy  American  stores  at  Peekskill,  at  the  southern  entrance  to  the 
Highlands.  The  Americans  there,  under  the  command  of  General  McDougal, 
perceiving  a  defense  of  the  property  to  be  futile,  set  fire  to  the  stores  and 
retreated  to  the  hills  in  the  rear.  The  British  returned  to  New  York  the  same 
evening  [March  23,  1777].  Almost  a  month  afterward  [April  13],  Corn- 
wallis  went  up  the  Raritan  from  New  Brunswick,  to  surprise  the  Americans 
under  General  Lincoln,  at  Boundbrook.  The  latter  escaped,  with  difficulty, 
after  losing  about  sixty  men  and  a  part  of  his  baggage.  Toward  the  close  of 
April  [April  25],  Governor  Tryon,3  at  the  head  of  two  thousand  British  and 
Tories,  went  up  Long  Island  Sound,  landed  at  Compo  [April  26],  between 
Norwalk  and  Fairfield,  marched  to  Danbury,  destroyed  a  large  quantity  of 
stores  belonging  to  the  Americans,  burned  the  town,  and  cruelly  treated  the 
inhabitants.  Perceiving  the  militia  to  be  gathering  in  great  numbers,  he 
retreated  rapidly  the  next  morning,  by  way  of  Ridgefield.  Near  that  village, 
he  had  some  severe  skirmishing  with  the  militia  under  Generals  Wooster, 
Arnold,4  and  Silliman.  Wooster  was  killed,5  Arnold  narrowly  escaped,  but 
Silliman,  keeping  the  field,  harassed  the  British  all  the  way  to  the  coast.  At 
Compo,  and  while  embarking,  they  were  terribly  galled  by  artillery  under 
Lamb.0  Tryon  lost  almost  three  hundred  men  during  this  expedition,  and 
killed  or  wounded  about  half  that  number  of  Americans.  His  atrocities  on  that 

1  The  Americans  went  out  in  small  companies,  made  sudden  attacks  upon  pickets,  out -posts, 
and  foraging  parties,  and  in  this  way  frightened  the  detachments  of  the  enemy  and  drove  them  in 
to  the  main  body  on  the  Raritan.  At  Springfield,  a  few  miles  from  Elizabethtown,  they 
attacked  a  party  of  Hessians  who  were  penetrating  the  country  from  Elizabethport  [January  7, 
1777],  killed  between  forty  and  fifty  of  them,  and  drove  the  remainder  in  great  confusion  back  to 
Staten  Island.  A  larger  foraging  party  was  defeated  near  Somerset  court  house  [January  20]  by 
about  five  hundred  New  Jersey  militia  under  General  Dickinson ;  and  Newark,  Elizabethtown  and 
"Woodbridge,  were  taken  possession  of  by  the  patriots.  "  Page  262.  3  Page  223. 

4  Page  234.     For  his  gallantry  at  Ridgefield,  Congress  ordered  a  horse,  richly  caparisoned,  to 
be  presented  to  him. 

5  David  Wooster  was  born  in  Stratford,  Connecticut,  in  1710.     He  was  at  Louisburg  in  1745 
[page  137],  became  a  captain  in  the  British  army,  and  was  in  the  French  and  Indian  War.     He  was 
in  Canada  in  the  spring  of  1776  [page  243],  and  gave  promise  of  being  one  of  the  most  efficient  of 
the  American  officers  in  the  war  for  Independence.     His  loss,  at  such  a  critical  period  of  the  conflict, 
was  much  deplored.     The  State  of  Connecticut  erected  a  monument  to  his  memory,  in  1854. 

0  Page  240. 


1777.]  THIRD   YEAR   OF   THE   WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.          271 

occasion  were  never  forgotten  nor  forgiven.  The  name  of  Tryon  will  ever  be 
held  in  detestation  by  all  lovers  of  justice  and  humanity.  He  had  already, 
while  governor  of  North  Carolina,  been  named  by  the  Indians,  The  Great 
Wolf,  and  in  his  marauding  expeditions  during  the  earlier  years  of  the  war 
for  Independence,  his  conduct  confirmed  the  judgment  of  the  Red  Men.  We 
shall  meet  him  again. 

The  Americans  did  not  always  act  upon  the  defensive :  they  were  some 
times  the  aggressors.  Toward  the  close  of  May  [May  22,  1777],  Colonel 
Meigs,  with  one  hundred  and  seventy  men,  crossed  Long  Island  Sound  in  wThale- 
boats,  from  Guilford,  Connecticut,  and  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  23d 
of  that  month,  attacked  a  British  provision  post  at  Sagg  Harbor,  near  the 
eastern  extremity  of  Long  Island.  They  burned  a  dozen  vessels,  and  the  store 
houses  and  contents,  secured  ninety  prisoners,  and  reached  Guilford  at  two 
o'clock  the  next  day,  without  losing  a  man  of  their  own  party.  For  this  exploit, 
Congress  voted  thanks  to  Colonel  Meigs  and  his  men,  and  a  sword  to  the  com 
mander.  A  little  later  in  the  season,  an  equally  bold  exploit  was  performed 
on  Rhode  Island.  On  a  dark  night  in  July  [July  10],  Colonel  William  Bar 
ton,  with  a  company  of  picked  men,  crossed  Narraganset  Bay  in  whale-boats, 
in  the  midst  of  the  British  fleet,  stole  cautiously  to  the  quarters  of  General 
Prescott,1  the  British  commander  on  Rhode  Island,  seized  him  while  in  bed, 
and  carried  him  in  triumph  across  the  bay  to  Warwick.  There  a  carriage  was 
in  waiting  for  him,  and  at  sunrise  he  was  under  a  strong  guard  at  Providence. 
From  thence  he  was  sent  to  the  headquarters  of  Washington,  at  Middlebrook, 
on  the  Raritan,2  and  was  exchanged,  in  April,  the  next  year,  for  General 
Charles  Lee.3  For  Colonel  Barton's  bravery,  on  that  occasion,  Congress  voted 
him  an  elegant  sword,  and  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  and  pay  of  a  colonel 
in  the  continental  army. 

The  American  commander-in-chief  continued  his  head  quarters  at  Morris- 
town  until  near  the  last  of  May.  During  the  spring  he  had  inoculated  a  large 
portion  of  his  troops  for  the  small-pox  ;*  and  when  the  leaves  put  forth,  a  fair 
degree  of  health  prevailed  in  his  camp,  and  his  army  had  increased  by  recruits, 
to  almost  ten  thousand  men.  He  was  prepared  for  action,  offensive  and  defens 
ive  ;  but  the  movements  of  the  British  perplexed  him.  Burgoyne  was  assem 
bling  an  army  at  St.  John,  on  the  Sorel,5  and  vicinity,  preparatory  to  an 
invasion  of  New  York,  by  way  of  Lake  Champlain,  to  achieve  that  darling 
object  of  the  British  ministry,  the  occupation  of  the  country  on  the  Hudson.6 


1  Page  240.     Prescott's  quarters  were  at  a  house  yet  [1867]  standing,  a  short  distance  above 
Newport,  and  about  a  mile  from  the  bay. 

2  While  on  his  way,  his  escort  stopped  at  Lebanon,  Connecticut,  to  dine.     Prescott  was  a 
morose,  haughty,  and  violent-tempered  man.     At  the  table,  a  dish  of  succotash  (beans  and  corn) 
was  brought  to  him.     Not  being  accustomed  to  such  food,  he  regarded  it  as  an  insult,  and  taking 
the  dish  from  the  hands  of  the  hostess,  he  strewed  its  contents  upon  the  floor.     Her  husband  being 
informed  of  it,  flogged  the  general  severely,  with  a  horsewhip. 

3  Note  4,  page  248  ;  also  page  288. 

4  The  common  practice  of  vaccination  at  the  present  day  was  then  unknown  in  this  country. 
Indeed,  the  attention  of  Jenner,  the  father  of  the  practice,  had  then  just  been  turned  to  the  subject. 
It  was  practiced  here  a  year  after  the  close  of  the  war.     '         6  Page  240.  °  Page  283. 


272  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1777. 

But  whether  Howe  was  preparing  to  co-operate  with  Burgoyne,  or  to  make 
another  attempt  to  seize  Philadelphia,1  Washington  could  not  determine.  He 
prepared  for  both  events  by  stationing  Arnold  with  a  strong  detachment  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Delaware,  concentrating  a  large  force  on  the  Hudson,  and 
moving  the  main  body  of  his  army  to  Middlebrook,  within  ten  miles  of  the 
British  camp  at  New  Brunswick. 

Washington  was  not  kept  in  suspense  a  great  while.  On  the  12th  of  June 
[1777],  Howe  passed  over  from  New  York,  where  he  made  his  head  quarters 
during  the  winter,  concentrated  the  main  body  of  his  army  at  New  Brunswick, 
and  tried  to  draw  Washington  into  an  engagement  by  a  feigned  movement  [June 
14]  toward  the  Delaware.  The  chief,  perceiving  the  meaning  of  this  movement, 
and  aware  of  his  comparative  strength,  wisely  remained  in  his  strong  position 
at  Middlebrook  until  Howe  suddenly  retreated  [June  19],  sent  some  of  his 
troops  over  to  Staten  Island  [June  22],  and  appeared  to  bo  evacuating  New 
Jersey.  This  movement  perplexed  Washington.  He  was  fairly  deceived ;  and 
ordering  strong  detachments  in  pursuit,  he  advanced  several  miles  in  the  same 
direction,  with  his  whole  army.  Howe  suddenly  changed  front  [June  25],  and 
attempted  to  gain  the  rear  of  the  Americans  ;  but,  after  Stirling's  brigade  had 
maintained  a  severe  skirmish  with  a  corps  under  Cornwallis  [June  26],  the 
Americans  regained  their  camp  without  much  loss.  Five  days  afterward  [June 
80],  the  whole  British  army  crossed  over  to  Staten  Island,  and  left  New  Jersey 
in  the  complete  possession  of  the  patriots. 

Washington  now  watched  the  movements  of  his  enemy  with  great  anxiety 
and  the  utmost  vigilance.  It  was  evident  that  some  bold  stroke  was  about  to  be 
attempted  by  the  British.  On  the  12th  of  July,  Burgoyne,  who  had  been 
moving  steadily  up  Lake  Champlain,  with  a  powerful  army,  consisting  of  about 
seven  thousand  British  and  German  troops,  and  a  large  body  of  Canadians  and 
Indians,  took  possession  of  Crown  Point  and  Ticonderoga,2  and  spread  terror 
over  the  whole  North.  At  the  same  time  the  British  fleet  at  New  York  took 
such  a  position  as  induced  the  belief  that  it  was  about  to  pass  up  the  Hudson 
and  co-operate  with  the  victorious  invader.  Finally,  Howe  left  General  Clinton 
in  command  at  New  York,  and  embarking  on  board  the  fleet  with  eighteen 
thousand  troops  [July  23],  he  sailed  for  the  Delaware.  When  Washington 
comprehended  this  movement,  he  left  a  strong  force  on  the  Hudson,  and  with 
the  main  body  of  his  troops  pushed  forward  to  Philadelphia.  There  he  was 
saluted  by  a  powerful  ally,  in  the  person  of  a  stripling,  less  than  twenty  years 
of  age.  He  was  a  wealthy  French  nobleman,  who,  several  months  before,  while 
at  a  dinner  with  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,3  first  heard  of  the  struggle  of  the 
Americans,  their  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  the  preparations  made  to 
crush  them.  His  young  soul  was  fired  with  aspirations  to  give  them  his  aid ; 
and  quitting  the  army,  he  hurried  to  Paris.  Although  he  had  just  married 
a  young  and  beautiful  girl,  and  a  bright  career  was  opened  for  him  in  his  own 

'  Page  261.  2  Page  234. 

3  The  duke  was  the  brother  of  the  king  of  England,  and  at  the  time  in  question,  was  dining  with 
some  French  officers,  in  the  old  town  of  Mentz,  in  Germany. 


1777.] 


THIRD   YEAR   OF   THE   WAR   FOR   IND  E  PE  NDEXC  E. 


273 


GENERAL   LA   FAYETTE. 


country,  he  left  all,   and    hastened  to  America  in  a  vessel  fitted  out  at  his 

own  expense.     He  offered  his  services  to  the  Continental 

Congress,  and  that  body  gave  him  the  commission  [July 

31]  of  a  major-general.     Three  days  afterward  [Aug.  3] 

he  was  introduced  to  Washington  at  a  public  dinner :  and 

within  less   than   forty  days    he  was    gallantly   fighting 

[September  11],  as  a  volunteer,  for  freedom  in  America, 

on  the  banks  of  the  Brandy  wine.     That  young  general  was 

the  Marquis    de  LA   FAYETTE,1  whose  name  is  forever 

linked  with  that  of  Washington  and  Liberty. 

The  British  fleet,  with  the  army  under  Sir  William  Howe,2  did  not  go  up 
the  Delaware,  as  was  anticipated,  but  ascended  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  at  its 
head,  near  the  village  of  Elkton,  in  Maryland,  the  land  forces  disembarked 
[Aug.  25],  and  marched  toward  Philadelphia.  Washington  had  advanced  be 
yond  the  Brandy  wine  Creek,  and  took  post  a  few  miles  from  Wilmington. 
Howe's  superior  force  compelled  him  to  fall  back  to  the  east  side  of  the  Brandy- 
wine  ;  and  at  Chad's  Ford,  several 
miles  above  Wilmington,  he  made 
a  stand  for  the  defense  of  Phila 
delphia.  At  that  point,  the  Hes- 
ians  under  Knyphausen3  attacked 
the  left  wing  of  the  Americans 
[Sept.  11,  1777],  commanded  by 
Washington  in  person ;  while  Howe 
and  Cornwallis,  crossing  the  stream 
several  miles  above,  fell  upon  the 
American  right,  under  General 
Sullivan,  near  the  Birmingham 
meeting-house.4  The  contest  raged 
fearfully  during  the  whole  day. 
At  night  the  shattered  and  defeated  battalions  of  patriots  retreated  to 
Chester,  and  the  following  day  [Sept.  12]  to  Philadelphia.  Many  brave  men 
were  killed  or  disabled  on  that  sanguinary  field.  La  Fayette  was  severely 
wounded  ;5  and  the  patriots  lost  full  twelve  hundred  men,  killed,  wounded,  and 

1  He  was  born  on  the  6th  of  September,  1757.     He  married  the  daughter  of  the  Duke  de 
Noailles,  a  beautiful  heiress,  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years.     He  first  landed  on  the  coast  of  South 
Carolina,  in  Winyaw  Bay,  near  Georgetown,  and  made  a  land  journey  to  Philadelphia..    His  appli 
cation  was  not  received  at  first,  by  the  Continental  Congress ;  but  when  his  true  character  and 
designs  were  known,  they  gave  him  a  major-general's  commission.     He  was  afterward  an  active 
patriot  in  his  own  country  in  many  perilous  scenes.     He  visited  America  in  1824-5  [page  453], 
and  died  in  1834,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years.     The  Baron  de  Kalb  [page  316]  and  eleven 
other  French  and  Polish  officers,  came  to  America  in  La  Fayette's  vessel. 

2  After  the  battle  near  Brooklyn  [page  254],  the  king  conferred  the  honor  of  knighthood  upon 
General  William  Howe,  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  British  forces  in  America.     The  ceremony 
was  performed  by  several  of  his  officers,  at  his  quarters  in  the  Beekman  House,  Turtle  Bay,  East 
River.  3  Page  259. 

4  This  was  a  substantial  Quaker  meeting-house,  situated  a  few  miles  from  Chad's  Ford,  on  the 
road  from  Jefleris's  Ford  (where  Howe  and  Coriiwallis  crossed)  to  Wilmington. 

5  A  bullet  passed  through  his  leg.     He  was  conveyed  to  Bethlehem,  in  Pennsylvania,  where 

18 


BATTLE   AT   THE   BRANDYWINE. 


274  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1777. 

made  prisoners.  The  British  lost  almost  eight  hundred.  Washington  failed 
of  success  more  on  account  of  false  intelligence,  by  which  he  was  kept  in  igno 
rance  of  the  approach  of  the  British  on  his  left,  than  by  want  of  skill  or  force.1 

Washington  did  not  remain  idle  in  the  Federal  capital,  but  as  soon  as  the 
troops  were  rested,  he  crossed  the  Schuylkill,  and  proceeded  to  confront  Howe, 
who  was  making  slow  marches  toward  Philadelphia.  They  met  [Sept.  16] 
twenty  miles  west  of  that  city,  and  some  skirmishing  ensued;  but  a  heavy  rain 
prevented  a  general  battle,  and  the  Americans  withdrew  toward  Reading. 
General  Wayne,  in  the  mean  while,  was  hanging  upon  the  rear  of  the  enemy 
with  about  fifteen  hundred  men.  On  the  night  of  the  20th,  he  was  surprised 
by  a  party  of  British  and  Hessians,  under  General  Grey,  near  the  Paoli  Tav 
ern,  and  lost  about  three  hundred  of  his  party.2  With  the  remainder  he  joined 
Washington,  then  near  Valley  Forge,  and  vigilantly  watching  the  movements 
of  Howe.  As  these  indicated  the  intention  of  the  British  commander  to  attempt 
the  seizure  of  a  large  quantity  of  ammunition  and  military  stores  which  the 
Americans  had  collected  at  Reading,  Washington  abandoned  Philadelphia,  and 
took  position  at  Pottsgrove,  thirty-five  miles  distant,  to  protect  those  indispens 
able  materials  for  his  army.  Howe  crossed  the  Schuylkill  [Sept.  23,  1777], 
near  Norristown,  and  marched  to  the  Federal  city3  [Sept.  26],  without  oppo 
sition.  Congress  fled  at  his  approach,  first  to  Lancaster  [Sept.  27],  and  then  to. 
York,  where  it  assembled  on  the  80th,  and  continued  its  session  until  the  fol 
lowing  summer.  The  main  body  of  the  British  army  was  encamped  at  Ger- 
mantown,  four  miles  from  Philadelphia,  and  Howe  prepared  to  make  the  latter 
place  his  winter  quarters.1 

Upon  opposite  sides  of  the  Delaware,  a  few  miles  below  Philadelphia,  were 
two  forts  of  considerable  strength  (Mifflin  and  Mercer),  garrisoned  by  the 
Americans.  While  the  British  army  was  marching  from  the  Chesapeake5  to 
Philadelphia,  the  fleet  had  sailed  around  to  the  Delaware,  and  had  approached 
to  the  head  of  that  bay.  The  forts  commanded  the  river ;  and  chevaux-de- 
frise0  just  below  them,  completely  obstructed  it,  so  that  the  army  in  Philadel 
phia  could  obtain  no  supplies  from  the  fleet.  The  possession  of  these  forts  was 


the  Moravian  sisters  nursed  him  during  his  confinement.  Count  Pulaski  began  his  military  career 
in  the  American  army,  on  the  field  of  Brandywine,  where  he  commanded  a  troop  of  horse,  and 
after  the  battle  ho  was  appointed  to  the  rank  of  Brigadier.  He  was  slain  at  Savannah.  See  note 
3,  page  350. 

1  The  building  seen  in  the  corner  of  the  map,  is  a  view  of  the  head  quarters  of  Washington,  yet 
[1867]  standing,  a  short  distance  from  Chad's  Ford. 

2  The  bodies  of  fifty-three  Americans,  found  on  the  field  the  next  morning,  were 
interred  in  one  broad  grave ;  and  forty  years  afterward,  the  "  Republican  Artillerists" 
of  Chester  county,  erected  a  neat  marble  monument  over  them.      It  stands  in  the 
center  of  an  inclosure  which  contains  the  ground  consecrated  by  the  burial  of  these 
patriots. 

3  Philadelphia,  New  York,  and  "Washington,  have   been,   respectively,  federal 
cities,  or  cities  where  the  Federal  Congress  of  the  United  States  assembled. 

4  Note  2,  page  285.  6  Page  273. 

6  Chevaux-de-frise  are  obstructions  placed  in  river  channels  to  prevent  the  pass 
age  of  vessels.  They  are  generally  made  of  a  series  of  heavy  timbers,  pointed  with 
iron,  and  secured  at  an  angle  in  a  strong  frame  filled  with  stones,  as  seen  in  the 
engraving.  Figure  A  shows  the  position  under  water;  figure  B  shows  how  the  tim 
bers  are  arranged  and  the  stones  placed  in  them. 


1777.]          THIRD   YEAR   OF   THE   WAR   FOR  INDEPENDENCE.  275 

important,  and  on  the  22d  of  October,  they  were  attached  by  detachments  sent 
by  Howe.  Fort  Mercer  was  assailed  by  two  thousand  Hessian  grenadiers  under 
Count  Donop.1  They  were  repulsed  by  the  garrison  of  less  than  five  hundred 
men,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Christopher  Greene,  of  Rhode  Island,  after  los- 
ino-  their  commander,2  and  almost  four  hundred  soldiers.  The  garrison  of  Fort 
Mlfflin,  under  Lieutenant- Colonel  Samuel  Smith,  also  made  a  gallant  defense, 
but  after  a  series  of  assaults  by  land  and  water,  it  was  abandoned  [Nov.  16, 
1777].  Two  days  afterward,  Fort  Mercer  was  also  abandoned,  and  several 
British  ships  sailed  up  to  Philadelphia.3 

When  Washington  was  informed  of  the  weakened 
condition  of  the  British  army,  by  the  detachment  of 
these  forces  to  attack  the  Delaware  forts,  he  resolved 
to  assail  the  camp  at  Germantown.  He  had  moved 
down  the  Schuylkill  to  Skippack  Creek  [Sept.  25], 
and  from  that  point  he  marched,  silently,  on  the  even 
ing  of  the  3d  of  October  [1777],  toward  the  camp 
of  the  enemy.  He  reached  Chestnut  Hill,  beyond 
Germantown,  at  dawn  the  following  morning,  and  the 

BATTLE    AT   GERMAXTOWN. 

attack  soon  commenced  near  there.     After  a  severe 

battle,  which  continued  almost  three  hours,  the  patriots  were  repulsed,  with  a 
loss,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners,  about  equal  to  that  at  Brandywine.4 
The  British  lost  only  about  six  hundred.  On  the  19th,  Howe  broke  up  his 
encampment  at  Germantown,  and  three  weeks  afterward,  he  proceeded  to  place 
his  whole  army  in  winter  quarters  in  Philadelphia.  Washington  retired  to 
his  camp  on  Skippack  Creek  ;  and  on  the  29th  of  November,  he  prepared  to 
go  into  winter  quarters  at  White  Marsh,  fourteen  miles  from  Philadelphia. 

Let  us  now  turn  for  a  while  from  these  scenes  of  conflict  and  disaster  in 
which  the  beloved  commander-in-chief  was  personally  engaged,  to  the  consider 
ation  of  important  events  which  were  transpiring  on  the  waters  and  banks  of 
Lake  Champlain  and  the  Hudson  River.  Burgoyne,  with  more  than  ten 
thousand  men,  invested  Ticonderoga  on  the  2d  of  July.  The  fortress  was  gar 
risoned  by  General  St.  Clair,  with  only  about  three  thousand  men.  Upon 


1  Page  263. 

2  Donop  was  terribly  wounded,  and  taken  to  the  house  of  a  Quaker  near  by,  where  he  expired 
three  days  afterward.    He  was  buried  within  the  fort.    A  few  years  ago  his  bones  were  disinterred, 
and  his  skull  was  taken  possession  of  by  a  New  Jersey  physician. 

3  In  the  defense  of  these  forts,  the  Americans  lost  about  three  hundred  men,  and  the  enemy 
almost  double  that  number. 

4  Washington  felt  certain  of  victory  at  the  beginning  of  the  battle.     Just  as  it  commenced,  a 
dense  fog  overspread  the  country;  and  through  the  inexperience  of  his  troops,  great  confusion,  in 
their  movements,  was  produced.     A  false  rumor  caused  a  panic  among  the  Americans,  just  as 
the  British  were  about  to  fall  back,  and  a  general  retreat  and  loss  of  victory  was  the  result.     In 
Germantown,  a  strong  stone  house  is  yet  [1867]  standing,  which  belonged  to  Judge  Chew.     This 
a  part  of  the  enemy  occupied,  and  from  the  windows  fired  with  deadly  effect  upon  the  Ameri 
cans.     No  blame  was  attached  to  Washington  for  this  defeat,  when  victory  seemed  easy  and  certain. 
On  the  contrary,  Congress,  on  the  receipt  of  Washington's  letter,  describing  the  battle,  passed  a  vote 
of  thanks  to  him  for  his  "  wise  and  well-concerted  attack  upon  the  enemy's  army  near  German- 
town;"  and  "to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  army,  for  their  brave  exertions  on  that  occasion."    A 
medal  was  also  ordered  to  be  struck,  and  presented  to  Washington. 


276  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1777. 

Mount  Independence,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  lake,  was  a  small  fortifica 
tion  and  a  weak  garrison.1  These  composed  the  entire 
force,  except  some  feeble  detachments  of  militia,  to  op 
pose  the  invaders.  On  the  approach  of  Burgoyne,  St. 
Clair2  left  his  outworks,  gathered  his  forces  near  the 
fortress,  and  prepared  for  an  assault ;  but  when,  on  the 
evening  of  the  5th,  he  saw  the  scarlet  uniforms  of  the 
British  on  the  top  of  Mount  Defiance,3  and  a  battery  of 
heavy  guns  planted  there,4  more  than  five  hundred  feet 
above  the  fort,  he  knew  resistance  would  be  vain.  That 

GENERAL   ST.    CLAIR.  .  ,.111 

evening  he  sent  his  ammunition  and  stores  up  the  lake 

to  Skenesborough,5  and  under  cover  of  the  darkness,  silently  crossed  over  to 
Mount  Independence,  and  commenced  a  retreat  to  Fort  Edward,6  the  head 
quarters  of  General  Schuyler,  who  was  then  in  command  of  the  northern  army. 
The  retreating  army  would  have  been  beyond  the  reach  of  pursuers  by 
dawn,  had  not  their  exit  been  discovered.  Contrary  to  express  orders,  a  build 
ing  was  fired  on  Mount  Independence,  and  by  its  light  their  flight  was  discov 
ered  by  the  enemy,  and  a  strong  party,  consisting  of  the  brigade  of  General 
Eraser,  and  two  Hessian  corps  under  Riedesel,  was  immediately  sent  in  pursuit. 
At  dawn,  the  British  flag  was  waving  over  Ticonderoga ;  and  a  little  after  sun 
rise  [July  7,  1777],  the  rear  division  of  the  flying  Americans,  under  Colonel 
Seth  Warner,7  were  overtaken  in  Hubbardton,  Vermont,  and  a  severe  engage 
ment  followed.  The  patriots  were  defeated  and  dispersed,  and  the  victors 
returned  to  Ticonderoga.3  Before  sunset  the  same  evening,  a  flotilla  of  British 
vessels  had  overtaken  and  destroyed  the  Americans'  stores  which  St.  Clair  had 
sent  up  the  lake,  and  also  a  large  quantity  at  Skenesborough.  The  fragments 
of  St.  Clair's  army  reached  Fort  Edward  on  the  12th,  thoroughly  dispirited. 
Disaster  had  followed  disaster  in  quick  succession.  Within  a  week,  the  Amer 
icans  had  lost  almost  two  hundred  pieces  of  artillery,  and  a  large  amount  of 
provisions  and  military  stores. 

1  During  the  previous  years,  the  Americans  constructed  a  picketed  fort,  or  stockade  [note  2, 
page  183],  on  that  eminence,  built  about  three  hundred  huts  or  barracks,  dug  several  wells,  and 
placed  batteries  at  different  points.     The  remains  of  these  are  now  [1867]  everywhere  visible  on 
Mount  Independence.     That  eminence  received  this  name  because  the  troops  took  possession  of  it 
on  the  4th  of  July,  1776.     Page  250. 

2  Arthur  St.  Clair  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  came  to  America  with  Admiral  Boscawen,  early 
in  May,  1755.     He  served  under  Wolfe  [page  201];  and  when  the  Revolution  broke  out,  lie  en 
tered  the  American  army.     He  served  during  the  war,  and  afterward  commanded  an  expedition 
against  the  Indians  in  Ohio,  where  he  was  unsuccessful,    lie  died  in  1818,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four 
years. 

3  This  is  a  hill  about  750  feet  in  height,  situated  on  the  south-west  side  of  the  outlet  of  Lake 
George,  opposite  Ticonderoga. 

4  With  immense  labor,  Burgoyne  opened  a  road  up  the  northern  slope  of  Mount  Defiance,  and 
dragged  heavy  artillery  to  the  summit.     From  that  point,  every  ball  might  be  hurled  within  the 
fort  below  without  difficulty.     The  position  of  that  road  may  yet  [1867]  be  traced  by  the  second 
growth  of  trees  on  its  line  up  the  mountain. 

6  Now  Whitehall.  It  was  named  after  Philip  Skene,  who  settled  there  in  1764.  The  narrow 
part  of  Lake  Champlain,  from  Ticonderoga  to  Whitehall,  was  formerly  called  Wood  Creek  (the  name 
of  the  stream  that  enters  the  lake  at  Whitehall),  and  also  South  River.  e  Page  188.  7  Page  232. 

8  The  Americans  lost,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  a  little  more  than  three  hundred ;  the 
British  reported  their  loss  at  one  hundred  and  eighty-three. 


1777.]          THIRD  YEAR  OF  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.          277 

The  force  under  General  Schuyler  was  very  small,  and  even  with  this  rein 
forcement  by  the  fugitives  from  the  lake,  he  had  only  about  four  thousand  effect 
ive  men — a  number  totally  inadequate  to  combat  with  those  of  Burgoyne.  He 
therefore  sent  a  strong  party  toward  Skenesborough  to  fell  huge  trees  across 
the  roads,  and  to  destroy  all  the  bridges,  so  as  to  obstruct  the  march  of  the 
invaders,  while  he  slowly  retreated  down  the  Hudson  valley  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Mohawk,  and  there  established  a  fortified  camp.1  His  call  for  aid  was  nobly 
responded  to,  for  the  whole  country  was  thoroughly  aroused  to  a  sense  of  peril. 
Detachments  were  sent  from  the  regular  army  to  strengthen  him  ;  and  soon 
General  Lincoln  came  with  a  large  body  of  New  England  militia.  When 
General  Gates  arrived,  to  take  the  chief  command,2  he  found  an  army  of  thir 
teen  thousand  men,  ready  to  meet  the  invader. 

The  progress  of  Burgoyne  was  slow,  and  he  did  not  reach  Fort  Edward 
until  the  30th  of  July.3  The  obstructions  ordered  by  Schuyler,  and  the  de 
struction  of  the  bridges,  were  great  hinderances.4  His  army  was  also  worn  down 
by  fatigue,  and  his  provisions  were  almost  exhausted.  To  replenish  his  stores, 
he  sent  five  hundred  Germans,  Canadians,  and  Tories,  and  one  hundred  Indians, 
under  Colonel  Baume,  to  seize  provisions  and  cattle  which  the  Americans  had 
collected  at  Bennington,  thirty-five  miles  distant.  Colonel  John  Stark  had 
called  out  the  New  Hampshire  militia :  and  near  Hoosick,  within  five  miles  of 
Bennington,  they  met  [Aug.  16]  and  defeated  the  marauders.  And  toward 
evening,  when  another  German  party,  under  Colonel  Breyman,  approached, 
they  also  were  defeated  by  a  continental  force  under  Colonel  Seth  Warner.6 
Many  of  the  enemy  were  killed,  and  a  large  number  were  made  prisoners.  Bur- 
goyne's  entire  loss,  in  this  expodition,  was  almost  a  thousand  men.  The  Amer 
icans  had  one  hundred  killed,  and  as  many  wounded.  This  defeat  was  fatal  to 
Burgoyne' s  future  operations'" — this  victory  was  a  day-star  of  hope  to  the 


1  Thaddeus  Kosciuszko,  a  Polish  refugee,  who  came  with  Lafay 
ette  [page  273],  was  now  attached  to  Schuyler's  army,  as  engineer. 
Under  his  direction,  the  intrenchments  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mohawk 
River,  were  constructed ;  also,  those  at  Stillwater  and  Saratoga.  The 
camp  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mohawk  was  upon  islands  just  below  the 
Great,  or  Cohoes'  Falls. 

2  General  Schuyler  had  superseded  Gates  in  June,  and  had  been 
skillfully  confronting  Burgoyne.    But  Gates,  seeing  a  chance  for  gain 
ing  laurels,  and  having  a  strong  party  of  friends  in  Congress,  sought 
the  chief  command  of  the  northern  army.  It  was  ungenerously  taken 
from  Schuyler  at  the  moment  when,  by  great  exertions  and  through 
great  hardships,  he  had  a  force  prepared  to  confront  Burgoyue,  with 
some  prospect  of  success. 

3  It  was  while  Burgoyne  was  approaching  that  point,  that  Jane  KOSCIUSZKO. 
M'Crea,  the  betrothed  of  a  young  Tory  in  the  British  army,  was  shot, 

while  being  conveyed  by  a  party  of  Indians  from  Fort  Edward  to  the  British  camp.  Her  death  was 
untruly  charged  upon  the  Indians,  and  it  was  made  the  subject  of  the  most  bitter  denunciations  of  the 
British  ministers,  for  employing  such  cruel  instrumentalities.  The>  place  of  her  death  is  a  short  dis 
tance  from  the  village  of  Fort  Edward.  The  pine-tree  which  marked  the  spot,  decayed  a  few  years 
since,  and  in  1853,  it  was  cut  down,  and  converted  into  canes  and  boxes  for  the  curious. 

4  Burgoyne  was  obliged  to  construct  forty  bridges  on  the  way,  and  to  remove  the  many  trees 
which  lay  across  the  roads.    To  estimate  the  amount  of  fatigue  which  the  troops  must  have  endured 
during  that  hot  month,  it  must  be  remembered  that  each  soldier  bore  a  weight  of  sixty  pounds,  in 
arms,  accoutrements,  and  supplies.  B  Pages  234  and  240. 

6  It  dispirited  his  troops,  who  were  worn  down  with  the  fatigue  of  the  obstructed  march  from 
Skenesborough  to  Fort  Edward.     It  also  causad  a  delay  of  a  month  at  that  place,  and  in  the  mean 


278 


THE     REVOLUTION. 


[1777. 


Americans.     Applause  of  the  New  Hampshire  militia  rang  through  the  land, 

and  Stark  was  made  a  brigadier  in  the  continental  army. 

During  Burgoyne's  approach,  the  Mohawk  valley  had  become  a  scene  of 
great  confusion  and  alarm.  Colonel  St.  Leger  and  his 
savages,  joined  by  the  Mohawk  Indians,  under  Brant,1 
and  a  body  of  Tories,  under  Johnson2  and  Butler,  had 
arrived  from  Oswego,  and  invested  Fort  Stanwix,  on 
the  3d  of  August  [1777].  The  garrison  was  com 
manded  by  Colonel  Gansevoort,  and  made  a  spirited 
defense.  General  Herkimer  rallied  the  militia  of  his 
neighborhood  ;  and  while  marching  to  the  assistance  of 
Gansevoort,  he  fell  into  an  Indian  ambuscade  [Aug.  6] 
at  Oriskany.3  His  party  was  totally  defeated,  after  a 
bloody  conflict,  and  himself  was  mortally  wounded.  On 
the  same  day,  a  corps  of  the  garrison,  under  Colonel 

Willet,    made   a   successful    sortie,4   and   broke  the  power  of  the    besiegers. 

Arnold,  who  had  been  sent  by  Schuyler  to  the  relief  of  the  fort,  soon  afterward 

approached,  when  the  besiegers  fled  [Aug.  22],  and  quiet  was  restored  to  the 

Mohawk  valley. 

The  disastrous  events  at  Bennington  and  Fort  Stan- 

wix,    and   the    straitened    condition  of  his  commissariat, 

greatly  perplexed    Burgoyne.     To   retreat,    advance,    or 

remain    inactive,    seemed  equally  perilous.      With  little 

hope  of  reaching  Albany,  where  he  had  boasted  he  would 

eat  his   Christmas    dinner,   he   crossed  the  Hudson  and 

formed  a  fortified  camp  on  the  hills  and  plains  of  Sara 
toga,    now    the    site    of    Schuylerville.       General    Gates 

advanced  to  Bemis's  Heights,  about  four  miles  north  of 


JOSEPH  LEANT. 


GENERAL  EURGOYNE. 


while  their  provisions  were  rapidly  diminishing.  While  at  Fort  Edward,  Burgoyne  received  intel 
ligence  of  the  defeat  of  St.  Leger  at  Fort  Stanwix. 

1  Joseph  Brant  was  a  Mohawk  Indian,  and  a  great  favorite  of  Sir  William  Johnson.     He  ad 
hered  to  the  British,  and  went  to  Canada  after  the  war,  where  he  died  in  1807,  aged  sixty-five 
years. 

2  Sir  William  Johnson  [page  190]  (then  dead)  had  been  a  sort  of  auto 
crat  among  the  Indians  and  Tories  in  the  Mohawk  valley.  He  flattered 
the  chiefs  in  various  ways,  and  through  them  he  obtained  almost  un 
bounded  influence  over  the  tribes,  especially  that  of  the  Mohawks.  He 
was  in  the  habit  of  giving  those  chiefs  who  pleased  him,  a  diploma,  certi 
fying  their  good  character,  and  faithfulness  to  his  majesty.  These  con 
tained  a  picture,  representing  a  treaty  council,  of  which  the  annexed 
engraving  is  a  coj)y.  His  family  were  the  worst  enemies  of  the  Ameri 
cans  during  the  war,  in  that  region.  His  son,  John,  raised  a  regiment  of 
Tories,  called  the  Johnson  Greens  (those  who  joined  St.  Leger) ;  and  John 

Butler,  a  cruel  leader,  was  at  the  head  of  another  band,  called  Butter's  Rangers.  These  co-operated 
with  Brant,  the  great  Mohawk  sachem,  and  for  years  they  made  the  Mohawk  valley  and  vicinity 
truly  a  "dark  and  bloody  ground."  These  men  were  the  allies  of  St.  Leger  on  the  occasion  in 
question. 

3  The  place  of  the  battle  is  about  halfway  between  Utica  and  Rome.    The  latter  village  is  upon 

ZTort  Stanwix,  built  by  Bradstreet  and  his  troops  in  1758  [page  197].  It  was  repaired 
and  gai-uscned  in  1776,  and  its  name  was  changed  to  Fort  Schuyler.  Another  Fort  Schuyler  was 
built  during  the  French  and  Indian  War,  where  Utica  now  stands. 

4  Note  7,  page  241. 


A  TREATY. 


BURGOYNE  SURRENDERING  HIS  SWORD  TO  GATES. 


1777.] 


THIRD  YEAR  OF  THE  WAR  FOR    INDEPENDENCE. 


281 


Stillwater  (and  twenty-five  from  Albany),  and  also  formed  a  fortified  camp.1 
Burgoyne  perceived  the  necessity  for  immediate  operations,  and  advancing  toward 
the  American  camp,  a  severe  but  indecisive  action 
ensued,  on  the  19th  of  September  [1777].  Night 
terminated  the  conflict,  and  both  parties  claimed  the 
victory.2  Burgoyne  fell  back  to  his  camp,  where  he 
resolved  to  await  the  arrival  of  expected  detach 
ments  from  General  Clinton,  who  was  to  attack  the 
posts  on  the  Hudson  Highlands,  and  force  his  way  to 
Albany.3  But  after  waiting  a  few  days,  and  hearing 
nothing  from  Clinton,  he  prepared  for  another  at 
tempt  upon  the  Americans,  for  the  militia  were  flock 
ing  to  Gates's  camp,  arid  Indian  warriors  of  the  Six 
NATIONS4  were  gathering  there.  His  own  force,  on 
the  contrary,  was  hourly  diminishing.  As  his  star,  which  arose  so  brightly  at 
Ticonderoga,5  began  to  decline  upon  the  Hudson,  the  Canadians  and  his  Indian 
allies  deserted  him  in  great  numbers.0  He  was  compelled  to  fight  or  flee. 
Aorain  he  advanced  :  and  after  a  severe  battle  of  several  hours,  on  the  7th  of 

o 

October,  and  almost  on  the  same  ground  occupied  on  the  19th  of  September,  he 
was  compelled  to  fall  back  to  the  heights  of  Saratoga,  and  leave  the  patriots  in 
the  possession  of  the  field.  Ten  days  afterward  [October  17],  finding  only 
three  days'  provisions  in  his  camp,  hearing  nothing  of  Clinton,  and  perceiving 
retreat  impossible,  he  was  compelled  to  surrender  his  whole  army  prisoners  of 
war.7  Of  necessity,  the  forts  upon  Lake  Champlain  now  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  patriots. 


BEMIS'S  HEIGHTS. 


1  The  remains  of  some  of  the  intrenchments  were  yet  visible  in  1850,  when  the  writer  visited 
the  locality. 

2  The  number  of  Americans  engaged  in  this  action,  was  about  two  thousand  five  hundred ;  that 
of  the  British  was  about  three  thousand.     The  former  lost,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  three 
hundred  and  nineteen;  the  British  loss  was  rather  less  than  five  hundred.  3  Page  283. 

4  Page  25.  6  Page  276. 

6  The  Indians  had  been  disappointed  in  their  expectations  of  blood  and  plunder ;  and  now  was 
their  hunting  season,  when  provisions  must  be  secured  for  winter  use.     The  Canadians  saw  nothing 
but  defeat  in  the  future,  and  left  the  army  in  whole  companies. 

7  The  whole  number  surrendered  was  five  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-one,  of  whom 
two  thousand  four  hundred  and  twelve  were  Germans  or  Hessians  [page  183],  under  the  chief  com 
mand  of  the  Baron  Riedesel,  whose  wife  accompanied  him,  and  afterward  wrote  a  very  interesting 
account  of  her  experience  in  America.     Burgoyne  did  dine  at  Albany,  but  as  a  prisoner,  though  a 
guest  at  the  table  of  General  Schuyler.     That  noble  patriot,  though  smarting  under  the  injustice  of 
Congress  and  the  pride  of  Gatas,  did  not  abate  his  zeal  for  the  good  cause  when  he  had  surrendered 
his  command  into  the  hands  of  his  successor,  but,  as  a  private  citizen,  gave  his  time,  his  labor,  and 
his  money  freely,  until  he  saw  the  invader  humbled ;  and  then,  notwithstanding  Burgoyne,  without 
the  show  of  a  just  excuse,  had  destroyed  Schuyler's  fine  mansion,  his  mills,  and  much  other  prop 
erty,  at  Saratoga,  he  made  the  vanquished  general  a  guest  at  his  own  table.     When  Burgoyne  said, 
"You  are  very  kind  to  one  who  has  done  you  so  much  injury,"  the  generous  patriot  replied,  "That 
was  the  fate  of  war ;  let  us  say  no  more  about  it."     Burgoyne's  troops  laid  down  their  arms  upon 
the  plain  in  front  of  Schuylerville ;  and  the  meeting  of  the  conqueror  and  the  conquered,  for  the 
latter  to  surrender  his  sword,  was  a  very  significant  scene.     The  two  came  out  of  Gates's  marquee 
together.     Without  exchanging  a  word,  Burgoyne,  according  to  previous  arrangement,  stepped 
back,  drew  his  sword,  and,  in  the  presence  of  the  two  armies,  presented  it  to  General  Gates.  ^  The 
latter  received  it  with  a  courteous  inclination  of  the  head,  and  instantly  returned  it  to  the  vanquished 
general.     They  then  returned  to  the  marquee  together.     The  British  filed  off,  and  took  up  their  line 
of  march  for  Boston;  and  thus  ended  this  important  act  in  the  great  drama,  upon  the  heights  of 
Saratoga,     Burgoyne's  troops  were  marched  to  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  with  the  view  of  sending 


282  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1777. 

Glorious,  indeed,  was  this  victory  for  the  Americans.  It  gave  them  a  fine 
train  of  brass  artillery,  five  thousand  muskets,  and  a  vast  amount  of  munitions 
of  war.  Its  moral  effect  was  of  greater  importance.  All  eyes  had  been 
anxiously  turned  to  the  army  of  the  North,  and  Congress  and  the  people 
listened  eagerly  for  every  breath  of  rumor  from  Saratoga.  How  electric  was 
the  effect  when  a  shout  of  victory  came  from  the  camp  of  Gates  I1  It  rolled 
over  the  land,  and  was  echoed  from  furrows,  workshops,  marts  of  commerce, 
the  halls  of  legislation,  and  from  the  shattered  army  of  Washington  at  White- 
marsh.2  Toryism  stood  abashed ;  the  bills  of  Congress  rose  twenty  per  cent,  in 
value  ;3  private  capital  came  from  its  hiding-places  for  public  employment ;  the 
militia  flocked  to  the  standards  of  leaders,  and  the  great  patriot  heart  of  Amer 
ica  beat  with  strong  pulsations  of  hope.  The  effect  in  Europe  was  also  favor 
able  to  the  Americans.  The  highest  hopes  of  the  British  ministry  rested  on 
this  expedition,  and  the  generalship  of  Burgoyne  justified  their  expectations. 
It  was  a  most  severe  blow,  and  gave  the  opposition  in  Parliament  the  keenest 
weapons.  Pitt,  leaning  upon  his  crutches,4  poured  forth  eloquent  denunciations 
[December,  1777]  of  the  mode  of  warfare  pursued — the  employment  of  German 
hirelings5  and  brutal  savages.6  "If  I  were  an  American,  as  I  am  an  English 
man,"  he  exclaimed,  "  while  a  foreign  troop  was  landed  in  my  country,  I  never 
would  lay  down  my  arms — never,  never,  never  !"  In  the  Lower  House,7 
Burke,  Fox,  and  Barro  were  equally  severe  upon  the  government.  When,  on 
the  3d  of  December,  the  news  of  Burgoyne' s  defeat  reached  London,  the  latter 
arose  in  his  place  in  the  Commons,8  and  with  a  serene  and  solemn  countenance, 
asked  Lord  George  Germain,  the  Secretary  of  War,  what  news  he  had  received 
by  his  last  expresses  from  Quebec,  and  to  say,  upon  his  word  of  honor,  what 
had  become  of  Burgoyne  and  his  brave  army.  The  haughty  secretary  was 
irritated  by  the  cool  irony  of  the  question,  but  was  comp3lled  to  acknowledge 
that  the  unhappy  intelligence  of  Burgoyna's  surrender  had  reached  him.  He 
added,  "  The  intelligence  noads  confirmation."  That  confirmation  was  not 
slow  in  reaching  the  ministry. 

Mightily  did  this  victory  weigh  in  favor  of  the  Americans,  at  the  French 


them  to  Europe,  but  Congress  thought  it  proper  to  retain  them,  and  they  were  marched  to  the 
interior  of  Virginia.  John  Burgoyne  was  a  natural  son  of  Lord  Bingley,  and  was  quite  eminent  as 
a  dramatic  author.  On  his  return  to  England,  he  resumed  his  seat  as  a  member  of  Parliament,  and 
opposed  the  war.  He  died  in  1792. 

1  General  Gates  was  so  elated  with  the  victory,  which  had  been  prepared  for  him  by  General 
Schuyler,  and  won  chiefly  by  the  valor  of  Arnold  and  Morgan  [page  331],  that  he  neglected  the 
courtesy  due  to  the  commander-in-chief,  and  instead  of  sending  his  dispatches  to  him,  he  sent  his 
aid,  Colonel  Wilkinson,  with  a  verbal  message  to  Congress.     That  body  also  forgot  its  dignity  in 
the  hour  of  its  joy.  and  the  young  officer  was  allowed  to  announce  the  victory  himself,  on  the  floor 
of  Congress.     In  his  subsequent  dispatches,  Gates  did  not  even  mention  the  names  of  Arnold  and 
Morgan.     History  has  vindicated  their  claims  to  the  honor  of  the  victory,  and  placed  a  just  estimate 
upon  the  ungenerous  conduct  of  their  commander.     Congress  voted  a  gold  medal  to  Gates. 

2  Page  275.  3  Note  3,  page  245.  4  Note  1,  page  231.  &  Note  3,  page  246. 

6  A  member  justified  the  employment  of  the  Indians,  by  saying  that  the  British  had  a  right  to 
use  the  means  "which  God  and  nature  had  given  them."  Pitt  scornfully  repeated  the  passage,  and 
said,  "These  abominable  principles,  and  this  most  abominable  avowal  of  them,  demands  most 
decisive  indignation.  I  call  upon  that  right  reverend  bench  (pointing  to  the  bishops),  those  holy 
ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  pious  pastors  of  the  church — I  conjure  them  to  join  in  the  holy  work, 
and  to  vindicate  the  religion  of  their  God."  7  Note  2,  page  218.  8  Note  2,  page  218. 


1777.]  THIKD   YEAR  OF  THE   WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE. 

court.  Unaided  by  any  foreign  power,  the  Americans  had  defeated  and  cap 
tured  a  well -trained  army  of  about  six  thousand  men,  led  by  experienced  com 
manders.  "  Surely  such  a  people  possess  the  elements  of  success,  and  will  achieve 
it.  We  may  now  safely  strike  England  a  severe  blow,1  by  acknowledging  the 
independence,  and  forming  an  alliance  with  her  revolted  colonies,"  argued  the 
French  government.  And  so  it  did.  Intelligence  of  the  surrender  of  Bur- 
goyne  reached  Paris  on  the  4th  of  December,  1777.  King  Louis  then  cast  off  all 
disguise,  and  informed  the  American  commissioners  that  the  treaty  of  alliance 
and  commerce,  already  negotiated,  would  be  ratified,  and  "that  it  was  decided 
to  acknowledge  the  independence  of  the  United  States."  Within  a  little  more 
than  a  hundred  days  after  Burgoyne  laid  down  his  arms  at  Saratoga,  France 
had  formed  an  alliance  with  the  confederated  States  [Feb.  6,  1778J,  and  pub 
licly  avowed  it.  The  French  king,  in  the  mean  while,  wrote  to  his'uncle,  the 
king  of  Spain,  urging  his  co-operation ;  for,  according  to  the  family  compact 
of  the  Bourbons,  made  in  1761,  the  king  of  Spain  was  to  be  consulted  before 
such  a  treaty  could  be  ratified. 

While  these  events  were  in  progress  at  Saratoga,  General  Clinton  was 
making  hostile  demonstrations  upon  the  banks  of  the  lower  Hudson.  He 
attempted  the  concerted  co-operation  with  Burgoyne,  but  he  was  too  late  for 
success.  He  ascended  the  Hudson  with  a  strong  force,  captured  Forts  Clinton 
and  Montgomery,  in  the  Highlands2  [October  G,  1777],  and  sent  a  marauding 
expedition  above  these  mountain  barriers,  to  devastate  the  country  [October 
13],  and  endeavor  to  draw  off  some  of  the  patriot  troops  from  Saratoga.3  These 
marauders  burned  Kingston,  and  penetrated  as  far  as  Livingston's  Manor,  in 
Columbia  county.  Informed  of  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne,  they  hastily 
retreated,  and  Clinton  and  his  army  returned  to  New  York.  Somo  of  Gates' 
troops  now  joined  Washington  at  White  Marsh,4  and  Howe  made  several 
attempts  to  entice  the  chief  from  his  encampment,  but  without  success.0  Finally 


1  France  rejoiced  at  the  embarrassments  of  England,  on  account  of  her  revolted  colonies,  and 
from  the  beginning  secretly  favored  the  latter.     She  thought  it  inexpedient  to  aid  the  colonies 
openly,  until  there  appeared  some  chance  for  their  success,  yet  arms  and  money  were  secretly  pro 
vided  [note  3,  page  266],  for  a  long  time  previous  to  tho  alliance.     Her  motives  were  not  thp 
benevolent  ones  to  aid  the  patriots,  so  much  as  a  selfish  desire  to  injure  England  for  her  own  bene 
fit.     The  French  king,  in  a  letter  to  his  uncle,  of  Spain,  avowed  the  objects  to  be  to  "  prevent  the 
union  of  the  colonies  with  the  mother  country,"  and  to  "  form  a  beneficial  alliance  with  them."     A 
Bourbon  (the  family  of  French  kings)  was  never  known  to  be  an  honest  advocate  of  free  principles. 

2  These   forts  were  situated   on   opposite   sides   of  a  stream  which   for.ms  the  dividing  line 
between  Orange  and  Rockland  counties.     Fort  Indpendence,  near  Peekskill,  and  Fort  Constitution, 
opposite  West  Point,  were  abandoned  on  his  approach.     Fort  Putnam,  at  West  Point,  was  not  yet 
erected. 

3  While  the  garrison  of  the  two  forts  (who  escaped)  were  re-gathering,  back  of  New  Windsor,  a 
man  from  the  British  army  was  arrested  on  suspicion  of  being  a  spy.     He  was  seen  to  swallow 
something.     An  emetic  brought  it  up,  and  it  was  discovered  to  be  a  hollow  silver  bullet,  containing 
a  dispatch  from  Clinton  to  Burgoyne,  written  on  thin  paper.     That  bullet  is  yet  in  the  family  of 
George  Clinton,  who  was  the  first  republican  governor  of  New  York.      The  dispatch  was  as 
follows:   '"Nous  y  void  [Here  we  are],  and  nothing  between  us  and  Gates.     I  sincerely  hope  this 
little  success  of  ours  will  facilitate  your  operations.     In  answer  to  your  letter  of  the  28th  of  Sep 
tember,  by  C.  C.,  I  shall  only  say,  I  can  not  presume  to  order,  or  even  advise,  for  reasons  obvious. 
I  heartily  wish  you  success.     Faithfully  yours,  Ii.  CLINTON."     The  prisoner  was  taken  to  Kingston, 
and  there  hanged  as  a  spy.  4  Page  275. 

6  Howe  marched  out  to  attack  Washington  on  the  4th  of  December,  expecting  to  take  him  by 
surprise.     A  Quaker  lady  of  Philadelphia,  at  whose  house  some  British  officers  were  quartered,  had 


284 


THE    REVOLUTION. 


[1778. 


Washington  moved  from  that  position  [December  11],  and  went  into  winter 
quarters  at  Valley  Forge,  where  he  might  easier  afford  protection  to  Congress 
at  York,  and  his  stores  at  Reading.1  The  events  of  that  encampment  at  Valley 
Forge  afford  some  of  the  gloomiest  as  well  as  some  of  the  most  brilliant  scenes 
in  the  records  of  American  patriotism. 


CHAPTER   V. 

FOURTH  YEAR  OF  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.      [1778.] 

• 

IF  there  is  a  spot  on  the  face  of  our  broad  land  wherein  patriotism  should 
delight  to  pile  its  highest  and  most  venerated  monument,  it  should  be  in  the 
bosom  of  that  rugged  gorge  on  the  bank  of  the  Schuylkill,  twenty  miles  north- 


west  from  Philadelphia,  known  as  Valley  Forge,  where  the  American  army 
was  encamped  during  the  terrible  winter  of  1777-' 78.'     In  all  the  world's  his- 


overheard  them  talking  about  this  enterprise,  gave  "Washington  timely  information,  and  he  was  too 
well  prepared  for  Howe,  to  fear  his  menaces.  After  some  skirmishes,  in  which  several  Americans 
were  lost,  Howe  returned  to  Philadelphia.  1  Page  274. 

2  That  was  a  winter  of  severe  and  protracted  cold.     The  waters  of  New  York  Bay  were  so 
firmly  frozen,  that  the  British  took  heavy  cannons  from  the  c'.ty  to  Staten  Island,  on  the  ice. 


1778.]         FOURTH  YEAR   OF  THE  WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE.         285 


EXCAMPMENT  AT  VALLEY  FORGE- 


tory,  we  have  no  record  of  purer  devotion,  holier  sincerity,  or  more  pious  self- 
immolation,  than  was  then  and  there  exhibited  in  the  camp  of  Washington. 
Many  of  the  soldiers  had  marched  thither  from  Whitemarsh,  bare-footed,  and 
left  bloody  foot-prints  in  the  snow  on  their  dreary 
journey.1  There,  in  the  midst  of  frost  and  snow,  half- 
clad  and  scantily  fed,  they  shivered  in  rude  huts, 
while  the  British  army  was  indulging"  in  comforts  and 
luxuries  within  a  large  city.2  Yet  that  freezing  and 
starving  army  did  not  despair ;  nor  did  the  com 
mander- in-chief,  who  shared  their  privations  and  suf 
fered  injury  at  the  hands  of  intriguing  men,3  lose  con 
fidence  in  the  patriotism  of  the  people  or  his  troops, 
or  doubt  the  wisdom  of  Providence.4  The  winter  wore 
away,  and  when  the  buds  began  to  burst,  a  cheering 
ray  of  glad  tidings  came  from  Europe.  The  intelli 
gence  of  the  treaty  of  alliance  with  France,6  was  a 
hopeful  assurance  of  success,  and  when  the  news 
spread  through  the  camp,  on  the  1st  of  May  [1T78], 
shouts  loud  and  long  shook  the  forests  which  shrouded  the  hills  around  Valley 
Forge.6 

Nor  was  that  a  solitary  gleam  of  hope.     Light  also  emanated  from  the 

1  Gordon,  the  historian,  says,  that  while  at  Washington's  table  in  1784,  the  chief  informed  him 
that  bloody  foot-prints  were  everywhere  visible  in  the  course  of  their  march  of  nineteen  miles,  from 
Whitemarsh  to  Valley  Forge. 

2  The  power  of  the  British  army  was  much  weakened  by  indulgence,  during  that  winter.    Prof 
ligacy  begat  disease,  crime,  and  insubordination.      The  evil  effects  produced  upon  the  army  led  Dr. 
Franklin  to  say,  "  Howe  did  not  take  Philadelphia — Philadelphia  took  Howe."    General  Howe  took 
leave  of  the  army  in  May,  and  the  officers  gave  him  a  splendid  farewell  fete,  which  was  called  a 
Hischianza,  signifying  a  medley.     For  a  full  description,  see  Lossing's  Field  Book  of  the  Revolution. 
During  their  occupation  of  the  city,  the  enemy  were  annoyed  by  the  patriots  in  various  ways.     In 
January,  some  Whigs  at  Bordentown,  where  Francis  Hopkinson,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence,  resided,  sent  a  number  of  kegs  down  the  Delaware,  which  were  filled  with 
powder,  and  furnished  with  machinery,  in  such  a  manner,  that  on  rubbing  against  any  object  in  the 
stream,  they  would  explode.      These  were  the  torpedoes  invented  by  Bushnell  of  Connecticut, 
already  mentioned  on  page  252.    The  British  vessels,  hauled  into  the  docks  to  keep  clear  of  the  ice, 
escaped  rec3iving  any  injury  from  these  missiles.     One  of  them  exploded  near  the  city,  and  pro 
duced  intense  alarm.      Not  a  stick  or  a  chip  was  seen  floating,  for  twenty -four  hours  afterward,  but 
it  was  fired  at  by  the  British.    This  circumstance  afforded  the  theme  for  that  remarkable  poem  from 
the  pen  of  Hopkinson,  entitled  The  Battle  of  the  Kegs.      Hopkinson  [see  page  284]  was  a  native  of 
Philadelphia  and  married  and  settled  in  Bordentown,  New  Jersey.     He  was  an  elegant  writer,  a 
great  wit,  a  good  musician,  and  a  thorough-bred  gentleman.     He  was  a  warm  and  active  patriot, 
became  eminent  as  a  jurist  after  the  war,  and  died  in  1791,  at  the  age  of  forty-seven  years.    Hb 
son,  Joseph  Hopkinson,  was  the  author  of  our  national  song.  Hail  Columbia. 

3  During  this  season  a  scheme  was  formed  among  a  few  officers  of  the  army,  and  members  of 
Congress,  for  depriving  Washington  of  his  command,  and  giving  it  to  Gates  or  Lee.     Both  of  these 
ambitious  men  sought  the  honor,  and  the  former  was  fully  identified  with  the  clandestine  move 
ments  toward  that  end.    One  of  the  chief  actors  in  the  plot,  who  was  more  the  instrument  of  others 
than  a  voluntary  and  independent  schemer,  was  General  Con  way,  an  Irishman,  who  belonged  to  the 
continental  army.     The  plot  was  discovered  and  defeated,  and  Conway  was  led  to  make  a  most 
humblo  apology  to  Washington,  for  his  conduct. 

4  On  one  occasion,  Isaac  Potts,  whose  house  was  Washington's  head-quarters  at  Valley  Forge, 
discovered  the  chief  in  a  retired  place,  pouring  out  his  soul  in  prayer  to  his  God.    Potts  went  home 
to  his  wife,  and  said,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  "  If  there  is  any  one  on  this  earth  to  whom  the  Lord 
will  listen,  it  is  George  Washington."  5  Page  283. 

6  On  the  7th  day  of  May  the  army  fired  salutes  in  honor  of  the  event,  and  by  direction  of  the 
chief,  they  all  shouted,  "Huzza for  the  king  of  France!" 


286  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1778. 

British  throne  and  Parliament.  The  capture  of  Burgoyne,  and  the  general 
failure  of  the  campaign  of  1777,  had  made  the  English  people,  and  a  powerful 
minority  in  Parliament,  clamorous  for  peace  and  reconciliation.  Lord  North, 
the  prime-minister,1  was  compelled  to  listen.  To  the  astonishment  of  every 
body,  he  proposed  [Feb.  17]  a  repeal  of  all  the  acts  of  Parliament  obnoxious  to 
the  Americans,  which  had  been  enacted  since  1763  ;  and  in  the  course  of  his 
speech  in  favor  of  his  conciliatory  plan,  he  actually  proposed  to  treat  the  Con 
tinental  Congress  as  a  legal  body.3  Two  bills,  expressing  these  conciliatory 
measures,  were  passed  after  much  opposition,3  and  received  the  signature  of  the 
king,  on  the  llth  of  March.  Commissioners4  were  appointed  to  proceed  to 
America  to  negotiate  for  peace  with  Congress,  and  the  British  government 
seemed  really  anxious  to  offer  the  olive  branch,  without  qualification.  But  the 
Americans  had  been  too  often  deceived  to  accept  any  thing  confidingly  from  that 
source,  and  as  soon  as  these  bills  reached  Congress  [April  15],  and  it  was  found 
that  they  made  no  mention  of  the  independence  of  the  colonies,  that  body  at 
once  rejected  them  as  deceptive.  "When  the  commissioners  came  [June  4], 
Congress  refused  to  negotiate  with  them  until  Great  Britain  should  withdraw 
her  fleets  and  armies,  or  unequivocally  acknowledge  the  independence  of  the 
United  States.  After  unsuccessfully  appealing  to  the  American  people,  and 
one  of  them  endeavoring  to  bribe  members  of  Congress,6  the  commissioners 
returned  to  England,  and  the  war  went  on. 

The  alliance  with  France  gave  the  patriots  greater  confidence  in  their  ulti 
mate  success.  It  was  immediately  productive  of  action.  The  first  movement 
of  the  French  government,  in  compliance  with  the  requirements  of  that  treaty, 
was  to  dispatch  a  squadron,  consisting  of  twelve  ships  of  the  line,  and  four 
large  frigates,  under  Count  D'Estaing,  to  blockade  the  British  fleet  in  the  Del 
aware.  When,  a  month  before  he  sailed,  the  British  ministry  was  officially 
informed  [March  17,  1778]  of  the  treaty,  and  it  was  considered  equivalent  to  a 
declaration  of  war,  a  vessel  was  dispatched  with  a  message  to  the  British  com 
manders,  ordering  them  to  evacuate  Philadelphia  and  the  Delaware,  and  to  con 
centrate  their  forces  at  New  York.  Fortunately  for  Lord  Howe,  he  had  left 


1  Page  224.  2  Note  2,  page  253. 

3  Pitt  was  favorable  to  these  bills,  but  when  a  proposition  was  made  to  acknowledge  the  independ 
ence  of  the  colonies,  and  thus  dismember  the  British  empire,  he  opposed  the  measure  with  all  his 
might.     He  was  in  favor  of  reconciliation,  not  of  separation.     It  was  during  his  speech  on  this  sub 
ject,  that  he  was  seized  [April  7]  with  the  illness  which  terminated  his  life  a  month  afterward. 
Pitt  was  born  in  November,  1708,  and  died  on  the  llth  of  May,  1778,  when  almost  seventy  years 
of  age. 

4  The  Earl  of  Carlisle,  George  Jolmstone,   formerly  governor  of  Florida^  and  "William  Eden, 
a  brother  of  Sir  Kobert  Eden,  the  last  royal  governor  of  Maryland.     Adam  Ferguson,  the  eminent 
professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  the  University  of  Edinburg,  accompanied  them  as  secretary. 

5  Among  those  who  were  approached  was  General  Joseph  Reed,  a  delegate   from  Pennsyl 
vania.     Mrs.  Ferguson,  wife  of  a  relative  to  the  secretary  of  the  commissioners,  then  residing  in 
Philadelphia,  and  who  was  intimate  with  Mr.  Reed,  was  employed  to  sound  him.     Mr.  Reed  had 
been  suspected  by  some  of  his  compatriots  of  rather  easy  virtue  as  a  republican,  and  the  fact  that 
he  was  approachable  in  this  way,  confirmed  their  suspicions.      Mrs.  Ferguson  was  authorized  to 
offer  him  high  official  station  and  a  large  sum  of  money,  if  he  would  use  his  influence  in  favor  of 
peace,  according  to  the  submissive  terms  offered  by  the   commissioners.     Her  mission  became 
known,  and  General  Reed  alleged  that  he  said  to  her,  "  I  am  not  worth  purchasing;  but  such  as  I 
am,  the  king  of  England  is  not  rich  enough  to  do  it." 


1778.]         FOURTH   YEAR   OF  THE   WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE.         287 

the  Delaware  a  few  days  before  the  arrival  of  D'Estaing1  [July  8,  1778],  and 
found  safety  in  the  waters  of  Amboy  or  Raritan  Bay,  into  which  the  heavy 
French  vessels  could  not  enter  over  the  bar  that  stretches  northward  from 
Sandy  Hook  toward  the  Narrows.  A  little  earlier  than  this,  there  had  been  a 
change  in  the  command  of  the  British  army.  Sir  Henry  Clinton,3  a  more  effi 
cient  officer  than  Howe,  had  succeeded  him  as  gencral- 
in-chief,  toward  the  close  of  May.  and  on  the  18th  of 
June,  he  withdrew  his  whole  army  from  Philadelphia. 
With  eleven  thousand  men,  and  an  immense  baggage 
and  provision  train,  he  started  for  New  York,  by  the 
way  of  New  Brunswick  and  Amboy.  Washington,  sus 
pecting  some  important  movement,  was  on  the  alert,  and 
breaking  up  his  encampment  at  Valley  Forge,  he  pur-  /t 
sued  Clinton  with  more  than  equal  force.3  By  adroit 

. T  •  •    j.  GEXERAL   CLIXTOS. 

movements,  detachments  ot  the  American  army  so  inter 
cepted  Clinton's  march,  as  to  compel  him  to  change  his  course  in  the  direction 
of  Sandy  Hook,  while  New  Jersey  militia  continually  harassed  his  flanks  and 
rear.4     Finally,  a  general   engagement  took  place   [June   28,   1778]   on  the 
plains  of  Monmouth,  in  the  present  village  of  Freehold,  in  New  Jersey. 

The  28th  of  June,  1778,  a  day  memorable  in  the  annals  of  Freedom,  was 
the  Christian  Sabbath.  The  sky  was  cloudless  over  the  plains  of  Monmouth,6 
when  the  morning  dawned,  and  the  sun  came  up  with  all  the  fervor  of  the  sum 
mer  solstice.  It  was  the  sultriest  day  of  the  year — one  of  tb.o  warmest  ever 
known.  On  that  calm  Sabbath  morning,  in  the  midst  of  paradisal  beauty, 
twenty  thousand  men  girded  on  the  implements  of  hellish  war,  to  maim  and 
destroy  each  other — to  sully  the  green  grass  and  the  fragrant  flowers  with 
human  blood.  Nature  was  smiling  in  her  summer  garments,  and  in  earth  and 
air  there  was  fullness  of  love  and  harmony.  Man,  alone,  was  the  discordant 
note  in  the  universal  melody.  He,  alone,  the  proud  "lord  of  creation/'  dis 
turbed  the  chaste  worship  of  the  hour,  which  ascended  audibly  from  tho  groves, 
the  streams,  the  meadows,  and  the  woodlands. 

The  two  armies  began  to  prepare  for  action  at  about  one  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  at  day-break  they  were  in  motion.  Before  nine,  detachments  met 

1  Silas  Deane  [page  266]  returned  to  America  in  D'Estaing's  flag-ship,  and  Gerard,  the  first 
French  minister  to  the  United  States,  came  in  the  same  vessel.     Congress  was  now  in  session  in 
Philadelphia,  having  returned  from  York  [page  274]  on  the  30th  of  June,  twelve  days  after  the 
British  had  left  for  New  York. 

2  Henry  Clinton  was  a  son  of  George  Clinton,  governor  of  the  province  of  New  York  in  1743, 
and  a  grandson  of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln.     After  the  war  ho  was  made  governor  of  Gibraltar  [1795], 
and  died  there  the  same  year. 

3  Arnold  was  yet  quite  lame  from  the  effects  of  a  severe  wound  in  the  leg,  which  he  received  in 
the  battle  on  Bemis's  Heights  [page  278],  and  at  his  solicitation,  Washington  left  him  in  command  of 
a  corps  at  Philadelphia,  with  the  powers  of  a  military  governor.     "Washington  crossed  the  Delaware 
in  pursuit  of  Clinton,  with  a  little  more  than  12,000  men. 

4  "Washington  was  anxious  to  attack  Clinton  when  he  was  in  the  vicinity  of  Allentown,  but  Lee 
and  others  overruled  his  opinions,  in  a  council  of  war.     Greene,  La  Fayette,  and  Wayne  agreed 
with  the  chief,  and  supported  by  these  able  officers,  he  resolved  on  a  general  engagement. 

5  The  battle  of  Monmouth  was  fought  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  present  village  of  Free 
hold,  New  Jersey,  chiefly  within  the  space  of  two  miles  north- west'  of  the  town. 


288 


THE    REVOLUTION. 


[1778. 


BATTLE  AT   MONMOUTH. 


in  deadly  conflict,  and  from  that  hour  until  dark,  on  that  long  summer  day,  the 

terrible  contest  raged.  It  was 
commenced  by  the  advanced  division 
of  the  American  army,  under  Gen 
eral  Charles  Lee.1  His  apparent 
want  of  skill  or  courage,  and  a  mis 
understanding  of  orders  on  the 
part  of  some  of  his  officers,  pro 
duced  a  general  and  tumultuous 

retreat  of  his  division.  The  fugitives  were  met  by  the  approaching  main  body, 
under  Washington,2  and  being  speedily  checked  and  restored  to  order  by  the 
chief,  they  were  led  to  action,  and  the  battle  became  general.  Many  fell  under 
the  excessive  heat  of  the  day,  and  when  night  came,  both  parties  were  glad  to 
rest.  The  Americans  slept  on  their  arms3  during  the  night,  with  the  intention 
of  renewing  the  battle  at  dawn,  but  when  light  appeared,  the  British  camp  was 
deserted.  Clinton  had  silently  withdrawn  [June  29],  and  was  far  on  his  way 
toward  Sandy  Hook.4  Washington  did  not  follow,  but  marching  to  New 
Brunswick,  and  thence  to  the  Hudson  River,  he  proceeded  to  White  Plains,5 
where  he  remained  until  late  in  autumn.  Then  he  crossed  into  New  Jersey, 
and  made  his  winter  quarters  at  Middlebrook,  on  the  Earitan,  where  he  was 


1  Page  248.  This  command  was  first  given  to  La  Fayette,  but  when  Lee,  who  had  opposed  the 
measure  in  council,  signilied  his  readiness  to  lead  it,  it  was  given  to  him,  as  he  was  the  senior 
officer. 

3  "Washington  was  greatly  irritated  when  he  met  the  fugitives,  and  riding  up  to  Lee,  he 
addressed  him  with  much  warmth  of  language,  and  directed  him  to  assist  in  restoring  order.  Lee 
promptly  obeyed,  but  the  sting  of  Washington's  words  rankled  in  his  bosom,  and  on  that  day,  after 
the  battle,  he  addressed  an  offensive  letter  to  the  chief.  Lee  was  arrested  and  tried  by  a  courj;- 
martial,  on  the  charges  of  disobedience  of  orders,  misbehavior  before  the  enemy,  and  disrespect  to 
the  commander-in-chief.  He  was  found  guilty,  and  was  suspended  from  command  for  one  year. 
He  never  entered  the  army  again,  and  died  in  obscurity,  in  Philadelphia,  in  October,  1782.  He 
was  brave,  but  bad  in  manners  and  morals,  profane  in  language,  and  a  contemner  of  religion.  It  is 
believed  that  he  was  willing  to  have  Washington  lose  the  battle  of  Monmouth,  because  he  (Lee), 
was  opposed  to  it,  and  at  the  same  time  was  seeking  to  rise  to  the  chief  command  upon  the  ruins 
of  Washington's  reputation.  We  have  already  alluded  to  the  conspiracy  toward  that  end,  on  page 
285.  The  hottest  of  the  battle  occurred  a  short  distance  from  the  Freehold  Presbyterian  Church 
yet  [1867]  standing.  Near  it  is  a  board,  with  an  inscription,  showing  the  burial-spot  of  Colonel 
Monckton,  of  the  British  army,  who  was  killed  in  the  battle. 

3  This  expression  is  used  respecting  troops  who  sleep  with  all  their  accoutrements  on,  and 
their  weapons  by  their  side,  ready  for  action  in  a  moment.     The  British  left  about  three  hundred 
killed  on  the  field  of  battle.     They  also  left  a  large  number  of  the  sick  and  wounded  to  the  rnercy 
of  the  Americans.     The  Americans  lost  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight.     Many  of  the  missing  afterward  rejoined  the  army.     They  had  less  than  seventy  killed. 

4  In  his  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  General  Clinton  said,  "I  took  advantage  of  the  moon 
light  to  rejoin  General  Knyphausen,"  &c.     As,  according  to  an  almanac  of  that  year,  the  moon  was 
quite  new,  and  set  two  hours  before  Clinton's  march,  this  boast  of  leaving  in  the  moonlight  occa 
sioned  much  merriment.     Trumbull,  in  his  M^Fingal,  alluding  to  this,  says, 


'  He  forms  his  camp  with  great  parade, 
While  evening  spreads  the  world  in  shade, 
Then  still,  like  some  endanger' d  spark, 
Steals  off  on  tiptoe  in  the  dark ; 
Yet  writes  his  king,  in  boasting  tone, 
How  grand  he  march'd  by  light  of  moon ! 


Go  on,  great  general,  nor  regard 
The  scoffs  of  every  scribbling  bard, 


'Who  sings  how  gods,  that  fearful  night, 
Aided  by  miracle  your  flight ; 
As  once  they  used,  in  Homer's  day, 
To  help  weak  heroes  run  away  : 
Tells  how  the  hours,  at  this  sad  trial, 
Went  back,  as  erst  on  Ahaz1  dial, 
While  British  Joshua  stayed  the  moon 
On  Monmouth' s  plain  for  Ajalon. 
Heed  not  their  sneers  or  gibes  so  arch, 
Because  she  set  before  your  march." 


6  Page  305. 


1778.]         FOURTH  YEAR   OF  THE   WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE.         289 

encamped  in  the  spring  and  summer  of  the  previous  year.1  Clinton's  shattered 
forces  went  on  board  the  British  fleet  at  Sandy  Hook,  and  proceeded  to  New 
York,  where  the  head  quarters  of  the  royal  army  continued  until  the  close  of 
the  war.2  And  when  D'Estaing  appeared  off  Sandy  Hook,  the  British  fleet  was 
safe  in  Raritan  Bay.  As  we  have  already  mentioned, 
the  bar  from  Sandy  Hook  to  Staten  Island  would  not 
allow  the  heavy  French  vessels  to  pass,  and  D'Estaing 
therefore  relinquished  his  design  of  attacking  Howe's 
fleet,  and  on  the  solicitation  of  Washington,  he  proceeded 
to  Newport,  to  assist  the  Americans  in  an  attempt  to 
drive  the  British  from  Rhode  Island.3  General  Sullivan 
had  been  sent  to  supersede  General  Spencer  in  command 
there ;  and  Washington  also  dispatched  La  Fayette,  with 
two  continental  regiments  (accompanied  by  General  COUNT  D'ESTAIXG. 
Greene,  then  quartermaster  general),  to  aid  in  the  expe 
dition.  John  Hancock4  came  at  the  head  of  Massachusetts  militia,  and  similar 
troops  gathered  at  Tiverton,  from  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island.5  On  the  9th 
of  August,  [1778],  the  whole  American  force  crossed  from  Tiverton  to  the  north 
end  of  Rhode  Island,  and  the  British  guards  fled  to  the  camp  of  General  Pigot, 
at  Newport. 

Several  ships  of  war  came  from  England  at  about  this  time,  to  reinforce  the 
British  fleet  at  New  York,  and  a  few  days  after  D'Estaing  sailed  for  Newport, 
a  large  squadron  under  Howe,  proceeded  to  the  relief  of  Pigot.  It  appeared 
off  Rhode  Island  on  the  same  day  [Aug.  9]  when  the  Americans  landed  on  the 
northern  end  of  it.  D'Estaing,  who  was  then  within  the  harbor,  went  out  to 
meet  Howe,  but  before  they  came  to  an  engagement,  a  terrible  storm  arose 
[Aug.  12],  and  scattered  and  disabled  both  fleets.6  The  French  squadron 
returned  to  Newport  [August  20],  and  immediately  sailed  for  Boston  to  be 
repaired.  The  Americans  had  then  advanced  almost  to  Newport,  with  every 
prospect  of  making  a  successful  siege.  They  had  been  promised  four  thousand 
land  troops  from  the  French  fleet.  These  were  denied  them ;  and  refusing  to 
listen  to  entreaties  or  remonstrances,  D'Estaing  sailed  for  Boston  and  abandoned 
the  Americans.7  The  latter  hastily  withdrew  to  the  north  end  of  the  island 

1  Page  272.  2  Page  350.  3  Page  261.  4  Pago  231. 

6  The  people  of  Rhode  Island  had  suffered  drf-adfully  from  the  brutality  of  the  British  troops. 
There  had  been  some  amelioration  of  their  condition  since  the  capture  of  Prescott  [page  271],  and 
under  the  rule  of  Pigot,  the  present  commander.     "When  success  seemed  possible,  thousands  of 
volunteers  flocked  to  the  standards  of  Sullivan  and  La  Fayette.     John  Hancock  was  appointed  a 
general  of  some  of  these  volunteers.     But  his  term  of  service  was  short.     Like  Dr.  Franklin  [page 
1931  Hancock  was  better  fitted  for  a  statesman  than  a  soldier. 

Very  old  people  on  Rhode  Island,  who  remembered  this  gale,  spoke  of  it  to  the  writer  in 
1850,  as  "the  great  storm."  So  violent  was  the  wind,  that  it  brought  spray  from  the  ocean  a  mile 
distant,  and  encrusted  the  windows  of  the  town  with  salt. 

7  This  conduct  was  warmly  censured  by  the  American  commanders,  because  it  had  no  valid 
excuse.     It  deprived  them  of  a  victory  just  within  their  grasp.     Congress,  however,  afraid  to  offend 
the  French,  uttered  not  a  word  of  blame.      The  matter  was  passed  over,  but  not  forgotten.     Once 
again    [page  305],  the  same  admiral  abandoned  the  Americans.      D'Estaing  was   a   native  of 
Auvergne,  France.     He  became  involved  in  the  French  Revolution,  in  1792,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1793,  he  was  guillotined.     The  guillotine  was  an  instrument  for  cutting  off  the  head,  invented  by 
M.  Guillotine,  who  was  eventually  beheaded  by  it  himself 

19 


290  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1778. 

[August  28],  pursued  by  the  British,  and  a  severe  engagement  took  place 
[August  29j  at  Quaker  Hill.  Sullivan  repulsed  the  British,  and  on  the  night 
of  the  30th,  withdrew  his  whole  army  to  the  main,  near  Bristol,  in  time  to 
avoid  an  interception  by  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  who  had  just  arrived  with  four 
thousand  troops,  in  light  vessels. 1  The  Americans  lost  in  this  expedition,  thirty 
killed,  and  one  hundred  and  seventy-two  wounded  and  missing.  The  British 
loss  was  about  two  hundred  and  twenty. 

"While  these  events  were  transpiring  on  tlio  soa-board,  a  dreadful  tragedy 
was  enacted  in  the  interior,  when  the  Wyoming,  Mohawk,  Schoharie,  and 
Cherry  Valleys,  were  made  the  theaters  of  terrible  scenes  of  blood  and  devasta 
tion.  Tories  from  distant  Niagara/  and  savages  upon  the  head  waters  of  the 
Susquehanna,  gathered  at  Tioga  early  in  June ;  and  at  the  beginning  of  July, 
eleven  hundred  of  these  white  and  dusky  savages,  under  the  general  command 
of  Colonel  John  Butler,3  entered  [July  2,  1778]  the  lovely  valley  of  Wyoming, 
in  northern  Pennsylvania.  Most  of  the  strong  men  were  then  away  on  distant 
duty,  and  families  and  homes  found  defenders  only  in  aged  men,  tender  youths, 
resolute  women,  and  a  few  trained  soldiers.  These,  about  four  hundred  strong, 
under  Colonel  Zebulon  Butler,4  marched  up  the  valley  [July  4],  to  drive  back 
the  invaders.  But  they  were  terribly  smitten  by  the  foe,  and  a  large  portion 
of  them  were  slain  or  made  prisoners.  A  few  escaped  to  Forty  Fort,  near 
Wilkesbarre,  wherein  families,  for  miles  around,  had  sought  safety.  Uncertain 
of  their  fate — for  the  invaders  were  sweeping  like  a  dark  storm  down  the  Sus 
quehanna — the  night  of  the  battle-day  was  a  terriblo  one  for  the  people  in  the 
fort.  But  their  agony  of  suspense  was  ended  the  following  morning,  when  the 
leader  of  the  invaders,  contrary  to  the  expectations  of  those  who  knew  him, 
agreed  upon  humane  terms  of  surrender.5  The  gates  of  the  fort  were  thrown 
open,  and  most  of  the  families  returned  to  their  homes  in  fancied  security.  They 
were  doomed  to  terrible  disappointment  and  woe.  Brant,  the  great  Indian 

1  "When  Clinton  was  assured  of  the  security  of  Rhode  Island,  ho  detached  General  Grey  on  a 
marauding  expedition  upon  the  southern  shores  of  Massachusetts,  and  among  the  adjacent  islands, 
and  then  returned  to  New  York.  Grey  burned  about  seventy  vessels  in  Buzzard's  Bay,  near  New 
Bedford,  and  in  that  vicinity  destroyed  property  valued  at  more  than  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  thousand  dollars.  He  then  went  to  Martha's  Vineyard  [page  57],  and  carried  away,  for  the 
army  in  New  York,  about  three  hundred  oxen,  and  ten  thousand  sheep.  On  the  first  of  October, 
Clinton  sent  a  successful  expedition  to  capture  American  stores  at  Little  Egg  Harbor,  on  the  New 
Jersey  coast.  2  Page  200.  3  Note  2,  page  278. 

4  Zebulon  Butler  was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  and  was  born  in  1731.     He  was  in  the  French 
and  Indian  War,  and  was  one  of  the  earlier  settlers  in  Wyoming.     In  1778  he  was  appointed 
colonel,  and  was  with  Sullivan  in  his  memorable  expedition  against  the  Senecas  [page  304]  the  fol 
lowing  year.     He  was  in  active  service  thoughout  the  war,  and  died  in  "Wyoming  in  1795,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-four  years. 

5  All  our  histories  contain  horrible  statements  of  the  fiend-like  character  of  John  Butler,  and  his 
unmitigated  wickedness  on  this  occasion.     They  also  speak  of  the  "monster  Brant"  [page  278]  as 
the  leader  of  the  Indians,  and  the  instigator  of  the  crimes  of  which  they  were  guilty.     Both  of  these 
men  were  bad  enough ;  but  recent  investigations  clearly  demonstrate  that  Brant  was  not  there  at 
all ;  and  the  treaty  for  surrender,  which  is  still  in  existance,  granted  most  humane  terms  to  the  be 
sieged,  instead  of  the  terrible  one  reported  in  our  histories.     The  fugitives  who  fled  over  the  mount 
ains,  and  made  their  way  back  to  their  native  Connecticut,  crossed  the  Hudson,  many  of  them  at 
Poughkeepsie,  where  John  Holt  was  publishing  a  weekly  paper.    Their  fears  had  magnitied  events, 
and  their  tales  of  terror  were  published  in  Holt's  journal,  and  thus  became  records  for  future  his 
torians.     Among  other  things,  it  was  related  that  when  the  question  was  asked,  on  what  terms  the 
fort  might  be  surrendered,  Colonel  John  Butler,  with  more  than  savage  cruelty,  replied,  Tlie  Hatchet ! 
This  is  wholly  untrue,  and  yet  the  story  is  repeated  in  all  our  histories.  * 


1778.]        FOURTH   YEAR  OF  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.         291 

leader,  was  not  there  to  restrain  his  savage  bands,1  and  their  thirst  for  blood 
and  plunder  soon  overcame  all  their  allegiance  to  their  white  commander.  Be 
fore  sunset  they  had  scattered  over  the  valley ;  and  when  night  fell  upon  the 
scene,  the  blaze  of  more  than  twenty  dwellings  cast  its  lurid  glare  over  the 
paradise  of  yesterday.  The  cries  of  the  murdered  went  up  from  almost  every 
house  and  field ;  and  when  the  moon  arose,  the  terrified  inhabitants  were  fleeing 
to  the  Wilkesbarre  mountains,  and  the  dark  morasses  of  the  Pocono  beyond.  In 
that  vast  wilderness  between  the  valley  and  the  Delaware,  appropriately  called 
the  Shades  of  Death,  many  women  and  children,  who  escaped  the  hatchet, 
perished  by  hunger  and  fatigue.  That  "  Wyoming  Massacre,"  as  it  has  been 
appropriately  called,  stands  out  in  bold  relief  as  one  of  the  darkest  crimes  per 
petrated  during  the  War  for  Independence. 

In  the  mean  while,  Brant2  was  leading  or  sending  war  parties  through  the 
country  south  of  the  Mohawk  River ;  and  the  Johnsons3  and  their  Tory  adher 
ents  were  allies  of  the  savages  in  the  Mohawk  valley.  On  the  llth  and  12th 
of  November  [1778],  a  party  of  Tories,  under  Walter  N.  Butler,4  accompanied 
by  Indians,  under  Brant,  fell  like  lightning  upon  the  settlement  of  Cherry  Val 
ley.  Many  of  the  people  were  killed,  or  carried  into  captivity  ;  and  for  months 
no  eye  was  closed  in  security  at  night,  within  an  area  of  a  hundred  miles  and 
more,  around  this  desolated  village.  Tryon  county,  as  that  region  of  New 
York  was  then  called,  was  a  "  dark  and  bloody  ground"  for  full  four  years,  and 
the  records  of  the  woes  of  the  people  have  filled  volumes.5  Our  space  allows 
us  to  mention  only  the  most  prominent  events  of  that  period. 

And  now,  when  the  year  1778 — the  fourth  year  of  the  war — drew  to  a 
close,  the  British  army  had  accomplished  very  little  more  in  the  way  of  conquest, 
than  at  the  end  of  the  second  year.  The  belligerent  forces  occupied  almost  the 
same  relative  position  which  they  did  in  the  autumn  of  1776,  while  the  Amer 
icans  had  gained  strength  by  a  knowledge  of  military  tactics,0  naval  operations, 

1  The  Indians  were  led  by  Gi-en-gwa-tah  (he  who  goes  in  the  smoke),  a  celebrated  Seneca 
chief.  *  Page  278.  3  Note  2,  page  278. 

4  He  was  a  son  of  Colonel  John  Butler,  and  one  of  the  most  brutal  of  the  Tory  leaders.     In  the 
attack  upon  the  defenseless  people  at  Cherry  Valley,  on  the  10th  of  November,  1778,  he  was  the 
most  conspicuous  for  cruelty ;  in  fact,  he  was  the  head  and  front  of  all  the  villainy  perpetrated 
there.     Thirty-two  of  the  inhabitants,  mostly  women  and  children,  and  sixteen  soldiers  of  the  little 
garrison  there,  were  killed.     The  whole  settlement  was  then  plun 
dered,  and  every  building  in  the  village  was  fired.     Among  the  pris 
oners  carried  into  captivity,  were  the  wife  and  children  of  Colonel 

Campbell,  who  was  then  absent.  One  of  the  children  (Judge  James 
S.  Campbell  of  Cherry  Valley),  then  six  years  of  age,  still  [1867  J  sur 
vives,  and  during  the  summer  of  1855,  after  an  absence  of  seventy  - 
five  years,  he  visited  the  Indian  village  of  Caughnawaga,  twelve  miles 
from  Montreal,  where  he  resided  some  time  with  his  captors.  Walter 
Butler  was  shot  by  an  Oneida  Indian,  in  West  Canada  Creek,  and  his 
body  was  left  to  be  eaten  by  wild  beasts. 

5  See  Campbell's  Annals  of  Tryon  County,  Simm's  History  of  Scho- 
Tiarie  County,  Stone's  Life  of  Brant,  etc. 

6  Among  the  foreign  officers  who  came  to  America  in  1777,  was 
the  Baron  Steuben,  who  joined  the  Continental  army  at  Valley  Forge 

[page   285].      He  was  a  veteran  from  the  armies  of  Frederic  the  BARON  STEUBEN. 

Great  of  Prussia,  and  a  skillful  disciplinarian.    He  was  made  Inspector- 
General  of  the  army ;  and  the  vast  advantages  of  his  military  instruction  were  seen  on  the  field 
of  Monmouth  [page  287],  and  in  subsequent  conflicts.     Steuben  died  at  Steubenville,  in  the  interior 


292  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1778. 

and  the  art  of  civil  government ;  and  they  had  secured  the  alliance  of  France, 
the  powerful  European  rival  of  Great  Britain,  and  the  sympathies  of  Spain  and 
Holland.  The  British  forces  occupied  the  real  position  of  prisoners,  for  they 
were  hemmed  in  upon  only  two  islands,1  almost  two  hundred  miles  apart,  and 
each  about  fourteen  miles  in  length ;  while  the  Americans  possessed  every 
other  stronghold  of  the  country,  and,  unlike  the  invaders,  were  warring  for  the 
dearest  rights  of  common  humanity. 

The  scene  of  the  most  active  military  operations  now  changed.  In  the 
autumn  [Nov.  3,  1778],  D'Estaing  sailed  for  the  West  Indies,  to  attack  the 
British  possessions  there.  To  defend  these,  it  was  necessary  for  the  British 
fleet  on  our  coast  to  proceed  to  those  waters.2  This  movement  would  prevent 
any  co-operation  between  the  fleet  and  army  in  aggressive  movements  against 
the  populous  and  now  well-defended  North  ;  they  could  only  co-operate  in  act 
ive  operations  against  the  sparsely-settled  South.  These  considerations  caused 
a  change  in  the  plans  of  the  enemy;  and  late  in  November  [Nov.  27],  Sir 
Henry  Clinton  dispatched  Colonel  Campbell,  with  about  two  thousand  troops, 
to  invade  Georgia,  then  the  weakest  member  of  the  Confederacy.  They  pro 
ceeded  by  water,  and  landed  at  Savannah,  the  capital  of  the  State,  on  the 
morning  of  the  29th  of  December.  General  Robert  Howe3  was  there,  with  only 
about  a  thousand  men,  and  these  were  dispirited  by  the  failure  of  a  recent  expe 
dition  against  Florida  in  which  they  had  been  engaged.4  They  defended  the 
city  nobly,  however,  until  an  overwhelming  force,  by  power  and  stratagem,  com 
pelled  them  to  retire.  They  then  fled,  in  confusion,  up  the  Savannah  River, 
and  took  shelter  in  the  bosom  of  South  Carolina.  The  capital  of  Georgia  be 
came  the  head-quarters  of  the  British  army  at  the  South  ;  and  the  enemy  re 
tained  it  until  near  the  close  of  the  contest  [1782],  even  when  every  foot  of  soil 
in  the  State,  outside  the  intrenchments  around  the  city,  was  possessed  by  the 
patriots. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

j^IFTH  YEAR  OF  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.      [1779.] 

THICKLY  mottled  with  clouds  of  evil  forebodings  for  the  Republican  cause, 
Was  the  political  firmament  at  the  dawn  of  the  year  1779.     The  finances  of  the 

of  New  York,  in  1795,  and  his  remains  rest  beneath  a  slab  in  the  town  of  Steuben,  about  seven 
miles  north-west  of  Trenton  Falls.  1  Manhattan,  or  York  Island,  and  Rhode  Island. 

2  Admiral  Hotham  sailed  for  the  West  Indies  on  the  3d  of  November ;  and  early  in  December, 
Admiral  Byron,  who  had  just  succeeded  Lord  Howe  in  chief  naval  command,  also  sailed  for  that 
destination.  3  Page  244. 

4  A  great  number  of  Tories  were  organized  in  Florida,  and  committed  so  many  depredations  upon 
the  settlers  on  the  Georgian  frontiers,  that  Howe,  during  the  summer  of  1778,  went  thither  to  dis 
perse  them.  He  penetrated  to  the  St.  Mary's  River,  in  June,  where  he  awaited  reinforcements, 
and  supplies,  by  water.  Want  of  co-operation  on  the  part  of  the  governor  of  Georgia  and  the  naval 
commander,  produced  much  disunion ;  and  sickness  soon  reduced  the  number  of  effective  men  so 
much,  that  the  enterprise  was  abandoned. 


1779.]  FIFTH  YEAR   OF   THE   WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE.  293 

country  were  in  a  most  wretched  condition.  Already,  one  hundred  millions  of 
dollars  of  continental  money1  were  afloat  without  the  security  of  even  good 
public  credit  ;2  and  their  value  was  rapidly  depreciating.  While  the  amount 
of  the  issues  was  small,  the  credit  of  the  bills  was  good  ;  but  when  new  emis 
sions  took  place,  and  no  adequate  measures  for  redemption  were  exhibited,  the 
people  became  suspicious  of  those  frail  representatives  of  money,  and  their  value 
began  to  depreciate.  This  effect  did  not  occur  until  eighteen  months  after 
the  time  of  the  first  emission.3  Twenty  millions  of  the  continental  bills  were 
then  in  circulation,  besides  a  large  amount  of  local  issues  by  the  several  States. 
It  was  perceived  that  depreciation  was  inevitable,  and  Congress  proposed,  as  a 
substitute  for  further  issues,  a  loan  of  five  millions,  at  an  interest  of  four  per 
cent.  A  lottery  had  been  early  authorized,  and  was  now  in  operation,  designed 
to  raise  a  like  sum,  on  loan,  the  prizes  being  payable  in  loan-office  certificates.4 
Although  these  offices  were  opened  in  all  the  States,  and  the  interest  raised  to 
six  per  cent.,  the  loans  came  in  slowly.  The  treasury  became  almost  exhausted, 
the  loan-offices  were  overdrawn  upon  by  the  commissioners'  drafts,  and  the  issue 
of  bills  was  reluctantly  recommenced. 

The  financial  embarrassments  were  increased  by  the  circulation  of  an 
immense  amount  of  counterfeits  of  the  continental  bills,  by  the  British 
and  the  loyalists,  which  rapidly  depreciated  the  currency.  They  were 
sent  out  from  New  York,  literally,  by  "  cart-loads."  '  Congress  felt  the  neces 
sity  of  making  some  extraordinary  efforts  for  redeeming  the  genuine  bills,  so  as 
to  sustain  their  credit.  The  several  States  were  taxed,  and  on  the  2d  of  Janu 
ary,  1779,  it  was,  by  Congress,  "  Resolved,  That  the  United  States  be  called 
on  to  pay  in  their  respective  quotas  of  fifteen  millions  of  dollars,  for  the  year 
1779,  and  of  six  millions  of  dollars  annually  for  eighteen  years,  from  and  after 
the  year  1779,  as  a  fund  for  sinking  the  emissions,"  &c.  ;  yet  all  was  in  vain; 
prices  rose  as  the  bills  sank  in  value,  and  every  kind  of  trade  was  embarrassed  and 

1  Page  245. 

2  At  this  time,  when  Congress  could  not  borrow  a  dollar  upon  its  own  credit,  Robert  Morris 
[page  264]  found  no  difficulty  in  raising  millions  upon  his  own.     For  a  long  time  he,  alone,  furnished 
the  "hard  money"  used  by  that  body.  3  Note  3,  page  245. 

4  On  the  first  of  November,  1776,  the  Continental  Congress  "Resolved,  That  a  sum  of  money 
be  raised  by  way  of  lottery,  for  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  next  campaign,  the  lottery  to  bo 
drawn  in  Philadelphia."  A  committee  was  appointed  to  arrange  the  same,  and  on  the  18th, 
reported  a  scheme.  The  drawer  of  more  than  the  minimum  prize  in  each  class,  was  to  receive 
either  a  treasury  bank  note,  payable  in  five  years,  with  an  annual  interest  at  four  per  cent.,  or  the 
preemption  of  such  billets  in  the  next  succeeding  class ;  this  was  optional  with  the  adventurers. 
Those  who  should  not  call  for  their  prizes  within  six  weeks  after  the  end  of  the  drawing,  were 
considered  adventurers  in  the  next  succeeding  class.  Seven  managers  were  appointed,  who  were 
authorized  to  employ  agents  in  different  States  to  sell  the  tickets.  The  first  drawing  was  decided  to 
be  made  at  Philadelphia,  on  the  first  of  March,  1777;  but  purchasers  were  comparatively  few  and 
tardy,  and  the  drawing  was  postponed  from  time  to  time.  Various  impediments  continually  presented 
themselves,  and  the  plan,  which  promised  such  success  at  the  beginning,  appears  to  have  been  a 
failure.  Many  purchasers  of  tickets  were  losers ;  and  this,  like  some  other  financial  schemes  of  the 
Revolution,  was  productive  of  much  hard  feeling  toward  the  Federal  Government. 

6  It  was  no  secret  at  the  time,  as  appears  by  the  following  advertisement  in  Games'  Neiu  York 
Mercury :  "  ADVERTISEMENT.  Persons  going  into  other  colonies,  may  be  supplied  with  any  number 
of  counterfeited  Congress  notes,  for  the  price  of  the  paper  per  ream.  They  are  so  neatly  and  exactly 
executed,  that  there  is  no  risk  in  getting  them  off,  it  being  almost  impossible  to  discover  that  they 
are  not  genuine.  This  has  been  proven  by  bills  to  a  very  large  amount,  which  have  already  been 
successfully  circulated.  Inquire  of  Q.  E.  D.,  at  the  Coffee-house,  from  11  A.  M.,  to  4  P.  M,,  daring 
the  pres3nt  month." 


294  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1779. 

deranged.  The  federal  government  was  thoroughly  perplexed.  Only  about 
four  millions  of  dollars  had  been  obtained,  by  loan,  from  Europe,  and  present 
negotiations  appeared  futile.  No  French  army  was  yet  upon  our  soil,  to  aid 
us,  nor  had  French  coin  yet  gladdened  the  hearts  of  unpaid  soldiers.  A  French 
fleet  had  indeed  been  upon  our  coasts,1  but  had  now  gone  to  fight  battles  for 
France  in  the  West  Indies,  after  mocking  our  hopes  with  broken  promises  of 
aid.2  Gloomy,  indeed,  appeared  the  firmament  at  the  dawn  of  1779,  the  fifth 
year  of  the  War  for  Independence. 

In  the  autumn  of  1777,  a  plan  for  invading  Canada  and  the  eastern  British 
provinces,  and  for  seizing  the  British  posts  on  the  western  lakes,  had  been 
matured  by  Congress  and  the  Board  of  War,3  but  when  it  was  submitted  to 
Washington,  his  sagacious  mind  perceived  its  folly,  and  the  influence  of  his 
opinions,  and  the  discovery,  by  true  patriots,  that  it  was  a  part  of  the  secret 
plan,  entered  into  by  Gates  and  others,  to  deprive  Washington  of  chief  com 
mand,  caused  an  abandonment  of  the  scheme.  Others,  more  feasible,  occu 
pied  the  attention  of  the  Federal  Legislature  ;  and  for  several  weeks  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  co-operated  with  Congress  [January,  1779],  in  person,  in 
preparing  a  plan  for  the  campaign  of  1779.  It  was  finally  resolved  to  act  on 
the  defensive,  except  in  retaliatory  expeditions  against  the  Indians  and  Tories 
in  the  interior.4  This  scheme  promised  the  most  beneficial  results,  for  it  would 
be  safer  and  less  expensive,  than  offensive  warfare.  During  the  entire  year, 
the  principal  military  operations  were  carried  on  in  the  two  extreme  sections  of 
the  confederacy.  The  chief  efforts  of  the  Americans  were  directed  to  the  con 
finement  of  the  British  army  to  the  seaboard,  and  chastising  the  Indian  tribes. 
The  winter  campaign  opened  by  Lieutenant-colonel  Campbell5  [December  29, 
1778],  continued  until  June,  and  resulted,  as  we  have  mentioned  [page  292], 
in  the  complete  subjugation  of  Georgia  to  British  rule. 

When  Campbell  had  garrisoned  Savannah,  and  arranged  for  its  defense,  he 
prepared  to  march  against  Sunbury,  twenty-eight  miles  further  south,  the  only 
post  of  any  consequence  now  left  to  the  Americans  on  the  Georgia  seaboard. 
He  treated  the  people  leniently,  and,  by  proclamation,  invited  them  to  join  the 
British  standard.   These  measures  had  their  desired  effect, 
and  timid  hundreds,  seeing  the  State  under  the  heel  of 
British  power,  proclaimed  their  loyalty,  and  rallied  be 
neath  the  standard  of  King  George.     At  the  same  time, 
General  Prevost,  who  was  in  command  of  the  British  and 
Indians  in  east  Florida,  marched  northward,  captured 
Sunbury  [January  9,  1779],  and  assumed  the  chief  com 
mand  of  the  British  forces  in  the  South.     With  this  post 
GENERAL  LINCOLN.        fen  the  hopes  of  the  Republicans  in  east  Georgia.     In  the 

1  Page  289.  2  Page  289. 

3  On  the  12th  of  June,  1776,  Congress  appointed  a  committee,  to  be  styled  the  "Board  of  War 
and  Ordnance,"  to  have  the  general  supervision  of  military  affairs.  John  Adams  was  the  chairman, 
and  Richard  Peters  was  secretary.  Peters  was  the  real  "Secretary  of  "War"  under  the  old  Confed 
eration,  until  1781,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  General  Lincoln.  General  Gates  was  chairman  in 
1778.  4  Page  291.  5  Page  293 


1779.]  FIFTH  TEAR   OF  THE   WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.  295 

mean  while.  General  Benjamin  Lincoln,  of  Massachusetts,  had  been  appointed 
[September,  1778],  commander-in-chief  of  the  southern  army  of  patriots.1  He 
made  his  head-quarters  at  Purysburg  [January  6],  twenty-five  miles  above 
Savannah,  and  there  commenced  the  formation  of  an  army ,  composed  of  some  con 
tinental  regiments,  new  recruits,  and  the  broken  forces  of  General  Howe.2  While 
Lincoln  was  collecting  his  army  on  the  Carolina  bank  of  the  Savannah,  Camp 
bell  marched  up  the  Georgia  side  to  Augusta,3  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging 
the  Tories,  opening  a  communication  with  the  Creek  Indians1  in  the  West  (among 
whom  the  British  had  active  emissaries),  and  to  awe  the  Whigs.  At  the  same 
time  a  band  of  Tories,  under  Colonel  Boyd,  was  desolating  the  Carolina  fron 
tiers,  while  on  their  march  to  join  the  royal  troops.  When  within  two  days' 
march  of  Augusta,  they  were  attacked5  [February  14,  1779]  and  utterly  defeated 
by  Colonel  Pickens,  at  the  head  of  the  militia  of  Ninety-six.0  Boyd  and 
seventy  of  his  men  were  killed,  and  seventy-five  were  made  prisoners.7  Pick- 
ens  lost  thirty-eight  of  his  men. 

This  defeat  of  Boyd  alarmed  Campbell  and  encouraged  Lincoln.  The  latter 
immediately  sent  General  Ashe,  of  North  Carolina,  with  about  two  thousand 
men,8  to  drive  Campbell  from  Augusta,  and  to  confine  the  invaders  to  the  low, 
sickly  sections  near  the  sea,  hoping  for  aid  from  the  deadly  malaria  of  the 
swamps,  when  the  heats  of  summer,  should  prevail.  The  British  fled  [February 
13,  1779]  at  the  approach  of  Ashe,  and  were  pursued  by  him  [February  16] 
as  far  as  Brier  Creek,  about  forty  miles  below  Augusta,  where  he  halted  to 
establish  a  camp.  There  Ashe  was  surprised  and  defeated  [March  3]  by  Gen 
eral  Prevost,  who,  with  quite  a  large  force,  was  marching  up  the  Savannah  to 
the  relief  of  Campbell.  Ashe  lost  almost  his  entire  army  by  death,  captivity,  and 
dispersion.  Some  were  killed,  others  perished  in  the  morasses,  and  many  were 
drowned  in  attempting  to  escape  across  the  Savannah.9  This  blow  deprived 
Lincoln  of  one  fourth  of  his  army,  and  led  to  the  temporary  re-establishment  of 
royal  government  in  Georgia.10 

1  Benjamin  Lincoln  was  born  in  Hingham,  Massachusetts,  in  1733.  He  was  a  farmer,  yet  took 
an  active  part  in  public  affairs.  He  joined  the  continental  army  in  1777,  and  rose  rapidly  to  the 
station  of  major-general.  He  commanded  the  militia  against  Shay's  insurgents  [See  5,  page  353.] 
in  1786.  He  was  also  a  useful  public  officer  in  civil  affairs,  and  died  in  1810.  2  Page  292. 

3  When  Campbell  departed  for  Augusta,  Prevost  sent  Colonel  Gardiner  with  some  troops,  to  take 
possession  of  Port  Royal  Island,  some  sixty  miles  below  Charleston,  preparatory  to  a  march  upon 
that  city.  Gardiner  was  attacked  by  General  Moultrie  [page  249],  with  Charleston  militia,  on  the 
morning  of  the  3d  of  February.  Almost  every  British  officer  (except  the  commander),  and  many 
privates,  were  killed.  Gardiner  and  a  few  men  escaped  in  boats,  and  Moultrie,  whose  loss  was 
trifling,  joined  Lincoln  at  Purysburg.  4  Page  30. 

0  The  place  of  the  skirmish  was  upon  Kettle  Creek,  in  Oglethorpe  county,  Georgia. 

0  Page  336. 

7  Seventy  of  them  were  tried  and  found  guilty  of  treason,  and  sentenced  to  be  hung.  Only  five 
were  executed. 

b  Lincoln  was  joined  by  Generals  Ashe  and  Rutherford,  with  North  Carolina  regiments,  about 
the  first  of  February,  and  his  army  now  amounted  to  little  more  than  three  thousand  men.  John 
Ashe  was  born  in  England  in  1721,  and  came  to  America  when  a  child.  He  was  engaged  in  the 
Regulator  War  [page  223],  and  was  one  of  the  most  active  of  the  North  Carolina  patriots.  He  died 
of  small-pox  in  1781. 

9  About  one  hundred  and  fifty  were  killed  and  drowned,  eighty -nine  were  made  prisoners,  and 
a  large  number,  who  were  dispersed,  did  not  take  up  arms  again  for  several  months. 

lu  At  the  beginning  of  1776,  the  bold  Whigs  of  Savannah  had  mado  the  royal  governor,  Sir 
James  Wright,  a  prisoner  in  his  own  house ;  and  the  provincial  Assembly,  assuming  governmental 


296  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1779. 

Prevost  now  prepared  for  an  invasion  of  South  Carolina.  Toward  the  last 
of  April,  he  crossed  the  Savannah  [April  27]  with  two  thousand  regulars,  and 
a  large  body  of  Tories  and  Creek  Indians,  and  marched  for  Charleston.  Lin 
coln  had  recruited,  and  was  now  in  the  field  with  about  five  thousand  men, 
preparing  to  recover  lost  Georgia,  by  entering  the  State  at  Augusta,  and  sweep 
ing  the  country  to  the  sea.  But  when  he  discovered  the  progress  of  Prevost, 
and  that  even  the  danger  of  losing  Savannah  did  not  deter  that  active  general 
from  his  attempts  upon  Charleston,  Lincoln  hastened  to  the  relief  of  the  men 
aced  city.  The  people  on  the  line  of  his  march  hailed  him  as  a  deliverer,  for 
Prevost  had  marked  his  progress  by  plunder,  conflagration,  and  cruelty.  For 
tunately  for  the  Republicans,  the  invader's  march  was  so  slow,  that  when  he 
arrived  [May  11]  before  the  city,  the  people  were  prepared  for  resistance. 

Prevost,  on  the  morning  of  the  llth  of  May,  approached  the  American 
intrenchments  thrown  across  Charleston  Neck,1  and  demanded  an  immediate 
surrender  of  the  city.  He  was  answered  by  a  prompt  refusal,  and  the  remain 
der  of  the  day  was  spent  by  both  parties,  in  preparations  for  an  assault.  That 
night  was  a  fearful  one  for  the  citizens,  for  they  expected  to  be  greeted  at  dawn 
with  bursting  bomb-shells,2  and  red-hot  cannon-balls.  When  morning  came 
[May  12,  1779],  the  scarlet  uniforms  of  the  enemy  were  seen  across  the  waters 
upon  John's  Island,  and  not  a  hostile  foot  was  upon  the  Charleston  peninsula. 
The  cause  of  this  was  soon  made  manifest.  Prevost  had  been  informed  of  the 
approach  of  Lincoln,  and  fearing  his  connection  with  Savannah  might  be  cut 
off,  he  commenced  a  retreat  toward  that  city,  at  midnight,  by  way  of  the  islands 
along  the  coast.  For  more  than  a  month  some  British  detachments  lingered 
upon  John's  Island.  Then  they  were  attacked  at  Stono  Ferry,  ten  miles  below 
Charleston  [June  20]  by  a  party  of  Lincoln's  army,  but  after  a  severe  engage 
ment,  and  the  loss  of  almost  three  hundred  men  in  killed  and  wounded,  they 
repulsed  the  Americans  whose  loss  was  greater.  Prevost  soon  afterward 
established  a  military  post  at  Beaufort,  on  Port  Royal  Island,3  and  then  retreated 
to  Savannah.  The  hot  season  produced  a  suspension  of  hostilities  in  the  South, 
and  that  region  enjoyed  comparative  repose  for  several  months. 

Sir  Henry  Clinton  was  not  idle  while  these  events  were  in  progress  at  the 
South.  Ho  was  sending  out  marauding  expeditions  from  New  York,  to  plunder 
and  harass  the  people  on  the  sea-coast.  Governor  Tryon1  went  from  Kings- 
bridge5  on  the  25th  of  March  [1779],  with  fifteen  hundred  British  regulars  and 

powers,  made  provisions  for  military  defense  [February,  1776],  issued  bills  of  credit,  &c.  Wright 
escaped  and  went  to  England.  He  returned  in  July,  1779,  and  resumed  his  office  as  governor  of 
the  "colony." 

1  Charleston,  like  Boston  [note  3,  page  229],  is  situated  upon  a  peninsula,  the  neck  of  which  is 
made  quite  narrow  by  the  Ashley  and  Cooper  Itivers,  and  the  marshes.  Across  this  the  Americans 
had  hastily  cast  up  embankments.  They  served  a  present  purpose,  and  being  strengthened,  were 
of  great  value  to  the  Americans  the  following  year.  See  page  310. 

3  Hollow  balls  or  shells  of  cast  iron,  filled  with  gunpowder,  slugs,  &c.  In  an  orifice  communi 
cating  with  the  powder,  is  a  slow  match.  This  is  ignited,  and  the  shell  is  hurled  from  a  mortar  (a 
short  cannon)  into  the  midst  of  a  town  or  an  army.  "When  the  powder  ignites,  the  shell  is  bursted 
into  fragments,  and  these  with  the  slugs  make  terrible  havoc.  They  are  sometimes  the  size  of  a 
man's  head.  3  Note  5,  page  166.  4  Page  248. 

6  The  passage  across  the  Harlem  Eiver  (or  as  it  is  sometimes  there  called,  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek), 
at  the  upper  end  of  York  or  Manhattan  Island. 


1779.]          FIFTH  YEAR   OF   THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.  297 

Hessians,1  to  destroy  some  salt-works  at  Horseneck,  and  attack  an  American 
detachment  under  General  Putnam,  at  Greenwich,  in  Connecticut.  The  Amer 
icans  were  dispersed  [March  26],  and  Putnam  barely  escaped  capture  by  some 
dragoons.2  He  rallied  his  troops  at  Stamford,  pursued  the  British  on  their 
return  toward  New  York  the  same  evening,  recaptured  a  quantity  of  plunder  in 
their  possession,  and  took  thirty-eight  of  them  prisoners. 

On  the  9th  of  May,  Sir  George  Collier  entered  Hampton  Roads,3  with  a 
small  fleet,  bearing  General  Mathews,  with  land  troops,  destined  to  ravage  the 
country  in  that  vicinity.  They  spread  desolation  on  both  sides  of  the  Elizabeth 
River,  from  the  Roads  to  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth.  After  destroying  a  vast 
amount  of  property,  they  withdrew ;  and  at  the  close  of  the  month,  the  same 
vessels  and  the  same  troops  were  up  the  Hudson  River,  assisting  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  in  the  capture  of  the  fortress  at  Stony  Point,  and  also  the  small  fort  on 
Verplanck's  Point,  opposite.  Both  of  these  posts  fell  into  the  power  of  the 
British,  after  a  spirited  resistance ;  the  first  on  the  31st  of  May,  and  the  latter 
on  the  1st  of  June.  These  achievements  accomplished,  Collier,  with  a  band 
of  twenty-five  hundred  marauders,  under  Governor  Try  on,  sailed  on  the  night 
of  the  4th  of  July  [1779],  for  the  shores  of  Connecticut,  to  plunder  and  destroy 
the  towns  on  the  coast.  They  plundered  New  Haven  on  the  5th,  laid  East 
Haven  in  ashes  on  the  6th,  destroyed  Fairfield  in  the  same  way  on  the  8th,  and 
burned  and  plundered  Norwalk  on  the  12th.  Not  content  with  this  wanton 
destruction  of  property,  the  invaders  insulted  and  cruelly  abused  the  defense 
less  inhabitants.  While  Norwalk  was  burning,  Tryon  sat  in  a  rocking-chair, 
upon  an  eminence  near  by,  and  viewed  the  scene  with  great  complacency,  and 
apparent  pleasure — a  puny  imitation  of  Nero,  who  fiddled  while  Rome  was 
blazing.4  The  Hessian  mercenaries  generally  accompanied  these  expeditions,  for, 
unlike  the  British  soldiers,  they  were  ever  eager  to  apply  the  torch  and  abuse 
the  inhabitants.  They  were  the  fit  instruments  for  such  a  warfare.  When 
Tryon  (whom  the  English  people  abhorred  for  his  wrong-doings  in  America), 
had  completed  the  destruction  of  these  pleasant  villages,  he  boasted  of  his  ex- 

1  Page  246. 

2  On  this  occasion  lie  performed  the  feat,  so  often  related,  of  descending  a  stoop  hill  on  horse 
back,  making  his  way,  as  common  history  asserts,  down  a  flight  of  stone  steps,  which  had  been 
constructed  for  the  convenience  of  people  who  had  to  ascend  this  hill  to  a  church  on  its  summit. 
The  whole  matter  is  an  exaggeration.     An  eye-witness  of  the  event  says  that  Putnam  pursued  a 
zig-zag  course  down  the  hill,  and  only  descended  four  or  five  of  the  steps  near  the  bottom.     The 
feat  was  not  at  all  extraordinary  when  we  consider  that  a  troop  of  dragoons,  with  loaded  pistols, 
were  at  his  heels.     These,  however,  dared  not  follow  the  general.     In  1825,  when  a  company  of 
horsemen  were  escorting  La  Fayette — the  "Nation's  Guest" — along  the  road  at  that  place,  some  of 
them  went  down  the  same  declivity  on  horseback.     The  stone  steps  are  now  [18G7]  visible  in  some 
places,  among  the  shrubbery  and  overlying  sod. 

3  Page  69.     This  is  a  body  of  water  at  the  conjunction  of  the  James  and  Elizabeth  Rivers,  and 
communicating  with  the  sea.     It  is  one  of  the  most  spacious  harbors  in  the  world.     The  village  of 
Hampton  lies  upon  its  northern  border.     See  page  243. 

4  Alluding  to  these  outrages  of  Tryon,  and  the  burning  of  Kingston  [page  283]  by  Vaughan, 
Trambull,  in  his  M~Fingal,  says : 

"  Behold,  like  whelps  of  British  lion, 
Our  warriors,  Clinton,  Vaughan,  and  Tryon, 
March  forth,  with  patriotic  joy. 
To  ravish,  plunder,  and  destroy. 
Great  generals !     Foremost  in  their  nation — 
The  journeymen  of  desolation!" 


298 


THE     REVOLUTION". 


[1779. 


standing 


on   the  New  England 


treme  clemency  in  leaving    a   single   house 
coast. 

While  these  marauding  forays  were  in  progress, 
the  Americans  were  not  idle.  They  were  preparing  to 
strike  the  enemy  heavy  and  unexpected  blows.  Only 
three  days  after  the  destruction  of  Norwalk  [July  15], 
General  Anthony  Wayne  was  marching  secretly  to 
attempt  the  re-capture  of  Stony  Point,  on  the  Hud 
son.  The  fort  stood  upon  a  rocky  promontory,  sur 
rounded  by  water  and  a  marsh,  and  was  very  strong 
in  its  position.  So  secretly  was  the  whole  movement 
conducted,  that  the  British  garrison  were  unsuspicious  gTONY  POINT> 

of  danger.     At  midnight,  the  little  army  of  patriots 

crossed  the  morass  in  the  rear,  and  attacked  the  fort 
with  ball  and  bayonet,  at  two  separate  points,  in  the 
face  of  a  heavy  cannonade  from  the  aroused  garrison. 
At  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  [July  16,  1779],  Wayne, 
though  so  badly  wounded  in  the  head  by  a  glancing 
blow  of  a  bullet,  as  to  fall  senseless,  wrote  to  Washing 
ton,  "  The  fort  and  garrison,  with  Colonel  Johnson,  are 
ours.  Our  officers  and  men  behaved  like  men  who  are 
determined  to  be  free."  This  was  considered  one  of 
the  most  brilliant  events  of  the  war.1  The  British  lost, 
in  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners,  about  six  hundred 
men ;  the  loss  of  the  Americans  was  fifteen  killed,  and  eighty-three  wounded. 
The  spoils  were  a  large  amount  of  military  stores.  The  post  was  abandoned  by 
the  Americans,  for,  at  that  time,  troops  sufficient  to  garrison  it  could  not  be 
spared.2 

The  capture  of  Stony  Point  was  followed  by  another  brilliant  achievement, 
a  month  later  [August  19],  when  Major  Henry  Lee,3  at  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  surprised  a  British  garrison  at  Paulus'  Hook  (now  Jersey  City),4  op 
posite  New  York,  killed  thirty  soldiers,  and  took  one  hundred  and  sixty  pris- 

1  "Wayne  was  highly  complimented  by  all.     General  Charles  Lee  [page  248],  who  was  not  on 
the  most  friendly  terms  with  Wayne,  wrote  to  him,  saying,  "  I  do  most  seriously  declare  that  your 
assault  of  Stony  Point  is  not  only  the  most  brilliant,  in  my  opinion,  throughout  the  whole  course  of 
the  war,  on  either  side,  but  that  it  is  the  most  brilliant  I  am  acquainted  with  in  history.     The  as 
sault  of  Schiveidnitz,  by  Marshal  Laudon,  I  think  inferior  to  it."     Dr.  Rush  wrote,  saying,  "Our 
streets  rang  for  many  days  with  nothing  but  the  name  of  General  Wayne.     You  are  remembered 
constantly  next  to  our  good  and  great  Washington,  over  our  claret  and  Madeira.     You  have  estab 
lished  the  national  character  of  our  country;  you  have  taught  our  enemies  that  bravery,  humanity, 
and  magnanimity  are  the  national  virtues  of  the  Americans."     Congress  gave  him  thanks,  and  a 
gold  medal ;  and  silver  medals  were  awarded  to  Colonels  Stewart  and  De  Fleury,  for  their  gallantry 
on  the  occasion.     Anthony  Wayne  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  in  1745.     He  was  a  professional  sur 
veyor,  then  a  provincial  legislator,  and  became  a  soldier  in  1775.     He  was  very  active  during  the 
whole  war;  and  was  efficient  in  subduing  the  Indians  in  the  Ohio  country,  in  1795  [see  page  374]. 
He  died  at  Erie,  on  his  way  home,  near  the  close  of  1796. 

2  After  the  Americans  had  captured  Stony  Point,  they  turned  the  cannons  upon  Fort  La  Fay- 
ette,  upon  Verplanck's  Point,  opposite.     General  Robert  Howe  [page  292]  was  directed  to  attack 
that  post,  but  on  account  of  some  delays,  he  did  not  reach  there  before  Sir  Henry  Clinton  sent  up 
relief  for  the  garrison.  '3  Note  2,  page  133.  4  Note  1,  page  94. 


GENERAL   WAYNE. 


1779.] 


FIFTH   YEAR   OF   THE   WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE. 


299 


oners.  This  gallant  act  was  greatly  applauded  in  the  camp,  in  Congress,  and 
throughout  the  country,  and  made  the  enemy  more  cautious  and  circumspect. 
The  hero  was  honored  by  Congress  with  thanks  and  a  gold  medal.  These  and 
some  smaller  successes  at  about  this  time,  elated  the  Americans  ;  but  their  joy 
was  soon  turned  into  sorrow,  because  of  disasters  in  the  extreme  East.  Massa 
chusetts  had  fitted  out  almost  forty  vessels  to  attempt  the  seizure  of  a  British 
post  on  the  Penobscot  River.  The  assailants  delayed  moro  than  a  fortnight 
after  their  arrival  [July  25]  before  determining  to  carry  the  place  by  storm. 
Just  as  the  troops  were  about  to  land  for  the  purpose,  a  British  fleet  arrived, 
destroyed  the  flotilla,  took  many  of  the  soldiers  and  sailors  prisoners,  and  drove 
the  remainder  into  the  wilderness  [Aug.  13].  These,  after  great  hardships  in 
the  forests,  reached  Boston  toward  the  close  of  September. 


The  storm  of  war  was  not  confined  to  the  Atlantic  settlements.  It  burst 
over  the  lofty  Alleghanies,  and  at  an  early  period,  even  while  it  was  gathering, 
a  low,  muttering  peal  of  thunder  came  from  clouds  that  brooded  over  the  far- 
off  wilderness  of  the  great  valleys  of  the  West.  Pioneers  from  the  sea-board 
colonies  were  there,  and  they  were  compelled,  almost  at  the  moment  of  arrival. 
to  wage  war  with  the  Indian,  and  hunt  savage  men  as  well  as  savage  beasts. 
Among  the  earliest  and  most  renowned  of  these  pioneers,  was  Daniel  Boone, 
the  great  "Hunter  of  Kentucky,"  of  whom  Byron  wrote, 

"  Of  all  men,  saving  Sylla,  the  man-slayer, 

Who  passes  for,  in  life  and  death,  most  lucky, 


300  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1779. 

Of  the  great  names  which  in  our  faces  stare, 

The  General  Boone,  backwoodsman  of  Kentucky, 
Was  happiest  among  mortals  anywhere."  1 

He  went  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge  as  early  as  1769,  and  in  1773.  bis  own 
and  a  few  other  families  accompanied  him  to  the  paradise  lying  among  the 
rich  valleys  south  of  the  Ohio  River.2  From  that  period  until  the  power  of  the 
western  Indians  (who  were  continually  incited  to  hostilities  by  the  British  and 


Tories)  was  broken  by  George  Rogers  Clarke,  Boone's  life  was  one  of  almost 
continual  warfare  with  the  children  of  the  forest. 

Nor  did  Boorie  and  his  companions  measure  strength  with  the  Indians  alone  ; 


1  Don  Juan,  VIII.,  Ixi. 

2  The  wife  and  daughters  of  Boone  were  the  first  white  females  that  set  foot  in  the  valleys  west 
of  the  Alleghanies.     Daniel  Boone  was  born  in  Berks  county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1734.     While  he 
was  a  small  boy,  his  parents  settled  on  the  Yadkin,  in  North  Carolina.      When  in  the  prime  of  life, 
he  went  over  the  mountains,  and  became  a  famous  hunter.     He  planted  the  first  settlement  on  the 
Kain-tuck-ee  River,  yet  known  as  Boonsborough.     During  the  Revolution  he  fought  the  Indians 
bravely,  and  was  a  prisoner  among  them  for  some  time,  but  escaped.     He  was  active  in  all  matters 
pertaining  to  the  settlement  of  Kentucky,  until  it  became  an  independent  State.     Yet  he  was,  by 
the  technicalities  of  law,  doomed  to  be  disinherited  of  every  foot  of  the  soil  he  had  helped  to 
redeem  from  the  wilderness,  and,  at  almost  eighty  years  of  age,  he  was  trapping  beaver  upon  the 
Little  Osage  River,  beyond  the  Mississippi.     He  died  in  Missouri,  when  almost  ninety  years  of 
ag?,  in  September.  1820. 


CLARK'S  EXPEDITION  ACEOSS  THE  DROWNED  LANDS. 


, 


1779.]  FIFTH   YEAE  OF  THE   WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.  3Q3 

but  in  time  they  confronted  white  leaders  and  white  followers.  These  conflicts, 
however,  were  only  a  series  of  border  forays,  until  1778,  when  Major  George 
Rogers  Clarke1  led  a  regular  expedition  against  the  frontier  posts  of  the  enemy, 
in  the  wilderness  in  the  far  north-west,  now  the  States  of  Indiana  and  Illinois. 
His  little  army  rendezvoused  at  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  where  Louisville  now 
stands,  where  he  was  joined  by  Simon  Kenton,  and  other  pioneers.  From 
thence  they  penetrated  the  country  northward,  and  on  the  4th  of  July  [1778], 
they  captured  Kaskaskia.2  On  the  9th,  they  took  the  village  of  Cahokia, 
sixty  miles  further  up  the  river ;  and  finally,  in  August,  the  stronger  British 
post  of  Vincennes,  on  the  Wabash,  fell  into  their  hands. 

Acting  in  the  capacity  of  a  peace-maker,  Clarke  was  working  successfully 
toward  the  pacification  of  the  western  tribes,  when,  in  the  month  of  January, 
1779,  the  commander  of  the  British  fort  at  Detroit  retook  Vincennes.  With 
one  hundred  and  seventy-five  men,  Clarke  penetrated  the  dreadful  wilderness 
a  hundred  miles  from  the  Ohio.  For  a  whole  week  they  traversed  the 
"drowned  lands"  of  Illinois,  suffering  every  privation  from  wet,  cold,  and 
hunger.  When  they  arrived  at  the  Little  Wabash,  at  a  point  where  the  forks 
of  the  stream  are  three  miles  apart,  they  found  the  intervening  space  covered 
with  water  to  the  depth  of  three  feet.  The  points  of  dry  land  were  five  miles 
apart,  and  all  that  distance  those  hardy  soldiers,  in  the  month  of  February, 
waded  the  cold  snow-flood3  in  the  forest,  sometimes  arm-pit  deep !  They 
arrived  in  sight  of  Vincennes  on  the  18th  [February,  1779],  and  the  next 
morning  at  dawn,  with  their  faces  blackened  with  gunpowder,  to  make  them 
selves  appear  hideous,  they  crossed  the  river  in  a  boat,  and  pushed  toward  the 
town.  On  the  20th,  the  stripes  and  stars  were  again  unfurled  over  the  fort  at 
Vincennes  and  a  captured  garrison.  Had  armed  men  dropped  from  the  clouds, 
the  people  and  soldiers  at  Vincennes  could  not  have  been  more  astonished,  than 
at  the  apparition  of  these  troops,  for  it  seemed  impossible  for  them  to  have 
traversed  the  deluged  country. 

The  indignation  of  the  people  was  fiercely  aroused  by  tho  atrocities  at 
Wyoming  and  upon  the  head  waters  of  the  Susquehanna ;  and  in  the  summer  of 
1779,  General  Sullivan4  was  sent  into  the  heart  of  the  country  of  the  Six  NA 
TIONS,5  to  chastise  and  humble  them.  He  collected  troops  in  the  Wyoming 

1  George  Rogers  Clarke,  was  born  in  Albamarle  county,  Virginia,  in  1752,  and  first  appears  in 
history  as  an  adventurer  beyond  the  Alleghanies,  twenty  years  afterward.  He  had  been  a  land- 
surveyor,  and  first  went  to  the  Ohio  region  in  1772.  He  was  a  captain  in  Dunmore's  army  [note  4, 
page  237]  in  177 4,  and  in  1775,  he  accompanied  some  emigrants  to  Kentucky.  Pleased  with  tho 
country,  he  determined  to  make  it  his  home;  and  during  the  war  for  Independence,  he  labored 
nobly  to  secure  the  vast  region  of  the  west  and  north-west,  as  a  home  for  the  free.  Under  his 
leadership,  what  afterward  became  the  North-west  Territory,  was  disenthralled,  and  he  has  been 
appropriately  styled  the  Father  of  that  region.  He  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  brigadier,  after 
serving  under  the  Baron  Steuben  against  Arnold,  in  Virginia,  in  1781,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war 
he  remained  in  Kentucky.  He  died  near  Louisville,  in  February,  1818,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six 
years.  2  Page  180.  3  Note  3,  page  241. 

4  John  Sullivan  was  born  in  Maine,  in  1740.  He  was  a  delegate  in  the  first  Continental  Con 
gress  [1774],  and  was  one  of  the  first  eight  brigadiers  in  the  Continental  Army.  After  being  in  act 
ive  service  about  four  years,  he  resigned  his  commission  in  1779.  He  was  afterward  a  member  of 
Congress,  and  governor  of  New  Hampshire,  and  died  in  1795. 

6  Page  25.  British  emissaries  had  gained  over  to  the  royal  interest  the  whole  of  the  Six  NA 
TIONS  except  the  Oneidas.  These  were  kept  loyal  to  the  republicans,  chiefly  through  the  instru- 


304  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1779. 

Valley ;  and  on  the  last  day  of  July,  marched  up  the  Susquehanna,  with 
about  three  thousand  soldiers.  At  Tioga  Point,  he  met  General  James  Clinton,1 
on  the  22d  of  August,  who  came  from  the  Mohawk 
Valley,  with  about  sixteen  hundred  men.  On  the  29th, 
they  fell  upon  a  body  of  Indian  and  Tory  savages, 
strongly  fortified,  at  Chemung  (now  Elmira),  and  dis 
persed  them.  Without  waiting  for  them  to  rally,  Sulli 
van  moved  forward,  and  penetrated  the  country  to  the 
Genesee  River.  In  the  course  of  three  weeks,  he  de 
stroyed  forty  Indian  villages,  and  a  vast  amount  of  food 
growing  in  fields  and  gardens.  One  hundred  and  sixty 

GENERAL  SULLIVAN.  X  i    i        i     ^         c  •       ^         n    n  i    •  • 

thousand  bushels  of  corn  in  the  fields  and  m  granaries 

were  destroyed  ;  a  vast  number  of  the  finest  fruit-trees,  the  product  of  years  of 
tardy  growth,  were  cut  down ;  hundreds  of  gardens  covered  with  edible  vegetables, 
vrere  desolated  ;  the  inhabitants  were  driven  into  the  forests  to  starve,  and  were 
hunted  like  wild  beasts  ;  their  altars  were  overturned,  and  their  graves  trampled 
upon  by  strangers  ;  and  a  beautiful,  well-watered  country,  teeming  with  a 
prosperous  people,  and  just  rising  from  a  wilderness  state,  by  the  aid  of  culti 
vation,  to  a  level  with  the  productive  regions  of  civilization,  was  desolated  and 
cast  back  a  century  in  the  space  of  a  fortnight-2  To  us,  looking  upon  the  scene 
from  a  point  so  remote,  it  is  difficult  to  perceive  the  necessity  that  called  for  a 
chastisement  so  cruel  and  terrible.  But  that  such  necessity  seemed  to  exist  we 
should  not  doubt,  for  it  was  the  judicious  and  benevolent  mind  of  Washington 
that  conceived  and  planned  the  campaign,  and  ordered  its  rigid  execution  in  the 
manner  in  which  it  was  accomplished.  It  awed  the  Indians  for  the  moment, 
but  it  did  not  crush  them.  In  the  reaction  they  had  greater  strength.  It 
kindled  the  fires  of  deep  hatred,  which  spread  for  among  the  tribes  upon  the 
lakes  and  in  the  valley  of  the  Ohio.  Washington,  like  Demetrius,  the  son  of 
Antigonus,  received  from  the  savages  the  name  of  An-na-ta-kau-les,  which  sig 
nifies  a  taker  of  toivns,  or  TOWN  DESTROYER.3 


mentality  of  one  or  two  Christian  missionaries.  After  the  war,  those  of  the  Six  Nations  who  joined 
the  British,  pleaded,  as  an  excuse,  the  noble  sentiment  of  loyalty.  They  were  the  friends  of  the  En 
glish,  and  regarded  the  parent  country  as  their  ally.  When  they  saw  the  children  of  their  great 
father,  the  king,  rebelling  against  him,  they  felt  it  to  be  their  duty,  in  accordance  with  stipulations 
of  solemn  treaties,  to  aid  him. 

1  General  James  Clinton  was  born  in  Ulster  county,  New  York,  in  1736.     He  was  a  captain  in 
the  French  and  Indian  War,  and  an  active  officer  during  the  Revolution.     He  died  in  1812. 

2  The  Seneca  Indians  were  beginning  to  cultivate  rich  openings  in  the  forests,  known  as  the 
"Genesee  Flats,"  quite  extensively.     They  raised  large  quantities  of  corn,  and  cultivated  gardens 
and  orchards.     Their  dwellings,  however,  were  of  the  rudest  character,  and  their  villages  consisted 
of  a  small  collection  of  these  miserable  huts,  of  no  value  except  for  winter  shelter. 

3  At  a  council  held  in  Philadelphia  in  1792,  Corn  Planter,  the  distinguished  Seneca  chief,  thus 
addressed  Washington,  then  President  of  the  United  States :  "  FATHER — The  voice  of  the  Seneca 
nation  speaks  to  you,  the  great  counselor,  in  whose  heart  the  wise  men  of  all  the  thirteen  fires  have 
placed  their  wisdom.     It  may  be  very  small  in  your  ears,  and,  therefore,  we  entreat  you  to  hearken 
with  attention,  for  we  are  about  to  speak  to  you  of  things  which  to  us  are  very  great     When  your 
army  entered  the  country  of  the  Six  Nations,  we  called  you  The  Town  Destroyer ;  and  to  this  day, 
when  that  name  is  heard,  our  women  look  behind  them  and  turn  pale,  and  our  children  cling  close 
to  the  necks  of  their  mothers.      Our  counselors  and  warriors  are  men,  and  can  not  be  afraid ;  but 
their  hearts  are  grieved  with  the  fears  of  our  women  and  children,  and  desire  that  it  may  be  buried 
so  deep  that  it  may  be  heard  no  more." 


1779.] 


FIFTH   YEAR   OF   THE   WAR   FOR  INDEPENDENCE. 


305 


SIEGE   OF    SAVANNAH.       1779. 


While  these  events  were  in  progress  at  the  North,  the  Southern  army, 
under  Lincoln,1  was  preparing  to  attack  Savannah,  in  concert  with  the  French 
fleet,  then  in  the  West  Indies.  During  that  sum 
mer,  Count  D'Estaing  had  battled  successfully 
with  Admiral  Byron  there,  and  early  in  Septem 
ber,  he  appeared  off  the  coast  of  Georgia  with  a 
powerful  fleet,  prepared  to  co-operate  with  Lincoln. 
D'Estaing  landed  troops  and  heavy  battery  cannon 
a  few  miles  below  Savannah  ;  and  on  the  23d  of 
September,  the  combined  armies  commenced  the 
siege.  It  was  soon  perceived  that  the  town  must 
be  taken  by  regular  approaches,  and  to  that  end 
all  energy  was  directed.  On  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  October,  a  heavy  can 
nonade  and  bombardment  was  opened  upon  the  Britsh  works.  It  continued  for 
five  days,  but  with  very  little  effect  upon  the  strong  British  intrenchments. 
D'Estaing  became  impatient  of  delay,2  and  proposed  an  attempt  to  take  the 
place  by  storm.  It  was  reluctantly  agreed  to,  for  there  seemed  a  certainty  of 
final  victory  if  the  siege  should  continue.  D'Estaing  would  listen  to  no  re 
monstrances,  and  the  assault  commenced  on  the  morning  of  the  9th  of  October. 
After  five  hours  of  severe  conflict,  there  was  a  truce  for  the  purpose  of  burying 
the  dead.  Already,  nearly  a  thousand  of  the  French  and  Americans  had  been 
lulled  and  wounded.3  The  standards  of  France  and  Carolina,  which  gallant  men 
had  planted  upon  the  parapet,  had  been  torn  down.  Yet  important  breaches  wero 
made,  and  another  assault  promised  a  sure  triumph.  But  D'Estaing,  strangely 
perverse,  was  unwilling  to  renew  the  assault,  and  made  preparations  to  withdraw. 
Lincoln  yielded  a  reluctant  assent  to  the  movement,  and  the  enterprise  was 
abandoned  at  the  moment  when  the  American  commander  felt  certain  of  victory.1 
Ten  days  afterward,  the  French  fleet  had  left  the  coast,  and  Lincoln  was  re 
treating  toward  Charleston.  Thus  closed  the  campaign  for  1779,  at  the  South. 
The  repulse  at  Savannah  was  a  severe  blow  to  the  hopes  of  the  patriots  of 
Georgia,  and  spread  a  gloom  over  the  whole  South.  Toward  the  Georgia  sea 
board,  every  semblance  of  opposition  to  royal  power  was  crushed,  and  only  in 
the  interior  did  armed  resistance  appear. 

1  Page  294. 

2  D'Estaing  expressed  his  fears,  not  only  of  the  arrival  of  a  British  fleet,  to  blockade  his  own  in 
the  Savannah  River,  but  of  the  autumn  storms,  which  might  damage  his  vessels  before  he  could  get 
to  s-a. 

3  Among  the  mortally  wounded,  was  Count  Pulaski,  the  brave  Pole 
whom  we  first  met  in  the  battle  on  the  Brandywine  [note  5,  page  273]. 
He  died  on  board  a  vessel  bound  for  Charleston,  a  few  days  after  the 
siege.  Serjeant  Jasper,  whoso  bravery  at  Fort  Moultrie  we  have  not 
iced  [note  5,  page  249],  was  also  killed,  while  nobly  holding  aloft,  upon 
a  bastion  of  the  British  works  which  he  had  mounted,  one  of  the  beauti 
ful  colors  [note  5,  page  249]  presented  to  Moultrie's  regiment  by  ladies 
of  Charleston.  The  colors  were  beautifully  embroidered,  and  given  to 
the  regiment,  in  the  name  of  the  ladies  of  Charleston,  by  Mrs.  Su 
sanna  Elliott.  Just  before  he  died,  Jasper  said,  "Tell  Mrs.  Elliott  I 
lost  my  life  supporting  the  colors  she  presented  to  our  regiment."  These 
colors,  captured  during  this  siege,  are  among  British  trophies  in  the 
tower  of  London.  Savannah  honors  both  these  heroes  by  having  finely- 
shaded  parks  bearing  their  respective  names.  4  Page  289. 
20 


COUNT   PULASKI. 


806  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1779. 

After  the  close  of  Sullivan's  campaign  against  the  Senecas,  very  little  of 
general  interest  transpired  at  the  North,  except  the  withdrawal  of  the  British 
troops  from  Rhode  Island,  on  the  25th  of  October,  1779.  La  Fayette  had 
been  in  France  during  the  summer,  and  chiefly  through  his  efforts,  the  French 
government  had  consented  to  send  another  powerful  fleet,1  and  several  thousand 
troops,  to  aid  the  Americans.  When  informed  of  this  intended  expedition,  the 
British  ministry  ordered  Clinton  to  cause  the  evacuation  of  Rhode  Island,  and 
to  concentrate,  at  New  York,  all  his  troops  at  the  North.  This  was  accom 
plished  with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  for  rumors  had  reached  Rhode  Island 
that  the  new  French  armament  was  approaching  the  coast.  So  rapid  was  the 
retreat  of  the  British,  caused  by  their  fears,  that  they  left  behind  them  all  their 
heavy  artillery,  and  a  large  quantity  of  stores.  Clinton  sailed  for  the  South  at 
the  close  of  the  year  [December  25],  with  about  five  thousand  troops,  to  open  a 
vigorous  campaign  in  the  Carolinas.  Washington,  in  the  mean  while,  had  gone 
into  winter  quarters  at  Morristown,2  where  his  troops  suffered  terribly  from  the 
severity  of  the  cold,  and  the  lack  of  provisions,  clothing,  and  shelter.3  Strong 
detachments  were  also  stationed  among  the  Hudson  Highlands,  and  the  cavalry 
were  cantoned  in  Connecticut. 

During  this  fifth  year  [1779]  of  the  war  for  Independence,  difficulties  had 
gathered  thick  and  fast  around  Great  Britain.  Spain  had  declared  war  against 
her4  on  the  16th  of  June,  and  a  powerful  French  and  Spanish  naval  armament 
had  attempted  to  effect  an  invasion  of  England  in  August.  American  and 
French  cruisers  now  became  numerous  and  quite  powerful,  and  were  hovering 
around  her  coasts  ;  and  in  September,  the  intrepid  John  Paul  Jones5  had 
conquered  two  of  her  proud  ships  of  war,  after  one  of  the  most  desperate 

1  Page  2SG.  2  Page  269. 

3  Dr.  Thaeher,  in  his  Military  Journal,  says,  "  The  sufferings  of  the  poor  soldiers  can  scarcely  be 
described ;  while  on  duty  they  are  unavoidably  exposed  to  all  the  inclemency  of  storms  and  severe 
cold ;  at  night,  they  now  have  a  bed  of  straw  upon  the  ground,  and  a  single  blanket  to  each  man ; 
they  are  badly  clad,  and  some  are  destitute  of  shoes.     We  have  contrived  a  kind  of  stone  chimney 
outside,  and  an  opening  at  one  end  of  our  tents  gives  us  the  benefit  of  the  fire  within.     The  snow 
is  now  [January  Gth,  1780]  from  four  to  six  feet  deep,  which  so  obstructs  the  roads  as  to  prevent 
our  receiving  a  supply  of  provisions.     For  the  last  ten  days  we  have  received  but  two  pounds  of 
meat  a  man,  and  we  are  frequently  for  six  or  eight  days  entirely  destitute  of  meat,  and  then  as  long 
without  bread.     The  consequence  is,  the  soldiers  are  so  enfeebled  from  hunger  and  cold  as  to  be 
almost  unable  to  perform  their  military  duty,  or  labor  in  constructing  their  huts.     It  is  well  known 
that   General  Washington  experiences  the  greatest  solicitude  for  the  suffering  of  his  army,  and 
is  sensible  that  they,   in  general,   conduct  with   heroic  patience  and  'fortitude."      In   a   private 
letter  to  a  friend,  Washington  said,  "  We  have  had  the  virtue  and  patience  of  the  army  put  to  the 
severest  trial.     Sometimes  it  has  been  five  or  six  days  together  without  bread,  at  other  times  as 
many  without  meat,  and  once  for  two  or  three  days  at  a  time  without  either.     *     *     *     At  one 
time  the  soldiers  ate  every  kind  of  horse  food  but  hay.     Buckwheat,  common  wheat,  rye,  and  Indian 
corn  composed  the  meal  which  made  their  bread.     As  an  army,  they  bore  it  with  the  most  heroic 
patience ;  but  sufferings  like  these,  accompanied  by  the  want  of  clothes,  blankets,  &c.,  will  produce 
frequent  desertions  in  all  armies ;  and  so  it  happened  with  us,  though  it  did  not  excite  a  single 
mutiny." 

4  Hoping  to  regain  Gibraltar,  Jamaica,  and  the  two  Floridas,  which  Great  Britain  had  taken 
from  her,  Spain  made  a  secret  treaty  of  peace  with  France  in  April,  1779,  and  in  June  declared  war 
against  Great  Britain.     This  event  was  regarded  as  highly  favorable  to  the  Americans,  because  any 
thing  that  should  cripple  England,  would  aid  them. 

5  John  Paul  Jones  was  born  in  Scotland  in  1747,  and  came  to  Virginia  in  boyhood.     He  entered 
the  American  naval  service  in  1775,  and  was  active  during  the  whole  war.     He  was  afterward 
very  active  in  the  Eussian  service,  against  the  Turks,  in  the  Black  Sea,  and  was  created  rear-admi 
ral  in  the  llussian  navy.     He  died  in  Paris  in  1782. 


1779.] 


FIFTH   YEAR   OF   THE   WAR   FOR    INDEPENDENCE. 


307 


naval  fights  ever  known.  These  were  the  Serapis  and  Countess  of  Scar 
borough.  The  conflict  occurred  in  the  evening,  off  Flamborough  Head,  on  the 
east  coast  of  Scotland.  Jones's  ship  was  the  Bonhomme  Richard,  which  had 
been  fitted  out  in  France.  After  much  maneuvering,  the  Serapis  and 


Richard  came  alongside  of  each  other,  their  rigging  intermingling,  and  in  this 
position  they  poured  heavy  broadsides  from  their  respective  guns.  Three  times 
both  ships  were  on  fire,  and  their  destruction  appeared  inevitable.  A  part  of 
the  time  the  belligerents  were  fighting  hand  to  hand  upon  the  decks.  Finally, 
the  commander  of  the  SeraL>is  was  obliged  to  yield,  and  tan  minutes  afterward, 
the  Countess  of  Scarborough,  which  had  been  fighting  with  another  vessel  o? 
Jones's  little  fleet,  struck  her  colors.  The  Richard  was  a  perfect  wreck,  and 
was  fast  sinking  when  the  conflict  ended  ;  and  sixteen  hours  afterward,  she  went 
down  into  the  deep  waters  of  the  North  Sea,  off  Bridlington  Bay.  Jones,  with 
his  prizes,  sailed  for  Holland,  having,  during  that  single  cruise,  captured  prop 
erty  to  the  value  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.1 

1  The  naval  operations  during  the  war  for  Independence,  do 
not  occupy  a  conspicuous  place  in  history,  yet  they  were  by  no 
means  insignificant.  The  Continental  Congress  took  action  on  the 
subject  of  an  armed  marine,  in  the  autumn  of  1775.  Already 
"Washington  had  fitted  out  some  armed  vessels  at  Boston,  and 
constructed  some  gun-boats  for  use  in  the  waters  around  that  city. 
These  were  propelled  by  oars,  and  covered.  In  November,  the 
government  of  Massachusetts  established  a  Board  of  Admiralty.  A  committee  on  naval  affairs,  of 
which  Silas  Daano  [page  266]  was  chairman,  was  appointed  by  the  Continental  Congress  in  Octo- 


A  GUN-BOAT  AT  BOSTON. 


-808  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1779. 

On  the  land,  in  America,  there  had  been  very  little  success  for  the  British 
arms ;  and  sympathy  for  the  patriots  was  becoming  more  and  more  manifest  in 
Europe.  Even  a  great  portion  of  the  intelligent  English  people  began  to 
regard  the  war  as  not  only  useless,  but  unjust.  Yet  in  the  midst  of  all  these 
difficulties,  the  government  put  forth  mighty  energies — energies  which  might 
have  terminated  the  war  during  the  first  campaign,  if  they  had  been  then 
executed.  Parliament  voted  eighty-five  thousand  seamen  and  thirty-five  thou 
sand  troops  for  general  service,  in  1780,  and  appropriated  one  hundred  millions 
of  dollars  to  defray  the  expenses.  This  formidable  armament  in  prospective, 
was  placed  before  the  Americans,  at  this,  the  gloomiest  period  of  the  war,  yet 
they  neither  quailed  nor  faltered.  Belying  upon  the  justice  of  their  cause,  and 
the  favor  of  a  righteous  God,  they  felt  prepared  to  meet  any  force  that  Great 
Britain  might  send  to  enslave  them 

her,  1775.     Before  the  close  of  the  year,  the  construction  of  almost  twenty  vessels  had  been  ordered 
by  Congress ;  and  the  Marine  Committee  was  so  re-organized  as  to  have  in  it  a  representative  from 
each  colony.     In  November,  1776, 'a  Continental  Navy  Board,  to  assist  the  Marine  Committee,  was 
appointed;  and  in  October,  1779,  a  Board  of  Admiralty  was  installed.     Its  Secretary  (equivalent  to 
our  Secretary  of  the  Navy)  [page  382]  was  John  Brown,  until  1781,  when  he  was  succeeded  by 
General  McDougal.     Robert  Morris  also  acted  as  authorized  Agent  of  Marine ;  and  many  privateers 
were  fitted  out  by  him  on  his  own  account.     In  November,  1776, 
Congress  determined  the  relative  rank  of  the  naval  commanders,  such 
as  admiral  to  be  equal  to  a  major-general  on  land :  a  commodore  equal 
to  a  brigadier-general,  &c.     The  first  commander-in-chief  of  the  navy, 
or  high  admiral,  was  Esek  Hopkins,  of  Rhode  Island,  whom  Congress 
commissioned  as  such  in  December,    1775.     He  first  wrent  against 
Dunmore  [page  244]  on  the  coast  of  Virginia.     He  also  went  to  the 
Bahamas,  and  captured  the  town  of  New  Providence  and  its  governor. 
Sailing  for  home,  he  captured  some  British  vessels  off  the  east  end  of 
Long  Island,  and  with  these  prizes,  he  went  into  Narraganset  Bay. 
In  the  mean  \vhile,   Paul   Jones    and    Captain    Barry  were    doing 
good  service,    and   New   England   cruisers  were   greatly  annoying 
English  shipping  on  our  coast.     In  1777.  Dr.  Franklin,  under  the 
authority  of  Congress,  issued  commissions  to  naval  officers  in  Europe. 
Expeditions  were  fitted  out  in  French  sea-ports,  and  these  produced 
ADMIRAL  HOPKINS.          great  alarm  on  the  British  coasts. 

While  these  things  were  occurring  in  European  waters,  Captains 

Diddle,  Manly,  M'Neil,  Hinman,  Barry,  and  others,  were  making  many  prizes  on  the  American 
coasts.  Finally,  in  the  spring  of  1779,  an  expedition  was  fitted  out  at  L'Orient,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  French  and  American  governments.  It  consisted  of  five  vessels  under  the  command  of  John 
Paul  Jones.  They  sailed  first,  in  June,  for  the  British  waters,  took  a  few  prizes,  and  returned. 
They  sailed  again  in  August,  and  on  the  23d  of  September,  while  off  the  coast  of  Scotland,  not  far 
above  the  mouth  of  the  Humber,  Jones,  with  his  flag-ship  (the  Bonliomme  Richard),  and  two  others, 
fell  in  with  and  encountered  a  small  British  fleet,  which  was  convoying  a  number  of  merchant  ves 
sels  to  the  Baltic  Sea,  when  the  engagement  took  place  which  is  described  .  in  the  text.  Congress 
gave  Jones  a  gold  medal  for  his  bravery.  Many  other  gallant  acts  were  performed  by  American 
seamen,  in  the  regular  service  and  as  privateers,  during  the  remainder  of  the  war.  The  "  whale- 
boat  warfare"  on  the  coast,  was  also  very  interesting,  and  exhibited  many  a  brave  deed  by  thoso 
whose  names  are  not  recorded  in  history — men  who  belong  to  the  great  host  of  "unnamed  demi 
gods,"  who,  in  all  ages,  have  given  then-  services  to  swell  the  triumphs  of  leaders  who,  in  real 
merit,  have  often  been  less  deserving  than  themselves. 

For  a  condensed  account  of  the  whole  naval  operations  of  the  Revolution,  on  the  coast,  seo  sup 
plement  to  Lossinj's  Field  Book  of  the  Revolution. 


«f80.]  SIXTH   YEAR   OF   THE   WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.  3Q9 

CHAPTER    VII. 

SIXTH  TEAR  OF  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.      [1780.] 

WHEN,  on  Christmas  day,  1779,  Sir  Henry  Clinton  sailed  for  the  South, 
with  the  main  body  of  his  army,  he  left  the  Hessian  general,  Knyphausen,1  in 
command  at  New  York.  To  aid  the  southern  patriots,  Washington  sent  thither 
the  Baron  De  Kalb3  and  others  the  following  spring  [1780],  and  thus  the 
two  armies  were  so  much  weakened  at  head-quarters,  that  military  operations  at 
the  North  almost  ceased  during  that  year.  The  Carolinas  became  the  chief 
theater  of  war,  and  many  and  bloody  were  the  acts  upon  that  stage.  Invasions 
from  without,  and  the  cruelties  of  Tories3  in  their  midst,  made  1780  a  year  of 
great  woe  for  the  patriots  and  their  families  below  the  Roanoke,  for  they  also 
suffered  all  the  horrors  of  civil  war.  At  no  time,  during  the 
whole  conflict,  were  the  Tories,  or  adherents  of  the  crown,  more 


active  throughout  the  whole  country,  than  in  1780.  They  fo*  ,  / 
were  the  most  inveterate  enemies  of  the  patriots,  and  the  lead^  »•  V  y* 
ers  were  in  continual  correspondence  with  each  other,  with  the  f'%  ^///  MC 
British  government,  and  with  the  royal  commanders  in  Amer-  ^ 

ica.  Their  correspondence  was  carried  on  chiefly  in  cipher 
writing,  understood  only  by  themselves,  so  that  in  the  event  of 
their  letters  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Whigs,  their  content  i 
would  remain  a  secret.  These  characters  sometimes  varied,  and 


it  was  a  frequent  occurrence  for  two  persons  to  invent  a  cipher  9t/  /JL^  v 

alphabet,  for  their  own  exclusive  uso.     The  engraving  shows  **     *~    V 
the  alphabet  of  the  cipher  writing  of  soma  New  York  Tories. 

A  fleet,  under  Admiral  Arbuthnot,  with  two  thousand  ma-  ;~    Tsf}  _& 

rines,  bore  the  forces  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  to  the  southern  I  •"  ""• 

.    ~  .  •,  ,        ,  -11  CIPIIEE   ALPIIA1JET. 

waters.  After  encountering  heavy  storms,4  they  arrived  on  the 
coast  of  Georgia  in  January  ;  and  early  in  February  [Feb.  10],  turned  north 
ward,  and  proceeded  to  invest  Charleston.  Clinton's  troops  were  landed  [Feb. 
11]  upon  the  islands  below  the  city,  on  the  shores  of  the  Edisto  Inlet,  thirty 
miles  distant  ;  but  instead  of  marching  at  once  to  make  an  assault  upon  the 
town,  the  British  commander  prepared  for  a  regular  siege.  General  Lincoln 
was  in  Charleston  with  a  feeble  force5  when  Clinton  landed  ;  and  he  was  about 
to  evacuate  the  city  and  flee  to  the  interior,  when  intelligence  of  the  tardy  plans 
of  the  British  reached  him.  He  then  resolved  to  remain,  and  prepare  for  de- 

1  Page  259.  2  Page  316.  3  Noto  4,  page  22G. 

4  During  a  severe  storm  off  Cape  Hatteras,  one  vessel,  carrying  heavy  battery  cannons,  was  lost, 
and  almost  all  the  cavalry  horses  of  Tarleton's  legion,  perished  at  sea.  Tarleton  supplied  himself 
with  others,  soon  after  landing,  by  plundering  the  plantations  near  the  coast. 

6  During  the  preceding  winter,  Lincoln's  army  had  dwindled  to  a  mere  handful.  The  repulse  at 
Savannah  had  so  disheartened  the  people,  that  very  few  recruits  could  be  obtained,  and  when  Clin 
ton  arrived,  Lincoln's  army  did  not  exceed  fourteen  hundred  men  in  number.  The  finances  of  the 
State  were  in  a  wretched  condition,  and  the  Tories  were  everywhere  active  and  hopeful.  %. 


810 


THE     REVOLUTION. 


[1780. 


fense.  John  Rutledge, '  the  governor  of  South  Carolina,  was  clothed  with  all 
the  powers  of  an  absolute  dictator ;  and  so  nobly  did  the 
civil  and  military  authorities  labor  for  the  public  good, 
that  when  the  invaders  crossed  the  Ashley  [March  29, 
1780],  and  sat  down  before  the  American  works  on 
Charleston  Neck,2  the  besieged  felt  strong  enough  to 
resist  them.  In  the  mean  while,  the  intrenchments  had 

'•  • " '^Hil3S&fe  -\x  been  greatly  strengthened,  and  works  of  defense  had 
been  cast  up  along  the  wharves,  and  at  various  points 
around  the  harbor.  Fort  Moultrie3  was  strongly  gar 
risoned,  and  Commodore  Whipple4  was  in  command  of 

a  flotilla  of  small  armed  ships  in  the  harbor. 


GOVERNOR  RUTLEDGE. 


On  the  25th  of  March,  Admiral  Arbuthnot  crossed  Charleston  bar,  drove 
Whipple' s  little  fleet  to  the  waters  near  the  town,  and  cast  anchor  in  Five 

1  John  Rutledge  was  born  in  Ireland,  and  came  to  South  Carolina  when  a  child.  He  was  one 
of  the  most  active  patriots  of  the  South.  After  the  war  he  was  made  a  judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  and  also  chief  justice  of  South  Carolina.  He  died  in  the  year  1800. 

•  Note  1,  page  296.  3  Note  5,  page  249. 

4  Abraham  Whipple  was  born  in  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  in  1733.  His  early  life  \vas  spent 
chiefly  upon  the  ocean,  and,  in  later  years,  he  was  long  engaged  in  the  merchant  service.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-seven,  he  was  commander  of  a  privateer,  and  during  a  single  cruise,  in  1760,  he  took 
twenty-three  French  prizes.  He  was  engaged  in  the  destruction  of  the  Gaspe,  in  1772  [page  223]. 
In  1775,  he  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  vessels  to  drive  Sir  James  Wallace  from  Narragan- 
sett  Bay.  He  was  active  in  naval  service  until  the  fall  of  Charleston,  when  he  was  taken  prisoner. 


1780.] 


SIXTH  YEAR   OF   THE   YvrAR   FOR   IND  E  PENDENCE. 


311 


Fathom  Hole,  not  far  from  St.  John's  Island.  On  the  morning  of  the  9th  of 
April,  he  sailed  up  the  harbor,  and  sustaining  but  trifling  damage  from  the 
guns  of  Fort  Moultrie,  anchored  within  cannon-shot  of  the  city.  As  W hippie 
could  not  contend  with  the  strong  ships,  he  sunk  several  of  his  vessels  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Cooper  River,  and  formed  a  chevaux-de-frisel  to  prevent  the  en 
emy's  ships  passing  beyond  the  town,  so  as  to  enfilade  the  American  works  on  the 
Neck.  Clinton,  in  the  mean  while,  had  erected  batteries2  in  front  of  these 
works,  and  both  commanders  joined  in  a  summons  for  the  patriots  to  surrender. 
Expecting  reinforcements  from  the  interior,  the  people  of  the  beleagured  city 
refused  compliance,  and  for  more  than  a  month  the  siege  went  on.3  In  the 
mean  while,  American  detachments  sent  out  between  the  Cooper  and  Santee 
Rivers  to  keep  open  a  communication  with  the  interior,  were  attacked  and  de 
feated  by  parties  of  British  horsemen  ;4  and  at  the  close  of  the  month  [April, 
1780],  the  city  was  completely  environed  by  the  foe  Cornwallis  had  arrived 
[April  18],  from  New  York,  with  three  thousand  fresh  troops,  and  all  hopes 
for  the  patriots  faded. 

The  night  of  the  9th  of  May  was  a  terrible  one  for  Charleston.  That  day 
a  third  summons  to  surrender  had  been  refused,  and  late  in  the  evening  a  gen 
eral  cannonade  commenced.  Two  hundred  heavy  guns  shook  the  city  with 
their  thunders,  and  all  night  long  destructive  bombshells5  were  hailed  upon  it. 
At  one  time  the  city  was  on  fire  in  five 
different  places.  Nor  did  morning 
bring  relief.  The  enemy  had  deter 
mined  to  take  the  city  by  storm.  The 
cannonade  continued  all  the  day,  and 
the  fleet  moved  toward  the  town  to  open 
a  bombardment.  Further  resistanco 
would  have  been  sheer  madness,  for  the 
destruction  of  the  town  and  the  people 
seemed  inevitable.  At  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  12th,  a  proposition 
for  surrender  was  made  to  Clinton,  and  his  guns  were  all  silenced  before  day 
light.  At  about  noon  on  the  12th  [May,  1780],  the  continental  troops  marched 
out,  and  laid  down  their  arms,  after  a  gallant  and  desperate  defense  for  forty 
days.  Lincoln  and  his  army,  with  a  large  number  of  citizens,  were  made  pris 
oners  of  war.  The  citizens,  and  a  great  number  of  soldiers,  were  paroled.6 

He  was  the  first  who  unfurled  the  American  flag  in  the  Thames,  at  London,  after  the  war.  Accom 
panying  settlers  to  Ohio,  he  became  a  resident  of  Marietta,  from  which  he  sailed,  in  1800,  down 
the  Ohio,  with  pork  and  flour,  for  Havana.  He  died  in  1819,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five  years. 

1  Note  6,  page  274. 

2  On  Saturday  morning,  the  first  of  April,  the  British  first  broke  ground  in  the  face  of  eighty 
cannons  and  mortars  on  the  American  works. 

3  General  Woodford  had  just  arrived  with  seven  hundred  Virginians,  and  others  from  North 
Carolina  were  reported  on  their  way. 

4  On  the  14th  of  April,  Tarleton  defeated  Colonel  Huger  on  the  head  waters  of  the  Cooper 
River,  and  killed  twenty-five  Americans.    On  the  6th  of  May.  a  party  under  Colonel  White,  of  New 
Jersey,  were  routed  at  a  ferry  on  the  Santee,  with  a  loss  of  about  thirty  in  killed,  wounded,  and 
prisoners.     These  British  detachments  overran  the  whole  country  below  the  Cooper  and  Santee,  in 
the  course  of  a  few  days.  5  Note  2,  page  236. 

6  A  prisoner  on  parole  is  one  who  is  left  free  to  go  anywhere  within  a  prescribed  space  of  coun- 


SIEGE    OF   CHARLESTON.       1780. 


312 


THE     REVOLUTION. 


[1780. 


Altogether,  the   captives  amounted  to  between  five  and  six  thousand  ;'    and 
among  the  spoils  of  victory  were  four  hundred  pieces  of  cannon. 

The  fall  of  Charleston,  and  the  loss  of  this  southern  army,  was  a  severe 


blow  for  the  Republicans.  It  paralyzed  their  strength  ;  and  the  British  com 
manders  confidently  believed  that  the  finishing  stroke  of  the  war  had  been 
given.  It  was  followed  by  measures'  which,  for  a  time  prostrated  South  Caro- 

try,  or  within  a  city,  under  certain  restuictions  relative  to  conduct.  Prisoners  taken  in  war  are  often 
paroled,  and  allowed  to  return  to  their  friends,  with  an  agreement  not  to  take  up  arms.  It  is  a 
point  of  honor,  with  a  soldier,  to  "keep  his  parole,"  and  when  such  a  one  is  again  taken  in  battle, 
during  the  period  of  his  parole,  he  is  treated  not  as  a  prisoner,  but  as  a  traitor. 

1  In  violation  of  the  solemn  agreement  for  surrender,  Clinton  caused  a  great  number  of  the  lead 
ing  men  in  Charleston  to  be  seized,  and  carried  on  board  prison-ships,  where  hundreds  suffered  ter 
ribly.  Many  were  taken  to  St.  Augustine,  and  immured  in  the  fortress  there.  Among  other 
prominent  citizens  thus  treated,  were  Lieutenant-Governor  Christopher  Gadsden,  and  David  Ram 
say,  the  historian,  who,  with  about  twenty  others,  remained  in  prison  at  St.  Augustine  almost  eleven 
months,  before  they  were  paroled.  Both  of  these  men  were  exceedingly  active  patriots.  Ramsay 
was  a  native  of  Lancaster  county,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  was  born  in  1749.  He  was  educated  at 
Princeton ;  studied  medicine,  and  became  an  eminent  physician  at  Charleston.  He  was  an  efficient 
member  of  the  Council  of  Safety  when  the  Revolution  broke  out,  and  was  also  an  esteemed  legis 
lator.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress.  In  1790,  he  published  his  History  of 
the  American  Revolution  He  wrote  and  published  a  Life  of  Washington,  in  1801 ;  a  History  of 
South  Carolina,  in  1808;  and  when  he  died,  from  a  shot  by  a  maniac,  in  1815,  he  had  almost  com- 
pleted  a  History  of  the  United  States.  Soon  after  the  assembling  of  the  first  National  Congress, 
under  the  new  Constitution,  in  1789,  Dr.  Ramsay  sent  in  a  petition,  asking  for  the  passage  or  u 
law  tor  securing  to  him  and  his  heirs  the  exclusive  right  to  vend  and  dispose  of  his  books,  re 
spectively  entitled,  History  of  the  Revolution  in  South  Carolina,  and  A  History  of  the  American 
Revolution.  A  bill  for  that  purpose  was  framed  and  discussed.  Finally,  in  August,  it  was  "  post 
poned  until  the  next  Congress."  A  similar  bill  was  introduced  in  January,  1790,  and  on  the  30th 
of  April  following,  the  first  copyright  law  recorded  on  the  statute  books  of  Congress,  was  passed. 


1780.]  SIXTH  TEAR  OF  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.  313 

lina  at  the  feet  of  royal  power.  With  an  activity  hitherto  unusual  for  the 
British  officers,  Clinton  took  steps  to  extend  and  secure  his  conquest,  and  to 
re-establish  royal  power  in  the  South.  He  sent  out  three  strong  detachments  of 
his  army  to  overrun  the  country.  One  under  Cornwallis  marched  up  the 
Santee  toward  Camden ;  another  under  Lieutenant-colonel  Cruger,  was  ordered 
to  penetrate  the  country  to  Ninety-six,1  and  a  third,  under  Lieutenant-colonel 
Brown,  marched  to  Augusta,2  in  Georgia.  A  general  truce  was  proclaimed, 
and  a  pardon  to  all  who  should  accept  British  protection.  The  silence  of  fear 
overspread  the  whole  country ;  and  mistaking  this  lull  in  the  storm  of  war  for 
permanent  tranquillity,  Clinton  and  Arbuthnot,  with  a  large  body  of  troops, 
sailed,  on  the  5th  of  June  [1780],  for  New  York. 

The  last  and  most  cruel  blow  struck  by  the  British,  was  that  which  almost 
annihilated  an  American  detachment  under  Colonel  Abraham  Buford.  He  had 
hastened  toward  Charleston  for  the  relief  of  Lincoln ;  but  when  he  heard  of  the 
disasters  there,  he  commenced  retreating  toward  North  Carolina.  His  force 
consisted  of  nearly  four  hundred  Continental  infantry,  a  small  detachment 
of  Colonel  Washington's  cavalry,  and  two  field-pieces.  He  had  evacuated 
Camden,  and,  in  fancied  security,  was  retreating  leisurely  toward  Charlotte,  in 
North  Carolina.  Cornwallis  resolved  to  strike  Buford,  if  possible,  and,  for 
that  purpose,  he  dispatched  Tarleton,  with  seven  hundred  men,  consisting  of  his 
cavalry  and  mounted  infantry.  That  officer  marched  one  hundred  and  five 
miles  in  fifty-four  hours,  and  came  up  with  Buford  upon  the  Waxhaw.  Impa 
tient  of  delay,  he  had  left  his  mounted  infantry  behind,  and  with  only  his 
cavalry,  he  almost  surrounded  Buford  before  that  officer  was  aware  of  danger. 
Tarleton  demanded  an  immediate  surrender  upon  the  terms  granted  to  the 
Americans  at  Charleston.  These  terms  were  humiliating,  and  Buford  refused 
compliance.  While  the  flags  for  conference  were  passing  and  re-passing,  Tarle 
ton,  contrary  to  military  rules,  was  making  preparations  for  an  assault,  and 
the  instant  he  received  Buford' s  reply,  his  cavalry  made  a  furious  charge  upon 
the  American  ranks.  Having  received  no  orders  to  defend  themselves,  and 
supposing  the  negotiations  were  yet  pending,  the  Continentals  were  utterly 
dismayed  by  this  charge.  All  was  confusion ;  and  while  some  fired  upon  their 
assailants,  others  threw  down  their  arms  and  begged  for  quarter.  None  was 
given ;  and  men  without  arms  were  hewn  in  pieces  by  Tarleton' s  cavalry.  One 
hundred  and  thirteen  were  slain ;  one  hundred  and  fifty  were  so  maimed  as  to 
be  unable  to  travel ;  and  fifty- three  were  made  prisoners,  to  grace  the  triumphal 
entry  of  the  conqueror  into  Camden.  Only  five  of  the  British  were  killed,  and 
fifteen  wounded.  The  whole  of  Buford' s  artillery,  ammunition,  and  baggage, 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  For  this  savage  feat,  Cornwallis  eulogized 
Tarleton,  and  commended  him  to  the  ministry  as  worthy  of  special  favor.  It 
was  nothing  less  than  a  cold-blooded  massacre ;  and  Tarleton' s  quarter  became 
proverbial  as  a  synonym  to  cruelty.3  The  liberal  press,  and  all  right-minded 

1  Page  336.  *  Page  336. 

3  Stedman,  one  of  Cornwallis's  officers,  and  afterward  an  eminent  English  historian  of  the  war, 
says,  "On  this  occasion,  the  virtue  of  humanity  was  totally  forgot." 


314  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1780. 

men  in  England,  cried  Shame !  After  the  battle,  a  large  number  of  the 
wounded  were  taken  to  the  log  meeting-house  of  the  Waxhaw  Presbyterian 
Congregation,  where  they  were  tenderly  cared  for  by  those  who  had  courage 
to  remain.  This  blow,  however,  was  so  terrible,  that  fear  seized  the  people, 
and  women  and  children  fled  from  their  homes  in  dismay,  to  avoid  falling  in  the 
track  of  the  invader.1 

Brief  was  the  lull  of  the  storm.  De  Kalb2  did  not  reach  the  borders  of 
South  Carolina  until  midsummer,  and  then  not  an 
American  was  in  arms  in  the  lower  country.  Although 
Congress  had  confidence  in  the  skill  of  De  Kalb  (who 
by  the  capture  of  Lincoln,  became  the  commander-in- 
chief  at  the  South),  yet  it  wras  thought  best  to  send 
General  Gates3  thither,  because  of  the  influence  of  his 
name.  The  prospect  before  him  was  far  from  flattering. 
An  army  without  strength;  a  military  chest  without 
money ;  but  little  public  spirit  in  the  commissary 
department ;  a  climate  unfavorable  to  health  ;  the  spirit 
GENERAL  GATES.  of  the  Republicans  cast  down ;  loyalists  swarming  in 

every  direction;  and  a  victorious  enemy  pressing  to 

spread  his  legions  over  the  territory  he  had  come  to  defend,  were  grave  obsta 
cles  in  the  way  of  success.  Yet  Gates  did  not  despond ;  and,  retaining  De 
Kalb  in  command  of  his  division,  he  prepared  to  march  into  South  Carolina. 
Yvrhen  it  was  known  that  he  was  approaching,  southern  hearts  beat  high  with 
hope,  for  they  expected  great  things  from  the  conqueror  of  Burgoyne.4  Many 
patriots,  who,  in  their  extremity,  had  signed  " paroles"  and  "protections,"6 
seeing  how  little  solemn  promises  were  esteemed  by  the  conqueror,  disregarded 
both,  and  flocked  to  the  standard  of  those  brave  partisan  leaders,  Sumter, 
Marion,  Pickens,  and  Clarke,  who  now  called  them  to  the  field.  While  Gates 
and  his  army  were  approaching,  these  partisans  were  preparing  the  way  for 
conquest.  They  swept  over  the  country  in  small  bands,  striking  a  British 


1  Among  those  who  fled,  was  the  widowed  mother  of  Andrew  Jackson,  the  seventh  President 
of  the  United  States,  who,  with  her  two  sons,  Robert  and  Andrew,  took  refuge  in  the  vicinity  of 
Charlotte,  North  Carolina.  The  dreadful  scenes  of  that  massacre,  was  the  first  lesson  that  taught 
Andrew  to  hate  tyranny.  It  fired  his  patriotism ;  and  at  the  age  of  thirteen  years,  he  entered  the 
army,  with  his  brother  Robert,  under  Sumter.  They  were  both  made  prisoners ;  but  even  while  in 
the  power  of  the  British,  the  indomitable  courage  of  the  after  man  appeared  in  the  boy.  When 
ordered  to  clean  the  muddy  boots  of  a  British  officer,  he  proudly  refused,  and  for  his  temerity 
received  a  sword-cut.  After  their  release,  Andrew  and  his  brother  returned  to  the  Waxhaw  set 
tlement  with  their  mother.  That  patriotic  matron  and  two  sons  perished  during  the  war.  Her  son 
Hugh  was  slain  in  battle,  and  Robert  died  of  a  wound  which  he  received  from  a  British  officer  while 
he  was  prisoner,  because,  like  Andrew,  he  refused  to  do  menial  service.  The  heroic  mother,  while 
on  her  way  home  from  Charleston,  whither  she  went  to  carry  some  necessaries  to  her  friends  and 
relations  on  board  a  prison-ship,  was  seized  with  prison-fever,  and  died.  Her  unknown  grave  is 
somewhere  between  what  was  then  called  the  Quarter  House  and  Charleston.  Andrew  was  left 
the  sole  survivor  of  the  family.  2  Page  316. 

8  Horatio  Gates  was  a  native  of  England,  and  was  educated  for  military  life.  He  was  the  first 
adjutant-general  of  the  Continental  army  [note  5,  page  238],  and  was  made  major-general  in  1776. 
He  retired  to  his  estate  in  Virginia  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  finally  took  up  his  abode  in  New 
York,  where  he  died  in  1806,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years. 

4  Page  281.  6  Note  6,  page  311. 


1780.] 


SIXTH  TEAE   OF    THE   WAE   FOR   INDEPENDENCE. 


315 


GENERAL   SUMTER. 


detachment  here,  and  a  party  of  Tories  there  ;  and  soon,  they  so  effectually 
alarmed  the  enemy  in  the  interior,  as  to  check  the  onward  progress  of  invasion. 

General  Sumter1  first  appeared  in  power  on  the 
Catawba  River.  Already  Whigs,  between  that  and 
the  Broad  River,  led  by  local  officers,  had  assailed 
the  enemy  at  different  points.  In  the  mean  while 
Sumter  had  collected  a  considerable  force,  and  on 
the  30th  of  July,  he  attacked  a  British  post  at  Rocky 
Mount,  on  the  Catawba.  He  was  repulsed,  but  not 
disheartened.  He  immediately  crossed  the  river,  and 
at  Hanging-rock,  a  few  miles  eastward,  he  fell  upon 
and  dispersed  a  large  body  of  British  and  Tories,  on 
the  6th  of  August.  Through  the  folly  of  his  men, 

he  did  not  secure  a  victory.  They  commenced  plundering,  and  drinking  the 
liquors  found  in  the  camp,  after  they  had  secured  it,  and  becoming  intoxicated, 
were  unable  to  complete  the  triumph.  Yet  the  British  dared  not  follow  Sumter 
in  his  slow  retreat.  Marion,  at  the  same  time,  was  smiting  the  enemy,  with 
sudden  and  fierce  blows,  among  the  swamps  of  the  lower  country,  on  the 
borders  of  the  Pedee.  Pickens  was  annoying  Cruger  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Saluda ;  and  Clarke  was  calling  for  the  patriots  along  the  Savannah,  Ogee- 
chee,  and  Alatamaha,  to  drive  Brown2  from  Augusta. 

General  Clinton  left  Earl  Cornwallis  in  the  chief  command  of  the  British 
nrmy  at  the  South,  and  his  troops  on  the  Santee  were  intrusted  to  Lord  Raw- 
don,  an  active  and  meritorious  officer.  When  that  general  heard  of  the  approach 
of  Gates,  he  gathered  all  his  available  forces  at  Camden,  where  he  was  soon  joined 
by  the  earl.  Rumor  had  greatly  magnified  the  number  of  the  army  under  Gates. 
The  loyalists  became  alarmed,  and  the  patriots  took  courage.  He  came  down 
from  the  hill  country,  through  Lancaster  district,  and  took  post  at  Clermont,  a 
few  miles  north  of  Camden.  Feeling  certain  of  victory,  he  marched  from  his 
camp  on  the  night  of  the  15th  of  August,  to  surprise  the  British  at  Camden. 
Without  being  aware  of  this  movement,  Cornwallis  and  Rawdon  advanced  at 
the  same  hour  to  surprise  the  Americans.  A  little  after 
midnight  the  belligerents  met  [August  16,  1780],  near  San 
ders' s  Creek,  about  seven  miles  north  of  Camden,  on  the  Lan 
caster  road.  The  sand  was  so  deep  that  the  footsteps  of  the 
approaching  armies  could  not  be  heard  by  each  other.  They 
came  together  in  the  dark,  almost  noiselessly,  and  both  were 
equally  surprised.  A  slight  skirmish  between  the  vanguards 
ensued,  and  early  in  the  morning  a  general  battle  began. 
After  a  desperate  struggle  with  an  overwhelming  force,  the 


Americans  were  compelled  to  yield  to  the  British  bayonets  in   s  ANDERS'S  CREEK. 

1  Thomas  Sumter  was  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  and  was  early  in  the  field.  Ill  health  com: 
pelled  him  to  leave  the  army  just  before  the  close  of  the  war,  in  1781.  He  was  afterward  a  mem 
ber  of  the  National  Congress,  and  died  on  the  High  Hills  of  Santee  [page  3ii7],  in  1832,  at  the 
age  of  ninety-eight  years.  2  Page  336. 


316 


THE     REVOLUTION. 


[1780. 


BARON   DE   KALB. 


front,  and  the  sabres  of  Tarleton's  dragoons  on  their  flanks.  The  rout 
became  general.  The  militia  fell  in  great  numbers,  under  the  heavy  blows 
from  the  British  cavalry ;  and  for  more  than  two  miles,  along  the  line  of 
their  retreat,  the  open  wood  was  strewn  with  the  dead  and  dying.  Arms,  artil 
lery,  horses,  and  baggage,  were  scattered  in  every  direction.  More  than  a  third 
of  the  continental  troops  were  killed ;  and  the  entire  loss  of 
the  Americans,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners,  was 
about  a  thousand  men,  besides  all  of  their  artillery  and 
ammunition,  and  a  greater  portion  of  their  baggage  and 
stores.1  The  British  loss  was  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
five.  Among  the  killed  was  the  brave  Baron  de  Kalb,3 
whose  remains  were  buried  at  Camden,  and  there  they 
yet  lie,  under  a  neat  monument,  the  corner-stone  of 
which  was  laid  by  La  Fayette  in  1825. 3 

Having  vainly  endeavored  to  rally  his  flying  troops, 
Gates  fled  to  Charlotte,4  eighty  miles  distant.  There  he  continued  to  be 
joined  by  officers  and  men,  and  he  began  to  hope  that  another  army  might  be 
speedily  collected.  But  when,  a  few  days  after  his  own  defeat",  he  received  intel 
ligence  that  Sumter's  force  had  been  nearly  annihilated  by  Tarleton"  near  the 
Catawba,  he  almost  despaired.  That  event  was  a  sad  one 
for  the  republicans.  Sumter  had  been  ordered,  by  Gates, 
to  intercept  a  British  detachment  which  was  conveying 
stores  for  the  main  army,  from  Ninety-Six.6  He  was 
joined  by  other  troops  sent  to  assist  him,  and  they  cap 
tured  forty-four  wagons  loaded  with  clothing,  and  made  a 
number  of  prisoners.  On  hearing  of  the  defeat  of  Gates, 
Sumter  continued  his  march  up  the  Catawba.  and  on  the 
18th  [August,  1780]  he  encamped  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Fishing  Creek.  There  he  was  surprised  by  Tarleton,  and  his  troops  were 
routed  with  great  slaughter.  More  than  fifty  were  killed,  and  three  hundred 
were  made  prisoners.  All  the  booty  captured  by  the  Americans  fell  into  the 
hands  of  Tarleton.  Sumter  escaped,  but  was  stripped  of  power. 

With  the  dispersion  of  Gates' s  army,  and  Sumter's  brave  band,  the  victory 
of  the  British  was  again  complete ;  and  at  the  close  of  summer,  there  were  no 


COLONEL  TARLETON. 


1  General  Gates  had  felt  so  certain  of  victory,  that  he  had  made  no  provisions  for  a  retreat,  or 
the  salvation  of  his  stores  in  the  rear.     His  troops  were  scattered  in  all  directions,  and  he,  appar 
ently  panic-stricken  by  the  terrible  blow,  fled,  almost  alone,  to  Charlotte.     Even  now  [1867]  bul 
lets  are  found  in  the  old  pine-trees  on  the  route  of  their  retreat.     Gates  did  indeed,  as  General 
Charles  Lee  predicted  he  would,  when  he  heard  of  his  appointment  to  the  command  of  the  south 
ern  army,  "exchange  his  northern  laurels  for  southern  willows." 

2  De  Kalb  was  a  native  of  Alsace,  a  German  province  ceded  to  France.    He  had  been  in  Amer 
ica  as  a  secret  French  agent,  about  fifteen  years  before.     He  came  to  America  with  La  Fayette  in 
1777,  and  Congress  commissioned  him  a  major-general.     He  died  of  his  wounds  at  Camden,  three 
days  after  the  battle.  3  Page  453.  4  Page  237. 

6  Tarleton  was  one  of  the  most  active  and  unscrupulous  officers  of  the  British  army.  He  was 
distinguished  for  his  abilities  and  cruelties  during  the  southern  campaigns  of  1780-'81.  He  was 
born  in  Liverpool,  in  1754.  He  married  a  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Ancaster,  in  1798,  and  was 
afterward  made  a  major-general.  6  Page  336. 


1780.] 


SIXTH  YEAR   OF  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.  317 


republicans  in  arms  in  South  Carolina,  except  Marion  and  his  men.  Within 
three  months  [May  12  to  August  16],  two  American  armies  had  been  annihil 
ated,  and  one  of  the  most  formidable  partisan  corps  (Sumter's)  scattered  to  the 
winds. 


} 


The  exploits  of  Marion1  and  his  men,  form  the  materials  of  one  of  the  most 
interesting  chapters  in  the  history  of  our  War  for  Independence.  He  was  in 
Charleston  during  the  long  siego,  but  having  been  disabled  by  an  accident,2  he 
had  retired  to  the  country,  and  was  not  among  the  prisoners  when  the  city 
passed  in  the  possession  of  the  British.3  He  was  therefore  untrammeled  by  any 
parole,  and  as  soon  as  he  was  able,  he  mounted  his  horse,  and  took  the  field. 
With  a  few  ragged  followers,  equal  in  grotesque  appearance  to  any  Falstaff 


1  Francis  Marion  was  a  descendant  of  a  Huguenot  [page  49]  settler,  and  was  born  near  George 
town,  South  Carolina,  in  1732.  His  first  military  lessons  were  learned  in  the  war  with  the  Chero- 
kees  [page  204],  in  1761.  He  entered  the  army  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution,  and  was 
one  of  the  bravest  and  most  useful  of  all  the  partisan  officers  at  the  South.  He  was  also  a  member 
of  the  South  Carolina  Legislature,  during,  and  after  the  war.  He  died  at  his  home,  near  Eutaw 
Springs,  on  his  beloved  Snntee,  in  1795,  in  the  sixty-third  year  of  his  age. 

Marion  was  dining  with  some  friends  at  a  house  in  Tradd-street,  Charleston,  when,  on  an  at 
tempt  being  made  to  cause  him  to  drink  wine,  contrary  to  his  practice  and  desire,  he  leaped  from  a 
window,  and  sprained  his  ankle.  The  Americans  yet  kept  the  country  toward  the  Santee,  open, 
and  Marion  was  conveyed  to  his  home.  3  Page  311. 


318  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1780. 

ever  saw,1  he  was  annoying  the  Tories  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Pedee,  when 
Gates  was  moving  southward ;  and  just  before  the  battle  at  Camden,  he  ap 
peared  in  Gates' s  camp.  The  proud  general  would  have  treated  him  with  con 
tempt,  had  not  Governor  Rutledge,'"'  then  in  the  camp,  known  the  sterling 
worth  of  the  man  before  them.  While  Marion  was  there,  the  people  of  the 
Williamsburg  district,  who  had  arisen  in  arms,  sent  for  him  to  be  their  com 
mander.  Governor  Rutledge  gave  him  the  commission  of  a  brigadier  on  the 
spot;  and  soon  afterward,  Marion  organized  that  noted  brigade,  which  per 
formed  such  wonderful  exploits  among  the  swamps,  the  broad  savannahs,  and 
by  the  water-courses  of  the  South.  It  was  this  motley  brigade,  only,  that 
appeared  in  the  field,  and  defied  British  power,  after  the  dispersion  of  Gates' s 
army  at  Camden. 

Had  Cornwallis  been  governed  by  good  judgment  and  humanity,  the  con 
quest  of  South  Carolina  might  have  been  permanent, 
for  the  State  swarmed  with  Tories,  and  the  Republic 
ans  were  wearied  with  the  unequal  contest.  But  he 
was  governed  by  a  foolish  and  wicked  policy, 'and  pro 
ceeded  to  establish  royal  authority  by  the  most  severe 
measures.  Instead  of  winning  the  respect  of  the  people 
by  wisdom  and  clemency,  he  thought  to  subdue  them 
by  cruelty.  Private  rights  were  trampled  under  foot, 
and  social  organization  was  superseded  by  the  iron  rule 
LORD  CORXWALLIS  of  military  despotism.3  His  measures  created  the  most 

bitter  hatred;    and  hundreds  of  patriots,    who  might 

have  been  conciliated,  were  goaded  into  active  warfare  by  the  lash  of  military 
power.  Everywhere  the  people  thirsted  for  vengeance,  and  only  awaited  the 
call  of  leaders,  to  rally  and  strike  again  for  homes  and  freedom. 

Now,  feeling  confident  of  his  power  in  South  Carolina,  Cornwallis4  prepared 
to  invade  the  North  State.  Early  in  S3ptember  he  proceeded  with  his  army 
to  Charlotte,5  while  detachments  were  sent  out  in  various  directions  to  awe  the 
Republicans  and  encourage  the  loyalists.  Whib  Tarleton,  with  his  legion, 


1  Colonel  Otho  H.  Williams  said  of  his  appearance  then,  that  his  followers  were  "  distinguished 
by  small  leathern  caps,  and  the  wretchedness  of  their  attire.     Their  number  did  not  exceed  twenty 
men  and  boys,  some  white,  some  black,  and  all  mounted,  but  most  of  them  miserably  equipped. 
Their  appearance  was,  in  fact,  so  burlesque,  that  it  was  with  much  difficulty  the  diversion  of  the 
regular  soldiery  was  restrained  by  the  officers ;  and  the  general  himself  [Gates]  was  glad  of  an  op 
portunity  of  detaching  Colonel  Marion,  at  his  own  instance,  toward  the  interior  of  South  Carolina, 
with  orders  to  watch  the  motions  of  the  enemy,  and  furnish  intelligence. " 

2  Page  310. 

3  He  issued  cruel  orders  to  his  subalterns.     They  were  directed  to  hang  every  militia-man  who 
had  once  served  in  Loyalist  corps,  but  were  now  found  in  arms  against  the  king.     Many  who  had 
submitted  to  Clinton  [page  313],  and  accepted  protection,  and  had  remained  at  home  quietly  during 
the  recent  revolt,  were  imprisoned,  their  property  taken  from  them  or  destroyed,  and  their  families 
treated  with  the  utmost  rigor.     See  note  3,  page  337. 

4  Charles,  Earl  Cornwallis,  was  born,  in  Suffolk,  England,  in  1738.     He  was  educated  for  mili 
tary  life,  and  commenced  his  career  in  1759.     After  the  Revolution  in  America,  he  was  made  gov 
ernor-general  of  India  [note  2,  page  224],  then  lord-lieutenant  of  Ireland,  and  again  governor  of 
India.     He  died  near  Benares,  East  Indies,  in  1805. 

5  His  advanced  corps  were  attacked  by  the  Americans  under  Colonel  Davie,  on  their  arrival  at 
Charlotte,  but  after  a  severe  skirmish,  the  patriots  were  repulsed. 


1780.]  SIXTH  YEAR   OF   THE  WAR  FOR   INDEPENDENCE.  319 

was  operating  on  the  east  side  of  the  Catawba,  Major  Patrick  Ferguson  was 
sent  to  embody  the  militia  who  favored  the  king,  among  the  mountains  west  of 
the  Broad  River.  Many  profligate  and  worthless  men  joined  his  standard,  and 
on  the  first  of  October,  1780,  he  crossed  the  Broad  River  at  the  Cherokee  ford, 
in  Yorkville  district,  and  encamped  among  the  hills  of  King's  Mountain,  with 
about  fifteen  hundred  men.  Several  corps  of  Whig  militia  united  to  oppose 
him,1  and  on  the  7th  of  October,  they  fell  upon  his  camp  on  King's  Mountain, 
there,  a  cluster  of  high,  wooded,  gravelly  hills,  about  two  miles  below  the 
southern  line  of  North  Carolina.  A  very  severe  engagement  ensued,  and  the 
British  were  totally  defeated.  Ferguson  was  slain,2  and  three  hundred  of  his 
men  were  killed  and  wounded.  The  spoils  of  victory,  which  cost  the  Americans 
only  twenty  men,  were  eight  hundred  prisoners,  and  fifteen  hundred  stand  of 
arms.  This  defeat  was  to  Cornwallis,  what  the  affair  at  Bennington3  was  to 
Burgoyne,  and  it  gave  the  Republicans  hope. 

Nearer  the  sea-board,  in  the  mean  while,  the  patriots  were  daily  gaining 
strength.  Marion  and  his  men4  were  striking  the  banding  Tories  here  and 
there,  and  annoying  British  outposts  continually ;  while  Colonel  Pickens  and 
Clarke  were  hourly  augmenting  their  forces  in  Georgia  and  south-western 
Carolina.  Sumter,  too,  undismayed  by  his  recent  defeat,  again  appeared  in  the 
field  ;5  and  other  leaders  were  coming  forth  between  the  Yadkin  and  Broad 
Rivers.  Alarmed  by  the  defeat  of  Ferguson,  and  these  demonstrations  on  flank 
and  rear,  Cornwallis  withdrew  [October  14]  to  South  Carolina,  and  toward  the 
close  of  October  [27th],  made  his  head  quarters  at  Winnsborough,  midway 
between  the  Broad  and  Catawba  Rivers,  in  Fairfield  district.  Here  ho 
remained  until  called  to  the  pursuit  of  Greene,6  a  few  weeks  later. 

Victory  after  victory  was  achieved  by  Marion  and  his  brigade,  until  late  in 
October,  when  they  pushed  forward  to  assail  the  British  post  at  Georgetown, 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  necessary  supplies.  Hitherto  Marion  had  confined 
his  operations  to  forays  upon  British  and  Tories ;  now  he  undertook  a  more 

1  These  were  commanded  by  Colonels  "William  Campbell,  Isaac  Shelby,  Benjamin  Cleveland, 
John  Sevier,   Joseph  Winston,    Charles  McDowell,  and  James  Williams.      Their  united  forces 
amounted  to  nearly  eighteen  hundred  men. 

2  On  the  spot  where  Ferguson  was  slain,  a  plain  stone  has  been  erected  to  the  memory  of  that 
officer,  and  of  Americans  who  were  killed.     The  following  inscriptions  upon  the  stone,  give  the 
names:  North  side. — "Sacred  to  the  memory  of  Major  WILLIAM  CHRONICLE,  Captain  JOHN  MAT 
TOCKS,  WILLIAM  ROBB,  and  JOHN  BOYD,  who  were  killed  here  lighting  in  defense  of  America,  on 
the  seventh  of  October,  1780."     South  side. — "  Colonel  FERGUSON,  an  officer  belonging  to  his  Britan 
nic  majesty,  was  here  defeated  and  killed."     Ferguson's  rank  is  incorrectly  given,  on  the  monument. 
He  was  only  a  major ;  but  his  good  conduct  was  placing  him  in  the  way  of  speedy  promotion.     He 
was  a  son  of  the  eminent  Scotch  jurist,  James  Ferguson,  and  came  to  America  in  1777.     He  was 
in  the  battle  on  the  Brandy  wine,  in  the  autumn  of  that  year  [page  273],  and  accompanied  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  to  South  Carolina  [page  306]  at  the  close  of  1779.  3  Page  277.  4  Page  317. 

6  Sumter  collected  a  small  force  in  the  vicinity  of  Charlotte,  and  returned  to  South  Carolina. 
For  some  weeks  he  annoyed  the  British  and  Tories  very  much,  and  Lord  Cornwallis,  who  called  him 
The  Carolina  Game  Cock,  used  great  endeavors  to  crush  him.  On  the  night  of  the  12th  of  Novem 
ber,  Major  Wemyss,  at  the  head  of  a  British  detachment,  fell  upon  him  near  the  Broad  River,  but 
was  repulsed.  Eight  days  afterward  he  had  a  severe  engagement  with  Tarleton,  at  Blackstock's 
plantation,  on  the  Tyger  River,  in  Union  district.  He  had  now  been  joined  by  some  Georgians 
under  Colonels  Clarke  and  Twiggs.  The  British  were  repulsed,  with  a  loss,  in  killed  and  wounded, 
of  about  three  hundred.  The  Americans  lost  only  three  killed  and  five  wounded.  Sumter  was 
among  the  latter,  and  he  was  detained  from  the  field  several  months,  by  his  wounds. 

6  Page  332. 


320  THE    REVOLUTION".  [1780. 

serious  business.  The  garrison  was  on  the  alert,  and  in  a  severe  skirmish  with 
a  large  party  near  the  town,  the  Partisan  was  repulsed.  He  then  retired  to 
Snow's  Island,  at  the  confluence  of  Lynch 's  Creek  and  the  Pedee,  where  he 
fixed  his  camp,  and  secured  it  by  such  works  of  art  as  the  absence  of  natural 
defenses  required.  It  was  chiefly  high  river  swamp,  dry,  and  covered  with  a 
heavy  forest,  filled  with  game.  From  that  island  camp,  Marion  sent  out  and 
led  detachments  as  occasion  required ;  and  for  many  weeks,  expeditions  which 
accomplished  wonderful  results,  emanated  from  that  point.  Their  leader  seemed 
to  be  possessed  of  ubiquitous  powers,  for  he  struck  blows  at  different  points  in 
rapid  succession.  The  British  became  thoroughly  alarmed,  and  the  destruction 
of  his  camp  became,  with  them,  an  object  of  vital  importance.1  That  work  was 
accomplished  in  the  spring  of  1781,  when  a  party  of  Tories  penetrated  to 
Marion's  camp,  during  his  absence,  dispersed  the  little  garrison,  destroyed  the  pro 
visions  and  stores  found  there,  and  then  fled.  The  Partisan  was  not  disheartened 
by  this  misfortune,  but  pursued  the  marauder  some  distance,  and  then  wheeling, 
he  hastened  through  the  then  overflowed  swamps  to  confront  Colonel  Watson, 
who  was  in  motion  with  a  body  of  fresh  troops,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Pedee. 

While  these  events  were  progressing  at  the  South,  others  of  great  import 
ance  were  transpiring  at  the  North.  As  we  have  observed,2  military  operations 
were  almost  suspended  in  this  region  during  the  year,  and  there  were  no  offens 
ive  movements  worthy  of  notice,  except  an  invasion  of  New  Jersey,  in  June. 
On  the  6th  of  that  month  (before  the  arrival  of  Clinton  from  Charleston),  Knyp- 
hausen3  dispatched  General  Matthews  from  Staten  Island,  with  about  five 
thousand  men,  to  penetrate  New  Jersey.  They  took  possession  of  Elizabeth- 
town  [June  7],, and  burned  Connecticut  Farms  (then  a  hamlet,  and  now  the 
village  of  Unioji),  on  the  road  from  Elizabethtown  to  Springfield.  When  the 
invaders  arrived  at  the  latter  place,  they  met  detachments  which  came  down 
from  Washington's  camp  at  Morristown,  and  by  them  were  driven  back  to  the 
coast,  where  they  remained  a  fortnight.  In  the  mean  while  Clinton  arrived, 
and  joining  Matthews  with  additional  troops  [June  22],  endeavored  to  draw 
Washington  into  a  general  battle,  or  to  capture  his  stores  at  Morristown. 
Feigning  an  expedition  to  the  Highlands,  Clinton  deceived  Washington,  who, 
with  a  considerable  force,  marched  in  that  direction,  leaving  General  Greene  in 
command  at  Springfield.  Perceiving  the  success  of  his  stratagem,  he,  with 
Knyphausen,  marched  upon  Greene,  witn  ^bout  five  thousand  infantry,  a  con 
siderable  body  of  cavalry  and  almost  twenty  pieces  of  artillery.  After  a  severe 


1  Here  was  the  scene  of  the  interview  between  Marion  and  a  young  British  officer  from  George 
town,  so  well  remembered  by  tradition,  and  so  well  delineated  by  the  pen  of  Simms  and  the  pencil 
of  White.  The  officer  who  came  to  treat  respecting  prisoners,  was  led  blindfolded  to  the  camp  of 
Marion.  There  he  first  saw  the  diminutive  form  of  the  great  partisan  leader,  and  around  him,  in 
groups,  were  his  followers,  lounging  beneath  magnificent  trees  draped  with  moss.  When  their  business 
was  concluded,  Marion  invited  the  young  Briton  to  dine  with  him.  He  remained,  and  to  his  utter 
astonishment  he  saw  some  roasted  potatoes  brought  forward  on  a  piece  of  bark,  of  which  the 
general  partook  freely,  and  invited  his  guest  to  do  the  same.  "Surely,  general,"  said  the  officer, 
"this  can  not  be  your  ordinary  fare  !"  "  Indeed  it  is,"  replied  Marion,  "and  we  are  fortunate  on 
this  occasion,  entertaining  company,  to  have  more  than  our  usual  allowance."  It  is  related  that 
the  young  officer  gave  up  his  commission  on  his  return,  declaring  that  such  a  people  could  not  be, 
and  ought  not  to  be  subdued.  2  Page  309.  3  Page  259. 


MARION'S  ENCAMPMENT  ON  THE  PEDEE. 


' 


1780.] 


SIXTH  YEAK   OF   THE   WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE. 


323 


skirmish  at  Springfield,  the  British  were  defeated  [June  23,  1780],  and  setting 
fire  to  the  village,  they  retreated,  and  passed  over  to  Staten  Island. 

Good  news  for  the  Americans  came  from  the  East,  a  few  days  after  this 
invasion.  It  was  that  of  the  arrival,  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  on  the  10th 
of  July  [1780],  of  a  powerful  French  fleet,  under  Admiral  Ternay,  bearing 
six  thousand  land  troops  under  the  Count  de  Rochambeau.  This  expedition 
had  been  expected  for  some  time,  it  having  sailed  from  Brest  early  in  April. 


The  whole  matter  had  been  arranged  with  the  French  government  by  La  Fay- 
ette,  who  had  returned  from  France  in  May,  and  brought  the  glad  tidings  to 
the  Americans.  With  wise  forethought,  the  relation  between  Washington  and 
Rochambeau  had  been  settled  by  the  French  government.  In  order  to  prevent 
any  difficulties  in  relation  to  command,  between  the  American  and  French  offi 
cers,  the  king  commissioned  Washington  a  lieutenant-general  of  the  empire. 
This  allowed  him  to  take  precedence  of  Rochambeau,  and  made  him  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  allied  armies.  Soon  after  his  arrival,  Rochambeau,  by  appoint 
ment,  met  Washington  at  Hartford,  in  Connecticut,  to  confer  upon  their  future 
movements.  The  season  being  so  far  advanced,  that  it  was  thought  imprudent 
for  the  French  army  to  enter  upon  active  duties  during  the  current  campaign,  it 


324  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1780. 

was  determined  to  have  the  main  body  of  it  remain  in  camp,  on  Rhode  Island, 
while  the  cavalry  should  be  cantoned  at  Lebanon,  in  Connecticut,  the  place  of 
residence  of  Jonathan  Trumbull,  governor  of  that  State.  That  eminent  man 
was  the  only  chief  magistrate  of  a  colony  who  retained  his  office  after  the  change 
from  royal  to  Republican  rule ;  and  throughout  the  war,  he  was  one  of  the 
most  efficient  of  the  civil  officers  among  the  patriots.1 

The  arrival  of  the  French  caused  Clinton  to  be  more  circumspect  in  his 
movements,  and  he  made  no  further  attempts  to  entice  Washington  to  fight. 
Yet  he  was  endeavoring  to  accomplish  by  his  own  strategy,  and  the  treason  of  an 
American  officer,  what  he  could  not  achieve  by  force.  At  different  times  during 
the  war,  the  British  officials  in  America  had  tampered,  directly  or  indirectly, 
with  some  Americans,  supposed  to  be  possessed  of  easy  virtue,  but  it  was  late  in 
the  contest  before  one  could  be  found  who  was  wicked  enough  to  be  a  traitor. 
Finally,  a  recreant  to  the  claims  of  patriotism  appeared,  and  while  the  French 
army  were  landing  upon  Rhode  Island,  and  were  preparing  for  winter  quarters 
there,  Clinton  was  bargaining  with  Benedict  Arnold  for  the  strong  military 
post  of  West  Point,3  and  its  dependencies  among  the  Hudson  Highlands,  and 
with  it  the  liberties  of  America,  if  possible. 

Arnold  was  a  brave  soldier,  but  a  bad  man.3  He  fought  nobly  for  freedbm, 
from  the  beginning  of  the  war,  until  1778,  when  his  passions  gained  the  mas 
tery  over  his  judgment  and  conscience.  Impulsive,  vindictive,  and  unscrupu 
lous,  he  was  personally  unpopular,  and  was  seldom  without  a  quarrel  with  some 
of  his  companions -in-arms.  Soon  after  his  appointment  to  the  command  at 
Philadelphia,4  he  was  married  to  the  beautiful  young  daughter  of  Edward 
Shippen,  one  of  the  leading  loyalists  of  that  city.  He  lived  in  splendor,  at  an 
expense  far  beyond  his  income.  To  meet  the  demands  of  increasing  creditors, 
he  engaged  in  fraudulent  acts  which  made  him  hated  by  the  public,  and  caused 
charges  of  dishonesty  and  malpractices  in  office  to  be  preferred  against  him, 
before  the  Continental  Congress.  A  court-martial,  appointed  to  try  him,  con- 


1  Jonathan  Trumbull  was  born  at  Lebanon,  Connecticut,  in  June,  1710,  and  was  educated  at 
Harvard  College.     He  prepared  for  the  ministry,  but  finally  became  a  merchant.     He  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Connecticut  Assembly  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  years.     He  was  chosen  governor  of 
Connecticut  in  1769,  and  for  fourteen  consecutive  years  he  was  elected  to  that  office.     He  died  at 
Lebanon,  in  August,  1785,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years.     See  page  323. 

2  During  the  spring  and  summer  of  1778,  the  passes  of  the  Hudson  Highlands  were  much 
strengthened.     A  strong  redoubt  called  Fort  Clinton  (in  honor  of  George  Clinton,  then  governor  of 
New  York),  was  erected  on  the  extreme  end  of  the  promontory  of  West  Point.     Other  redoubts 
were  erected  in  the  rear;  and  upon  Mount  Independence,  five  hundred  feet  above  the  Point,  the 
strong  fortress  of  Fort  Putnam  was  built,  whose  gray  ruins  are  yet  visible.     Besides  these,  an 
enormous  iron  chain,  each  link  weighing  more  than  one  hundred  pounds,  was  stretched  across  the 
Hudson  at  West  Point,  to  keep  British  ships  from  ascending  the  river.     It  was  floated  upon  timbers, 
linked  together  with  iron,  and  made  a  very  strong  obstruction.     Two  of  these  floats,  with  the  con 
necting  links,  are  preserved  at  Washington's  Head  Quarters,  at  Newburgh;  and  several  links  of  tho 
great  chain  may  be  seen  at  the  Laboratory,  at  West  Point. 

3  While  yet  a  mere  youth,   he  attempted  murder.     A  young  Frenchman  was  an  accepted 
suitor  of  Arnold's  sister.     The  young  tyrant  (for  Arnold  was  always  a  despot  among  his  play-fellows) 
disliked  him,  and  when  he  could  not  persuade  his  sister  to  discard  him,  he  declared  he  would  shoot 
the  Frenchman  if  he  ever  entered  the  house  again.     The  opportunity  soon  occurred,  and  Arnold 
discharged  a  loaded  pistol  at  him,  as  he  escaped  through  a  window.     The  young  man  left  the  place 
forever,  and  Hannah  Arnold  lived  the  life  of  a  maiden.     Arnold  and  the  Frenchman  afterward  met 
at  Honduras,  and  fought  a  duel,  in  which  the  Frenchman  was  severely  wounded. 

4  Note  3,  page  287. 


1780.] 


SIXTH   YEAR  OF   THE   WAR   FOR  INDEPENDENCE. 


325 


victed  him,  but  sentenced  him  to  a  reprimand  only.  Although  Washington 
performed  that  duty  with  the  utmost  delicacy,  Arnold  felt  the  disgrace.  It 
awakened  vengeful  feelings  which,  operating  with  the  pressure  of  debt,  made  him 
listen  with  complacency  to  the  suggestions  of  a  bad  nature.  He  made  treason 
able  overtures  to  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  and  by  a  correspondence  of  several  months 
(under  an  assumed  name,  and  with  propositions  couched  in  commercial  phrases) 
with  the  accomplished  Major  Andre,1  Clinton's  adjutant-general,  he  bargained 
with  the  British  commander  to  betray  West  Point  and  its  dependencies  into  his 
hands.  For  this  service  he  was  to  receive  a  brigadier's  commission,  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars  in  cash. 


The  traitor  managed  the  affair  very  adroitly.  For  a  long  time,  Washington 
had  been  suspicious  of  Arnold's  integrity,  but  was  unwilling  to  believe  him 
capable  of  treason.  Under  pretense  of  having  private  business  in  Connecticut, 
Arnold  left  Philadelphia,  passed  through  Washington's  camp  on  the  Hudson, 
and  on  his  return,  he  suggested  to  the  chief  that  he  would  be  glad  to  have  com 
mand  of  West  Point.  He  made  many  patriotic  professions,  and  his  desires  wer^ 
gratified.  He  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  that  post,  in  August,  1780, 
and  then  all  his  thoughts  were  turned  to  the  one  great  object  of  the  betrayal  of 


1  Arnold's  hand-writing  was  disguised,  and  he  signed  his  letters  Gustavus.  Andre's  letters 
were  signed  John  Anderson.  A  correspondence  was  carried  on  between  them  for  more  than  a 
year. 


326  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1780. 

his  trust.  The  time  chosen  for  the  consummation  of  his  treasonable  designs, 
was  when  Washington  was  absent,  in  September,  in  conference  with  the  French 
officers  at  Hartford,  Connecticut.1  Up  to  the  time  of  his  taking  command  of 
West  Point,  Arnold  and  Andre  had  negotiated  in  writing.  They  had  never 
met,  but  now  a  personal  conference  was  necessary.  For  that  purpose,  Andre 
went  up  the  Hudson  in  the  sloop  of  war,  Vulture,  which  anchored  off  Teller's 
Point,  just  above  the  mouth  of  the  Croton  River.  Andre  was  taken  ashore, 
near  Haverstraw,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Hudson,  where,  by  previous  appoint 
ment,  he  met  Arnold.  Before  they  parted  [Sept.  22,  1780],  the  whole  matter 
was  arranged.  Clinton  was  to  sail  up  the  river  with  a  strong  force,  and 
after  a  show  of  resistance,  Arnold  was  to  surrender  West  Point  and  its  depend 
encies  into  his  hands.  But  all  did  not  work  well.  Some  Americans  dragged 
an  old  iron  six -pound  cannon  (yet  preserved  at  Sing  Sing)  to  the  end  of  Teller's 
Point,  and  with  it  so  galled  the  Vulture,  that  she  was  driven  from  her  anchor 
age,  and,  dropping  down  the  river,  disappeared  from  Andre's  view.  He  was 
consequently  compelled  to  cross  to  the  eastern  side  of  the  Hudson  in  disguise, 
and  make  his  way  toward  New  York,  by  land.  At  Tarrytown,  twenty-seven 
miles  from  the  city,  he  was  stopped  [Sept.  23]  and  searched  by  three  young 
militia  men,2  who,  finding  papers  concealed  in  his  boots,3  took  him  to  the  near 
est  American  post.  Colonel  Jameson,  the  commander,  could  not  seem  to  com 
prehend  the  matter,  and  unwisely  allowed  Andre  to  send  a  letter  to  Arnold, 
then  at  his  quarters  opposite  West  Point.  The  alarmed  and  warned  traitor  im 
mediately  fled  down  the  river  in  his  barge,  and  escaped  to  the  Vulture  in  safety, 
leaving  behind  him  his  young  wife  and  infant  son,  who  were  kindly  treated  by 
Washington.4 

The  unfortunate  Major  Andre  was  tried  and  found  guilty  as  a  spy,  and  was 
hanged  on  the  2dof  October,  1780,  at  Tappan  opposite  Tarrytown,  while  the  real 
miscreant  escaped.  Strenuous  efforts  were  made  to  gain  possession  of  Arnold,  and 
save  Andre,  but  they  failed,5  and  that  accomplished  officer,  betrayed  by  circum 
stances,  as  he  said  in  a  letter  to  Washington,  "into  the  vile  condition  of  an 
enemy  in  disguise,"  suffered  more  because  of  the  sins  of  others,  than  of  his  own. 
Washington  would  have  spared  Andre,  if  the  stern  rules  of  war  had  permitted. 

1  Page  323. 

2  John  Paulding,  David  Williams,  and  Isaac  Van  "Wart,  all  residents  of  Westchester  county. 
Andre  offered  them  large  bribes  if  they  would  allow  him  to  pass,  but  they  refused,  and  thus  saved 
their  country  from  ruin. 

3  These  papers  are  well  preserved.    After  being  in  private  hands  more  than  seventy  years,  they 
were  purchased,  and  deposited  in  the  New  York  State  Library,  in  1853. 

4  "Washington  returned  from  Hartford  on  the  very  morning  of  Arnold's  escape,  and  reached  his 
quarters  (yet  standing  opposite  West  Point)  just  after  the  traitor  had  left.     The  evidences  of  his 
treason  were  there,  and  officers  were  sent  in  pursuit,  but  in  vain.     Washington  sent  the  wife  and 
son  of  Arnold  to  New  York,  whither  the  traitor  was  conveyed  by  the  Vulture.     That  infant,  who 
was  named  James  Robertson  Arnold,  was  born  at  West  Point.     He  became  a  distinguished  officer 
in  the  British  army,  having  passed  through  all  the  grades  of  office,  from  lieutenant.  On  the  accession 
of  Queen  Victoria,  in  1835,  he  was  made  one  of  her  aids-de-camp,  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  major- 
general,  with  the  badge  of  a  Knight  of  the  Royal  Hanoverian  Guelphic  Order. 

6  Serjeant  Champe,  of  Lee's  legion  [page  333],  went  into  New  York  City,  in  the  disguise  of  a 
deserter,  joined  the  corps  which  had  been  placed  under  Arnold's  command,  and  had  every  thing 
arranged  for  carrying  off  the  traitor,  in  a  boat,  to  the  New  Jersey  shore.  On  the  very  day  when  he 
was  to  execute  his  scheme,  at  night,  Arnold's  corps  were  ordered  to  Virginia,  and  Champe  was 
compelled  to  accompany  it.  There  he  escaped,  and  joined  Lee  in  the  Carolinas. 


1781.]       SEVENTH   YEAR    OF   THE   WAR   FORINDEPENDENCE.       327 

The  young  soldier  has  always  been  more  pitied  than  blamed ;  while  the  name 
of  Arnold  will  ever  be  regarded  with  the  bitterest  scorn.1  Although  he  did  not 
accomplish  his  wicked  schemes,  he  received  the  stipulated  reward  for  his  treason 
able  services.  And  history,  too,  has  given  him  its  reward  of  recorded  shame, 
while  those  who  were  instrumental  in  securing 
Andre,  and  with  him  the  evidences  of  the  foul 
treason,  are  honored  by  the  nation  with  its  ever- 
lastino1  gratitude.  Thankful  for  deliverance  from 

o  o 

the  dangers  of  treason,  Congress  voted  [Nov.  8, 
1780]  each  of  the  three  young  militia  men,  a  sil 
ver  medal  and  a  pension  of  two  hundred  dollars  a 
year,  for  life.  And  marble  monuments  have  been 

J  ,      .  •          q         i   -i        i  •  P  CAPTOR'S  MEDAL.3 

erected  to  their  memories  ;    while  the  sentiment  ot 

sympathy  for  the  unfortunate  Andre,  has  also  caused  a  memorial  to  him,  to  bo 

erected  at  Tarrytown,  upon  the  spot  where  he  was  executed. 

And  now  another  year  drew  to  a  close,  and  yet  the  patriots  were  not  sub 
dued.  England  had  already  expended  vast  treasures  and  much  blood  in  en 
deavors  to  subjugate  them;  and,  on  account  of  the  rebellion,  had  involved 
herself  in  open  war  with  France  and  Spain.  Notwithstanding  all  this,  and 
unmindful  of  the  fact  that  a  large  French  land  and  naval  armament  was  already 
on  the  American  shores,4  she  seemed  to  acquire  fresh  vigor  as  every  new  ob 
stacle  presented  itself.  And  when  the  British  ministry  learned  that  Holland, 
the  maritime  rival  of  England,  was  secretly  negotiating  a  treaty  with  the  United 
States  for  loans  of  money  and  other  assistance,  they  caused  a  declaration  of  war 
against  that  government  to  be  immediately  proclaimed  [Dec.  20,  1780],  and 
procured  from  Parliament  immense  appropriations  of  men  and  money,  ships  and 
stores,  to  sustain  the  power  of  Great  Britain  on  land  and  sea. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

SEVENTH  YEAR  OF  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.     [1781.] 

ONE  of  the  noblest  displays  of  true  patriotism,  for  which  the  war  for  Inde 
pendence  was  so  remarkable,  signalized  the  opening  of  the  year  1781.     Year 


1  Benedict  Arnold  was  born  in  Norwich,  Connecticut,  in  January,  1730.     He  was  bred  to  tho 
business  of  an  apothecary,  and  for  some  time  carried  on  that,  with  bookselling,  in  New  Haven. 
We  have  already  met  him  in  his  career  during  the  war,  up  to  the  time  of  his  treason.     We  shall 
meet  him  again,  in  Virginia  [page  330],  with  the  enemy.     At  the  close  of  the  war,  he  went  to  En 
gland,  then  to  Nova  Scotia,  but  he  was  everywhere  despised.     He  died  in  London,  in  June,  1801, 
where,  just  three  years  afterward,  his  wife  also  died. 

2  On  one  s:de  is  the  word  "FIDELITY,"  and  on  the  other,  "  VINCIT  AMOR  PATRLE"— -  " The  love 
of  country  conquers." 

3  To  Paulding,  in  St.  Peter's  church-yard,  about  two  miles  from  Peekskm,  and  to  Van  Wart  in 
Greenburg  church-yard,  a  little  more  than  that  distance  from  Tarrytown.     Williams  was  buried  in 
Schoharie  county,  where  a  monument  is  about  to  be  erected  to  his  memory.  4  Page  323. 


328  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1781. 

after  year  the  soldiers  had  suffered  every  privation,  from  lack  of  money  and 
clothing.  Faction  had  now  corrupted  the  Continental  Congress,  and  the  public 
welfare  suffered  on  account  of  the  tardiness  of  that  body  in  the  performance  of 
its  legitimate  duties.  Continental  money  had  become  almost  worthless,1  and 
the  pay  of  officers  and  men  was  greatly  in  arrears.  The  frequent  promises  of 
Congress  had  been  as  frequently  unfulfilled,  and  the  common  soldiers  had  cause 
to  be  dissatisfied  with  the  illiberal  interpretation  which  their  officers  gave  to 
the  terms  of  enlistment.2  They  had  asked  in  vain  for  aid;  and  finally,  on  the 
first  day  of  January,  1781,  thirteen  hundred  of  the  Pennsylvania  line,  whose 
time,  as  they  understood  it,  had  expired,  left  the  camp  at  Morristown,3  with  the 
avowed  determination  of  marching  to  Philadelphia,  and  in  person  demanding 
justice  from  the  national  legislature.  General  Wayne4  was  in  command  of  the 
Pennsylvania  troops,  and  was  much  beloved  by  them.  He  exerted  all  his  influ 
ence,  by  threats  and  persuasions,  to  bring  them  back  to  duty  until  their  griev 
ances  should  be  redressed.  They  would  not  listen  to  his  remonstrances  ;  and. 
on  cocking  his  pistol,  they  presented  their  bayonets  to  his  breast,  saying,  "We 
respect  and  love  you  ;  often  have  you  led  us  into  the  field  of  battle,  but  we  are 
no  longer  under  your  command ;  we  warn  you  to  be  on  your  guard ;  if  you  fire 
your  pistol,  or  attempt  to  enforce  your  commands,  we  shall  put  you  instantly 
to  death."  Wayne  appealed  to  their  patriotism  ;  they  pointed  to  the  impo 
sitions  of  Congress.  He  reminded  them  of  the  strength  their  conduct  would 
give  to  the  enemy  ;  they  exhibited  their  tattered  garments  and  emaciated  forms. 
They  avowed  their  willingness  to  support  the  cause  of  freedom,  for  it  was  dear 
to  their  hearts,  if  adequate  provision  could  be  made  for  their  comfort,  and  then 
boldly  reiterated  their  intention  to  march  directly  to  Philadelphia,  and  demand 
from  Congress  a  redress  of  their  grievances. 

Finding  threats  and  persuasions  useless,  Wayne  concluded  to  accompany 
the  mutineers.  When  they  reached  Princeton,  they  presented  the  general  with 
a  written  programme  of  their  demands.  It  appeared  reasonable  ;  but  not  being 
authorized  to  promise  them  any  thing,  the  matter  was  referred  to  Congress. 
That  body  immediately  appointed  a  commission  to  confer  with  the  insurgents. 
The  result  was  a  compliance  with  their  just  demands,  and  the  disbanding  of  a 
large  part  of  the  Pennsylvania  line,  for  the  winter,  which  was  filled  by  new 
recruits  in  the  spring.5 


1  Page  245.     Thirty  dollars  in  paper  were  then  worth  only  one  in  silver. 

2  The  terms,  as  expressed,  were,  that  they  should  "  serve  for  three  years,  or  during  the  war;" 
that  is,  for  three  years  if  the  war  continued,  or  be  discharged  sooner  if  the  war  should  end  sooner. 
The  officers  claimed  that  they  were  bound  to  serve  as  long  as  the  war  should  continue. 

3  The  head-quarters  of  Washington  were  now  at  New  Windsor,  just  above  the  Hudson  High 
lands.     The  Pennsylvania  troops  were  cantoned  at  Morristown,  New  Jersey ;  and  the  New  Jersey 
troops  were  at  Pompton,  in  the  same  State.  4  Page  298. 

6  Intelligence  of  this  revolt  reached  Washington  and  Sir  Henry  Clinton  on  the  same  day. 
Washington  took  measures  immediately  to  suppress  the  mutiny,  and  prevent  the  bad  influence  of  its 
example.  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  mistaking  the  spirit  of  the  mutineers,  thought  to  gain  great  advantage 
by  the  event.  He  dispatched  two  emissaries,  a  British  sergeant,  and  a  New  Jersey  Tory  named 
Ogden,  to  the  insurgents,  with  the  written  offer  that,  on  laying  down  their  arms  and  marching  to 
New  York,  they  should  receive  their  arrearages,  and  the  amount  of  the  depreciation  of  the  Conti 
nental  currency,  in  hard  cash ;  that  they  should  be  well  clothed,  have  a  free  pardon  for  all  past 
offenses,  and  bo  taken  under  the  protection  of  the  British  government ;  and  that  no  military  service 


1781.]       SEVENTH  YEAR  OF  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.       329 

On  the  18th  of  January,  a  portion  of  the  New  Jersey  line,  at  Pompton. 
followed  the  example  of  their  comrades  at  Morristown.  The  mutiny  was  soon 
quelled  [January  27],  but  by  harsher  means  than  Wayne  had  employed.  Gen 
eral  Robert  Howe1  was  sent  by  Washington,  with  five  hundred  men,  to  restore 
order.  Two  of  the  ringleaders  were  hanged,  and  the  remainder  quietly  sub 
mitted.  These  events  had  a  salutary  effect.  They  aroused  Congress  and  the 
people  to  the  necessity  of  more  efficient  measures  for  the  support  of  the  army. 
Taxes  were  imposed  and  cheerfully  paid ;  a  special  agent,  sent  abroad  to  obtain 
loans,  was  quite  successful,2  and  a  national  bank3  was  established  at  Philadel 
phia,  and  placed  under  the  charge  of  Robert  Morris,4  to  whose  superintendence 
Congress  had  recently  intrusted  the  public  Treasury.  To  his  efforts  and  finan 
cial  credit,  the  country  was  indebted  for  the  means  to  commence  offensive  opera 
tions  in  the  spring  of  1781.  He  collected  the  taxes,  and  by  the  free  use  of  his 
ample  private  fortune,  and  his  public  credit,  he  supplied  the  army  with  flour 
and  other  necessaries,  and  doubtless  prevented  their  disbanding  by  their  own 
act. 

Let  us  now  turn  our  attention  to  events  in  the  South.  While  half-starved, 
half-naked  troops  were  making  such  noble  displays  of  patriotism  amid  the  snows 

should  be  required  of  them,  unless  voluntarily  offered.  Sir  Henry  requested  them  to  appoint  agents 
to  treat  with  his  and  adjust  the  terms  of  a  treaty;  and,  not  doubting  the  success  of  his  plans,  he 
went  to  Staten  Island  himself,  with  a  large  body  of  troops,  to  act  as  circumstances  might  require. 
Like  his  masters  at  home,  he  entirely  misapprehended  the  spirit  and  the  incentives  to  action  of  the 
American  soldiers.  They  were  not  mercenary — not  soldiers  by  profession,  fighting  merely  for  hire. 
The  protection  of  their  homes,  their  wives  and  little  ones,  and  the  defense  of  holy  principles,  which 
their  general  intelligence  understood  and  appreciated,  formed  the  motive-power  and  the  bond  of  union 
of  the  American  army ;  and  the  soldier's  money  stipend  was  the  least  attractive  of  all  the  induce 
ments  which  urged  him  to  take  up  arms.  Yet  as  it  was  necessary  to  his  comfort,  and  even  his 
existence,  the  want  of  it  afforded  a  just  pretext  for  the  assumption  of  powers  delegated  to  a  few. 
The  mutiny  was  a  democratic  movement:  and,  while  the  patriot  felt  justified  in  using  his  weapons 
to  redress  grievances,  he  still  looked  with  horror  upon  the  armed  oppressors  of  his  country,  and 
regarded  the  act  and  stain  of  treason,  undsr  any  circumstances,  as  worse  than  the  infliction  of  death. 
Clinton's  proposals  were,  therefore,  rejected  with  disdain.  "See,  comrades,"  said  one  of  the  leaders, 
"  he  takes  us  for  traitors.  Let  us  show  him  that  the  American  army  can  furnish  but  one  Arnold, 
and  that  America  has  no  truer  friends  than  we."  They  immediately  seized  the  emissaries,  who, 
being  delivered,  with  Clinton's  papers,  into  the  hands  of  Wayne,  were  tried  and  executed  as  spies, 
and  the  reward  which  had  been  offered  for  their  apprehension  was  tendered  to  the  mutineers  who 
seized  them.  They  sealed  the  pledge  of  their  patriotism  by  nobly  refusing  it,  saying,  "Necessity 
wrung  from  us  the  act  of  demanding  justice  from  Congress,  but  we  desire  no  reward  for  doing  our 
duty  to  our  bleeding  country  !"  A  committee  of  Congress,  appointed  to  report  on  the  condition  of 
the  army,  said,  a  short  time  previous  to  this  event,  that  it  was  "  unpaid  ibr  five  months ;  that  it 
seldom  had  more  than  six  days'  provisions  in  advance,  and  was,  on  several  occasions,  for  sundry- 
successive  days,  without  meat ;  that  the  medical  department  had  neither  sugar,  coffee,  tea,  choco 
late,  wine,  nor  spirituous  liquors  of  any  kind,  and  that  every  department  of  the  army  was  without 
money,  and  had  not  even  the  shadow  of  credit  left."  l  Page  292. 

2  Colonel  John  Laurens    [See   page   348],  a  son  of  Henry  Laurens  [page  348],  had  been  sent 
to  France  to  ask  for  aid.     While  earnestly  pressing  his  suit,  with  Vergennes,  the  French  minister, 
one  day,  that  official  said,  that  the  king  had  every  disposition  to  favor  the  United  States.     This 
patronizing  expression  kindled  the  indignation  of  the  young  diplomatist,  and  he  replied  with  empha 
sis,  "  Favor,  sir !     The  respect  which  I  owe  to  my  country  will  not  admit  the  term.     Say  that  the 
obligation  is  mutual,  and  I  will  acknowledge  the  obligation.     But,  as  the  last  argument  I  shall  offer 
to  your  Excellency,  the  sword  which  I  now  wear  in  defense  of  France,  as  well  as  my  own  country, 
unless  the  succor  I  solicit  is  immediately  accorded,  I  may  be  compelled,  within  a  short  time,  to  draw 
against  France,  as  a  British  subject."     This  had  the  effect  intended.     The  French  dreaded  a  recon 
ciliation  of  the  colonies  with  Great  Britain,  and  soon  a  subsidy  of  one  million  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  and  a  further  sum,  as  a  loan,  was  granted.     The  French  minister  also  gave  a  guaranty  for 
a  Dutcli  loan  of  about  two  millions  of  dollars. 

3  This  was  called  the  Bank  of  North  America,  r.nd  was  the  first  institution  of  (he  kind  estab 
lished  in  this  country.  4  Page  2G4, 


380  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1781. 

of  New  Jersey,  Arnold,  the  arch- traitor,1  now  engaged  in  the  service  of  his 
royal  master,  was  commencing  a  series  of  depredations  upon  lower  Virginia, 
with  about  sixteen  hundred  British  and  Tory  troops,  and  a  few  armed  vessels. 
He  arrived  at  Hampton  Roads2  on  the  80th  of  December.  Anxious  to  distin 
guish  himself,  he  pushed  up  the  James  River,  and  after  destroying  [January  5, 
1781]  a  large  quantity  of  public  and  private  stores  at  Richmond,  and  vicinity, 
he  went  to  Portsmouth  [Jan.  20],  opposite  Norfolk,  and  made  that  his  head 
quarters.  Great  efforts  were  made  by  the  Americans  to  seize  and  punish  the 
traitor.  The  Virginia  militia  men  were  collected  in  great  numbers,  for  the 
purpose ;  and  Jefferson,  then  governor  of  that  State,  offered  a  reward  of  five 
thousand  guineas  for  his  capture.3  La  Fayette  was  sent  into  Virginia,  with 
twelve  hundred  men,  to  oppose  him ;  and  a  portion  of  the  French  fleet  went 
[March  8,  1781]  from  Rhode  Island,  to  shut  him  up  in  the  Elizabeth  River, 
and  assist  in  capturing  him.  But  all  these  efforts  failed.  He  was  brave,  vigil 
ant,  and  exceedingly  cautious.  Admiral  Arbuthnot4  pursued  and  attacked  the 
French  fleet  on  the  16th  of  March,  and  compelled  it  to  return  to  Newport ;  and 
General  Phillips  soon  afterward  joined  Arnold  [March  26],  with  more  than 
two  thousand  men,  and  took  the  chief  command.  In  April,  the  traitor  accom 
panied  Phillips  on  another  expedition  up  the  James  River,  and  after  doing  as 
much  mischief  as  possible  between  Petersburg  and  Richmond,  he  returned  to 
New  York.5  We  shall  meet  Arnold  presently  on  the  New  England  coast.6 

During  the  year  1781,  the  southern  States  became  the  most  important 
theater  of  military  operations.  General  Greene7  was  appointed,  on  the  30th  of 
October,  1780,  to  succeed  General  Gates  in  the  direction  of  the  southern  army. 
He  first  proceeded  to  Hillsborough,  to  confer  with  Governor  Nash,  and  other 
civil  officers  of  North  Carolina,  and  arrived  at  the  head-quarters  of  the  army, 
at  Charlotte,  on  the  second  of  December.  On  the  following  day  he  took  formal 
command,  and  Gates  immediately  set  out  for  the  head-quarters  of  Washington, 
in  East  Jersey,  to  submit  to  an  inquiry  into  his  conduct  at  Camden,8  which 
Congress  had  ordered.  Greene,  with  his  usual  energy,  at  once  prepared  to 
confront  or  pursue  the  enemy,  as  occasion  might  require.  He  arranged  his 
little  army  into  two  divisions.  With  the  main  body  he  took  post  at  Cheraw, 
east  of  the  Pedee,  and  General  Morgan  was  sent  with  the  remainder  (about 
a  thousand  strong)  to  occupy  the  country  near  the  junction  of  the  Pacolet  and 
Broad  Rivers.  Cornwallis,  who  was  just  preparing  to  march  into  North  Car- 


1  Page  325.  .  2  Page  243.  3  Page  326.  4  Page  310. 

6  General  Phillips  sickened  and  died  at  Petersburg.     Lord  Cornwallis,  who  arrived  from  North 
Carolina  soon  afterward  [page  338]  took  the  chief  command.     In  a  skirmish,  a  short  distance  from 
Petersburg,  on  the  27th  of  April  [1781],  in  which  Arnold  was  engaged,  he  took  some  Americans 
prisoners.     To  one  of  them  he  put  the  question,  "  If  the  Americans  should  catch  me,  what  would 
they  do  to  me?"     The  soldier  promptly  replied,  "They  would  bury  with  military  honors  the  leg 
which  was  wounded  at  Saratoga,  and  hang  the  remainder  of  you  upon  a  gibbet." 

0  Page  340. 

7  Nathanial  Greene  was  born,  of  Quaker  parents,  in  Rhode  Island,  in  1740.    He  was  an  anchor- 
smith,  and  was  pursuing  his  trade  when  the  Revolution  broke  out.     He  hastened  to  Boston  after 
the  skirmish  at  Lexington,  and  from  that  time  until  the  close  of  the  war,  he  was  one  of  the  most 
useful  officers  in  the  army.     He  died  near  Savannah,  in  June,  1786,  and  was  buried  in  a  vault  in 
that  city.     His  sepulchre  can  not  now  be  identified.     No  living  person  knows  in  what  vault  his 
remains  were  deposited,  and  there  is  no  record  to  cast  light  upon  the  question.  8  Page  315, 


1781.]      SEVENTH   YEAR   OF   THE   WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE.       §31 


olina  again,1  when  Greene  made  this  disposition  of  his  army,  found,  himself  in 
a  dangerous  position,  for  he  was  placed  between  the  two  divisions.  Unwilling 
to  leave  Morgan  in  his  rear,  he  sent  Tarleton  to  capture  or  disperse  his  com  - 


mand.  The  Americans  retreated  before  this  superior  force,  but  were  overtaken 
at  the  Cmopens,  in  Spartanburg  district,  and  compelled  to  fight.2  There,  well 
posted  upon  an  eminence,  Morgan3  and  his  brave  follow 
ers  turned  upon  their  pursuers.  Tarleton  was  discon 
certed  by  this  movement,  for  he  expected  to  overtake  the 
Americans  while  on  the  wing  ;  yet,  feeling  confident  of 
an  easy  victory,  he  quickly  arranged  his  line  in  battle 
order.  It  was  now  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  [January 
17,  1781].  At  a  signal  from  Tarleton,  his  advance  gave 
a  shout,  and  rushed  furiously  to  the  contest,  under  cover 
of  artillery,  and  an  incessant  discharge  of  musketry. 


GENERAL   MORGAN. 


1  Page  318. 

2  The  scene  of  the  battle  is  among  the  Thicketty  Mountains,  west  of  the  Broad  River.     It  was 
called  Gowpens  from  the  fact,  that  some  time  before  the  Revolution,  some  traders  at  Camden  kept 
herds  of  cows  in  that  fertile  region. 

3  Daniel  Morgan,  commander  of  the  famous  rifle  corps  of  the  Revolution,  was  born  in  New  Jer 
sey,  in  1738,  and  was  in  the  humble  sphere  of  a  wagoner,  when  called  to  the  field.     He  had  been 
a  soldier  under  Braddock,  and  joined  Washington  at  Cambridge,  in  1775.     He  served  with  distinc 
tion  in  the  army  of  the  Revolution,  and  was  a  farmer  in  Virginia  after  the  war,  where  he  died  iu 
1802. 


332  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1781. 

The  Americans  were  prepared  to  receive  them,  and  combatted  with  them  for 
more  than  two  hours,  with  skill  and  bravery.  The  British  were  defeated,  with 
a  loss  of  almost  three  hundred  men  in  killed  and 
wounded,  five  hundred  made  prisoners,  and  a  large  quan 
tity  of  arms,  ammunition,  and  stores.  It  was  a  brilliant 
victory ;  and  Congress  gave  Morgan  a  gold  medal,  as  a 
token  of  its  approbation.  Colonels  Howard1  and  Wash 
ington,2  whose  soldierly  conduct  won  the  battle,  received 
each  a  silver  medal. 

When  the  battle  was  ended,  Morgan  pushed  forward 

COLONEL  "WASHINGTON.  -,1     i-  •  •     ,         i  •  ii        r\    j.        V.  1 

with  his  prisoners,  intending  to  cross  the  Uatawba,  and 

make  his  way  toward  Virginia.  Cornwallis  started  in  pursuit  of  him,  as  soon 
as  he  heard  of  the  defeat  of  Tarleton.  He  destroyed  his  heavy  baggage,  and 
hastened  with  his  whole  army  toward  the  Catawba  to  intercept  Morgan  and 
his  prisoners,  before  they  should  cross  that  stream.  But  he  was  too  late.  He 
did  not  reach  that  river  until  in  the  evening,  two  hours  after  Morgan  had 
crossed.  Then  feeling  confident  of  his  prey,  he  deferred  his  passage  of  the 
stream  until  morning.  A  heavy  rain  during  the  night  filled  the  river  to  its 
brim ;  and  while  the  British  were  detained  by  the  flood,  Morgan  had  reached 
the  banks  of  the  Yadkin,  where  he  was  joined  by  General  Greene  and  his  escort. 
One  of  the  most  remarkable  military  movements  on  record,  now  occurred. 
It  was  the  retreat  of  the  American  army,  under  Greene,  from  the  Catawba, 
through  North  Carolina,  into  Virginia.  When  the  waters  of  the  Catawba  had 
subsided,  the  next  day,  Cornwallis  crossed,  and  resumed  his  pursuit.  He 
reached  the  western  bank  of  the  Yadkin  on  the  3d  of  February  [1781],  just  as 
the  Americans  were  safely  landed  on  the  eastern  shore.  There  he  was  again 
arrested  in  his  progress  by  a  sudden  swelling  of  the  floods.  Onward  the  patriots 
pressed,  and  soon  again  Cornwallis  was  in  full  chase.  At  Guilford  Court-house, 
the  capital  of  Guilford  county.  Greene  was  joined  [February  7],  by  his  main 
body  from  Cheraw,3  and  all  continued  the  flight,  for  they  were  not  strong 
enough  to  turn  and  fight.  After  many  hardships  and  narrow  escapes  during 
the  retreat,  the  Americans  reached  the  Dan  on  the  13th  of  February,  and 


1  John  Eager  Howard,  of  the  Maryland  line.     He  was  born  in  Baltimore  county  in  1752.     He 
went  into  military  service  at  the  commencement  of  the  war.    He  was  in  all  the  principal  battles  of 
the  Revolution,  was  chosen  governor  of  Maryland  in  1778,  was  afterwad  United  States  Senator,  and 
.died  in  October,  1827. 

2  William  Washington,  a  relative  of  the  general.     He  was  born  in  Stafford  county,  Virginia. 
He  entered  the  army  under  Mercer,  who  was  killed  at  Princeton  [page  269].  and  greatly  distin 
guished  himself  at  the  South,  as  a  commander  of  a  corps  of  cavalry.     Taken  prisoner  at  Eutaw 
Springs  [page  338],  he  remained  a  captive  till  the  close  of  the  war,  and  died  in  Charleston,  in 
March,  1810.     In  a  personal  combat  with  Tarleton  in  the  battle  at  the  Cowpens,  Washington 
wounded  his  antagonist  in  his  hand.     Some  months  afterward,  Tarleton  said,  sneeringly,  to  Mrs. 
Willie  Jones,  a  witty  American  lady,  of  Halifax,  North  Carolina,  "  Colonel  Washington,  I  am  told, 
is  illiterate,  and  can  not  write  his  own  name."     "Ah!  colonel,"  said  Mrs.  Jones,  "you  ought  to 
know  better,  for  you  bear  evidence  that  he  can  make  his  mark."     At  another  time  he  expressed  a 
desire  to  see  Colonel  Washington.     Mrs.  Ashe,  Mrs.  Jones's  sister,  instantly  replied,  "  Had  you 
looked  behind  you  at  the  Cowpens  you  might  have  had  that  pleasure."     Stung  by  this  keen  wit, 
Tarleton  placed  his  hand  upon  his  sword.     General  Leslie  [page  347"!,  who  was  present,  remarked, 
"Say  what  you  please,  Mrs.  Ashe;  Colonel  Tarleton  knows  better  than  to  insult  a  lady  in  my 
presence."  3  Page  330. 


1781.]       SEVENTH   YEAR   OF  THE   WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.       333 


crossed  its  rising  waters  safely  into  the  friendly  bosom  of  Halifax  county,  in 
Virginia,  When  Cornwallis  arrived,  a  few  hours  later  [February  14],  the 
stream  was  too  much  swollen  to  allow  him  to  cross.  For  the  third  time  the 
waters,  as  if  governed  by  a  special  Providence,  interposed  a  barrier  between 
the  pursuers  and  the  pursued.  Mortified  and  dispirited,  the  earl  here  aban 
doned  the  chase,  and  moving  sullenly  southward  through  North  Carolina,  he 
established  his  camp  at  Hillsborough. 

General  Greene  remained  in  Virginia  only  long  enough  to  refresh  his  troops, 
and  receive  recruits,1  and  then  he  re- crossed  the  Dan 
[February  23],  to  oppose  Cornwallis  in  his  efforts  to 
embody  the  loyalists  of  North  Carolina  under  the  royal 
banner.  Colonel  Lee,2  with  his  cavalry,  scoured  the 
country  around  the  head  waters  of  the  Haw  and  Deep 
Rivers,  and  by  force  and  stratagem  foiled  the  efforts 
of  Tarleton,  who  was  recruiting  in  that  region.  On  one 
occasion  he  defeated  and  dispersed  [March  2]  a  body  of 
three  hundred  loyalists  under  Colonel  Pyle,3  near  the 
Alamance  Creek,  after  which  the  Tories  kept  quiet,  and 
very  few  dared  to  take  up  arms.  Greene,  in  the  mean 
while,  had  moved  cautiously  forward,  and  on  the  first 

of  March  [1781],  he  found  himself  at  the  head  of  almost  five  thousand  troops. 
Feeling  strong  enough  now  to  cope  with  Cornwallis,  he  sought  an  engagement 
with  him,  and  on  the  15th  they  met,  and  fiercely  contended,  near  Guilfortl 
Court-house,  about  five  miles  from  the  present  village  of 
Greensborough,  in  Guilford  county,  North  Carolina. 
That  battle,  which  continued  for  almost  two  hours,  was 
one  of  the  severest  of  the  war.  Although  the  Americans 
were  repulsed  and  the  British  became  masters  of  the  field, 
the  victory  was  almost  as  destructive  for  Cornwallis  as  a 
defeat.  "  Another  such  victory,"  said  Charles  Fox  in  the 
British  House  of  Commons,  "  will  ruin  the  British  army."4 
Both  parties  suffered  severely ;  and,  in  some  degree,  the 
line  of  the  Scotch  ballad  might  be  applied  to  them : 


COLONEL  HENRY   LEE. 


BATTLE   OF   GUILFORD. 


"  They  baith  did  fight,  they  baith  did  beat,  they  baith  did  rin  awa." 


1  On  his  way  south,  to  take  command  of  the  southern  army,  he  left  the  Baron  Steuben  [page 
291]  in  Virginia,  to  gather  recruits,  provisions,  &c.,  and  forward  them  to  him.     This  service  the 
Baron  performed  with  efficiency. 

2  Henry  Lee  was  born  in  Virginia,  in  1756.     He  entered  the  military  service  as  captain  of  a 
Virginia  company  in  1776,  and  in  1777  joined  the  continental  army.     At  the  head  of  a  legion,  ho 
performed  extraordinary  services  during  the  war,  especially  at  the  South.     He  was  afterward  gov 
ernor  of  Virginia,  and  a  member  of  Congress.     He  died  in  ]  818. 

3  Lee  sent  two  young  countrymen,  whom  he  had  captured,  to  the  camp  of  Pyle,  to  inform  that 
leader  that  Tarleton  was  approaching,  and  wished  to  meet  him.     Pyle  had  never  seen  Tarleton,  and 
when  he  came  up  he  supposed  Lee  and  his  party  to  be  that  of  the  renowned  British  officer. 
Friendly  salutations  were  expressed,  and  at  a  word,  the  Americans  fell  upon  the  loyalists,  killed 
almost  a  hundred  of  them,  and  dispersed  the  remainder.     This  event  took  place  two  or  three  miles 
from  the  scene  of  the  Regulator  battle  mentioned  on  page  223. 

4  That  statesman  moved  in  committee,  "That  his  majesty's  ministers  ought  immediately  to  take 
every  possible  means  for  concluding  peace  with  our  American  colonies."     Young  William  Pitt,  the 


334  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1781. 

The  battalions  of  Cornwallis  were  so  shattered,1  that  he  could  not  maintain 
the  advantage  he  had  gained ;  while  the  Americans  retreated  in  good  order  to 
the  Reedy  Fork.  Thoroughly  dispirited,  he  abandoned  Western  Carolina,  and 
moved  [March  19]  with  his  whole  army,  to  Wilmington,  near  the  sea-board. 
Greene  rallied  his  forces  and  pursued  the  British  as  far  as  Deep  River,  in 
Chatham  county.  There  he  relinquished  the  pursuit,  and  prepared  to  re-enter 
South  Carolina. 

Lord  Rawdon,"  one  of  the  most  efficient  of  Cornwallis's  chief  officers,  was 
now  in  command  of  a  British  force  at  Camden.  On  the  6th  of  April,  Greene 
marched  directly  for  that  place,  and  on  the  19th,  he 
encamped  on  Hobkirk's  Hill,  about  a  mile  from  Rawdon's 
intrenchments.  Six  days  afterward  [April  25,  1781],  he 
was  surprised3  and  defeated  by  Rawdon,  after  a  sharp  battle 
for  several  hours,  in  which  the  Americans  lost,  in  killed, 
wounded,  and  missing,  two  hundred  and  sixty-six  men. 
The  British  lost  two  hundred  and  fifty-eight.4  The  British 
retired  to  their  works  at  Camden,  and  Greene,  with  his 
little  army,  encamped  for  the  night  on  the  north  side  of 
Sanders's  Creek.5  Greene  conducted  his  retreat  so  well, 
that  he  carried  away  all  his  artillery  and  baggage,  with 
fifty  British  prisoners,  who  were  captured  by  Colonel  Washington.6 

This  defeat  was  unexpected  to  Greene,7  yet  he  was  not  the  man  to  bo 

successor  of  his  father,  the  Earl  of  Chatham,  inveighed  eloquently  against  a  further  prosecution  of 
the  war.  He  averred  that  it  was  "  wicked,  barbarous,  unjust,  and  diabolical — conceived  in  injust 
ice,  nurtured  in  folly — a  monstrous  thing  that  contained  every  characteristic  of  moral  depravity  and 
human  turpitude — as  mischievous  to  the  unhappy  people  of  England  as  to  the  Americans."  Yet, 
as  in  former  years,  the  British  government  was  blind  and  stubborn  still 

1  The  Americans  lost  in  killed  and  wounded,  about  four  hundred  men,  besides  almost  a  thousand 
who  deserted  to  their  homes.  The  loss  of  the  British  was  over  six  hundred.  Among  the  officers 
who  were  killed  was  Lieutenant-Colonel  Webster,  who  was  one  of  the  most  efficient  men  in  the 
British  army.  On  this  occasion,  Greene's  force  was  much  superior  in  number  to  that  of  Cornwallis, 
and  he  had  every  advantage  of  position.  Events  such  as  are  generally  overlooked  by  the  historian, 
but  which  exhibit  a  prominent  trait  in  the  character  of  the  people  of  North  Carolina,  occurred  during 
this  battle,  and  deserve  great  prominence  in  a  description  of  the  gloomy  picture,  for  they  form 
a  few  touches  of  radiant  light  in  the  midst  of  the  sombre  coloring.  "While  the  roar  of  cannon 
boomed  over  the  country,  groups  of  women,  in  the  Buffalo  and  Alamance  congregations,  who  were 
under  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  Reverend  Dr.  Caldwell,  might  have  been  seen  engaged  in  common 
prayer  to  the  God  of  Hosts  for  his  protection  and  aid;  and  in  many  places,  the  solitary  voice  of  a 
pious  woman  went  up  to  the  Divine  Ear,  with  the  earnest  pleadings  of  faith,  for  the  success  of  the 
Americans.  The  battling  hosts  were  surrounded  by  a  cordon  of  praying  women  during  those  dread 
ful  hours  of  contest.  2  Page  315. 

3  Greene  was  breakfasting  at  a  spring  on  the  eastern  slope  of  Hobkirk's  Hill,  when  Rawdon's 
army,  by  a  circuitous  rout  through  a  forest,  fell  upon  him.     Some  of  his  men  were  cleaning  their 
guns,  others  were  washing  their  clothes,  and  all  were  unsuspicious  of  danger. 

4  The  number  killed  was  remarkably  small.     Only  eighteen  of  the  Americans,  and  thirty-eight 
of  the  British,  were  slain  on  the  battle-field.  5  Page  815. 

6  He  had  captured  two  hundred,  but  hastily  paroling  the  officers  and  some  of  the  men,  he  took 
only  fifty  with  him. 

*  Greene  had  some  desponding  views  of  the  future  at  this  time.  To  Luzerne,  the  French  min 
ister  at  Philadelphia,  he  earnestly  wrote :  "This  distressed  country  cannot  struggle  much  longer 
without  more  effectual  support.  *  *  *  "We  fight,  get  beaten,  rise,  and  fight  again.  The  whole 
country  is  one  continued  scene  of  blood  and  slaughter."  To  La  Fayette.  he  wrote:  "You  may 
depend  upon  it,  that  nothing  can  equal  the  sufferings  of  our  little  army,  but  their  merit."  To  Gov 
ernor  Reed,  of  Pennsylvania,  he  wrote:  "If  our  good  friends,  the  French,  cannot  lend  a  helping 
hand  to  save  these  sinking  States,  they  must  and  will  fall."  At  that  time,  the  French  army  had 
remained  for  several  months  inactive,  in  New  P^ngland. 


1781.]       SEVENTH  YEAR  OF  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.       335 

crushed  by  adversity.  On  the  morning  succeeding  the  battle,  he  retired  as  far 
as  Rugeley's  Mills,  and  then  crossing  the  Wateree,  he  took  a  strong  position 
for  offensive  and  defensive  operations.  The  two  armies  were  now  about  equal 
in  numbers,  and  Greene's  began  to  increase.  Alarmed  by  this,  and  for  the 


safety  of  his  posts  in  the  lower  country,  Rawdon  set  fire  to  Camden  and 
retreated  [May  10,  1781]  to  Nelson's  Ferry,  on  the  Santee.  He  had  ordered 
Lieutenant- Colonel  Cruger1  to  abandon  Ninety-six2  and  join  Brown  at  Augusta,9 
and  had  also  directed  Maxwell,  the  commander  of  Fort  Granby,4  to  leave  that 
post,  and  retire  to  Orangeburg,5  on  the  North  Edisto.  But  his  orders  and  his 
movements  were  made  too  late.  Within  the  space  of  a  week,  four  important 
posts  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Americans,5  and  Greene  was  making  rapid  marches 
toward  Ninety-six.  Lee  had  pressed  forward  and  co-operated  with  Pinckney  in 

1  Page  313. 

2  So  called  because  it  was  ninety-six  miles  from  the  frontier  fort,  Prince  George,  on  the  Keowee 
River.     Its  site  is  occupied  by  the  pleasant  village  of  Cambridge,  in  Abbeville  District,  one  hundred 
and  forty-seven  miles  north-west  from  Charleston.  3  Page  313. 

4  On  the  western  side  of  the  Congaree,  two  miles  from  the  present  city  of  Columbia,  South 
Carolina 

6  On  the  east  bank  of  the  North  Edisto,  about  sixty-five  miles  south  of  Columbia. 

6  Lee  and  Marion  were  the  principal  leaders  against  these  posts.  Orangeburg  was  taken  on  the 
llth  of  May ;  Fort  Motte  on  the  12th;  the  post  at  Nelson's  Ferry  on  the  14th,  and  Fort  Granby  on 
the  16th.  Fort  Watson,  situated  on  the  Santee,  a  few  miles  above  Nelson's  Ferry,  was  taken  on 
the  16th  of  April.  Nelson's  Ferry  is  at  the  mouth  of  Eutaw  Creek,  on  the  Santee,  about  fifty  miles 
from  Charleston.  Fort  Motte  was  near  the  junction  of  the-  Wateree  and  Congaree  Rivers,  and  was, 
because  of  its  geographical  position,  the  most  important  of  all  these  posts.  It  was  composed  of  the 
fine  residence  of  Rebecca  Motte  (a  widowed  mother,  with  six  children),  and  temporary  fortifications 
constructed  around  it.  Mrs.  Motte,  who  was  an  ardent  Whig,  had  been  driven  to  her  farm-house 
upon  an  eminence  near  by.  Marion  and  Lee  appeared  before  Fort  Motte  with  a  considerable  force, 
but  having  only  one  piece  of  artillery,  could  make  but  slight  impression.  The  expected  approach 


336 


THE    REVOLUTION. 


[1781. 


holding  the  country-between  Ninety-six  and  Augusta,  to  prevent  a  junction  of 
the  garrisons  at  either  of  those  places ;  and  thus,  by  skillful  operations,  the 
Americans  completely  paralyzed  the  lately  potent  strength  of  the  enemy.  At 
the  beginning  of  June  [1781],  the  British  possessed  only  three  posts  in  South 
Carolina,  namely,  Charleston,  Nelson's  Ferry,  and  Ninety-six. 

On  the  22d  of  May  [1781],  Greene  commenced  the  siege  of  Ninety-six,1 
with  less  than  a  thousand  regulars  and  a  few  raw  militia.  Koseiuszko,2  the 
bravo  Pole,  was  his  chief  engineer,  and  the  post  being  too  strong  to  be  captured 
by  assault,  the  Americans  commenced  making  regular  ap 
proaches,  by  parallels.3  Day  after  day  the  work  went 
slowly  on,  varied  by  an  occasional  sortie.  For  almost  a 
month,  the  efforts  of  the  Americans  were  unavailing.  Then 
hearing  of  the  approach  of  Rawdon,  with  a  strong  force,  to 
the  relief  of  Cruger,  they  made  an  unsuccessful  effort,  on 
the  18th  of  June,  to  take  the  place  by  storm.  They  raised 
the  siege  the  following  evening  [June  19],  and  retreated 
beyond  the  Saluda.  Rawdon  pursued  them  a  short  distance,  when  he  wheeled 
and  marched  to  Orangeburg. 

Although  unsuccessful  at  Ninety-six,  detachments  of  the  Republican  army 
were  victorious  elsewhere.  While  this  siege  was  pro 
gressing,  Lee  and  Pickens,  with  Clarke* and  others  of 
Georgia,  were  making  successful  efforts  on  the  Savan 
nah  River.  Lee  captured  Fort  Galphin,  twelve  miles 
below  Augusta,  on  the  21st  of  May,  and  then  he  sent 
an  officer  to  that  post,  to  demand  of  Brown  an  instant 
surrender  of  his  garrison.  Brown  refused,  and  the 
siege  of  Augusta  was  commenced  on  the  23d,  It 
continued  until  the  4th  of  June,  when  a  general  as- 


FOKT   XIXETY-SIX. 


GENERAL   PICKEXS. 


of  Rawdon,  would  not  allow  them  to  make  the  slow  process  of  a  regular  siege.  Lee  proposed  to 
hurl  some  burning  missile  upon  the  building,  and  consume  it.  To  this  destruction  of  her  property, 
Mrs.  Motte  at  once  consented,  and  bringing  out  a  bow  and  some  arrows,  which  had  been  brought 
from  the  East  Indies,  these  were  used  successfully  for  the  purpose  of  conveying  fire  to  the  dry  roof. 
The  house  was  partially  destroyed,  when  the  British  surrendered.  The  patriotic  lady  then  regaled 
both  the  American  and  British  officers  with  a  good  dinner  at  her  own  table.  Colonel  Horry  (one 
of  Marion's  officers),  in  his  narrative,  mentions  some  pleasing  incidents  which  occurred  at  the  table 
of  Mrs.  Motte,  on  this  occasion.  Among  the  prisoners  was  Captain  Ferguson,  an  officer  of  consider 
able  reputation.  Finding  himself  near  Horry,  Ferguson  said,  "You  are  Colonel  Horry,  I  presume, 
sir."  Horry  replied  in  the  affirmative,  when  Ferguson  continued,  "Well,  I  was  with  Colonel  "Wat 
son  when  he  fought  your  General  Marion  on  Sampit.  I  think  I  saw  you  there  with  a  party  of 
horse,  and  also  at  Nelson's  Ferry,  when  Marion  surprised  our  party  at  the  house.  But,"  he  con 
tinued,  "  I  was  hid  in  high  grass,  and  escaped.  You  were  fortunate  in  your  escape  at  Sampit,  for 
Watson  and  Small  had  twelve  hundred  men."  "If  so,"  replid  Horry,  "I  certainly  was  fortunate, 
for  I  did  not  suppose  they  had  more  than  half  that  number."  "I  consider  myself,"  added  the  cap 
tain,  "equally  fortunate  in  escaping  at  Nelson's  Old  Field."  "Truly  you  were,"  answered  Horry 
dryly,  "  for  Marion  had  but  thirty  militia  on  that  occasion."  The  officers  present  could  not  suppress 
laughter.  When  Greene  inquired  of  Horry  how  he  came  to  affront  Captain  Ferguson,  he  replied, 
"He  affronted  himself  by  telling  his  own  story." 

1  The  principal  work  was  a  star  redoubt  [note  3,  page  192].  There  was  a  picketed  inclosure 
[note  1,  page  127]  around  the  little  village;  and  on  the  west  side  of  a  stream  running  from  a 
spring  (a)  was  a  stockade  [note  2,  page  183]  fort.  The  besiegers  encamped  at  four  different  points 
around  the  works.  a  Page  277. 

3  These  are  trenches,  dug  in  a  zig-zag  line  in  the  direction  of  the  fortress  to  be  assailed.     The 


1781.}      SEVENTH   YEAR   OF  THE   WAR   FOR    INDEPENDENCE.       337 

sault  was  agreed  upon.  Brown  now  proposed  a  surrender  ;  and  the  following 
day  [June  5,  1781]  the  Americans  took  possession  of  that  important  post. 
They  lost  fifty-one  men,  killed  and  wounded ;  the  British  lost  fifty-two  killed, 
and  three  hundred  and  thirty-four  (including  the  wounded)  were  made  pris 
oners.  At  the  close  of  the  siege,  Lee  and  Pickens1  hastened  to  join  Greene 
before  Ninety-six,  and  all,  on  the  approach  of  Rawdon,  retreated  beyond  the 
Saluda,  as  we  have  observed. 

The  two  chief  commanders  of  the  belligerent  forces  now  changed  relative 
positions.  When  Rawdon  retired  toward  Orangeburg,  Greene  became  his  pur 
suer,  and  sent  a  message  to  Marion  and  Sumter,  then  on  the  Santee,  to  take  a 
position  in  front  of  the  enemy,  so  as  to  retard  his  progress.2  Finding  Rawdon 
strongly  intrenched  at  Orangeburg,  Greene  deemed  it  prudent  not  to  attack 
him.  The  Americans  crossed  the  Congaree,  and  the  main  body  encamped  on 
the  High  Hills  of  Santee,  in  Santee  district,  there  to  pass  the  hot  and  sickly 
season.  Leaving  his  troops  at  Orangeburg,  in  the  command  of  Colonel  Stew 
art  (who  had  come  up  from  Charleston  with  a  reinforcement),  Rawdon  went  to 
the  sea-board  and  embarked  for  England.3 

Early  in  August,  Greene  was  reinforced  by  North  Carolina  troops,  under 
General  Sumner  ;  and  at  the  close  of  that  month  he  crossed  the  Wateree  and 
Congaree,  and  marched  upon  Orangeburg.  Stewart  (who  had  been  joined  by 


earth  is  cast  up  in  such  a  way  that  the  workmen  are  shielded  from  shots  from  the  assailed  works, 
and  in  this  way  they  get  near  enough  to  undermine  a  fort,  or  erect  a  battery,  so  as  to  have  a  power 
ful  effect. 

1  Andrew  Pickens  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  in  1739.     In  childhood  he  went  to  South  Car 
olina,  and  was  one  of  the  first  in  the  field  for  liberty,  in  the  upper  country  of  that  State.     He  was  a 
very  useful  officer,  and  good  citizen.     He  died  in  1817,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years. 

2  It  is  related  that  the  message  to  Sumter  from  Greene  was  conveyed  by  Emily  Geiger,  the 
daughter  of  a  German  planter  in  Fairfield  district.     He  prepared  a  letter  to  that  officer,  but  none 
of  his  men  appeared  willing  to  attempt  the  hazardous  service,  for  the  Tories  were  on  the  alert,  as 
Rawdon  was  approaching  the  Congaree.     Greene  was  delighted  by  the  boldness  of  a  young  girl, 
not  more  than  eighteen  years  of  age,  who  came  forward  and  volunteered  to  carry  the  letter  to  Sum 
ter.     With  his  usual  caution,  he  communicated  the  contents  of  the  letter  to  Emily,  fearing  she 
might  lose  it  on  th3  way.     The  maiden  mounted  a  fleet  horse,  and  crossing  the  Wateree  at  the 
Camden  Ferry,  pressed  on  toward  Sumter's  camp.     Passing  through  a  dry  swamp  on  the  second 
day  of  her  journey,  she  was  intercepted  by  some  Tory  scouts.   Coming  from  the  direction  of  Greene's 
army,  she  was  an  object  of  suspicion,  and  was  taken  to  a  house  on  the  edge  of  the  swamp,  and  con 
fined  in  a  room.     With  proper  delicacy,  they  sent  for  a  woman  to  search  her  person.     No  sooner 
was  she  left  alone,  than  she  ate  up  Greene's  letter  piece  by  piece.     After  a  while,  the  matron  ar 
rived,  made  a  careful  search,  but  discovered  nothing.     With  many  apologies,  Emily  was  allowed  to 
pursue  her  journey.     She  reached  Sumter's  camp,  communicated  Greene's  message,  and  soon  Raw 
don  was  flying  before  the  Americans  toward  Orangeburg.     Emily  Geiger  afterward  married  Mr. 
Thurvvits,  a  rich  planter  on  the  Congaree. 

3  A  short  time  before  he  sailed,  Rawdon  was  a  party  to  a  cruel  transaction  which  created  a 
great  deal  of  excitement  throughout  the  South.    Among  those  who  took  British  protection  after  the 
fall  of  Charleston  in  1780  [page  311],  was  Colonel  Isaac  Hayne,  a  highly  respectable  Carolinian. 
When  General  Greene,  tho  following  year,  confined  the  British  to  Charleston  alone,  and  their  pro 
tection  had  no  force,  Hayne  considered  himself  released  from  the  obligations  of  his  parole,  took  up 
arms  for  his  country,  and  was  made  a  prisoner.     Colonel  Balfour  was  then  in  chief  command  at 
Charleston,  and  from  the  beginning  seemed  determined  on  the  death  of  Hayne.     Without  even  the 
form  of  a  trial,  that  patriot  was  condemned  to  be  hanged.    Not  one,  not  even  the  prisoner,  supposed 
that  such  a  cruelty  was  contemplated,  until  the  sentence  was  made  public,  and  he  was  informed 
that  he  had  but  two  days  to  live.     The  men  of  the  city  pleaded  for  him ;  the  women  signed  peti 
tions,  and  went  in  troops,  and  upon  their  knees,  implored  a  remission  of  his  sentence.     All  wass 
in  vain.     Rawdon  had  exerted  his  influence  to  save  the  prisoner,  but  finally  he  consented  to  his 
execution,  as  a  traitor,  and  he  became  as  inexorable  as  Balfour.     Greene  was  inclined  to  retaliate, 
but,  fortunately,  hostilities  soon  afterward  ceased,  and  the  flow  of  blood  was  stopped. 

22 


338  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1781. 

Cruger  from  Ninety-six),  immediately  retreated  to  Eutaw  Springs,  near  the 
south-west  bank  of  the  Santee,  and  there  encamped.  Greene  pursued ;  and  on 
the  morning  of  the  8th  of  September  [1781],  a  severe  battle  commenced.  The 
British  were  driven  from  their  camp  ;  and  Greene's  troops,  like  those  of  Sum- 
ter  at  Hanging  Rock,1  scattered  among  the  tents  of  the  enemy,  drinking  and 
plundering.  The  British  unexpectedly  renewed  the  battle,  and  after  .a  bloody 
conflict  of  about  four  hours,  the  Americans  were  obliged  to  give  way.  Stewart 
felt  insecure,  for  the  partisan  legions  were  not  far  off,  and  that  night  the  Brit 
ish  retreated  toward  Charleston.  The  next  day  [Sept.  9,  1781],  Greene  ad 
vanced  and  took  possession  of  the  battle-field,  and  then  sent  detachments  in 
pursuit  of  the  enemy.  Both  parties  claimed  the  honor  of  a  victory.  It  be 
longed  to  neither,  but  the  advantage  was  with  the  Americans.  Congress  and 
the  whole  country  gave  warm  expressions  of  their  appreciation  of  the  valor  of 
the  patriots.  The  skill,  bravery,  caution,  and  acuteness  of  Greene,  were  highly 
applauded ;  and  Congress  ordered  a  gold  medal,  ornamented  with  emblems  of 
the  battle,  to  be  struck  in  honor  of  the  event,  and  presented  to  him,  together 
with  a  British  standard,  captured  on  that  occasion.  The  Americans  lost,  in 
killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  five  hundred  and  fifty-five.  The  British  lost  six 
hundred  and  ninety-three. 

While  these  events  were  transpiring  upon  the  upper  waters  of  the  Santee,2 
Marion,  Sumter,  Lee,  and  other  partisans,  were  driving  British  detachments 
from  post  to  post,  in  the  lower  country,  and  smiting  parties  of  loyalists  in  every 
direction.  The  British  finally  evacuated  all  their  interior  stations,  and  retired 
to  Charleston,  pursued  almost  to  the  verge  of  the  city  by  the  bold  American 
scouts  and  partisan  troops.  At  the  close  of  the  year  [1781]  the  British  at  the 
South  were  confined  to  Charleston  and  Savannah ;  and  besides  these  places, 
they  did  not  hold  a  single  post  south  of  New  York.  Late  in  the  season 
[November]  Greene  moved  his  army  to  the  vicinity  of  Charleston,3  placing  it 
between  that  city  and  the  South  Carolina  Legislature,  then  in  session  at  Jack- 
sonborough ;  while  Wayne,  at  the  opening  of  1782,  was  closely  watching  the 
British  at  Savannah. 

We  left  Cornwallis,  after  the  battle  at  Guilford  Court-house,  making  his 
way  toward  Wilmington,4  then  ia  possession  of  a  small  British  garrison,  under 
Major  Craig.  Cornwallis  arrived  there  on  the  seventh  of  April,  1781,  and 
remained  long  enough  to  recruit  and  rest  his  shattered  army.  Apprised  of 
Greene's  march  toward  Camden,  and  hoping  to  draw  him  away  from  Lord 
Rawdon,  then  encamped  there,5  he  marched  into  Virginia,  joined  the  forces  of 
Phillips  and  Arnold,  at  Petersburgh,"  and  then  attempted  the  subjugation  of 
that  State.  He  left  Wilmington  on  the  25th  of  April,  crossed  the  Roanoke  at 

1  Page  315. 

2  At  Columbia,  the  Saluda  and  "Waterec  join,  and  form  the  Congaree.     This,  with  other  and 
smaller  tributaries,  form  the  Santee.     The  Wateree,  above  Camden,  is  called  the  Catawba. 

3  After  the  battle  at  Eutaw  Springs,  Greene  again  encamped  on  the  High  Hills  of  Santee,  from 
whence  he  sent  out  expeditions  toward  Charleston.     These  were  successful,  and  the  enemy  was 
kept  close  upon  the  sea-board  during  the  remainder  of  the  war.  4  Page  334. 

5  Pago  315.  e  Page  330. 


1781.]       SEVENTH  YEAR   OF  THE   WAR   FOR  INDEPENDENCE.       339 

Halifax,  and  on  the  20th  of  May,  reached  Petersburg.  La  Fayette  was  then 
in  Virginia,1  but  his  force  was  too  small  effectually  to  oppose  the  invaders,  and 
the  State  seemed  doomed  to  British  rule. 

For  the  purpose  of  bringing  La  Fayette  into  action,  Cornwallis  penetrated 
the  country  beyond  Kichmond,  and  destroyed  an  immense  amount  of  property.2 
He  also  sent  out  marauding  parties  in  various  directions,3  and  for  several  weeks 
the  whole  State  was  kept  in  great  alarm,  He  finally  proceeded  [June,  1781] 
slowly  toward  the  coast,  closely  pursued  by  La  Fayette,  Wayne,  and  Steuben. 
While  lying  at  Williamsburg,  he  received  [June  29]  orders  from  General 
Clinton,  to  take  post  near  the  sea,  in  order  to  reinforce  the  garrison  at  New 
York,  if  necessary,  which  was  now  menaced  by  the  combined  American  and 
French  armies.  He  crossed  the  James  River  [July  9]  at  Old  Jamestown, 
where  he  was  attacked  by  Wayne  before  he  could  embark  his  troops.  Wayne 
struck  a  severe  blow,  and  then  skillfully  and  hastily  retreated  back  to 
the  main  army  under  La  Fayette,  then  only  two  miles  distant.  His  loss  was 
inconsiderable,  but  the  attack  damaged  the  British  seriously.  After  crossing 
the  river,  Cornwallis  proceeded  by  land  to  Portsmouth,  opposite  Norfolk ;  but 
disliking  that  situation,  he  went  to  Yorktown,  on  the  York  River,  and  com 
menced  fortifying  that  place  and  Gloucester  Point,  opposite. 

The  French  army  under  .Rochambeau,4  in  the  mean  while,  had  left  New 
England,  and  made  its  way  to  the  Hudson  River,  where 
it  joined  [July  6,  1781]  that  of  the  Americans,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Dobbs'  Ferry. &  At  that  time,  Washington, 
who  had  the  immediate  command  of  the  American 
forces,  contemplated  an  attack  upon  the  British  in  New 
York  city.  For  six  weeks  the  two  armies  remained  in 
Westchester  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  the  Count  De 
Grasse,  an  eminent  French  naval  commander,  to  co 
operate  in  the  attack.  While  preparing  to  strike  the 

blow,  Clinton  was  reinforced  [August  11]  by  nearly  three     COUNT  DE  ROCIIAMBEAU. 
thousand   troops    from    Europe;    and  intelligence   came 
from  De  Grasse  that  he  could  not  then  leave  the  West  Indies.     Thus  foiled, 
Washington  turned  his  thoughts  to  Virginia ;  and  when,  a  few  days  afterward, 
he  learned  from  De  Barras,  the  successor  of  Ternay,0  in  command  of  the  French 

1  Page  330. 

2  The  principal  object  of  Cormvallig  in  marching  beyond  Richmond,  was  to  prevent  a  junction 
with  La  Fayette  of  troops  under  "Wayne,  then  approaching  through  Maryland.      But  the  marquis 
was  too  expert,  outmarched  the  earl,  and  met  Wayne  on  the  10th  of  June. 

8  Colonel  Simcoe,  commander  of  an  active  corps  called  the  Queen's  Hangers,  was  sent  to  capture 
or  destroy  stores  at  the  junction  of  the  Fluvanna  and  Rivanna  Rivers.  Cornwallis  also  dispatched 
Tarleton  to  attempt  the  capture  of  Governor  Jefferson  and  the  Legislature,  who  had  fled  from  Rich 
mond  to  Charlottesville,  near  the  residence  of  Mr.  Jefferson.  Seven  members  of  the  Legislature  fell 
into  his  hands  [June  4],  and  Mr.  Jefferson  narrowly  escaped  capture  by  fleeing  from  his  housa  to 
the  mountains. 

4  The  Count  Rochambeau  was  born  at  Yendome,  in  France,  in  1725.  He  was  a  distinguished 
officer  in  the  French  army,  and  after  his  return  from  America,  was  made  a  Field  Marshal  by  his 
king.  He  was  pensioned  by  Bonaparte,  and  died  in  1807.  5  Page  257. 

6  Admiral  Ternay  died  at  Newport,  soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  fleet  there,  in  the  summer  of 
1780.  His  remains  were  deposited  in  Trinity  Charch-yard  there,  and  a  marble  slab  was  placed 
over  his  grave. 


340  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1781. 

fleet  at  Newport,  that  De  Grasse  was  about  to  sail  for  the 
Chesapeake,  he  resolved  to  march  southward,  and  assist 
La  Fayette  against  Cornwallis.  He  wrote  deceptive  let 
ters  to  General  Greene  in  New  Jersey,  and  sent  them  so 
as  to  be  intercepted  by  Sir  Henry  Clinton.1  He  thus 
blinded  the  British  commander  to  his  real  intentions ;  and 
it  was  not  until  the  allied  armies  had  crossed  the  Hudson, 
passed  through  New  Jersey,  and  were  marching  from  the 
Delaware  toward  the  head  of  Chesapeake  Bay,2  that  Clin- 
COUNT  DE  GRASSE.  ton  was  convinced  that  an  attack  upon  the  city  of  New 
York  was  not  the  object  of  Washington's  movements.  It 
was  then  too  late  for  successful  pursuit,  and  he  endeavored  to  recall  the  Amer 
icans  by  sending  Arnold  to  desolate  the  New  England  coast.  Although  there 
was  a  terrible  massacre  perpetrated  by  the  invaders  at  Fort  Griswold3  [Septem 
ber  6,  1781],  and  New  London,  opposite  (almost  in  sight  of  the  traitor's  birth 
place),4  was  burned,  it  did  not  check  the  progress  of  Washington  toward  that 
goal  where  he  was  to  win  the  greatest  prize  of  his  military  career.  Nor  did 
reinforcements  sent  by  water  to  aid  Cornwallis,  effect  their  object,  for  when 
Admiral  Graves  arrived  off  the  Capes  [September  5],  De  Grasse  was  there  to 
guard  the  entrance  to  the  Chesapeake.5  He  went  out  to  fight  Graves,  but  after 
a  partial  action,  both  withdrew,  and  the  French  fleet  was  anchored  [September 
10]  within  the  Capes.6 

While  Cornwallis  was  fortifying  Yorktown  and  Gloucester,  and  the  hostile 
fleets  were  in  the  neighboring  waters,  the  allied  armies,  twelve  thousand  strong.7 
were  making  their  way  southward.  They  arrived  before  Yorktown  on  the  28th 
of  September,  1781  ;  and  after  compelling  the  British  to  abandon  their  out 
works,  commenced  a  regular  siege.  The  place  was  completely  invested  on  the 
30th,  the  line  of  the  allied  armies  extending  in  a  semi-circle,  at  a  distance  of 
almost  two  miles  from  the  British  works,  each  wing  resting  upon  the  York 
River.  Having  completed  some  batteries,  the  Republicans  opened  a  heavy  can 
nonade  upon  the  town  and  the  British  works  on  the  evening  of  the  9th  of  Oc- 

1  These  letters  directed  Greene  to  prepare  for  an  attack  on  New  York. 

2  This  is  generally  called  in  the  letters  and  histories  of  the  time,  "Head  of  Elk,"  the  narrow, 
upper  part  of  the  Chesapeake  being  called  Elk  River.     There  stands  the  village  of  Elkton. 

3  Arnold  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Thames,  and  proceeded  to  attack  Fort  Trumbull,  near  New 
London.     The  garrison  evacuated  it,  and  the  village  was  burned.     Another  division  of  the  expe 
dition  went  up  on  the  east  side  of  the  Thames,  attacked  Fort  Griswold  at  Groton,  and  after  Colonel 
Ledyard  had  surrendered  it,  he  and  almost  every  man  in  the  fort  were  cruelly  murdered,  or  badly 
wounded.     There  is  a  monument  to  their  memory  at  Groton. 

4  He  was  born  at  Norwich,  at  the  head  of  the  Thames,  a  few  miles  north  of  New  London.     See 
note  1,  page  327. 

5  Graves  intended  to  intercept  a  French  squadron,  which  was  on  its  way  with  heavy  cannons 
and  military  stores  for  the  armies  at  Yorktown.     He  was  not  aware  that  De  Grasse  had  left  the 
West  Indies. 

6  The  place  of  anchorage  was  in  Lynn  Haven  Bay.     The  hostile  fleets  were  in  sight  of  each 
other  for  five  successive  days,  but  neither  party  was  anxious  to  renew  the  combat. 

7  Including  the  Virginia  militia,  the  whole  of  the  American  and  French  forces  employed  in  the 
siege,  amounted  to  a  little  over  sixteen  thousand  men.     Of  the  Americans,  about  seven  thousand 
were  regular  troops,  and  four  thousand  militia.     The  French  troops  numbered  about  five  thousand, 
including  those  brought  by  De  Grasse  from  the  "West  Indies. 


1781.]       SEVENTH  YEAR  OF  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.       341 

tober.  On  the  following  evening  they  hurled  red-hot  balls  among  the  British 
shipping  in  front  of  the  town,  and  burned  several  vessels.  Hour  after  hour, 
disasters  were  gathering  a  fearful  web  of  difficulty  around  Cornwallis.  De 
spairing  of  aid  from  Clinton,  and  perceiving  his  strong  fortifications  crumbling, 
one  by  one,  under  the  terrible  storm  of  iron  from  a  hundred  heavy  cannons,  ho 
attempted  to  escape  on  the  night  of  the  16th,  by  crossing  to  Gloucester,  break 
ing  through  the  French  troops  stationed  there,  and  making  forced  marches  to 
ward  New  York.  When  the  van  of  his  troops  embarked,  the  waters  of  the 
York  Eiver  were  perfectly  calm,  although  dark  clouds  were  gathering  in  the 
horizon.  Then  a  storm  arose  as  sudden 
and  as  fearful  as  a  summer  tornado,  dis 
persed  the  boats,  compelled  many  to  put 
back,  and  the  attempt  was  abandoned.1 
Hope  now  faded ;  and  on  the  19th,  Corn 
wallis  surrendered  the  posts  at  York- 
town  and  Gloucester,  with  almost  seven 
thousand  British  soldiers,  and  his  ship 
ping  and  seamen,  into  the  hands  of  Wash 
ington  and  De  Grasse.2 

The  ceremony,  on  the  occasion  of 
the  surrender,  was  exceedingly  impos 
ing.  The  American  army  was  drawn 
up  on  the  right  side  of  the  road  lead 
ing  from  Yorktown  to  Hampton  (see 
map),  and  the  French  army  on  the  left, 
mile  in  length.  Washington,  upon  his  white  charger,  was  at  the  head  of  the 
American  column  ;  and  Rochambeau,  upon  a  powerful  bay  horse,  was  at  the 
head  of  the  French  column.  A  vast  concourse  of  people,  equal  in  number,  ac 
cording  to  eye-witnesses,  to  the  military,  was  also  assembled  from  the  sur 
rounding  country  to  participate  in  the  joy  of  the  event.  Universal  silence  pre 
vailed  as  the  vanquished  troops  slowly  marched  out  of  their  intrenchments,  with 
their  colors  cased,  and  their  drums  beating  a  British  tune,  and  passed  between 
the  columns  of  the  combined  armies.  All  were  eager  to  look  upon  Lord  Corn 
wallis,  the  terror  of  the  South,3  in  the  hour  of  his  adversity.  They  were  dis- 


SIEGE   OF  YORKTOWN. 


Their  lines  extended  more  than  a 


1  Note  4,  page  247. 

2  The  British  lost  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  killed,  three  hundred  and  twenty-six  wounded,  and 
seventy  missing.     The  combined  armies  lost,  in  killed  and  wounded,  about  three  hundred.    Among 
the  spoils  were  seventy-five  brass,  and  one  hundred  and  sixty  iron  cannons ;  seven  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  ninety-four  muskets ;  twenty-eight  regimental  standards ;  a  large  quantity  of  musket 
and  cannon-balls ;  and  nearly  eleven  thousand  dollars  in  specie  in  the  military  chest.     The  army 
was  surrendered  to  Washington,  and  the  shipping  and  seamen  to  De  Grasse.    The  latter  soon  after 
ward  left  the  Chesapeake,  and  went  to  the  West  Indies.     Rochambeau  remained  with  his  troops  in 
Virginia  during  the  winter,  and  the  main  body*of  the  American  army  marched  north,  and  went  into 
winter  quarters  on  the  Hudson.     A  strong  detachment,  under  General  St.  Clair  [page  276],  was 
sent  south  to  drive  the  British  from  Wilmington,  and  reinforce  the  army  of  General  Greene,  then 
lying  near  Charleston. 

3  The  conduct  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  during  his  march  of  over  fifteen  hundred  miles  through  the 
Southern  States,  was  often  disgraceful  to  the  British  name.     He  suffered  dwelling-houses  to  be 
plundered  of  every  thing  that  could  be  carried  off;  and  it  was  well  known  that  his  lordship's  table 


342  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1781. 

appointed ;  he  had  given  himself  up  to  vexation  and  despair,  and,  feigning 
illness,  he  sent  General  O'Hara  with  his  sword,  to  lead  the  vanquished  army  to 
the  field  of  humiliation.  Having  arrived  at  the  head  of  the  line,  General 
O'Hara  advanced  toward  Washington,  and,  taking  off  his  hat,  apologized  for  the 
absence  of  Earl  Cornwallis.  The  commander-in-chief  pointed  him  to  General 
Lincoln  for  directions.  It  must  have  been  a  proud  moment  for  Lincoln,  for 
only  the  year  before  he  was  obliged  to  make  a  humiliating  surrender  of  his 
army  to  British  conquerors  at  Charleston.1  Lincoln  conducted  the  royal  troops 
to  the  field  selected  for  laying  down  their  arms,  and  there  General  O'Hara. 
delivered  to  him  the  sword  of  Cornwallis.  Lincoln  received  it.  and  then  po 
litely  handed  it  back  to  O'Hara,  to  be  returned  to  the  earl. 

The  delivery  of  the  colors  of  the  several  regiments,  twenty-eight  in  num 
ber,  was  next  performed.  For  this  purpose,  twenty-eight  British  captains, 
each  bearing  a  flag  in  a  case,  were  drawn  up  in  line.  Opposite  to  them,  at  a 
distance  of  six  paces,  twenty-eight  American  sergeants  were  placed  in  line  to 
receive  the  colors.  An  ensign  was  appointed  by  Colonel  Hamilton,  the  officer 
of  the  day,  to  conduct  this  interesting  ceremony.2  When  the  ensign  gave  the 
order  for  the  British  captains  to  advance  two  paces,  to  deliver  up  their  colors, 
and  the  American  sergeants  to  advance  two  paces  to  receive  them,  the  former 
hesitated,  and  gave  as  a  reason,  that  they  were  unwilling  to  surrender  their 
flags  to  non-commissioned  officers.  Hamilton,  who  was  at  a  distance,  observed 
this  hesitation,  and  rode  up  to  inquire  the  cause.  On  being  informed,  he  will 
ingly  spared  the  feelings  of  the  British  captains,  and  ordered  the  ensign  to 
receive  them  himself,  and  hand  them  to  the  American  sergeants.  The  scene  is 
depicted  in  the  engraving. 

Clinton  appeared  at  the  entrance  to  Chesapeake  Bay  a  few  days  afterward, 
with  seven  thousand  troops,  but  it  was  too  late.  The  final  blow  which  struck 
down  British  power  in  America  had  been  given.  The  victory  was  complete ; 
and  Clinton  returned  to  New  York,  amazed  and  disheartened. 

Great  was  the  joy  throughout  the  colonies  when  intelligence  of  the  capture 
of  the  British  army  reached  the  people.  From  every  family  altar  where  a  love 
of  freedom  dwelt — from  pulpits,  legislative  halls,  the  army,  and  from  Congress,3 


was  furnished  with  plate  thus  obtained  from  private  families.  His  march  was  more  frequently  that 
of  a  marauder  than  an  honorable  general.  It  is  estimated  that  Virginia  alone  lost,  during  Corn- 
wallis's  attempt  to  reduce  it,  thirty  thousand  slaves.  It  was  also  estimated,  at  the  time,  from  the  best 
information  that  could  be  obtained,  that,  during  the  six  months  previous  to  the  surrender  at  York- 
town,  the  whole  devastations  of  his  army  amounted  in  value  to  about  fifteen  millions  of  dollars. 

1  Page  311. 

2  Ensign  Robert  Wilson,  of  General  James  Clinton's  New  York  Brigade.    He  was  the  youngest 
commissioned  officer  in  the  army,  being  then  only  eighteen  years  of  age.    He  was  afterward  a  magis 
trate  in  central  New  York  for  a  number  of  years,  and  was  for  some  time  postmaster  at  Manlius,  in 
Onondago  county.     He  died  in  1811. 

3  A  messenger,  with  a  dispatch  from  Washington,  reached  Philadelphia  at  midnight.     Soon  the 
watchmen  in  the  streets  cried,  ''  Past  twelve  o'clock,  and  Cornwallis  is  taken."     Before  dawn  the 
exulting  people  filled  the  streets;  and  at  an  early  hour,  Secretary  Thomson  [page  227]  read  that 
cheering  letter  to  the  assembled  Congress.     Then  that  august  body  went  in  procession  to  a  temple 
of  the  living  God  [Oct.  24th,  1781],  and  there  joined  in  public  thanksgivings  to  the  King  of  kings, 
for  the  great  victory.     They  also  resolved  that  a  marble  column  should  be  erected  at  Yorktown,  to 
commemorate  the  event ;  and  that  two  stands  of  colors  should  be  presented  to  Washington,  and  two 
pieces  of  cannon  to  each  of  the  French  commanders,  Rochambeau  and  De  Grasse. 


-.-'_.  , ^tei^W 

SURRENDER  OF  FLAGS  AT  YORKTOWN. 


1782.]     CLOSING  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.     345 

there  went  up  a  shout  of  thanksgiving  and  praise  to  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent, 
for  the  success  of  the  allied  troops,  and  these  were  mingled  with  universal  eulo 
gies  of  the  great  leader  and  his  companions  in  arms.  The  clouds  which  had 
lowered  for  seven  long  years,  appeared  to  be  breaking,  and  the  splendors  of 
the  dawn  of  peace  burst  forth,  like  the  light  of  a  clear  morning  after  a  dismal 
night  of  tempest  and  woe.  And  the  desire  for  peace,  which  had  long  burned 
in  the  bosom  of  the  British  people,  now  found  such  potential  expression,  as  to 
be  heeded  by  the  British  ministry.  The  intelligence  of  the  fate  of  Cornwallis 
and  his  party,  fell  with  all  the  destructive  ene'rgy  of  a  bomb-shell  in  the  midst 
of  the  war-party  in  Parliament;1  and  the  stoutest  declaimers  in  favor  of  bay 
onets  and  gunpowder,  Indians  and  German  mercenaries,2  as  fit  instruments  for 
enslaving  a  free  people,  began  to  talk  of  the  expediency  of  peace.  Public 
opinion  soon  found  expression  in  both  Houses  of  Parliament ;  and  Lord  North3 
and  his  compeers,  who  had  misled  the  nation  for  twelve  years,  gave  way 
under  the  pressure  of  the  peace  sentiment,  and  retired  from  office  on  the  20th 
of  March,  1782.  The  advocates  of  peace  then  came  into  power  ;  and  early  in 
the  following  May,  Sir  Guy  Carleton4  arrived  in  New  York,  with  propositions 
for  a  reconciliation. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

CLOSING  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.     [1782—1789.] 

GENERAL  GREENE,  with  the  main  body  of  the  Southern  army,  was  yet  on 
the  High  Hills  of  Santee,  when,  on  the  30th  of  October  [1781],  intelligence 
of  the  capture  of  Cornwallis  reached  him.  The  day  of  its  arrival  was  made 
jubilant  with  rejoicings  by  the  army.  The  event  seemed  to  be  a  guaranty  for 
the  future  security  of  the  Republicans  in  the  South,  and  Governor  Rutledge5 
soon  called  a  Legislative  Assembly,  to  meet  at  Jacksonborough,  to  re-establish 
civil  authority.  An  ofier  of  pardon  for  penitents,  brought  hundreds  of  Tories 
from  the  British  lines  at  Charleston,  to  accept  the  clemency.  The  North  Caro 
lina  Tories  were  dismayed,  for  immediately  after  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis, 
St.  Clair3  had  marched  upon  Wilmington,  when  the  frightened  enemy  imme 
diately  abandoned  that  post,  and  Major  Craig,  the  commander,  and  a  few 
followers,  took  post  upon  St.  John's  Island,  near  Charleston.  Yet  the  vigilance 
of  the  Americans  was  not  allowed  to  slumber,  for  a  wary  foe  yet  occupied  the 
capitals  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  Marion  andfhis  men  kept  "  watch  and 
ward"  over  the  region  between  the  Cooper  and  the  Santee,7  while  Greene's  main 


1  Lord  George  Germaine  said  that  Lord  North  received  the  intelligence  "  as  he  would  have 
done  a  cannon-ball  in  his  breast."     He  paced  the  room,  and  throwing  his  arms  wildly  about,  kept 
exclaiming,  "  0,  God !  it  is  all  over,  it  is  all  over  !" 

2  Page  246.  3  Page  224.  4  Page  240.  6  Page  310.  6  Page  276. 
On  one  occasion,  Marion's  brigade  suffered  a  severe  defeat,  while  the  commander  was  attend- 


346  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1782. 

army  lay  near  the  Edisto  ;  and  Wayne,  always  vigilant,  kept  the  enemy  as 
close  within  his  intrenchments  at  Savannah.  Washington,  who  returned  to  the 
North  immediately  after  the  surrender,  was,  at  the  same  time,  keeping  Clinton 
and  his  army  close  prisoners  in  New  York. 


While  the  theater  of  war  was  thus  narrowing,  British  statesmen  of  all 
parties,  considering  the  capture  of  Cornwallis  and  his  army  as  the  death-blow 
to  all  hope  for  future  conquests,  turned  their  attention  to  measures  for  an 
honorable  termination  of  the  unnatural  war.  General  Conway,  the  firm  and 
long-tried  friend  of  the  Americans,  offered  a  resolution  in  Parliament  in  Febru 
ary  [1782],  which  was  preliminary  to  the  enactment  of  a  decree  for  command 
ing  the  cessation  of  hostilities.  It  was  lost  by  only  one  vote.  Thus  encouraged, 


ing  his  duties  as  a  member  of  the  South  Carolina  Legislature.  He  left  his  men  in  command  of 
Colonel  Horry,  and  near  the  Santee,  Colonel  Thompson  (afterward  the  eminent  Count  Rumford) 
attacked  the  corps,  with  a  superior  force,  and  dispersed  it.  Marion  arrived  during  the  engagement, 
rallied  his  brigade,  and  then  retired  beyond  the  Santee,  to  reorganize  and  recruit.  Benjamin 
Thompson  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  was  born  in  March,  1753.  He  became  a  school 
master,  and  while  acting  in  that  capacity,  he  married  a  rich  widow.  Already  his  mind  was  filled 
with  scientific  knowledge,  and  now  he  pursued  his  studies  and  investigations  with  energy.  When 
the  Revolution  broke  out,  he  refused  to  take  part  in  political  matters.  The  Whigs  drove  him  to 
Boston  for  British  protection,  and  he  was  sent  to  England  by  Lord  Howe,  with  dispatches.  Toward 
the  close  of  the  war,  he  commanded  a  corps  of  Tories  at  New  York  and  Charleston.  He  returned 
to  Europe,  became  acquainted  with  the  sovereign  of  Bavaria,  made  himself  exceedingly  useful,  was 
raised  to  the  highest  dignity,  and  was  created  a  count.  After  suffering  many  vicissitudes,  he  died,  near 
Paris,  in  August,  1814.  His  daughter,  the  Countess  of  Rumford,  who  was  born  in  America,  died  at 
Concord,  New  Hampshire,  in  1852.  See  Lossing's  Eminent  Americans. 


1789.]     CLOSING  EVENTS   OF   THE  WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE.     347 

the  opposition  pressed  the  subject  warmly  upon  the  attention  of  the  House  of 
Commons  and  the  nation,  and  on  the  4th  of  March,  Con  way  moved  "That  the 
House  would  consider  as  enemies  to  his  majesty  and  the  country  all  those  who 
should  advise,  or  by  any  means  attempt,  the  further  prosecution  of  offensive 


war  on  the  Continent  of  North  America.'7  The  resolution  was  carried  without 
a  division,  and  the  next  day  the  attorney-general  introduced  a  plan  for  a  truce 
with  the  Americans.  Orders  for  a  cessation  of  hostilities  speedily  went  forth 
to  the  British  commanders  in  America,  and  preparations  were  soon  made  for 
evacuating  the  cities  of  Savannah  and  Charleston. 

When  General  Leslie,  the  British  commander  at  Charleston,  was  apprised 
of  these  proceedings  in  Parliament,  he  proposed  to  General  Greene  a  cessation 
of  hostilities.  Like  a  true  soldier,  Greene  referred  the  matter  to  Congress,  and 
did  not  for  a  moment  relax  his  vigilance.  Leslie  also  requested  Greene  to  allow 
him  to  purchase  supplies  for  his  army,  at  the  same  time  declaring  his  intention 
to  evacuate  Charleston.  Greene  was  unwilling  thus  to  nourish  a  viper,  until 
his  power  to  injure  was  destroyed,  and  he  refused.  Leslie  then  resorted  to 
force  to  obtain  provisions.  Already  he  had  made  several  efforts  to  penetrate 
the  country  for  the  purpose,  and  now,  late  in  August,  he  attempted  to  ascend 
the  Combahee,1  when  he  was  opposed  by  the  Americans  under  General  Gist,  of 


1  Page  42. 


348  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1782. 

the  Maryland  line.  Colonel  John  Laurens1  volunteered  in  the  service  ;  and  in 
a  skirmish  at  day-break,  on  the  25th  of  August,  he  was  killed.  He  was  greatly 
beloved  by  all,  and  his  death  was  mourned  with  real  sorrow.  His  was  almost 
the  last  life  sacrificed  in  that  glorious  old  war.  The  blood  of  one  other  was 
shed  at  Stono  Ferry,2  a  few  weeks  afterward,  when  Captain  Wilmot  was  killed  in 
a  skirmish  with  a  British  foraging  party. 

Several  weeks  previous  to  this,  the  British  had  evacuated  Savannah.  That, 
event  occurred  on  the  llth  of  July,  when  General  Wayne,  in  consideration  of 
the  eminent  services  of  Colonel  James  Jackson,3  appointed  him  to  "receive  the 
keys  of  the  city  of  Savannah"  from  a  committee  of  British  officers.  He  per 
formed  the  duty  with  great  dignity,  and  on  the  same  day  the  American  army 
entered  the  city.  Royal  power  then  ceased  in  Georgia,  forever.  On  the  14th 
of  December  following,  the  British  evacuated  Charleston,  and  the  next  day,  the 
Americans,  under  General  Greene,  took  possession  of  it,  greeted  from  windows, 
balconies,  and  even  house-tops,  with  cheers,  waving  of  handkercniefs,  and  cries 
of  "God  bless  you,  gentlemen!  Welcome!  Welcome!"  The  British 
remained  in  New  York  almost  a  year  longer  (until  the  25th  of  November, 
1783),  under  the  command  of  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  who  had  succeeded  Sir  Henry 
Clinton,  because  the  final  negotiations  for  peace  were  not  completed,  by  ratifi 
cation,  until  near  that  time. 

Measures  were  now  taken  by  Congress  and  the  British  government  to 
arrange  a  treaty  of  peace.  The  United  States  appointed  five  commissioners  for 
the  purpose,  in  order  that  different  sections  of  the  Union  might  be  represented. 
These  consisted  of  John  Adams,  John  Jay,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Thomas  Jef 
ferson,  and  Henry  Laurens.  These  met  Richard  Oswald,  the  English  com 
missioner,  at  Paris,  and  there,  on  the  30th  of  November,  1782,  they  signed  a 
preliminary  treaty.4  French  and  English  commissioners  also  signed  a  treaty 
of  peace  on  the  20th  of  January  following.  Congress  ratified  the  action  of  its 
commissioners  in  April,  1783,  yet  negotiations  were  in  progress  until  September 
following,  when  a  definitive  treaty  was  signed  [September  3,  1783]  at  Paris.5 
In  that  treaty,  England  acknowledged  the  Independence  of  the  United 
States ;  allowed  ample  boundaries,  extending  northward  to  the  Great  Lakes, 

1  Note  2,  page  329.  2  Page  296. 

8  James  Jackson  was  one  of  the  most  eminent  men  in  Georgia  He  was  born  in  England,  in 
September,  1757,  and  came  to  America  in  1772.  He  studied  law  at  Savannah,  and  was  an  active 
soldier  during  the  whole  war  for  Independence.  "When  a  little  past  thirty  years  of  age,  he  was 
elected  governor  of  Georgia,  but  declined  the  honor  on  account  of  his  youth.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  United  States  Senate  for  some  time,  and  was  governor  of  his  State  for  two  years.  He  died, 
while  at  Washington,  as  United  States  senator,  in  1808,  and  his  remains  are  in  the  Congressional 
burial-ground.  See  his  portrait  on  page  347. 

4  Vergennes,  the  French  minister,  was  dissatisfied  with  the  manner  in  which  the  matter  had 
been  conducted.  It  was  understood,  by  the  terms  of  the  alliance  between  the  United  States  and 
France  (and  expressly  stated  in  the  instructions  of  the  commissioners),  that  no  treaty  should  be 
signed  by  the  latter  without  the  knowledge  of  the  other.  Yet  it  was  done  on  this  occasion.  A 
portion  of  the  American  commissioners  doubted  the  good  faith  of  Vergennes,  because  he  favored 
Spanish  claims.  Dr.  Franklin,  however,  trusted  Vergennes  implicitly,  and  the  latter  appears  to 
have  acted  honorably,  throughout.  The  cloud  of  dissatisfaction  soon  passed  away,  when  Franklin, 
with  soft  words,  explained  the  whole  matter. 

6  It  was  signed,  on  the  part  of  England,  by  David  Hartley,  and  on  that  of  the  United  States,  by 
Dr.  Franklin,  John  Adams,  and  John  Jay. 


1789.]     CLOSING  EVENTS  OF  THE  WAR   FOR   INDEPENDENCE.     349 

and  westward  to  the  Mississippi,  and  an  unlimited  right  of  fishing  on  the  banks 
of  Newfoundland.  The  two  Floridas  were  restored  to  Spain.  At  the  same 
time,  definitive  treaties  between  England,  France,  Spain,  and  Holland,  were 
signed  by  their  respective  commissioners,1  and  the  United  States  became  an 
active  power  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.2 

A  great  work  had  now  been  accomplished,  yet  the  joy  of  the  American 
people,  in  view  of  returning  peace  and  prosperity,  was  mingled  with  many 
gloomy  apprehensions  of  evil.  The  army,  which,  through  the  most  terrible 
sufferings,  had  remained  faithful,  and  become  conqueror,  was  soon  to  be  dis 
banded  ;  and  thousands,  many  of  them  made  invalids  by  the  hard  service  in 
which  they  had  been  engaged,  would  be  compelled  to  seek  a  livelihood  in  the 
midst  of  the  desolation  which  war  had  produced.3  For  a  long  time  the  public 
treasury  had  been  empty,  and  neither  officers  nor  soldiers  had  received  any  pay 
for  their  services.  A  resolution  of  Congress,  passed  in  1780  [October  21],  to 
allow  the  officers  half  pay  for  life,  was  ineffective,  because  funds  were  wanting. 
Already  the  gloomy  prospect  had  created  wide-spread  murmurings  in  the  army, 
and  there  were  many  men  who  sighed  for  a  stronger  government.  They  ascribed 
the  weakness  of  the  Confederation  to  its  republican  form,  and  a  change,  to  be 
wrought  by  the  army,  was  actually  proposed  to  Washington.  Nicola,  a  foreign 
officer  in  a  Pennsylvania  regiment,  made  the  proposition,  in  a  well-written  letter, 
and  not  only  urged  the  necessity  of  a  monarchy,  but  endeavored  to  persuade 
Washington  to  become  king,  by  the  voice  of  the  army.  The  sharp  rebuke  of  the 
commander-in-chief  [May,  1782],  checked  all  further  movements  in  that  direction. 

The  general  discontent  soon  assumed  another  shape,  and  on  the  llth  of 
March,  1783,  a  well-written  address  was  circulated  through  the  American  camp 
(then  near  Newburg),  which  advised  the  army  to  take  matters  into  its  own 
hands,  make  a  demonstration  that  should  arouse  the  fears  of  the  people  and  of 
Congress,  and  thus  obtain  justice  for  themselves.4  For  this  purpose  a  meeting 
of  officers  was  called,  but  the  great  influence  of  Washington  prevented  a 
response.  The  commander-in-chief  then  summoned  all  the  officers  together, 
laid  the  matter  before  them  [March  15],  and  obtained  from  them  a  patriotic 
expression  of  their  faith  in  the  "justice  of  Congress  and  the  country."  In  a 
few  days  the  threatening  cloud  passed  away,  and  soon  after  this  event  Congress 
made  arrangements  for  granting  to  the  officers  full  pay  for  five  years,  instead 
of  half  pay  for  life  ;  and  to  the  soldiers  full  pay  for  four  months,  in  partial 
liquidation  of  their  claims.  This  arrangement  was  not  satisfactory,  and  discon- 

1  That  between  Great  Britain  and  Holland  was  signed  on  the  second. 

2  John  Adams  was  the  first  minister  of  the  United  States  to  Great  Britain.     He  was  politely 
received  by  King  George  the  Third ;  and  that  monarch  was  faithful  to  his  promises  to  preserve 
inviolate  the  covenant  he  had  made  by  acknowledging  the  independence  of  the  new  Republic. 

8  The  army,  consisting  of  about  ten  thousand  men,  was  then  encamped  on  the  Hudson,  near 
Newburg. 

4  This  address  was  anonymous,  but  it  was  afterward  acknowledged  to  be  the  production  of  John 
Armstrong,  then  a  major,  and  one  of  General  Gates's  aids.  It  is  believed  that  Gates  and  other 
officers  were  the  instigators  of  the  scheme,  and  that  Armstrong  acted  under  their  direction.  He 
was  an  accomplished  writer,  and  was  much  in  public  life  after  the  war.  He  was  United  States  min 
ister  to  France  for  six  years,  from  1804.  He  was  Secretary  of  War  in  1814 ;  and  died  in  Dutchesa 
county,  New  York,  in  1843,  in  the  eighty-fifth  year  of  his  age. 


350  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1782. 

tent  still  prevailed.1  In  the  mean  while  [March  2]  the  preliminary  treaty  had 
arrived.  On  the  eighth  anniversary  of  the  skirmish  at  Lexington  [April  19, 
1783],  a  cessation  of  hostilites  was  proclaimed  in  the  army,  and  on  the  3d  of 
November  following,  the  army  was  disbanded  by  a  general  order  of  Congress.  A 
small  force  was  retained  under  a  definite  enlistment,  until  a  peace  establishment 
should  be  organized.2  These  were  now  at  West  Point,  under  the  command  of 
General  Knox.  The  remainder  of  that  glorious  band  of  patriots  then  quietly 
returned  to  their  homes,  to  enjoy,  for  the  remnant  of  their  lives,  the  blessings  of 
the  liberty  they  had  Avon,  and  the  grateful  benedictions  of  their  countrymen. 
Of  the  two  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  Continental  soldiers,  and  the  fifty-six 
thousand  militia  who  bore  arms  during  the  war,  the  names  of  only  two  are  now 
[1867]  on  the  pension  list  !3  And  the  average  of  these  must  be  full  ninety  years. 
The  British  army  evacuated  the  city  of  New  York  on  the  25th  of  Novem 
ber,  1783.  With  their  departure,  went,  forever,  the  last  instrument  of  royal 
power  in  these  United  States.  On  the  morning  of  that  day — a  cold,  frosty, 
but  clear  and  brilliant  morning — the  American  troops, 
under  General  Knox,4  who  had  come  down  from  West 
Point  and  encamped  at  Harlem,  marched  to  the  Bowery 
Lane,  and  halted  at  the  present  junction  of  Third 
Avenue  and  the  Bowery.  Knox  was  accompanied  by 
George  Clinton,5  the  governor  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  with  all  the  principal  civil  officers.  There  they 
remained  until  about  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when 
the  British  left  their  posts  in  that  vicinity  and  marched 
to  Whitehall.0  The  American  troops  followed,  and 


r 
GOVERNOR  CLINTON. 


1  In  May,  1783,  a  portion  of  the  Pennsylvania  troops,  lately  arrived  from  the  South,  marched 
to  Philadelphia,  where  they  were  joined  by  others,  and  for  three  hours  they  stood  at  the  door  of  the 
State  House,  and  demanded  immediate  pay  from  Congress.  St.  Glair,  then  in  command  there, 
pacified  them  for  the  moment,  and  Washington  soon  quelled  the  mutiny.  See  page  328. 

8  A  great  portion  of  the  officers  and  soldiers  had  been  permitted,  during  the  summer,  to  visit 
their  homes  on  furlough.  The  proclamation  of  discharge,  by  Congress,  was  followed  by  Washing 
ton's  farewell  address  to  his  companions  in  arms,  written  at  Rocky  Hill,  New  Jersey,  on  the  3d  of 
November.  He  had  already  issued  a  circular  letter  (Newburg,  June  8th,  1783)  to  the  governors 
of  all  the  States  on  the  subject  of  disbanding  the  army.  It  was  designed  to  be  laid  before  the  sev 
eral  State  Legislatures.  It  is  a  document  of  great  value,  because  of  the  soundness  of  its  doctrines, 
and  the  weight  and  wisdom  of  its  counsels.  Pour  great  points  of  policy  constitute  the  chief  theme 
of  his  communication,  namely,  an  indissoluble  union  of  the  States ;  a  sacred  regard  for  public  justice ; 
the  organization  of  a  proper  peace  establishment ;  and  a  friendly  intercourse  among  the  people  of  the 
several  States,  by  which  local  prejudice  might  be  effaced.  "  These,"  he  remarks,  "are  the  pillars  on 
which  the  glorious  fabric  of  our  independency  and  national  character  must  be  supported."  No 
doubt  this  address  had  great  influence  upon  the  minds  of  the  whole  people,  and  made  them  yearn 
for  that  more  efficient  union  which  the  Federal  Constitution  soon  afterward  secured. 

8  Great  Britain  sent  to  America,  during  the  war,  one  hundred  and  twelve  thousand  five  hun 
dred  and  eighty-four  troops  for  the  land  service,  and  more  than  twenty-two  thousand  seamen.  Of 
all  this  host,  not  one  is  known  to  be  living.  One  of  them  (John  Battin)  died  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  in  June,  1852,  at  the  age  of  one  hundred  years  and  four  months. 

4  Henry  Knox,  the  able  commander  of  the  artillery  during  the  Revolution,  was  born  in  Boston, 
in  1740.  He  entered  the  army  at  the  commencement  of  the  war.  He  was  President  Washington's 
Secretary  of  War,  and  held  that  office  eleven  years.  He  died  at  Thomaston,  in  Maine,  in  1806. 

6  Like  Governors  Trumbull  [page  323]  and  Rutledge  [page  310],  Clinton,  in  a  civil  capacity, 
was  of  immense  service  to  the  American  cause.  He  was  born  in  Ulster  county,  New  York,  in  1739. 
He  was  governor  about  eighteen  years,  and  died  in  1812,  while  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States.  See  page  404,  *  Now  the  South  Ferry  to  Brooklyn. 


1789.]     CLOSING   EVENTS   OP  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.     351 

before  three  o'clock  General  Knox  took  formal  possession  of  Fort  George  amid 
the  acclamations  of  thousands  of  emancipated  freemen,  and  the  roar  of  artillery 
upon  the  Battery. 

CD  Thursday,  the  4th  of  December,  Washington  mot  his  officers,  yet  re 


maining  in  service,  at  his  quarters,  corner  of  Broad  and  Pearl-streets,  New 
York,  for  the  last  time.  The  scene,  as  described  by  Marshall,1  the  best  of  the 
early  biographers  of  Washington,  was  one  of  great  tenderness.  The  commander- 
in-chief  entered  the  room  where  they  were  all  waiting,  and  taking  a  glass  of 
wine  in  his  hand,  he  said,  "  With  a  heart  full  of  love  and  gratitude,  I  now  take 


1  John  Marshall,  the  eminent  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,  was  born  in  Fauquier  county, 
Virginia,  in  1755,  and  was  the  eldest  of  fifteen  children  by  the  same  mother.  He  entered  the  mil 
itary  service,  in  the  Virginia  militia,  against  Dunmore  [page  244],  in  1775,  and  was  in  the  battle  at 
the  Great  Bridge  [see  page  243].  He  remained  in  service,  as  an  excellent  officer,  until  early  in 

1780,  when  he  studied  law,  and  became  very  eminent  in  his  profession.     He  was  again  in  the  field  in 

1781.  In  1782  he  was  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Legislature.     He  was  chosen  Secretary  of  War  in 
1800,  and  the  next  year  was  elevated  to  the  Chief  Justiceship  of  the  United  States.     His  Life  of 
Washington  was  published  in  1805.     Judge  Marshall  died  at  Philadelphia  in  1835,  in  the  eightieth 
year  of  his  age.     He  was  an  exceedingly  plain  man,  in  person  and  habits,  and  always  carried  his 
own  marketing  home  in  his  hands.     On  one  occasion,  a  young  housekeeper  was  swearing  lustily 
because  he  could  not  hire  a  person  to  carry  his  turkey  home  for  him.     A  plain  man,  standing  by, 
offered  to  perform  the  service,  and  when  they  arrived  at  the  door,  the  young  man  asked,  "What 
shall  I  pay  you?"     "  Oh,  nothing,"  replied  the  old  man ;  "  you  are  welcome ;  it  was  on  my  way, 
and  no  trouble."     "  Who  is  that  polite  old  gentleman  who  brought  home  my  turkey  for  me  ?"  in 
quired  the  young  man  of  a  bystander.     "  That,"  he  replied,  "  is  John  Marshall,  Chief  Justice  of  the 
United  States."     The  astonished  young  man  exclaimed,  "  Why  did  he  bring  home  my  turkey  ?" 
"  To  give  you  a  severe  reprimand."  replied  the  other,  "and  to  learn  you  to  attend  to  your  own  bus- 

The  lesson  was  never  forgotten. 


352 


THE     REVOLUTION. 


[1782. 


leave  of  you.  I  most  devoutly  wish  that  your  latter  days  may  be  as  prosperous 
and  happy  as  your  former  ones  have  been  glorious  and  honorable."  Having 
drank,  he  continued,  "  I  can  not  come  to  each  of  you  to  take  my  leave,  but 
shall  be  obliged  to  you  if  each  will  come  and  take  me  by  the  hand."  Knox, 
who  stood  nearest  to  him,  turned  and  grasped  his  hand,  and,  while  the  tears 
flowed  down  the  cheeks  of  each,  the  commander-in-chief  kissed  him.  This  he 
did  to  each  of  his  officers,  while  tears  and  sobs  stifled  utterance.  "Washington 
soon  left  the  room,  and  passing  through  corps  of  light  infantry,  he  walked  in 
silence  to  Whitehall,  where  he  embarked  in  a  barge  for  Elizabethtown,  on  his 
way  to  Annapolis,  in  Maryland,  where  Congress  was  in  session.  There,  on  the 
23d  of  December,  he  resigned  into  its  custody  the  com 
mission  which  he  received  [June  16,  1775]  from  that 
body  more  than  eight  years  before.1  His  address  on 
that  occasion  was  simple  and  touching,  and  the  re 
sponse  of  General  Mifflin,2  the  president,  was  equally 
affecting.  The  spectacle  was  one  of  great  moral  sub 
limity.  Like  Cincinnatus,  Washington,  having  been 
instrumental,  under  Providence,  in  preserving  the  lib 
erties  of  his  country  and  achieving  its  independence, 
laid  down  the  cares  of  State  and  returned  to  his  plow. 

A  few  months  before  the  final  disbanding  of  the  army,  many  of  the  officers, 
then  at  Newburg,  on  the  Hudson,  met  [June  19,  1783]  at  the  head-quarters  of 
the  Baron  Steuben,  situated  about  two  miles  from  the  Fishkill 
Ferry,  and  there  formed  an  association,  which  they  named  the 
SOCIETY  OF  THE  CINCINNATI.  The  chief  objects  of  the  Society 
were  to  promote  cordial  friendship  and  indissoluble  union  among 
themselves ;  to  commemorate,  by  frequent  re-unions,  the  great 
struggle  they  had  just  passed  through  ;  to  use  their  best  en- 
nj  j  ,jjf  j  deavors  for  the  promotion  of  human  liberty ;  to  cherish  good 
\\M/ ''  /  /  feeling  between  the  respective  States;  and  to  extend  benevolent 
aid  to  those  of  the  Society  whose  circumstances  might  require 
it.  They  formed  a  General  Society,  and  elected  Washington 
its  first  president.  They  also  made  provision  for  the  formation 
of  auxiliary  State  societies.  To  perpetuate  the  Association,  it 
was  provided,  in  the  constitution,  that  the  eldest  male  descend 
ant  of  an  original  member  should  be  entitled  to  bear  the  ORDER, 
and  enjoy  the  privileges  of  the  Society.  The  Order"  consists 
of  a  gold  eagle,  suspended  upon  a  ribbon,  on  the  breast  of  which  is  a  medallion 


GENERAL   MIFFLIN. 


ORDER. 


1  Page  238.     At  the  same  time  Washington  rendered  the  account  current  of  his  expenditures, 
for  reconnoitering,  traveling,   secret  service,   and  miscellaneous  expenses,  amounting  to   about 
$74,480.     He  would  receive  nothing  in  compensation  for  his  own  services  as  commander-in-chief. 

2  Thomas  Mifflin  was  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1744.     He  was  a  Quaker  [note  7,  page  94],  but 
joined  the  patriot  army  in  1775,  and  rapidly  rose  to  the  rank  of  major-general.     He  was  a  member 
of  Congress  after  the  war,  and  also  governor  of  Pennsylvania.     He  died  in  January,  1800. 

3  An  order  is  a  badge,  or  visible  token  of  regard  or  distinction,  conferred  upon  persons  for  mer 
itorious  services.     On  the  breast  of  Baron  Steuben  on  page  291,  is  the  order  of  Fidelity,  presented 
\Q  him  by  Frederic  the  Great  of  ^Prussia,  for  his  services  in  the  army  of  that  monarch.    Some  of  the 


%^^ 


1789.]     CLOSING   EVENTS   OF   THE  WAR  FOR   INDEPENDENCE.     353 

with  a  device,  representing  Cincinnatus  receiving  the  Roman  senators.1  Sev 
eral  State  societies  are  yet  [186  T]  in  existence. 

The  war  was  ended,  and  peace  was  guarantied,  but  the  people  had  much  to 
do  in  the  adjustment  of  public  affairs,  so  as  to  lay  the  foundations  of  permanent 
prosperity,  and  thus  secure  the  liberty  and  independence  proclaimed  and 
acknowledged.  The  country  was  burdened  with  a  heavy  debt,  foreign  and  do 
mestic,2  and  the  Articles  of  Confederation3  gave  Congress  no  power  to  dis 
charge  them,  if  it  had  possessed  the  ability.  On  its  recommendation,  however, 
the  individual  States  attempted  to  raisa  their  respective  quotas,  by  direct  tax 
ation.  But  all  were  impoverished  by  the  war,  and  it  was  found  to  be  impos 
sible  to  provide  means  even  to  meet  the  arrears  of  pay  due  the  soldiers  of  the 
Revolution.  Each  State  had  its  local  obligations  to  meet,  and  Congress  could 
not  coerce  compliance  with  its  recommendations. 

This  effort  produced  great  excitement  in  many  of  the  States,  and  finally,  in 
1787,  a  portion  of  the  people  of  Massachusetts  openly  rebelled.  Daniel  Shays, 
who  had  been  a  captain  in  the  continental  army,  marched  at  the  head  of  a  thou 
sand  men,  took  possession  of  Worcester,  and  prevented  a  session  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  He  repeated  the  same  at  Springfield.  The  insurrection  soon  became 
so  formidable,  that  Governor  Bowdoin  was  compelled  to  call  out  several  thou 
sand  militia,  under  General  Lincoln,  to  suppress  it.  Lincoln  captured  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  of  the  insurgents,  and  their  power  was  broken.  A  free  pardon 
was,  finally,  offered  to  all  privates  who  had  engaged  in  the  rebellion.  Several 
leaders  were  tried,  and  sentenced  to  death,  but  none  were  executed,  for  it  was 
perceived  that  the  great  mass  of  the  people  sympathized  with  them.  This  epi 
sode  is  known  as  Shays's  Rebellion. 

We  have  already  noticed  the  fact  that  the  Pope  was  unfriendly  to  England,4 
and  looked  with  favor  upon  the  rebellious  movements  of  her  colonies.  Soon 
after  the  treaty  of  peace  was  concluded  [Sept.  3,  1783],  the  Pope's  Nuncio  at 
Paris  made  overtures  to  Franklin,  on  the  subject  of  appointing  an  apostolic 
vicar  for  the  United  States.  The  matter  was  referred  to  Congress,  and  that 
body  properly  replied,  that  the  subject  being  purely  spiritual,  it  was  beyond 
their  control.  The  idea  of  entire  separation  between  the  State  and  spiritual 
governments — the  full  exercise  of  freedom  of  conscience — was  thus  early  enun- 


orders  conferred  by  kings  are  very  costly,  being  made  of  gold  and  silver,  and  precious  stones.     The 
picture  of  the  order  of  the  Cincinnati,  given  on  the  preceding  page,  is  half  the  size  of  the  original. 

1  Cincinnatus  was  a  noble  Roman  citizen.     When  the  Romans  were  menaced  with  destruction 
by  an  enemy,  the  Senate  appointed  delegates  to  invite  Cincinnatus  to  assume  the  chief  magistracy 
of  the  nation.     They  found  him  at  his  plow.     He  immediately  complied,  raised  an  army,  subdued 
the  enemy,  and,  after  bearing  the  almost  imperial  dignity  for  fourteen  days,  he  resigned  his  office, 
and  returned  to  his  plow.     How  like  Cincinnatus  were  Washington  and  his  compatriots  of  the  War 
ibr  Independence ! 

2  According  to  an  estimate  made  by  the  Register  of  the  Treasury  in  1790,  the  entire  cost  of  the 
War  for  Independence,  was  at  least  one  hundred  and  thirty  millions  of  dollars,  exclusive  of  vast  sums 
lost  by  individuals  and  the  several  States,  to  the  amount,  probably,  of  forty  millions  more.     The 
treasury  payments  amounted  to  almost  ninety-three  millions,  chiefly  in  continental  bills.    The  foreign 
debt  amounted  to  eight  millions  of  dollars ;  and  the  domestic  debt,  due  chiefly  to  the  officers  and 
soldiers  of  the  Revolution,  was  more  than  thirty  millions  of  dollars. 

3  Note  1,  page  267,  and  Supplement.  4  Page  266. 

23 


354 


THE    REVOLUTION. 


[1782. 


elated.  The  Pope  accordingly  appointed  John  Carroll,1  of  Maryland,  a  cousin 
of  Charles  Carroll,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  to  the 
high  office  of  Apostolic- Vicar.  He  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Baltimore,  and 
was  ultimately  made  Archbishop  of  the  United  States.  At  about  the  same 


time,  the  Church  of  England  in  America  sought  a  reorganization,  and  Samuel 
Seabury,  an  Episcopal  minister  of  New  London,  Connecticut,  at  the  request  of 
the  Churchmen  of  that  State,  proceeded  to  England  to  obtain  ordination  as 
bishop.  The  English  bishops  were  not  allowed  to  confer  the  dignity  unless  the 
recipient  would  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  king  of  England,  as  head  of 
the  Church.  This,  Seabury  (although  a  loyalist  during  the  war)  could  not  do, 
and  he  sought  and  obtained  ordination  from  Scotch  bishops.  Such  was  the 
commencement  of  the  two  most  prominent  prelatical  Churches  in  the  United 
States.  The  Methodist  Church,  which  has  since  flourished  so  wonderfully,  was 
then  just  taking  firm  root. 

1  John  Carroll  was  born  in  Maryland  in  1735,  and  at  the  age  of  thirteen  years,  was  sent  to 
Europe  to  be  educated.  He  was  ordained  a  priest  in  1769,  and  became  a  teacher  at  St.  Omer  and 
at  Liege.  "When  the  Jesuits  were  expelled  from  France,  he  went  to  England,  and  returned  to  his 
native  country  in  1775.  He  accompanied  a  Congressional  committee  to  Canada,  in  1776,  to  en 
deavor  to  persuade  that  Roman  Catholic  colony  to  join  the  others  in  the  revolt.  Throughout  the 
war  he  was  attached  to  the  Repulican  cause.  He  was  appointed  Vicar-General  in  1786,  and  was 
consecrated  a  bishop  in  1790.  He  was  made  archbishop  in  1808.  He  died  in  Baltimore  in  1815, 
at  the  age  of  eighty  years.  His  usual  signature  was  f  J.  Bish.  of  Baltimore. 


1789.]     CLOSING  EVENTS   OF   THE   WAR   FOR  INDEPENDENCE.     355 

For  a  long  time  it  had  been  clearly  perceived  that,  while  the  Articles  of 
Confederation  formed  a  sufficient  constitution  of  government  during  the  prog 
ress  of  the  war,  they  were  not  adapted  to  the  public  wants  in  the  new  condition 
of  an  independent  sovereignty  in  which  the  people  found  themselves.  There 
appeared  a  necessity  for  a  greater  centralization  of  power  by  which  the  general 
government  could  act  more  efficiently  for  the  public  good.  To  a  great  extent, 
the  people  lost  all  regard  for  the  authority  of  Congress,  and  the  commercial 
affairs  of  the  country  became  wretchedly  deranged.  In  truth,  every  thing 
seemed  to  be  tending  toward  utter  chaos,  soon  after  the  peace  in  1783, 1  and  the 
leading  minds  engaged  in  the  struggle  for  Independence,  in  view  of  the  increas 
ing  and  magnified  evils,  and  the  glaring  defects  of  the  Articles  of  Confedera 
tion,  were  turned  to  the  consideration  of  a  plan  for  a  closer  union  of  the  States, 
and  for  a  general  government  founded  on  the  principles  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  from  which  the  confederation  in  question  widely  departed. 

The  sagacious  mind  of  Washington  early  perceived,  with  intense  anxiety, 
the  tendency  toward  ruin  of  that  fair  fabric  which  his  wisdom  and  prowess  had 
helped  to  rear,  and  he  took  the  initial  step  toward  the  adoption  of  measures 
which  finally  resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  present  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.2  At  his  suggestion,  a  convention,  for  the  purpose  of  consulting  on  the 
best  means  of  remedying  the  defects  of  the  Federal  Government,  was  held  at 
Annapolis,  in  Maryland,  in  September,  1786.  Only  five  States  (Virginia. 
Delaware,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey  and  New  York)  were  represented.  They 
met  on  the  llth  of  that  month,  and  John  Dickenson3  was  chosen  chairman. 
They  finally  appointed  a  committee  to  prepare  a  draft  of  a  report  to  be  made  to 
the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States,  then  represented.  The  committee 
reported  on  the  14th,  but  there  not  being  a  representation  from  a  majority  of 
the  States,  it  was  thought  advisable  to  postpone  further  action.  They  adjourned, 
after  recommending  the  appointment  of  deputies  to  meet  in  convention  at 
Philadelphia,  in  May  following.  The  report  was  adopted  and  transmitted  to 
Congress.  On  the  21st  of  February,  1787,  a  committee  of  that  body,4  to  whom 
the  report  of  the  commissioners  was  referred,  reported  thereon,  and  strongly 
recommended  to  the  different  Legislatures  to  send  forward  delegates  to  meet  in 
the  proposed  convention  at  Philadelphia.  Propositions  were  made  by  delegates 
from  New  York  and  Massachusetts,  and  finally  the  following  resolution,  sub 
mitted  by  the  latter,  after  being  amended,  wras  agreed  to : 

"  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  Congress,  it  is  expedient  that  on  the 
second  Monday  in  May  next,  a  convention  of  delegates,  who  shall  have  been 
appointed  by  the  several  States,  be  held  at  Philadelphia,  for  the  sole  and 
express  purpose  of  revising  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  and  reporting  to 
Congress  and  the  several  Legislatures  such  alterations  and  provisions  therein 
as  shall,  when  agreed  to  in  Congress,  and  confirmed  by  the  States,  render  the 


1  Page  348.  2  Page  359.  3  Page  219. 

4  The  committee  consisted  of  Messrs.  Dana,  Varnum,  S.  M.  Mitchell,  Smith,  Cadwalader,  Irvine. 
N.  Mitchell,  Forest,  Grayson,  Blount,  Bull,  and  Few. 


356  THE    REVOLUTION.  [1782. 

Federal   Constitution  adequate  to  the  exigences  of  the  government  and  the 
preservation  of  the  Union. '; 

This  resolution,  with  a  preamble,  was  immediately  transmitted  to  the  several 
Speakers  of  State  Legislatives  Assemblies,  and  they  were  laid  before  the  repre 
sentatives  of  the  people  in  all  the  States  of  the  Confederacy.  While  a  feeling 
generally  prevailed,  that  something  must  be  done  to  avert  the  threatened  anarchy, 
toward  which  governmental  operations  were  rapidly  tending,  great  caution  was 
observed  in  the  delegation  of  powers  to  those  who  should  be  appointed  members 
of  the  proposed  convention.1  In  May,  1787,2  delegates  from  all  the  States, 
except  New  Hampshire  and  Rhode  Island,3  assembled  at  Philadelphia,  in  the 
room  where  Congress  was  in  session  when  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
adopted.4  Washington,  who  was  a  delegate  from  Virginia,  was,  on  motion  of 
Robert  Morris,  chosen  President.  Able  statesmen  were  his  associates,5  and  they 
entered  earnestly  upon  their  duties.  They  had  not  proceeded  far,  however, 
before  they  perceived  that  the  Articles  of  Confederation  were  so  radically 
defective,  and  their  powers  so  inadequate  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  country,  that, 
instead  of  trying  to  amend  that  old  code,  they  went  diligently  to  work  to  form 
a  new  Constitution.  For  some  time  they  made  but  little  progress.  There  were 


1  The  great  question  that  came  up  before  the  members,  at  the  very  commencement  of  the  session 
of  the  Convention,  was,  "  What  powers  do  we  possess  ?  Can  the  amendments  to  the  Articles  of 
Confederation  be  carried  so  far  as  to  establish  an  entirely  new  system  ?" 

3  The  day  fixed  for  the  assembling  of  the  Convention,  was  the  14th  of  May.  On  that  day,  del 
egates  from  only  half  the  States  were  present.  The  remainder  of  the  delegates  did  not  all  arrive 
before  the  25th. 

3  Ignorant  and  unprincipled  men,  who  were  willing  to  liquidate  public  and  private  debts  by  the 
agency  of  unstable  paper  money,  controlled  the  Assembly  of  Rhode  Island,  and  that  body  refused 
to  elect  delegates  to  the  Convention.  But  some  of  the  best  and  most  influential  men  in  the  State 
joined  in  sending  a  letter  to  the  Convention,  in  which  they  expressed  their  cordial  sympathy  with 
the  object  of  that  national  assembly,  and  promised  their  adhesion  to  whatever  the  majority  might 
propose.  The  following  are  the  names  of  the  delegates : 

New  Hampshire. — John  Langdon,  John  Pickering,  Nicholas  Gilman,  and  Benjamin  West. 

Massachusetts. — Francis  Dana,  Elbridge  Gerry,  Nathaniel  Gorham,  Rufus  King,  and  Caleb  Strong. 

Connecticut. — William  Samuel  Johnson,  Roger  Sherman,  and  Oliver  Ellsworth. 

New  York. — Robert  Yates,  John  Lansing,  Jr.,  and  Alexander  Hamilton. 

New  Jersey. — David  Brearley,  William  Churchill  Houston,  William  Paterson,  John  Neilson, 
William  Livingston,  Abraham  Clark,  and  Jonathan  Dayton. 

Pennsylvania. — Thomas  Mifflin,  Robert  Morris,  George  Clymer,  Jared  Ingersoll,  Thomas  Fitz- 
simmons,  James  Wilson,  Gouverneur  Morris,  and  Benjamin  Franklin. 

Delaware. — George  Reed,  Gunning  Bedford,  Jr.,  John  Dickenson,  Richard  Bassett,  and  Jacob 
Brown. 

Maryland. — James  M 'Henry,  Daniel  of  St.  Thomas  Jenifer,  Daniel  Carroll,  John  Francis  Mercer, 
and  Luther  Martin. 

Virginia. — George  Washington,  Patrick  Henry,  Edmund  Randolph,  John  Blair,  James  Madison, 
Jr..  George  Mason,  and  George  Wythe.  Patrick  Henry  having  declined  his  appointment,  James 
M'Clure  was  nominated  to  supply  his  place. 

North  Carolina. — Richard  Caswell,  Alexander  Martin,  William  Richardson  Davie,  Richard 
Dobbs  Spaight,  and  Willie  Jones.  Richard  Caswell  having  resigned,  William  Blount  was  appointed 
a  deputy  in  his  place.  Willie  Jones  having  also  declined  his  appointment,  his  place  was  supplied  by 
Hugh  Williamson. 

South  Carolina. — John  Rutledge,  Charles  Pinckey,  Charles  C.  Pinckney,  and  Pierce  Butler. 
Georgia. — William  Few,  Abraham  Baldwin,  William  Pierce,  George  Walton,  William  Houston, 
and  Nathaniel  Pendleton.  4  Page  250. 

6  The  members  who  were  most  conspicuous  as  debaters  in  the  Convention,  were  Randolph, 
Madison,  and  Mason,  of  Virginia;  King,  Gerry,  and  Gorham,  of  Massachusetts;  Gouverneur  Mor 
ris,  Wilson,  and  Dr.  Franklin,  of  Pennsylvania ;  Johnson,  Sherman,  and  Ellsworth,  of  Connecticut; 
Lansing  and  Hamilton,  of  New  York ;  the  two  Pinckneys,  of  South  Carolina ;  Paterson,  of  New 
Jersey;  Martin,  of  Maryland;  Dickenson,  of  Delaware;  arid  Dr.  Williamson,  of  North  Carolina, 


FRANKLIW  ix  THE  NATIOXAL  COXVEXITJX. 


TJSIVIRSITT; 


1789.]     CLOSING   EVENTS   OF   THE   WAR   FOR  INDEPENDENCE.      359 

great  diversities  of  opinion,1  and  it  seemed,  after  several  days,  that  the  conven 
tion  must,  of  necessity,  dissolve  without  accomplishing  any  thing.  Some  pro 
posed  a  final  adjournment.  At  this  momentous  crisis,  Dr.  Franklin  arose,  and 
said  to  the  President,  "How  has  it  happened,  sir,  that  while  groping  so  long 
in  the  dark,  divided  in  our  opinions,  and  now  ready  to  separate  without  accom 
plishing  the  great  objects  of  our  meeting,  that  we  have  hitherto  not  once  thought 
of  humbly  applying  to  the  Father  of  Lights  to  illuminate  our  understandings  ? 
In  the  beginning  of  the  contest  with  Britain,  when  we  were  sensible  of  danger, 
we  had  daily  prayers  in  this  room  for  divine  protection.  Our  prayers,  sir, 
were  heard,  and  graciously  answered."  After  a  few  more  remarks,  he  moved 
that  "henceforth,  prayers,  imploring  the  assistance  of  Heaven,  and  its  blessings 
on  our  deliberations,  be  held  in  this  Assembly  every  morning  before  we  proceed 
to  business."  The  resolution  was  not  adopted,  as  the  convention,  excepting 
three  or  four  members,  thought  prayers  unnecessary,  because  in  this  case  they 
would  be  merely  formal.  Objections  were  also  made,  because  there  were  no 
funds  to  defray  the  expenses  of  such  clerical  services. 

After  long  and  animated  debates,  the  Convention  referred  all  propositions, 
reports,  etc.,  which  had  been  agreed  to  from  time  to  time,  to  a  Committee  of 
Detail,  consisting  of  Rutledge,  Randolph,  Gorham,  Ellsworth,2  and  Wilson. 
The  Convention  then  adjourned,  and  ten  days  afterward  [August  6,  1787]  it 
met,  and  that  committee  reported  a  rough  sketch  of  the  Constitution,  as  it  now 
stands.  Now,  again,  long  and  sometimes  angry  debates  were  had.  Amend 
ments  were  made,  and  all  were  referred  to  a  committee  for  final  revision. 
That  committee  submitted  the  following  resolution  on  the  12th  of  September, 
which  was  adopted : 

1  Edmund  Randolph  submitted  a  plan  on  the  29th  of  May,  in  a  series  of  Resolutions,  which  was 
known  as  the  "  Virginia  Plan."     It  proposed  to  form  a  general  government,  composed  of  a  legislature, 
and  an  executive  and  judiciary  department ;  a  revenue,  and  an  army  and  navy,  independent  of  the 
control  of  the  several  States ;  to  have  power  to  conduct  war,  establish  peace,  and  make  treaties ;  to 
have  the  exclusive  privilege  of  coining  money,  and  the  general  supervision  of  all  national  trans 
actions.     Upon  general  principles,  this  plan  was  highly  approved ;  but  in  that  Convention  there 
were  many  ardent  and  pure  patriots,  who  looked  upon  the  preservation  of  the  State  sovereignties 
as  essential,  and  regarded  this  proposition  as  an  infringement  upon  State  Rights.     Mr.  Paterson 
also  submitted  a  plan  for  amending  the  Articks  of  Confederation.     It  proposed  to  enlarge  the 
powers  of  Congress,  but  left  its  resources  and  supplies  to  be  found  through  the  medium  of  the  State 
governments.     This  was  one  of  the  most  serious  defects  of  the  old  Leagae — a  dependence  of  the 
general  government  upon  the  State  governments  for  its  vitality.     Other  propositions  were  submitted 
from  time  to  time,  and  the  most  intense  solicitude  was  felt  by  every  member.     Subjects  of  the  most 
vital  interest  were  ably  discussed,  from  day  to  day ;  but  none  created  more  earnest  debate  than  a 
proposition  for  the  general  government  to  assume  the  debts  of  the  States  contracted  in  providing 
means  for  carrying  on  the  war.     The  debts  of  the  several  States  were  unequal.     Those  of  Massa 
chusetts  and  South  Carolina  amounted  to  more  than  ten  millions  and  a  half  of  dollars,  while  the 
debts  of  all  the  other  States  did  not  extend,  in  the  aggregate,  to  fifteen  millions.     This  assumption 
was  finally  made,  to  the  amount  of  twenty-one  millions  five  hundred  thousand   dollars.     See 
page  370. 

2  Oliver  Ellsworth  was  one  of  the  soundest  men  in  the  Convention,  and  was  ever  one  of  the 
most  beloved  of  the  New  England  patriots.     He  was  born  in  Windsor,  Connecticut,  in  April,  1745. 
He  was  educated  at  Yale  College,  and  at  Princeton,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  he  commenced 
the  practice  of  law  at  Hartford.      He  was  an  eloquent  speaker,  and  became  very  eminent  in  his 
profession.     He  was  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  in  1777,  and  in  1784  he  was  appointed 
Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Connecticut.     He  was  the  first  United  States  senator  from  Connect 
icut,  under  the  new  Constitution,  and  in  1796  he  was  appointed  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States. 
He  was  an  embassador  to  the  French  court  from  1799  to  1801.     He  died  in  November,  1807,  at 
the  age  of  sixty -two  years.     See  next  page. 


360  THE     REVOLUTION.  [1782. 

"  Resolved  unanimously.  That  the  said  report,  with  the  resolutions  and 
letters  accompanying  the  same,  be  transmitted  to  the  several  Legislatures,  in 
order  to  be  submitted  to  a  convention  of  delegates  chosen  in  each  State  by 
the  people  thereof,  in  conformity  to  the  resolves  of  the  Convention,  made  and 
provided,  in  that  case." 


The  new  Constitution,  when  submitted  to  the  people,1  found  many  and  able 
opposers.  State  supremacy,  sectional  interests,  radical  democracy,  all  had  nu 
merous  friends,  and  these  formed  the  phalanx  of  opposition.  All  the  persuasive 
eloquence  of  its  advocates,  with  pen  and  speech,  was  needed  to  convince  the 
people  of  its  superiority  to  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  and  the  necessity  for 
its  ratification.  Among  its  ablest  supporters  was  Alexander  Hamilton,2  whose 

1  The  Convention  agreed  to  the  revised  Constitution  "on  the  15th  of  September,  and  on  the  17th 
it  was  signed  by  the  representatives  of  all  the  States  then  present,  except  Randolph,  Gerry,  and 
Mason.     The  Constitution  was  submitted  to  Congress  on  the  28th,  and  that  body  sent  copies  of  it 
to  all  the  State  Legislatures.     State  Conventions  were  then  called  to  consider  it ;  and  more  than  a 
year  elapsed  before  the  requisite  number  of  States  had  ratified  it.     These  performed  that  act  in  the 
following  order:  Delaware,  Dec.  7,  1787;  Pennsylvania,   Dec.  12,    1787;  New  Jersey,  Dec.  18, 
1787;  Georgia,  Jan.  2,  1788;  Connecticut,  Jan.  9,  1788;  Massachusetts,   Feb.  6,  1788;  Maryland, 
April  28,  1788;  South  Carolina,  May  23,  1788;  New  Hampshire,  June  21,   1788;  Virginia,  June 
26,  1788;  New  York,  July  26,  1788;  North  Carolina,  Nov.  21,   1788;  Rhode  Island,  May  29, 
1790. 

2  Alexander  Hamilton  was  born  on  the  Island  of  Nevis,  British  West  Indies,  in  January,  1757. 
He  was  of  Scotch  and  French  parentage.     He  became  a  clerk  to  a  New  York  merchant  at  St. 
Croix,  and  he  was  finally  brought  to  New  York  to  be  educated.    He  was  at  King's  (now  Columbia) 
College,  and  was  distinguished  as  a  good  speaker  and  writer,  while  yet  a  mere  lad.   When  the  Rev 
olution  broke  out,  he  espoused  the  Republican  cause,  entered  the  army,  became  "Washington's  favor 
ite  aid  and  secretary,  and  was  an  efficient  officer  until  its  close.     He  made  the  law  his  profession, 
and,  as  an  able  financier,  he  was  made  the  first  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  under  the  new  Constitu- 


1789.]     CLOSING  EVENTS  OP  THE  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.     361 

pen  and  sword  had  been  identified  with  the  career  of  Washington  during  almost 
the  whole  War  for  Independence.  He  gave  to  its  advocacy  the  whole  weight  of 
his  character  and  power  of  his  genms :  and,  aided  by  Jay  and  Madison,  he  scat 
tered  broadcast  among  the  people,  those  able  papers  called  Thi  Federalist. 
These,  like  Paine's  Crisis,  stirred  the  masses ;  and  soon  eleven  States,  in  Con 


vention  assembled,  gave  the  National  Constitution  their  support,  and  ratified 
it.  Congress  then  fixed  the  time  for  choosing  electors  for  President  and  Vice- 
President,1  and  provided  for  the  organization  of  the  new  government.  On 
Wednesday,  the  4th  day  of  March,  1789,  the  old  Continental  Congress2  ex 
pired,  and  the  NATIONAL  CONSTITUTION  became  the  organic  law  of  the 
Republic.  This  was  the  crowning  act  of  the  War  for  Independence,3  and 
then  the  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA  commenced  their  glorious  career  as  a 
powerful  empire  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 


tion.  He  was  shot  in  a  duel,  by  Aaron  Burr,  in  July,  1804,  at  the  early  age  of  forty-seven  years. 
His  widow,  daughter  of  General  Schuyler,  died  in  November,  1854,  in  the  ninety-seventh  year  of 
her  age. 

1  These  are  men  elected  by  the  people  in  the  various  States,  to  meet  and  choose  a  President  and 
Yice-President  of  the  United  States.     Their  number  is  equal  to  the  whole  number  of  Senators  and 
Representatives  to  which  the  several  States  are  entitled.    So  the  people  do  not  vote  directly  for  the 
Chief  Magistrate.     Formerly,  the  man  who  received  the  highest  number  of  votes  was  declared  to 
be  President,  and  he  who  received  the  next  highest  number  was  proclaimed  Vice- President.     Now 
these  are  voted  for  as  distinct  candidates  for  separate  offices.    See  Article  II.  of  the  National  Con 
stitution,  Supplement.  The  first  electors  were  chosen  on  the  first  Wednesday  in  February,  1789.  The 
inauguration  of  the  first  President  did  not  take  place  [page  3G6]  until  the  30th  of  April  following. 

2  Page  226. 

3  For  details  of  the  history,  biography,  scenery,  relics,  and  traditions  of  the  War  for  Independ 
ence,  see  Lossing's  Pictorial  *Field  Book  of  the  Revolution. 


362 


THE    REVOLUTION. 


[1782. 


Congress  was  in  session  at  New  York  while  the  Convention  at  Philadelphia 
was  busy  in  preparing  the  National  Constitution.  During  that  time  it  disposed 
of  the  subject  of  organizing  a  Territorial  Government  for  the  vast  region  north 
ward  of  the  Ohio  River,  within  the  domain  of  the  United  States.1  On  the  llth 
of  July,  1787,  a  committee  of  Congress  reported  "  An  Ordinance  for  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States  North-west  of  the  Ohio."  This 


report  embodied  a  bill,  whose  provisions  in  regard  to  personal  liberty  and  distri 
bution  of  property,  were  very  important.  It  contained  a  special  proviso  that 
the  estates  of  all  persons  dying  intestate,  in  the  territory,  should  be  equally 
divided  among  all  the  children,  or  next  of  kin  in  equal  degree,  thus  striking 
down  the  unjust  law  of  primogeniture,  and  asserting  a  more  republican  prin 
ciple.  The  bill,  also,  provided  and  declared,  that  "  there  shall  be  neither 
slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  in  the  'said  territory,  otherwise  than  in  the 
punishment  of  crimes  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted."  This 
ordinance  was  adopted  on  the  13th,  after  adding  a  clause  relative  to  the  reclam 
ation  of  fugitives  from  labor,  similar  to  that  incorporated  in  the  National  Con 
stitution  a  few  weeks  later.2 

This  ordinance,  together  with  the  fact  that  Indian  titles  to  seventeen  mil 
lions  of  acres  of  land  in  that  region,  had  been  lately  extinguished  by  treaty 


Page  390. 


See  the  National  Constitution,  Article  IV..  Section  2,  Clause  3 


1789.]      CLOSING  EVENTS   OF  THE   WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.     363 

with  several  of  the  dusky  tribes,1  caused  a  sudden  and  great  influx  of  immi 
grants  into  the  country  along  the  northern  banks  of  the  Ohio.  Manasseh  Cut 
ler,  Rufus  Putnam,  Winthrop  Sargent,  and  other  New  Englanders,  organized 
the  "  Ohio  Company,"  and  entered  into  a  contract  for  the  sale  of  a  tract  of  five 
millions  of  acres,  extending  along  the  Ohio  from  the  Muskingum  to  the  Scioto.2 
A  similar  contract  was  entered  into  with  John  Cleves  Symmes,  of  New  Jersey, 
for  the  sale  of  two  millions  of  acres,  between  the  Great  and  Little  Miamis. 
These  were  the  first  steps  taken  toward  the  settlement  of  the  vast  North-ivest 
Territory,  which  embraced  the  present  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Mich 
igan,  and  Wisconsin.  It  was  estimated  that,  during  the  year  following  the 
organization  of  that  Territory  [1788],  full  twenty  thousand  men,  women,  and 
children  had  passed  down  the  Ohio  River,  to  become  settlers  upon  its  banks. 
Since,  then,  how  wonderful  has  been  the  progress  of  settlement  beyond  the 
Alleghanies  !  How  wide  and  deep  has  been  the  ever-flowing  tide  of  emigration 
thither!  The  original  THIRTEEN  STATES  have  now  [1867]  expanded  into 
THIRTY-EIGHT,  and  vast  territories,  destined  to'  become  numerous  other  States, 
are  rapidly  filling  with  people.3 


1  The  Six  Nations  [page  25],  the  "Wyandots  [page  23],  tho  Delawares  [page  20],  and  the 
Shawnees  [page  19]. 

8  Rufus  Putnam,  who  had  been  an  active  officer  during  the  "War  for  Independence,  was  one  of 
the  most  efficient  of  the  Ohio  settlers.  He  was  born  in  Worcester  county,  Massachusetts,  in  1738. 
He  entered  the  provincial  army  in  1757,  and  continued  in  service  during  the  remainder  of  the 
French  and  Indian  "War.  He  entered  the  army  of  the  Revolution  in  1775,  and  at  near  the  close  of 
the  war,  he  was  promoted  to  brigadier-general  He  went  to  the  Ohio  country,  with  abcut  forty 
settlers,  in  1788.  They  pitched  their  tents  at  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum  River,  formed  a  settle 
ment,  and  called  it  Marietta.  Suspicious  of  the  Indians,  they  built  a  stockade,  and  called  it  Campus 
Martins.  In  1780,  President  "Washington  commissioned  General  Putnam  Supreme  Judge  of  the  North 
west  Territory ;  and  in  1792,  he  was  appointed  a  brigadier,  under  Wayne.  He  was  appointed  sur 
veyor-general  of  the  United  States  in  1796;  helped  to  frame  the  Constitution  of  Ohio  in  1802  ;  and 
then  retired  to  private  life.  He  died  at  Marietta  in  1824.  at  the  age  oi'  eighty-six  years.  He  is 
called  the  FATHER  OF  OHIO. 

3  The  following  table  gives  the  names,  in  alphabetical  order,  of  the  States  that  compose  the 
Republic,  at  this  tune  [1867],  with  the  area  of  each  in  square  miles,  and  its  population  in  1860: 


STATES.  AREA.               POPULATION. 

Alabama. 50,722  ....  964,201 

Arkansas 52,198  ....  485.450 

California 188,981  ....  379,994 

Colorado 104,500  ....  34,277 

Connecticut 4,750  ....  460,14', 

Delaware 2,120  ...  112,21 15 

Florida 59,248  ....  140,424 

Georgia 58,000  ....  1,057,286 

Illinois 55,410  ....  1,711,951 

Indiana 33,809  ....  1,350,423 

lowa    55,045  ....  674,699 

Kansas 81,318  ....  107,206 

Kentucky  ...   37,680  ....  1,155,684 

Louisiana 41,346  ....  709,002 

Maine 35,000  .     .  628,279 

Maryland 11,124  ....  687,049 

Massachusetts 7,800  ....  1,281,066 

Michigan 56,451  ....  749,113 

Minnesota 83,531  ....  172,OJ3 


STATES. 


AREA. 


Mississippi ,  47,156 

Missouri , . . , .  65,350 

Nebraska 75,995 

Nevada...- .  81,539 

New  Hampshire 9  280 

New  Jersey 8,320 

New  York 47,000 

North  Carolina 50.704 

Ohio 39,964 

Oregon 95,274 

Pennsylvania 46,000 

Rhode"  Island 1.300 

South  Carolina 34.000 

Tennessee 45.600 

Texas 274,356 

Vermont 10,212 

Virginia 38.352  ) 

West  Virginia.   23,000  j 

Wisconsin 53,924 


POPULATION. 
791,395 
1.182.012 
28,841 
6.857 
326,073 
672.035 
3,880.735 
992.6.22 
2,339.502 
52,465 
2,906,115 
174,020 
703,708 
1,109.801 
604,215 
315,098 

1,596,318 
775,871 


Total 2,066,863  31,218,778 

There  are  also  eight  organized  Territories  in  which  population  is  r-apidly  increasing.  These 
are  Arizona,  Dakotah,  Idaho,  Montana,  Nebraska,  New  Mexico,  Utah,  and  Washington.  The 
aggregate  area  of  these  Territories  is  935.650  square  miles;  and  the  aggregate  population,  in  1860, 
was  211,113;  making  the  grand  total  of  the  area  of  the  Republic  3,002,013,  and  of  population, 
31,429,891.  The  population  at  this  time  [June,  1867]  is  probably  about  40,000,000. 


INAUGURATION     OF    WASHINGTON. 

SIXTH      PERIOD. 

THE  NATION". 

CHAPTEK    I. 

WASHINGTON'S   ADMINISTRATION. 

1789—1797. 


GOUVERNEUR  MORRIS. 


the  National  Constitution1-  had 
received  the  approval  of  the  people,  and 
was  made  the  supreme  law  of  the  Repub 
lic,  all  minds  and  hearts  seemed  spontaneously  turned  toward  Washington  as 
the  best  man  to  perform  the  responsible  duties  of  chief  magistrate  of  the  nation. 
On  the  6th  of  April,  1789,  he  was  chosen  President  of  the  United  States  by 
the  unanimous  vote  of  the  electors,2  and  John  Adams  was  made  Vice-President. 
The  journey  of  Washington  from  Mount  Yernon  to  New  York,  was  like  a 
triumphal  march.  He  had  scarcely  left  his  porter's  lodge,  when  he  was  met 
by  a  company  of  gentlemen  from  Alexandria,  who  escorted  him  to  that  town. 
Everywhere  the  people  gathered  to  see  him  as  he  passed  along  the  road.  Towns 
sent  out  committees  to  receive  him,  and  public  addresses  and  entertainments 


1  We  have  observed  that  Gouverneur  Morris  was  one  of  the  committee  to  make  the  final  revision 
of  the  Constitution.  The  committee  placed  it  in  his  hands,  and  that  instrument,  in  language  and 
general  arrangement,  is  the  work  of  that  eminent  man.  Gouverneur  Morris  was  born  near  New 
York,  in  1752.  He  was  a  lawyer,  and  was  always  active  in  public  life.  In  1792  he  was  appointed 
miirster  to  France,  and  after  his  return  he  was  a  legislator  for  many  years.  He  died  in  1816. 

8  Note  1,  page  361. 


1739.] 


WASHINGTON'S    ADMINISTRATION. 


365 


were  given  in  his  honor,  in  many  places.  Militia  companies  escorted  him  from 
place  to  place,  and  firing  of  cannons  and  ringing  of  bells,  announced  his  approach 
to  the  large  towns.  At  Trenton,  his  reception  was  peculiar  and  gratifying.  It 
was  arranged  by  the  ladies.  Over  Trenton  bridge  an  arch  was  thrown,  which 
was  adorned  with  laurel  leaves  and  flowers  from  the  conservatories.  Upon  tho 


crown,  and  formed  of  leaves  and  flowers,  were  the  words,  "  DECEMBER  26, 
1776 ;"  1  and  on  the  sweep  beneath  was  the  sentence,  also  formed  of  flowers  : 
"THE  DEFENDER  OF  THE  MOTHERS  WILL  BE  THE  PROTECTOR  OF  THE 
DAUGHTERS."  Beneath  that  arch  the  President  was  met  by  a  troupe  of 
females.  As  he  approached,  a  group  of  little  girls,  bearing  each  a  basket, 
commenced  strewing  flowers  in  the  road,  and  the  whole  company,  young  and 
old,  joined  in  singing  the  following  ode,  written  for  the  occasion  by  Governor 
Howell : 

"  Welcome,  mighty  chief,  once  moro 
Welcome  to  this  grateful  shore. 
Now  no  mercenary  foe 
Aims  again  the  fatal  blow — 

Aims  at  THEE  the  fatal  blow. 
Virgins  fair  and  matrons  grave, 
Those  thy  conquering  arm  did  save, 
Build  for  THEE  triumphal  bowers — 
Strew  your  HERO'S  way  with  flowers!" 

1  Page  262. 


366 


THE     NATION. 


[1789. 


Washington  reached  New  York  on  the  28d  of  April,  1789.  On  the 
30th  he  appeared  upon  the  street-gallery  of  the  old  City  Hall1  in  New  York, 
and  there,  in  the  presence  of  an  immense  concourse  of  people  assembled  in 
front,  the  oath  of  office  was  administered  to  him  by  Chancellor  Livingston.' 


After  delivering  an  impressive  address  to  the  members  of  both  Houses  of  Con 
gress,  the  President  and  the  representatives  of  the  people  went  in  solemn  pro 
cession  to  St.  Paul's  Church,  and  there  invoked  the  blessings  of  the  Supreme 
Ruler  upon  the  new  government  just  inaugurated. 

Men  were  never  called  upon  to  perform  duties  of  greater  responsibility,  than 
those  which  demanded  the  consideration  of  Washington  and  his  compeers.  The 
first  session  of  Congress3  was  chiefly  occupied  in  the  organization  of  the  new 
government,  and  in  the  elaborating  of  schemes  for  the  future  prosperity  of  the 
Republic.  The  earliest  efforts  of  that  body  were  directed  to  the  arrangement 
of  a  system  of  revenues,  in  order  to  adjust  and  regulate  the  wretched  financial 

1  It  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  Custom  House,  corner  of  Wall  and  Broad-streets.     In  the 
picture  on  page  364,  a  correct  representation  of  its  street-gallery  is  given. 

2  One  of  the  committee  [note  2,  page  251]  to  draft  the  Declaration  of  Independence.     He  was 
born  in  New  York  in  1747,  became  a  lawyer,  and  was  always  an  active  public  man.     He  was 
minister  to  France  in  1801,  when  he  purchased  Louisiana  for  the  United  States.     See  page  390.    He 
joined  Robert  Fulton  in  steamboat  experiments  [page  398J,  and  died  in  1813. 

3  Members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  are  elected  to  seats  for  two  years,  and  they 
usually  hold  two  sessions  or  sittings  during  that  time.     Each  full  term  is  called  a  Congress 
There  are  usually  two  sessions  of  each  Congress,  both  commencing  on  the  first  Monday  in  De 
cember,  and  the  last  ending  on  the  3d  of  March.     Senators  are  elected  by  the  State  Legislature. 


1797.]  WASHINGTON'S    ADMINISTRATION.  3(57 

affairs  of  the  country.1  This  subject  was  brought  forward  by  Madison,2  the 
tacitly  acknowledged  leader  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  two  days  after  the 
votes  for  President  and  Vice-President  had  been  counted.  Pursuant  to  his  sug 
gestion,  tonnage  duties  were  levied,  and  also  a  tariff,  or  duties  upon  foreign 
goods  imported  into  the  United  States.  These  duties  were  made  favorable  to 
American  shipping.  This  was  the  commencement  of  our  present,  though  con 
siderably  modified,  revenue  system. 

Having  made  provision  for  the  collection  of  revenue,  Congress  next  turned 
its  attention  to  the  reorganization  of  the  executive  departments.  Three — Treas 
ury,  War,  and  Foreign  Affairs — were  created,  the  heads  of  which  were  to  be 
styled  secretaries,  instead  of  ministers,  as  in  Europe.  These  the  President 
might  appoint  or  dismiss  with  the  concurrence  of  the  Senate.  They  were  to 
constitute  a  cabinet  council,1  always  ready  for  consultation  with  the  President, 
on  public  affairs,  and  bound  to  give  him  their  opinions  in  writing,  when 
required. 

It  may  be  instructive  to  take  a  brief  retrospective  view  of  the  progress  of 
legislative  action  concerning  the  commerce  of  the  United  States  from  the  close 
of  the  Revolution  until  the  time  in  question.  In  March,  1783,  the  younger 
Pitt3  proposed  in  the  British  Parliament,  a  scheme  for  the  temporary  regulation 
of  commercial  intercourse  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  Its 
chief  feature  was  the  free  admission  into  the  British  West  India  ports  of  American 
vessels  laden  with  the  products  of  American  industry — the  West  India  people, 
in  turn,  to  be  allowed  like  free  trade  with  the  United  States.  The  proposition 
was  rejected,  and  soon  an  order  went  forth  from  the  Privy  Council,4  for  the 
entire  exclusion  of  American  vessels  from  West  India  ports,  and  prohibiting  the 
importation  there  of  several  products  of  the  United  States,  even  in  British  bot 
toms.  Notwithstanding  this  unwise  and  narrow  policy  was  put  in  force,  Mr. 
Adams,  the  American  minister  at  the  court  of  St.  James,  proposed,  in  1785, 
to  place  the  navigation  and  trade  between  all  the  dominions  of  the  British  crown 
and  all  the  territories  of  the  United  States,  upon  a  basis  of  .perfect  reciprocity. 
This  generous  offer  was  not  only  declined,  but  the  minister  was  haughtily 
assured  that  no  other  would  be  entertained.  Whereupon  Mr.  Adams  imme 
diately  recommended  the  United  States  to  pass  navigation  acts  for  the  benefit 
of  their  commerce. 

Some  individual  States  attempted  to  legislate  upon  commercial  matters 
and  the  subject  of  duties  for  revenue,  but  their  efforts  were  comparatively 
fruitless.  The  importance  of  having  the  united  action  of  all  the  States,  in 
framing  general  navigation  la,ws,  was  clearly  perceived,  and  this  perception  was 
one  of  the  chief  causes  which  led  to  the  Convention  that  formed  the  National 
Constitution.5  The  new  government  was  inaugurated  in  due  time,  and,  as  we 
have  mentioned,  the  earliest  efforts  of  Congress,  under  the  new  order  of  things, 
were  the  consideration  of  schemes  for  imposing  discriminating  duties.6  These 


1  Page  353.  *  Note  5,  page  356.  s  Page  217. 

4  Note  1,  page  400.  6  Page  355.  6  Page  366. 


368  THE    NATION.  [1789. 

measures  immediately  opened  the  blind  eyes  of  British  legislators  to  the  neces 
sity  of  a  reciprocity  in  trade  between  the  two  countries.  They  saw  that  Amer 
ican  commerce  was  no  longer  at  the  mercy  of  thirteen  distinct  legislative  bodies, 
as  under  the  old  Confederation,  nor  subject  to  the  control  of  the  king  and  his 
council.  They  perceived  that  its  interests  were  guarded  and  its  strength  nur 
tured,  by  a  central  power,  of  wonderful  energy,  and  soon  haughty  Britain 
became  the  suppliant.  Soon  after  the  passage  of  the  revenue  laws  by  Con 
gress,  a  committee  of  Parliament  proposed  to  ask  the  United  States  to  con 
sent  to  an  arrangement  precisely  the  same  as  that  suggested  by  Mr.  Adams, 
six  years  before,  which  was  so  scornfully  rejected.  The  proposition  was  met 
by  generous  courtesy  on  the  part  of  the  United  States ;  yet  it  was  not  until 
1816,  when  the  second  war  for  Independence1  had  been  some  time  closed,  that 
reciprocity  treaties  fairly  regulated  the  commerce  between  the  two  countries. 

During  the  period  here  referred  to,  another  great  commercial  interest,  then 
in  embryo,  was  under  contemplation  and  discussion,  by  a  few  men  of  forecast. 
It  was  that  of  the  production  of  COTTON.  Primarily  it  is  an  agricultural  inte 
rest,  but  now,  when  a  large  portion  of  the  cotton  used  in  Europe  is  grown 
in  the  United  States,  it  has  become  a  great  commercial  interest.  Among  the  first 
and  most  powerful  advocates  of  the  cultivation  of  this  plant,  was  Tench  Coxe,2  of 
Philadelphia,  who,  as  early  as  1785,  when  he  was  only  thirty  years  of  age,  pub 
lished  the  fact  that  he  "  felt  pleasing  convictions  that  the  United  States,  in  its 
extensive  regions  south  of  Anne  Arundel  and  Talbot  counties,  Maryland,  would 
certainly  become  a  great  cotton-producing  country."  And  while  the  National 
Convention  was  in  session  in  Philadelphia,  in  1787, 3  Mr.  Coxe  delivered  a  powerful 
public  address  on  that  and  kindred  subjects,  having  for  his  obj  ect  the  establishment 
of  a  society  for  the  encouragement  of  manufactures  and  the  useful  arts.  Before 
that  time,  not  a  bale  of  cotton  had  ever  been  exported  from  the  United  States 
to  any  other  country,  and  no  planter  had  adopted  its  cultivation,  as  a  "  crop."  4 

The  Senate  was  engaged  upon  the  important  matter  of  a  National  judiciary, 
while  the  House  was  employed  on  the  Revenue  bills.  A  plan,  embodied  in  a 
bill  drafted  by  Ellsworth  of  Connecticut,6  was,  after  several  amendments,  con 
curred  in  by  both  Houses.  By  its  provisions,  a  national  judiciary  was  estab 
lished,  consisting  of  a  supreme  court,  having  one  chief  justice,  and  five  associate 

1  Page  409. 

a  Tench  Coxe  Was  born  in  Philadelphia,  in  May,  1755,  and,  as  we  have  mentioned  in  the  text, 
was  one  of  the  earliest  advocates  of  the  cotton  culture.  From  1787  until  his  death,  there  wag 
never  an  important  industrial  movement  in  which  he  was  not  greatly  interested,  or  in  which  his 
name  did  not  appear  prominent.  In  1794,  while  he  was  the  Commissioner  of  Eevenue,  at  Phila 
delphia,  he  published  a  large  octavo  volume,  containing  his  views,  as  expressed  in  speech  and 
writing,  on  the  subject  of  the  cotton  culture.  In  1806,  he  published  an  essay  on  naval  power 
and  the  encouragement  of  manufactures.  The  following  year  he  published  an  essay  on  the  culti 
vation  of  cotton,  and  from  time  to  time  thereafter,  he  wrote  and  published  his  views  on  these 
subjects.  He  died  in  July,  1824,  at  the  age  of  more  than  sixty-eight  years.  See  next  page. 

3  Page  356. 

*  It  has  been  estimated  that  the  entire  produce  of  cotton,  in  all  countries,  in  1791,  was  four  hun 
dred  and  ninety  millions  of  pounds,  and  that  the  United  States  produced  only  one  twenty-fifth  of 
the  entire  quantity.  In  the  years  1859-60,  the  ten  cotton-growing  States  of  the  Union  produced 
four  millions,  six  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand,  seven  hundred  and  seventy  bales,  of  four 
hundred  pounds  each,  making  an  aggregate  of  1,870,680,000  pounds.  The  whole  world  did  not 
produce  as  much  cotton  as  this,  annually,  previous  to  the  year  1840.  5  Page  3 GO. 


1797.] 


WASHINGTON'S    ADMINISTRATION. 


369 


justices,  who  were  to  hold  two  sessions  annually,  at  the  seat  of  the  National 
Government.1  Circuit  and  district  courts  were  also  established,  which  had  ju 
risdiction  over  certain  specified  cases.  Each  State  was  made  a  district,  as  were 
also  the  Territories  of  Kentucky2  and  Maine.3  The  districts,  except  Kentucky 


and  Maine,  were  grouped  together  into  three  circuits.  An  appeal  from  these 
lower  courts  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  was  allowed,  as  to 
points  of  law,  in  all  civil  cases  when  the  matter  in  dispute  amounted  to  two 
thousand  dollars.  A  marshal  was  to  be  appointed  by  the  President,  for  each 
district,  having  the  general  powers  of  a  sheriff,  who  was  to  attend  all  courts, 
and  was  authorized  to  serve  all  processes.  A  district  attorney,  to  act  for  the 
United  States  in  all  cases  in  which  tlie  National  Government  might  be  inter 
ested,  was  also  to  be  appointed  for  each  district.  Such,  in  brief  outline,  and 
in  general  terms,  was  the  National  judiciary,  organized  at  the  commencement 
of  the  Government,  and  still  in  force,  with  slight  modifications. 

The  next  business  of  importance  that  engaged  the  attention  of  Congress, 


1  John  Jay  [page  379]  of  New  York,  one  of  the  most  active  and  acute  lawyers  in  the  country, 
was  apppointed  the  first  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States ;  and  Edmund  Randolph,  of  Virginia, 
was  made  Attorney-General.  Randolph  succeeded  Patrick  Henry  as  governor  of  Virginia,  in  1786, 
andivas  very  active  in  the  Convention  of  1787.  See  note  1,  page  359.  He  succeeded  Jefferson  as 
Secretary  of  State,  and  died  in  1813.  John  Rutledge  [page  210],  of  South  Carolina ;  James  Wilson, 
of  Pennsylvania;  William  Gushing,  of  Massachusetts ;  Robert  H.  Harrison,  of  Maryland;  and  John 
Blair,  of  Virginia,  were  appointed  associate  judges.  2  Page  377.  3  Page  452. 

24 


370  THE     NATION".  [1789. 

was  the  proposed  amendments  to  the  National  Constitution,  made  by  the  minor 
ities  of  the  several  conventions  which  ratified  that  instrument.  This  subject 
was  brought  forward  bj  Madison,  in  justice  to  these  minorities,  and  pursuant 
to  pledges  which  he  had  found  it  necessary  to  give,  in  order  to  secure  its  ratifi 
cation  in  Virginia.  These  amounted,  in  the  aggregate,  to  one  hundred  and 
forty-seven,1  besides  separate  bills  of  rights  proposed  by  Virginia  and  New 
York.  Many  of  these  amendments  were  identical  in  spirit,  as,  for  example,  the 
nine  propositions  by  Massachusetts  were  repeated  by  New  Hampshire.  And  it 
is  a  singular  fact,  that  of  all  the  proposed  amendments,  not  one.  judged  by  sub 
sequent  experience,  was  of  a  vital  character.  How  well  this  illustrates  the 
profound  wisdom  embodied  in  our  Constitution !  Sixteen  amendments  were 
finally  agreed  to  by  Congress,  ten  of  which  were  subsequently  ratified  by  the 
States,  and  became  a  part  of  the  Supreme  Law.2  After  a  session  of  almost 
six  months,  Congress  adjourned,3  on  the  29th  of  September  [1789J,  and  Wash 
ington,  having  appointed  his  cabinet  council,4  made  a  brief  tour  through  the 
northern  and  eastern  States,  to  make  himself  better  acquainted  with  the  people 
and  their  resources.5 

On  the  8th  of  January,  1790,  the  second  session  of  the  first  Congress  com 
menced,  during  which  Alexander  Hamilton,6  the  first  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
made  some  of  those  able  financial  reports  which  established  the  general  line  of 
national  policy  for  more  than  twenty  years.  On  his  recommendation,  the  gen 
eral  government  assumed  the  public  foreign  and  domestic  debt  incurred  by  the 
late  war,7  and  also  the  State  debts  contracted  during  that  period.  The  foreign 
debt,  including  interest,  due  to  France  and  to  private  lenders  in  Holland,  with 
a  small  sum  to  Spain,  amounted  to  $11,710,378.  The  domestic  debt,  regis 
tered  and  unregistered,  including  interest,  and  some  claims,  principally  the  out 
standing  continental  money,8  amounted  to  $42.414,085.  Nearly  one  third  of 
this  was  the  arrears  of  interest.  As  the  government  certificates,  continental 


1  The  minority  of  the  Pennsylvania  Convention  proposed  14;  of  Massachusetts,  9;  of  Maryland, 
23;  of  South  Carolina,  4;  of  New  Hampshire,  12;  of  Virginia,  20;  of  New  York,  32. 

2  See  Supplement. 

3  A  few  days  before  the  adjournment,  a  resolution  was  adopted,  requesting  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  recommend  a  day  of  public  thanksgiving  and  prayer,  to  be  observed  by  the  people 
of  the  nation,  in  acknowledgment  of  the  many  signal  favors  of  the  Almighty,  in  permitting  them  to 

establish,  in  peace,  a  free  government. 

4  Alexander  Hamilton  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ; 
Henry  Knox,  Secretary  of  War;  and  Thomas  Jefferson,  Secretary 
of  Foreign  Affairs.  Jefferson  was  then  United  States  minister  at  the 
court  of  France,  and  did  not  enter  upon  his  duties  until  March,  1790. 
The  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Navy  was  not  created  until  the  pres 
idency  of  Mr.  Adams.  Naval  affairs  were  under  the  control  of  the 
Secretary  of  "War.  General  Knox  was  one  of  the  most  efficient 
officers  of  the  Revolution,  having,  from  the  beginning,  the  chief  com 
mand  of  the  artillery.  He  entered  the  army  as  captain  of  artillery, 
and  rose  to  the  rank  of  major-general.  Note  4,  page  350. 

6  "Washington  was  everywhere  received  with  great  honors ;  and 
Trumbull,  author  of  APFingal,  wrote  to  his  friend,  Oliver  "Wolcott : 

GENERAL  KNOX.  "  "We  have  gone  through  all  the  popish  grades  of  worship ;  and  the 

President  returns  all  fragrant  with  the  odor  of  incense." 

Note  2,  page  360. 

Note  2,  page  253.     In  that  note  the  amount  given  is  foe  principal,  without  the  interest. 

Page  245. 


1797.]  WASHINGTON'S     ADMINISTRATION.  371 

bills,  and  other  evidences  of  debt,  were  now  held  chiefly  by  speculators,  who 
had  purchased  them  at  reduced  rates,  the  idea  had  been  put  forth  by  prominent 
men,  that  it  would  be  proper  and  expedient  to  apply  a  scale  of  depreciation,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  paper  money  toward  the  close  of  the  war,  1  in  liquidating  these 
claims.  But  Hamilton  opposed  it  as  dishonest  and  impolitic,  arguing,  in  sup 
port  of  the  latter  objection,  that  public  credit  was  essential  to  the  new  Federal 
Government.  He  therefore  urged  that  all  the  debts  of  the  government  should 
be  met  according  to  the  terms  of  the  contract.  He  proposed  the  funding  of  the 
public  debt,  in  a  fair  and  economical  way,  by  which  the  public  creditors  should 
receive  their  promised  six  per  cent,  interest,  until  the  Government  should  be 
able  to  pay  the  principal,  the  Secretary  assuming  that,  in  five  years,  the 
United  States  might  eflect  loans  at  five,  and  even  at  four  per  cent.,  with  which 
these  claims  might  be  liquidated.  He  proposed  to  have  the  proceeds  of  the 
post-office2  as  a  sinking  fund,  for  the  gradual  extinction  of  the  debt.  After 
much  debate,  the  propositions  of  Hamilton,  in  general,  were  agreed  to  by  Con 
gress,  on  the  9th  of  March,  1790.  3  A  system  of  revenue  from  imposts  and 
internal  excise,  proposed  by  Hamilton,  was  also  adopted.  A  petition  from 
the  Society  of  Friends,  or  Quakers,  presented  on  the  llth  of  February,  on  the 
subject  of  slavery,  caused  long,  and,  sometimes,  acrimonious  debates.  An  act 
was  also  passed,  during  this  session,  making  the  District  of  Columbia  the  per 
manent  seat  of  the  National  Government,  after  the  lapse  often  years  from  that 


The  First  Congress  commenced  its  third  session4  in  December,  1790,  and 
before  its  close,  measures  were  adopted  which  laid  the  foundations  of  public 
credit  and  national  prosperity,  deep  and  abiding.  During  the  two  years  in 
which  the  new  government  had  been  engaged  in  the  business  of  organization,  a 
competent  revenue  had  been  provided  for  ;  the  public  debt,  national  and  State, 
had  been  funded,  and  the  interest  thereon  had  been  provided  for  ;  a  national 
judiciary,  wise  in  all  its  features,  had  been  established;  and  the  nation,  in 
its  own  estimation  and  that  of  other  States  of  the  world,  had  taken  a  proud 
position  in  the  great  political  family.  North  Carolina  [Nov.  21,  1789]  and 
Rhode  Island  [May  29,  1790],  had  already  become  members  of  the  National 
Union,  by  ratifying  the  Constitution  ;5and  during  this  session,  Vermont6  had  been 
admitted  [February  18,  1791]  as  a  State.  Settlements  were  no\v  rapidly 
spreading  beyond  the  Alleghanies,7  and  the  subject  of  territorial  organizations 

1  Note  3,  page  245.  2  Page  373. 

3  The  President  was  authorized  to  borrow  $12,000,000,  if  necessary,  to  pay  off  the  foreign  debt; 
and  a  new  loan  was  to  be  opened,  payable  in  certificates,  of  the  domestic  debt,  at  their  par  value, 
and  in  continental  bills  of  credit,  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  for  one.  Congress  also  authorized  an 
additional  loan,  payable  in  certificates  of  the  State  debts,  to  the  amount  of  $21,500,000.  These 
certificates  were  those  which  had  been  issued  for  services  or  supplies,  during  the  war.  A  new 
board  of  commissioners  was  appointed,  with  full  power  to  settle  all  claims  on  general  principles  of 
equity.  4  Note  3,  page  366.  .  5  Page  360. 

6  Vermont  was  originally  called  the  New  Hampshire  Grants,  and  was  claimed  by  both  New 
Tork  and  New  Hampshire.     In  1777,  the  people  met  in  convention,  and  proclaimed  the  territory 
an  independent  State.     After  purchasing  the  claims  of  New  York  for  $30,000,  it  was  admitted  into 
the  Union. 

7  The  first  census,  or  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States,  was  completed  in 
1791.     The  number  of  all  sexes  and  colors,  was  3,929,000.     The  number  of  slaves  was  695,000. 


THE     NATION.  [1789. 

was  pressed  upon  the  consideration  of  Congress.  Already  the  North-western 
Territory,  as  we  have  seen,1  had  been  established  [July,  1787],  and  Tennessee 
had  been  constituted  [March  26,  1790]  the  Territory  South-west  of  the  Ohio? 

The  subject  of  a  national  currency  early  engaged  the  attention  of  Congress, 
and  at  the  commencement  of  the  last  session  of  the  First  Congress,  a  bill  for 
the  establishment  of  a  national  bank  was  introduced  into  the  Senate,  in  accord 
ance  with  the  suggestion  and  plan  of  Hamilton.  At  that  time  the  whole  bank 
ing  capital  in  the  United  States  was  only  $2,000,000,  invested  in  the  Bank  of 
North  America,  at  Philadelphia,  established  by  Robert  Morris  ;3  the  Bank  of 
New  York,  in  New  York  city,  and  the  Bank  of  Massachusetts,  in  Boston. 
The  charter  was  limited  to  twenty  years  ;  its  location  was  to  be  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  a.nd  its  management  to  be  intrusted  to  twenty-five  directors. 
Although  chartered  in  January,  1791,  the  National  Bank  did  not  commence 
its  operations,  in  corporate  form,  until  in  February,  1794,  when  it  began  with 
a  capital  of  $10,000,000. 

Early  in  the  first  session  of  the  second  Congress,  the  important  subject  of 
a  national  inint  received  the  attention  of  the  representatives  of  the  people.  That 
subject  had  been  frequently  discussed.  As  early  as  1782,  the  topic  of  coins 
and  currency  had  been  presented  to  the  Continental  Congress,  by  Gouverneur 
Morris,  in  an  able  report,  written  at  the  request  of  Robert  Morris.  jjln  1784, 
Mr.  Jefferson,  as  chairman  of  a  committee  appointed  for  the  purpose,  submitted 
a  report,!  agreeing  with  Morris  in  regard  to  a  decimal  system,  but  entirely  dis 
agreeing  with  him  in  the  details.4  \  He  proposed  to  strike  four  coins,  namely, 
a  golden  piece  of  the  value  of  ten  dollars  ;  a  dollar,  in  silver  ;  a  tenth  of  a  dol 
lar,  in  silver;  and  a  hundredth  of  a  dollar,  in  copper.  In  1785,  Congress 
adopted  Mr.  Jefferson's  report,  and  made  legal  provision,  the  following  year, 
for  a  coinage  upon  that  basis.  This  was  the  origin  of  our  cent,  dime,  dollar, 
and  eagle.  Already  several  of  the  States  had  issued  copper  coins  ;5  but  the 
National  Constitution  vested  the  right  of  coinage  solely  in  the  General  Govern 
ment.  The  establishment  of  a  Mint  was  delayed,  however,  and  no  special  action 
in  that  direction  was  taken  until  1790,  when  Mr.  Jefferson,  then  Secretary  of 

1  Page  362. 

3  The  subject  of  the  public  lands  of  the  United  States  has  always  been  one  of  interest.     The 
first  act  of  Congress,  on  the  subject  of  limited  sales,  was  in  accordance  with  a  scheme  proposed  by 
Hamilton,  in  1790,  which  provided  in  some  degree  for  the  protection  of  small  purchasers.     Previous 
to  that,  not  less  than  a  tract  of  four  thousand  acres  could  be  purchased.     This  was  calculated  to 
make  labor  subservient  to  wealth,  in  new  settlements.     Hamilton's  scheme  was  highly  approved. 
The  minimum  price  of  public  land,  previous  to  1800,  was  two  dollars  per  acre ;  since  then,  one  dol 
lar  and  twenty-five  cents.     The  extent  of  the  public  domain  has  greatly  increased,  by  accessions, 
within  a  few  years.     At  the  close  of  1855,  there  remained  unsold  about  96.000,000  of  acres  of  sur 
veyed  public  domain,  and  of  the  unsurveyed,  about  136,000,000  of  acres,  worth,  in  the  aggregate, 
about  $276,000,000.     The  average  cost  to  the  government,  per  acre,  of  acquiring  title,  surveying, 
selling,  and  managing,  is  about  22  cents  per  acre,  while  it  sells  at  $1.25  per  acre,  or  a  net  profit  of 
$1.03.  3  Note  3,  page  263. 

4  Morris  attempted  to  harmonize  the  moneys  of  all  the  States.     Starting  with  an  ascertained 
fraction  as  an  unit,  for  a  divisor,  he  proposed  the  following  table  of  moneys : 

Ten  units  to  be  equal  to  one  penny. 
Ten  pence  to  one  bill. 

Ten  bills  one  dollar  (or  about  seventy-five  cents  of  our  currency). 
Ten  dollars  one  crown. 
8  Note  4,  page  122. 


1797.]  WASHINGTON'S    ADMINISTRATION.  373 

State,  urged  the  matter  upon  the  attention  of  Congress.  Still  there  was  delay, 
until  on  the  2d  of  April,  1792,  laws  were  enacted  for  the  establishment  of  a 
Mint.  During  three  years  from  that  time,  its  operations  were  chiefly  experi 
mental,  and  long  debates  were  had  concerning  the  devices  for  the  new  coins.1 
The  Mint  was  finally  put  into  full  operation,  in  1795,2  and  has  continued  to 
increase  in  its  issues  of  coin,  ever  since.3 

A  bill  for  the  organization  of  a  post-office  system,  was  passed  during  the 
same  session  that  measures  were  adopted  for  the  establishment  of  a  Mint.  Very 
soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  first  session  of  the  first  Congress,  a  letter 
was  received  from  Ebenezer  Hazzard  [July  17,  1789],  then  postmaster-general 
under  the  old  Confederation,  suggesting  the  importance  of  some  new  regula 
tions  for  that  department.  A  bill  for  the  temporary  establishment  of  the  post 
office  was  passed  soon  afterward.  The  subject  was  brought  up,  from  time  to 
time,  until  the  present  system  was  organized  in  1792.  The  postmaster-general 
was  not  made  a  cabinet  officer  until  the  first  year  [1829]  of  President  Jack 
son's  administration.4 

British  agents  on  the  north-western  frontier  continued  to  tamper  with  the 
Indians,  and  excite  them  to  hostilities  against  the  United  States,  for  several 
years  after  the  peace  of  1783.5  And,  contrary  to  the  terms  of  that  treaty,  the 
British  held  possession  of  western  posts  belonging  to  the  United  States.  These 
facts  caused  a  prevalent  belief  that  the  British  government  yet  hoped  for  an 
opportunity  to  bring  the  new  Republic  back  to  colonial  dependence.  The  pub 
lic  mind  in  America  became  excited,  and  the  fact,  that  Sir  John  Johnston6  was 
the  British  Indian  agent  on  that  frontier,  and  Sir  Guy  Carleton  (then  Lord 
Dorchester)  was  again  governor  of  Canada,7  strengthened  that  opinion  and 
apprehension.  Finally,  in  the  spring  of  1790,  the  fostered  discontents  of  the 
Indians  were  developed  into  open  hostilities.  Attempts  at  pacific  arrangements 
were  fruitless,  and  General  Harmer  was  sent  into  the  Indian  country  north  of 
the  present  Cincinnati,  with  quite  a  strong  force,  to  desolate  their  villages  and 


1  The  Senate  proposed  the  head  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  who  should  occupy  the 
chair  at  the  time  of  the  coinage.  In  the  House,  the  head  of  Liberty  was  suggested,  as  being  less 
aristocratic  than  that  of  the  President — having  less  the  stamp  of  royalty.  The  head  of  Liberty  was 
finally  adopted. 

a  The  first  mint  was  located  in  Philadelphia,  and  remained  the  sole  issuer  of  coin,  in  the  United 
States,  until  1835,  when  a  branch  was  established  in  each  of  the  States  of  Georgia,  North  Carolina, 
and  Louisiana — in  Charlotte,  Dahlonega,  and  New  Orleans.  These  three  branches  went  into  oper 
ation  in  the  years  1837-'38. 

3  From  1793  to  1795,  inclusive,  the  value  of  the  whole  issue  was  less  than  half  a  million  of 
dollars.     Previous  to  the  year  1830,  almost  the  entire  supply  of  gold  for  our  coinage  was  fur 
nished  by  foreign  countries.    North  Carolina  was  the  first  State  of  the  Union  that  sent  gold  to 
the  Mint  from  its  mines.     Since  then,  almost  every  State  has  made  contributions,  some  very 
small     During  the  fiscal  year  ending  in  June,  1861,  when  the  Civil  War  was  kindling,  the  value 
of  the  entire  issue  of  coin,  by  the  Government  Mint  and  its  branches,  was  $84,000,000.^    The 
discovery  of  gold  in  California,  in  1848.  opened  an  immense  treasury,  and,  up  to  the  beginning 
of  the  war,  that  was  the  only  great  gold  producing  region  within  the  Republic.     Of  the  entire 
amount  of  gold,  from  domestic  mines,  deposited  in  the  Mint  up  to  1860,  valued  at  $489,311.000, 
$469,406,003  was  sent  from  California.     Adjacent  territories  are  now  [1867]  yielding  largely. 

4  Page  459.     The  operations  of  the  post-office  department  increased  very  rapidly  year  after 
year.     In   1795,  the  number  of  post-office  routes  was  453;  over  13,207  miles  of  travel.     The 
revenue  of  the  department  was  $160,620.     When  the  Civil  War  began,  in  1861,  the  number  of 
routes  was  about  9,000  ;  the  number  of  miles  traveled,  full   260,000;   and  the  revenue  nearly 
$9,000,000.  5  Page  348.  6  Note  2,  page  278.  7  Page  240. 


374  THE     NATION.  [1789. 

crops,  as  Sullivan  did  those  of  the  Senecas  in  1779.1  In  this  he  succeeded,  but 
in  two  battles  [Oct.  17  and  22,  1790],  near  the  present  village  of  Fort  Wayne, 
in  Indiana,  he  was  defeated,  with  considerable  loss.  The  following  year,  an 
expedition  of  Kentucky  volunteers,  under  General  Scott,  marched  against  the 
Indians  on  the  Wabash.  General  Wilkinson  led  a  second  expedition  against 
them,  in  July  following,  and  in  September,  General  St.  Clair,"  then  governor 
of  the  North-west  Territory,  marched  into  the  Indian  country,  with  two  thou 
sand  men.  While  in  camp  near  the  northern  line  of  Darke  county,  Ohio,  on 
the  borders  of  Indiana,  he  was  surprised  and  defeated  [Nov.  4,  1791]  by  the 
Indians,  with  a  loss  of  about  nine  hundred  men,  killed  and  wounded. 

The  defeat  of  St.  Clair  produced  great  alarm  on  the  whole  north-western 
frontier.  Even  the  people  of  Pittsburg3  did  not  feel  secure,  and  the  border 
settlers  called  loudly  for  help.  Fortunately  the  Indians  did  not  follow  up  the 
advantage  they  had  gained,  and  for  a  while  hostilities  ceased.  Commissioners 
were  appointed  to  treat  with  them,  but  through  the  interference  of  British 
officials,  their  negotiations  were  fruitless.  General  Wayne4  had  been  appointed, 
in  the  mean^while,  to  succeed  St.  Clair  in  military  command,  and  apprehend 
ing  that  the  failure  of  the  negotiations  would  be  followed  by  an  immediate 
attack  upon  the  frontier  settlements,  he  marched  into  the  Indian  country  in  the 
autumn  of  1793.  He  spent  the  winter  at  Greenville,5  near  the  place  of  St. 
Clair'  s  defeat,  where  he  built  Fort  Recovery.  The  following  summer  [1794] 
he  pushed  forward  to  the  Maumee  River,  and  built  Fort  Defiance  ;6  and  on  the 
St.  Mary's  he  erected  Fort  Adams  as  an  intermediate  post.  On  the  16th  of 
August  he  went  down  the  Maumee,  with  three  thousand  men,  and  not  far  from 
the  present  Maumee  City,7  he  fought  and  defeated  the  Indians,  on  the  20th  of 
the  same  month.  He  then  laid  waste  their  country,  and  after  a  successful 
campaign  of  about  ninety  days,  he  went  into  winter  quarters  at  Greenville. 
There,  the  following  year,  the  chiefs  and  warriors  of  the  western  tribes,  in  all 
about  eleven  hundred,  met  [August  3,  1795]  commissioners  of  the  United 
States,  made  a  treaty  of  peace,  and  ceded  to  the  latter  a  large  tract  of  land  in 
the  present  States  of  Michigan8  and  Indiana.  After  that,  the  United  States 
had  very  little  trouble  with  the  western  Indians  until  just  before  the  breaking 
out  of  the  war  of  1812-15.° 

Party  spirit,  which  had  been  engendered  during  the  discussions  of  the 
National  Constitution,10  gradually  assumed  distinct  forms,  and  during  the  second 
session  of  the  second  Congress,  it  became  rampant  among  the  people,  as  well  as 
in  the  national  legislature.  Hamilton  and  Jefferson,  the  heads  of  distinct 
departments11  in  Washington's  cabinet,  differed  materially  concerning  important 
public  measures,  and  then,  under  the  respective  leadership  of  those  statesmen, 


1  Page  304..        2  Page  27G.         3  Page  205.         4  Page  298.         5  In  Darke  county,  Ohio. 

6  At  the  junction  of  the  Au  Glaize  with  the  Maumee  River,  in  the  south-east  part  of  Williams 
county,  Ohio. 

7  In  the  town  of  Waynesfield.      The  British  then  occupied  a  fort  at  the  Maumee  Rapids, 
near  by. 

8  The  British  held  possession  of  Detroit,  and  nearly  all  Michigan,  until  1796.     See  page  380. 

9  Page  409.  10  Page  360.  "  Page  367. 


WAYNE'S  DEFEAT  OP  THE  INDIANS. 


1797.]  WASHINGTON'S    ADMINISTRATION.  377 

were  drawn  those  lines  of  party  distinction  known  as  Federalist  and  Repub 
lican,  which  continued  for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  The  Federalist  party  was 
composed  of  those  who  favored  great  concentration  of  power  in  the  general  gov 
ernment.  The  Republicans ',  on  the  contrary,  were  for  diffusing  power  among 
the  people.  Here  were  antagonistic  points  of  great  difference,  and  the  warfare 
between  the  parties  was  acrimonious  in  the  extreme. 

During  the  summer  of  1792,  very, little  of  public  interest  occurred,  except 
the  admission  [June  1]  of  Kentucky1  into  the  Union,  but  the  marshalling  of 
forces  for  the  presidential  election,  which  was  to  take  place  in  the  autumn. 
Washington  yearned  for  the  quiet  of  private  life,  and  had  expressed  his  deter 
mination  to  withdraw  from  public  station  on  the  expiration  of  his  presidential 
term ;  but  it  was  made  evident  to  his  mind,  that  the  great  majority  of  the 
people  desired  his  continuance  in  office,  and  that  the  public  safety  demanded 
it.  Under  these  circumstances,  he  consented  to  be  a  candidate,  and  he  and 
Adams  were  re-elected  by  large  majorities. 

Yet  the  Republican  party  was  daily  gaining  strength,  partly  from  develop 
ments  within  the  body  politic  of  the  United  States,  and  partly  from  events  then 
transpiring  in  Europe.  A  bloody  revolution  was  in  progress  in  France.  The 
people  there  had  abolished  monarchy,  and  murdered  their  king,  and  the  new 
Republic  in  name  (a  political  chaos  in  reality),  having  the  avowed  sympathies 
of  the  Republican  party  in  America,3  sent  M.  Genet3  as  its  minister  to  the 
United  States,  to  obtain  the  co-operation  of  the  American  people.  The  French 
Republic  had  declared  war  against  England,  Spain,  and  Holland,  and  needed 
transatlantic  assistance.  Remembering  the  recent  alliance,4  and  sympathizing 
with  all  efforts  for  popular  freedom,  the  Republican  party  here,  and  also  many 
of  the  Federalists,  received  Genet  (who  arrived  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
in  April,  1793)  with  open  arms,  and  espoused  his  cause. 

But  Genet's  zeal  outstripped  his  prudence,  and  defeated  his  plans.  With 
out  waiting  for  an  expression  of  opinions  or  intentions  from  the  government  of 
the  United  States,  he  began  to  fit  out  privateers5  in  our  ports,  to  depredate 
upon  English,  Dutch,  and  Spanish  property  ;6  and  when  Washington  prudently 
issued  [May  9,  1793]  a  proclamation,  declaring  it  to  be  the  duty  and  the  inter- 


1  Kentucky,  which  had  been  settled  chiefly  by  Virginians,  and  was  claimed  as  a  part  of  the 
territory  of  that  State,  was  now  erected  into  a  sovereign  member  of  the  confederation.  Its  first 
settlement,  as  we  have  seen  [note  2,  page  300],  was  at  Boonesboro',  by  Daniel  Boone,  in  1775. 

3  There  was  a  general  burst  of  enthusiasm  in  the  United  States,  on  receipt  of  the  intelligence  of 
the  advent  of  Liberty  in  France,  and  public  demonstrations  of  it  were  made  in  several  places.  In 
Boston,  an  ox,  roasted  whole,  was  placed  upon  a  car  drawn  by  sixteen  horses,  and  with  the  Amer 
ican  and  French  flags  displayed  from  its  horns,  was  paraded  through  the  streets,  followed  by  carts, 
bearing  bread  and  two  hogsheads  of  punch,  which  were  distributed  among  the  people.  A  civic 
feast  was  held  at  Faneuil  Hall,  over  which  Samuel  Adams  [note  1,  page  221]  presided.  In  Phil 
adelphia  the  anniversary  of  the  French  alliance  [page  283]  was  celebrated  by  a  public  dinner,  at 
which  General  Mifflin  [page  352]  presided ;  and  in  other  places  festivals  were  held. 

3  Edmund  Charles  Genet  was  the  son  of  a  distinguished  public  man  in  France.     He  married,  in 
this  country,   a  daughter  of  Governor  George  Clinton  [note  5.  page  350],  and  remained  in  the 
United  States.     He  died  at  Greenbush,  opposite  Albany,  in  1834,  aged  about  seventy-two  years. 

4  Page  283.  &  Note  1,  page  246. 

6  These  cruisers  brought  captured  vessels  into  our  ports,  and  French  consuls  actually  held 
courts  of  admiralty,  and  authorized  the  sale  of  the  prizes.  All  this  was  done  before  Genet  was 
recognized  as  a  minister  by  the  American  government. 


g78  THE     NATION.  1.1789. 

cst  of  the  people  of  the  tJnited  States  to  preserve  a  strict  neutrality  toward  the 
contending  powers  of  Europe,  Genet  persisted,  and  tried  to  excite  hostility 
between  our  people  and  their  government.  Washington  finally  requested  and 
obtained  his  recal,  and  Fauchet,  who  succeeded  him  in  1794,  was  instructed  to 
assure  the  President  that  the  French  government  disapproved  of  Genet's  con 
duct.  No  doubt  the  prudence  and  firmness  of  Washington,  at  this  time,  saved 
our  Republic  from  utter  ruin. 

A  popular  outbreak  in  western  Pennsylvania,  known  in  history  as  The 
Whiskey  Insurrection,  gave  the  new  government  much  trouble  in  1794.  An 
excise  law,  passed  in  1791,  which  imposed  duties  on  domestic  distilled  liquors, 
was  very  unpopular.  A  new  act,  passed  in  the  spring  of  1794,  was  equally 
unpopular ;  and  when,  soon  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  officers  were 
sent  to  enforce  it  in  the  western  districts  of  Pennsylvania,  they  were  resisted 
by  the  people,  in  arms.  The  insurrection  became  general  throughout  all  that 
region,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Pittsburg  many  outrages  were  committed. 
Buildings  were  burned,  mails  were  robbed,  and  government  officers  were  in 
sulted  and  abused.  At  one  time  there  were  between  six  and  seven  thousand 
insurgents  under  arms.  The  local  militia  would  have  been  utterly  impotent  to 
restore  order,  if  their  aid  had  been  given.  Indeed,  most  of  the  militia  assem 
bled  in  response  to  a  call  made  by  the  leaders  of  the  insurgents,  and  these  com 
posed  a  large  portion  of  the  "  rebels."  The  insurgent  spirit  extended  into  the 
border  counties  of  Virginia ;  and  the  President  and  his  cabinet,  perceiving,  with 
alarm,  this  imitation  of  the  lawlessness  of  French  politics,  took  immediate  steps 
to  crush  the  growing  hydra.  The  President  first  issued  two  proclamations 
[August  7,  and  September  25],  but  without  effect.  After  due  consideration, 
and  the  exhaustion  of  all  peaceable  means,  he  ordered  out  a  large  body  of  the 
militia  of  Virginia,  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and  New  Jersey,  who  marched  to 
the  insurgent  district,  in  October  [1794],  under  the  command  of  General 
Henry  Lee,  then  governor  of  Virginia.1  This  last  argument  was  effectual ;  and 
soon  this  insurrection,  like  that  of  Shays' s,  of  Massachusetts,  some  years 
earlier,8  which  threatened  the  stability  of  the  National  Government,  was 
allayed. 

Another  cloud  was  now  rising  in  the  political  horizon.  While  these  inter 
nal  commotions  were  disturbing  the  public  tranquillity,  a  bitter  feeling  was 
growing  up  between  the  American  and  British  governments.  Each  accused 
the  other  of  infractions  of  the  treaty  of  1783, 3  and  the  disputes,  daily  assuming 
a  more  bitter  tone,  threatened  to  involve  the  two  nations  in  another  war.  The 
Americans  complained  that  no  indemnification  had  been  made  for  negroes  car 
ried  away  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution  ;4  that  the  British  held  military  posts 
on  their  frontiers,  contrary  to  the  treaty  ;5  that  British  emissaries  had  excited 
the  hostility  of  the  Indians  ;°  and  that,  to  retaliate  on  France,  the  English  had 

1  Page  333.  2  Page  353.  s  Page  348. 

4  During  the  last  two  years  of  the  war  in  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia,  and  at  the  final  evacua 
tion,  the  British  plundered  many  plantations,  and  sold  the  negroes  in  the  West  Indies. 

6  Note  8,  page  374.  6  Page  373. 


1797.] 


THE     NATION. 


captured  our  neutral  vessels,  and  impressed  our  seamen  into  the  British  service.1 
The  British  complained  that  stipulations  concerning  the  property  of  loyalists,8 
and  also  in  relation  to  debts  contracted  in  England  before  the  Revolution,  had 
not  been  complied  with.  In  order  to  avert  an  event  so  very  undesirable  as 
a  war  with  Great  Britain,  the  President  proposed  to  send  a  special  envoy  to  the 
British  court,  in  hopes  of  bringing  to  an  amicable  settlement,  all  matters  in 
dispute  between  the  two  governments.  The  National  Legislature  approved  of  it, 


and  on  the  19th  of  April,  1794,  John  Jay3  was  appointed  an  envoy  extraordi 
nary  for  the  purpose. 

The  special  minister  of  the  United  States  was  received  with  great  courtesy 
in  England,  where  he  arrived  in  June ;  and  he  negotiated  a  treaty  which,  at  the 
time,  was  not  very  satisfactory  to  a  large  portion  of  his  countrymen.  It  hon 
estly  provided  for  the  collection  of  debts  here,  by  British  creditors,  which  had 


1  This  practice  was  one  of  the  causes  which  finally  produced  a  war  between  the  two  nations, 
in  1812.  See  page  409. 

3  The  loyalists,  or  Tories  [note  4,  page  226],  who  had  fled  from  the  country  during  the  prog 
ress,  or  at  the  close  of  the  War  for  Independence,  and  \vhose  property  had  been  confiscated, 
endeavoured  to  regain  their  estates,  and  also  indemnity  for  their  other  losses.  The  British  govern 
ment  finally  paid  to  these  sufferers  more  than  $15,000,000. 

3  John  Jay  was  a  descendant  of  a  Huguenot  family  [page  49],  and  was  born  in  the  city  of  New 
York  in  1745.  He  was  early  in  the  ranks  of  active  patriots,  and  rendered  very  important  services 
during  the  Revolution  After  the  war  he  was  one  of  the  most  efficient  of  our  countrymen  in  laying 
the  foundations  of  our  National  Government,  and  of  establishing  the  civil  government  of  his 
native  State,  of  which  he  was  chief  magistrate  at  one  time.  He  retired  from  public  life  in  1801, 
and  died  in  1 829,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years.  His  residence  was  at  Bedford,  Westchester 
county.  New  York. 


380 


(THE     NATION. 


[1789. 


been  contracted  before  the  Revolution,  but  it  procured  no  redress  for  those  who 
had  lost  negroes.  It  secured  indemnity  for  unlawful  captures  on  the  seas,  and 
the  evacuation  of  the  forts  on  the  frontiers  (yet  held  by  the  British),  by  the  1st 
of  June,  1796.  In  order  to  secure  certain  points  of  great  importance,  Jay  was 


compelled  to  yield  others ;  and  he  finally  signed  a  treaty,  defective,  in  some 
things,  and  objectionable  in  others,  but  the  best  that  could  then  be  obtained. 
The  treaty  gave  rise  to  violent  debates  in  Congress,1  and  in  State  Legislatures, 
but  was  ratified  by  the  Senate  on  the  24th  of  June,  1795.2  The  wisdom, 

1  The  debates,  on  that  occasion,  developed  talent  of  the  highest  order,  and  present  a  memorable 
epoch  in  the  history  of  American  politics  and  statesmanship.     Albert  Gallatin  then  established 
his  title  to  the  leadership  of  the  opposition  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  while  Fisher  Ames,  in  a 
speech  of  wonderful  power,  in  favor  of  the  treaty  and  the  Administration,  won  for  himself  the 
laurels  of  an  unrivaled  orator.     He  was  then  in  feeble  health ;  and  when  he  arose  to  speak,  thin 
and  pale,  he  could  hardly  support  himself  on  his  feet,  and  his  voice  was  feeble.     Strength  seemed 
to  come  as  he  warmed  with  the  subject,  and  his  eloquence  and  wisdom  poured  forth  as  from  a 
mighty  and  inexhaustible  fountain.     So  powerful  was  his  speech,  that  a  member  opposed  to  him 
moved  that  the  question  on  which  he  had  spoken  should  be  postponed  until  the  next  day,  "  that 
they  should  not  act  under  the  influence  of  an  excitement  of  which  their  calm  judgment  might  not 
approve."     In  allusion  to  this  speech,  John  Adams  bluntly  said :   "  There  was  n't  a  dry  eye  in  the 
House,  except  some  of  the  jackasses  that  occasioned  the  necessity  of  the  oratory."     Fisher  Ames 
was  born  in  Dedham,  Massachusetts,  in  April,  1756.     His  health  was  delicate  from  infancy.     He 
was  so  precocious  that  he  commenced  the  study  of  Latin  when  six  years  of  age,  and  was  admitted 
to  Harvard  College  at  the  age  of  twelve.     He  chose  the  law  for  a  profession,  and  soon  stood  at  the 
head  of  the  bar  in  his  native  district.     He  was  a  warm  advocate  of  the  Federal  Constitution.     He 
was  the  first  representative  of  his  district  in  the  National  Congress.     He  died  on  the  4th  of 
July,  1808,  at  the  age  of  forty-eight  years. 

2  Great  excitement  succeeded.    In  several  cities  mobs  threatened  personal  violence  to  the  sup- 


1791.]  WASHINGTON'S    ADMINISTRATION.  381 

and  policy,  and  true  patriotism  of  Mr.  Jay  were  soon  made  manifest.  In  Oc 
tober  following,  a  treaty  was  concluded  with  Spain,  by  which  the  boundaries  be 
tween  the  Spanish  territories  of  Louisiana  and  Florida,  and  the  United  States, 
were  defined.  That  treaty  also  secured  to  the  United  States  the  free  naviga 
tion  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  use  of  New  Orleans,  as  a  port,  for  ten  years. 

As  soon  as  one  excitement  was  fairly  allayed,  causes  for  others  appeared ; 
and  during  the  whole  time  of  Washington's  administration  of  eight  years,  when 
the  policy  of  the  new  government  had  to  be  established,  and  its  machinery  put 
in  operation,  the  greatest  wisdom,  circumspection,  and  conservative  action,  on 
the  part  of  officials,  were  continually  demanded.  Difficulties  appeared  like 
little  clouds  on  the  distant  horizon,  sometimes  as  mere  specks,  at  others,  in 
alarming  shapes.  These  were  chiefly  in  connection  with  trade,  especially  in 
foreign  lands.  American  commerce  was  rapidly  expanding,  and  now  began  to 
find  its  way  into  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  There  it  was  met  by  Algerine 
pirates,  who  seized  the  merchandise,  and  held  the  seamen  in  captivity,  in  order 
to  procure  ransom-money.  These  depredations,  which  finally  gave  rise  to  efforts 
to  organize  a  navy,  had  continued  many  years  before  the  government  took 
active  measures  to  suppress  them.  President  Washington  called  the  attention 
of  Congress  to  the  subject,  toward  the  close  of  1790 ;  and  at  the  same  time, 
Jefferson,  then  Secretary  of  State,  gave  many  interesting  details,  in  his  annual 
report,  on  the  subject  of  these  piracies.  A  commissioner  was  sent  to  treat  with 
the  Dey,  or  Governor,  of  Algiers  on  the  subject,  but  that  semi-barbarian  robber 
argued  in  reply :  "  If  I  were  to  make  peace  with  everybody,  what  should  I  do 
with  my  corsairs  ?  what  should  I  do  with  my  soldiers  ?  They  would  take  off 
my  head  for  the  want  of  other  prizes,  not  being  able  to  live  on  their  miserable 
allowance." 

In  the  spring  of  1794,  Congress,  on  account  of  these  depredations,  passed 
an  Act  to  provide  for  a  naval  armament,  and  appropriated  almost  seven  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars  for  the  purpose.  But  the  United  States,  in  the  absence 
of  the  proposed  navy,  was  compelled  to  make  a  treaty  of  peace  in  the  autumn 
of  1795  [November  28],  with  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  by  which  an  annual 
tribute  was  to  be  given  for  the  redemption  of  captives,  in  accordance  with  the 
long-established  usages  of  European  nations.1  This  was  humiliating,  but  could 
not  then  be  avoided.  Congress  had  given  the  President  power  to  provide  by 
purchase  or  otherwise,  and  equip,  several  vessels.  To  this  end  he  put  forth 
his  energies  immediately,  and  in  July  [1794],  he  commissioned  captains  and 
superintendents,  naval  constructors  and  navy  agents,  six  each,  and  ordered  the 
construction  of  six  ships.  The  treaty  with  the  Dey  of  Algiers  caused  work  on 

porters  of  the  treaty.  Mr  Jay  was  burned  in  effigy  [note  6,  page  215],  Mr.  Hamilton  was  stoned 
at  a  public  meeting,  and  the  British  minister  at  Philadelphia  was  insulted. 

1  Between  the  years  1785  and  1793,  the  Algerine  pirates  captured  and  carried  into  Algiers, 
fifteen  American  vessels,  used  the  property,  and  made  one  hundred  and  eighty  officers  and  seamen 
slaves  of  the  most  revolting  kind.  In  1795,  the  United  States  agreed,  by  treaty,  to  pay  eight  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars  for  captives,  then  alive,  and  in  addition,  to  make  the  dey,  or  governor,  a 
present  of  a  frigate  worth  a  hundred  thousand  dollars.  An  annual  tribute  of  twenty-three  thousand 
dollars  was  also  to  be  paid.  This  was  complied  with  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  of  1812. 
See  pages  390  and  445. 


382  THE     NATION.  [1789. 

these  vessels  to  be  suspended  in  1795.  Soon  the  folly  of  not  completing  the 
little  navy,  so  well  begun,  was  made  manifest,  when  British  cruisers  commenced 
the  practice  of  taking  seamen  from  American  vessels,  and  impressing  them  into 
the  English  service.1  'The  ships  of  the  French  Republic  soon  afterward  com 
menced  depredations  upon  American  commerce ;  and  in  1797,  when  war  with 
that  government  seemed  inevitable,2  Congress,  on  the  urgent  recommendation 
of  President  Adams,  caused  the  frigates  United  States,  Constellation,  and 
Constitution  to  be  completed,  equipped,  and  sent  to  sea.  This  was  the  com 
mencement  of  the  American  navy,3  which,  in  after  years,  though  weak  in  num 
bers,  performed  many  brilliant  exploits.  From  this  time  the  navy  became  the 
cherished  arm  of  the  national  defense ;  and  chiefly  through  its  instrumentality, 
the  name  and  power  of  the  United  States  began  to  be  properly  appreciated  in 
E  urope,  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century. 

Now  [1796],  the  administration  of  Washington  was  drawing  to  a  close.  It 
had  been  one  of  vast  importance  and  incessant  action.  All  disputes  with 
foreign  nations,  except  France,4  had  been  adjusted;  government  credit  was 
established,  and  the-nation  was  highly  prosperous.5  The  embryos  of  new  em 
pires  beyond  the  Alleghanies,  had  been  planted ;  and  the  last  year  of  his  admin 
istration  was  signalized  by  the  admission  [June,  1796]  of  Tennessee  into  the 
Union  of  States,  making  the  number  of  confederated  republics,  sixteen. 

During  the  closing  months  of  Washington's  administration,  the  first  great 
struggle  among  the  people  of  the  United  States,  for  ascendancy  between  the 
Federalists  and  Republicans*  took  place.  The  only  man  on  whom  the  nation 
now  could  possibly  unite,  was  about  to  retire  to  private  life.  He  issued  his 
admirable  Farewell  Address  to  his  countrymen — that  address  so  full  of  wis 
dom,  patriotism,  and  instruction — early  in  the  autumn  of  1796  [September  19], 
and  then  the  people  were  fully  assured  that  some  other  man  must  be  chosen  to 
fill  his  place.  There  was  very  little  time  for  preparation  or  electioneering,  for 
the  choice  must  be  made  in  November  following.  Activity  the  most  extraordi 
nary  appeared  among  politicians,  in  every  part  of  the  Union.  The  Federalists 
nominated  John  Adams  for  the  high  office  of  Chief  Magistrate,  and  the  Repub 
licans  nominated  Thomas  Jefferson  for  the  same.  The  contest  was  fierce,  and 
party  spirit,  then  in  its  youthful  vigor,  was  implacable.  The  result  was  a  vic- 

1  Page  401.  2  Page  385. 

8  Congress  had  created  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  as  an  executive  department,  and  on 
the  30th  of  April,  1798,  Benjamin  Stodert  of  Georgetown,  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  was 
appointed  to  that  chair.  Hitherto  the  business  of  the  war  and  navy  departments  had  been  per 
formed  by  the  Secretary  of  War. 

4  The  French  government  was  highly  displeased  because  of  the  treaty  made  with  England,  by  Mr. 
Jay,  and  even  adopted  hostile  measures  toward  the  United  States.  It  wanted  the  Americans  to 
show  an  active  participation  with  the  French  in  hatred  of  the  English,  and  therefore  the  strict  neu 
trality  observed  by  Washington,  was  exceedingly  displeasing  to  the  French  Committee  of  Public 
Safety.  The  conclusion  of  the  treaty  with  Algiers,  independently  of  French  intervention,  and  the 
success  of  the  negotiation  with  Spain,  excited  the  jealousy  of  the  French  rulers.  In  a  word, 
because  the  United  States,  having  the  strength,  assumed  the  right  to  stand  alone,  the  French  were 
offended,  and  threatened  the  grown-up  child  with  personal  chastisement. 

6  Commerce  had  wonderfully  expanded.  The  exports  had,  in  five  years,  increased  from  nine 
teen  millions  of  dollars  to  more  than  fifty-six  millions  of  dollars,  and  the  imports  in  about  the  same 
ratio.  6  Page  377. 


1801.] 


ADAMS'S    ADMINISTRATION". 


383 


tory  for  both  parties — Adams  being  elected  President,  and  Jefferson,  having 
the  next  highest  number  of  votes,  was  chosen  Yice-President.1  On  the  4th  of 
March,  1797,  Washington  retired  from  office,  and  Adams  was  inaugurated  the 
second  President  of  the  United  States.  The  great  leader  of  the  armies  in  the 
War  for  Independence  was  never  again  enticed  from  the  quiet  pursuits  of  agri 
culture  at  Mount  Vernon,  to  the  performance  of  public  duties. 


CHAPTER    II. 

ADAMS'S     ADMINISTRATION.     [1797  —  1801.] 

JOHN  ADAMS2  was  in  the  sixty-second  year  of  his  age  when,  dressed  in  a 
full  suit  of  pearl-colored  broadcloth,  and  with  powdered  hair,  he  stood  in  Inde 
pendence  Hall  [March  4,  1797],  in  Philadelphia,  and  took  the  oath  of  office, 


1  The  whole  number  of  electoral  votes  [see  note  1,  page  361]  was  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight, 
making  seventy  necessary  to  a  choice.    John  Adams  received  seventy-one,  and  Jefferson  sixty-seven. 

2  John  Adams  was  born  at  Braintree,  Massachusetts,  in  October,  1735.     He  chose  the  law  as  a 
profession,  but  being  a  good  writer  and  fair  speaker,  he  entered  the  political  field  quite  early,  and 
with  Hancock,  Otis,  and  others,  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  earlier  Revolutionary  movements,  in 
Boston  and  vicinity.     He  was  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  from  which  he  was  trans 
ferred  to  the  important  post  of  a  minister  to  the  French  and  other  courts  in  Europe.     He  was  one 
of  the  most  industrious  men  in  Congress.     In  the  course  of  the  eighteen  months  preceding  his  de- 


384 


THE    NATION. 


[1197. 


as  President  of  the  United  States,  administered  by  Chief  Justice  Ellsworth.1 
He  was  pledged,  by  his  acts  and  declarations,  to  the  general  policy  of  Washing 
ton's  administration,  and  he  adopted,  as  his  own,  the  cabinet  council  left  by  his 
predecessor.2  He  came  into  office  at  a  period  of  great  trial  for  the  Republic. 
Party  spirit  and  sectional  differences  were  rife  in  its  bosom,  and  the  relations 
of  the  United  States  with  Franco  were  becoming  more  and  more  unfriendly. 


Already  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney,  the  American  minister  at  the  French 
court,  had  been  ordered  to  leave  their  territory  by  the  Directory,  then  the  su 
preme  executive  power  in  France.3  Depredations  upon  American  commerce 
had  also  been  authorized  by  them ;  and  the  French  minister  in  the  United 


parture  for  Europe,  Mr.  Adams  had  been  on  ninety  different  committees,  and  was  chairman  of 
thirty-Jive  of  them.  He  was,  at  one  time,  intrusted  with  no  less  than  six  missions  abroad,  namely, 
to  treat  for  peace  with  Great  Britain ;  to  make  a  commercial  treaty  with  Great  Britain ;  to  negoti 
ate  the  same  with  the  States  General  of  Holland ;  the  same  with  the  Prince  of  Orange ;  to  pledge 
the  faith  of  the  United  States  to  the  Armed  Neutrality ;  and  to  negotiate  a  loan  of  ten  millions  of 
dollars.  He  was  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence ;  and  died  on  the  fiftieth  anniversary 
of  that  great  act  [1826],  with  the  words  "Independence  forever!"  upon  his  lips.  He  was  in  the 
ninety-second  year  of  his  age.  See  page  459.  1  Page  360. 

2  Timothy  Pickering,  Secretary  of  State;  Oliver  Wolcott,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  James 
M'Henry,  Secretary  of  War ;  and  Charles  Lee,  Attorney-General.  Washington's  first  cabinet  had 
all  resigned  during  the  early  part  of  his  second  term  of  office  (the  President  is  elected  for  four  years), 
and  the  above-named  gentlemen  were  appointed  during  1795  and  1796. 

8  The  Republican  government  of  France  was  administered  by  a  council  called  the  Directory.  It 
was  composed  of  five  members,  who  ruled  in  connection  with  two  representative  bodies,  called,  re 
spectively,  the  Council  of  Ancients,  and  the  Council  of  Five  Hundred.  The  Directory  was  the  head, 
or  executive  power  of  the  government. 


1801.]  ADAMS'S    ADMINISTRATION.  385 

States  had  grossly  insulted  the  government.  President  Adams  perceived  the 
necessity  of  prompt  and  energetic  action,  and  he  convened  an  extraordinary 
session  of  Congress,  on  the  15th  of  May.  With  the  concurrence  of  the  Senate, 
the  President  appointed  [July]  three  envoys,1  with  Pinckney  at  their  head,  to 
proceed  to  France,  and  endeavor  to  adjust  all  difficulties.  They  met  at  Paris, 
in  October,  but  were  refused  an  audience  with  the  Directory,  unless  they 
should  first  pay  a  large  sum  of  money  into  the  French  treasury.  Overtures 
for  this  purpose  were  made  by  unofficial  agents.  The  demand  was  indignantly 
refused;  and  then  it  was  that  Pinckney  uttered  that  noble  sentiment,  "Mil 
lions  for  defense,  but  not  one  cent  for  tribute !"  The  two  Federalist  envoys 
(Marshall  and  Pinckney)  were  ordered  out  of  the  country,  while  Mr.  Gerry, 
who  was  a  Republican,  and  whose  party  sympathized  with  the  measures  of 
France,  was  allowed  to  remain.  The  indignant  people  of  the  United  States 
censured  Mr.  Gerry  severely  for  remaining.  He,  too,  soon  found  that  nothing 
could  be  accomplished  with  the  French  rulers,  and  he  returned  home. 

The  fifth  Congress  assembled  at  Philadelphia,  on  the  13th  of  November, 
1797.  Perceiving  the  vanity  of  further  attempts  at  negotiation  with  France, 
Congress,  and  the  country  generally,  began  to  prepare  for  war.  Quite  a  large 
standing  army  was  authorized  [May,  1798] ;  and  as  Washington  approved  of  the 
measure,  he  was  appointed  [July]  its  commander-in-chief,  with  General  Alex 
ander  Hamilton  as  his  first  lieutenant.  Washington  consented  to  accept  the 
office  only  on  condition  that  General  Hamilton  should  be  the  acting  commander- 
in-chief,  for  the  retired  President  was  unwilling  to  enter  into  active  military  serv 
ice  again.  A  naval  armament,  and  the  capture  of  French  vessels  of  war,  was 
authorized;  and  a  naval  department,  as -we  have  observed,2  with  Benjamin 
Stoddart  at  its  head,  was  created.  Although  there  was  no  actual  declaration 
of  war  made  by  either  party,  yet  hostilities  were  commenced  on  the  ocean,  and  a 
vessel  of  each  nation  suffered  capture  ;3  but  the  army  was  not  summoned  to  the 
field. 

The  proud  tone  of  the  French  Directory  was  humbled  by  the  dignified  and 
decided  measures  adopted  by  the  United  States,  and  that  body  made  overtures 
for  a  peaceful  adjustment  of  difficulties.  President  Adams  immediately  ap 
pointed  [Feb.  26,  1799]  three  envoys*  to  proceed  to  France,  and  negotiate  for 

1  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney,  Elbridge  Gerry,  and  John  Marshall.     Pinckney  was  an  active 
patriot  in  South  Carolina  during  the  Revolution.     He  was  born  in  Charleston,  in  February,  1746, 
and  was  eduated  in  England.     He  studied  law  there,  and  on  his  return  to  his  native  country,  in 
1769,  he  commenced  a  successful  professional  career  in  Charleston.     He  took  part  early  in  Repub- 
lican  movements,  held  military  offices  during  the  War  for  Independence,  and  when  war  with  Franco 
seemed  certain,  in  1797,  Washington  appointed  him  next  to  Hamilton  in  command.     He  died,  in 
August,  1825,  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age.     Gerry  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  Marshall  had  been  an  active  patriot  and  soldier.     See  page  351.     The  latter, 
as  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,  administered  the  oath  of  office  to  several  Presidents. 

2  Page  382. 

3  The  United  States  frigate  Constellation,  captured  the  French  frigate  E Insurgente,  in  February, 

1799.  That  frigate  had  already  taken  the  American  schooner  Retaliation.     On  the  1st  of  February, 

1800.  the  Constellation  had  an  action  with  the  French  frigate  La  Vengeance,  which  escaped  cap 
ture  after  a  loss  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  men,  in  killed  and  wounded. 

4  W.  V.  Murray,  Oliver  Ellsworth,  and  Patrick  Henry.     Mr.  Henry  declined,  and  William  R 
Davie  [note  5,  page  318],  of  Xorth  Carolina,  took  his  place. 

25 


386  THE     NATION.  [1797. 

peace,  but  when  they  arrived,  the  weak  Directory  was  no  more.  The  govern 
ment  was  in  the  hands  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte  [Nov.  1799]  as  First  Consul,1 
whose  audacity  and  energy  now  saved  France  from  anarchy  and  utter  ruin.  He 
promptly  received  the  United  States  embassadors,  concluded  a  treaty  [Sept.  30, 
1800],  and  gave  such  assurances  of  friendly  feelings  that,  on  the  return  of  the 
ministers,  the  provisional  army  of  the  United  States,  whose  illustrious  com- 
mander-in-chief  had,  in  the  mean  while,  been  removed  by  death,  was  disbanded. 

Two  unpopular  domestic  measures  were  adopted  in  the  summer  of  1798, 
known  as  the  Alien  and  Sedition  laws.  The  first  authorized  the  President  to 
expel  from  the  country  any  alien  (not  a  citizen)  who  should  be  suspected  of 
conspiring  against  the  Republic.  An  apology  for  the  law  was,  that  it  was  com 
puted  that  there  were  more  than  thirty  thousand  Frenchmen  in  the  United 
States,  all  of  whom  were  devoted  to  their  native  country,  and  were  mostly  asso 
ciated,  by  clubs  or  otherwise.  Besides  these,  there  were  computed  to  be  in  the 
country  at  least  fifty  thousand  persons  who  had  been  subjects  of  Great  Britain, 
some  of  whom  had  found  it  unsafe  to  remain  at  home.  The  Sedition  law  author 
ized  the  suppression^  of  publications  calculated  to  weaken  the  authority  of  the 
government.  At  that  period  there  were  two  hundred  newspapers  published  in  the 
United  States,  of  which  about  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  were  in  favor  of  the 
National  administration  ;  the  remainder  were  chiefly  under  the  control  of  aliens. 
These  measures  were  unpopular,  because  they  might  lead  to  great  abuses.  In 
Kentucky  and  Virginia,  the  legislatures  declared  them  to  be  decidedly  uncon 
stitutional,  and  they  were  finally  repealed. 

The  nation  suffered  a  sad  bereavement  near  the  close  of  the  last  year  of  the 
century.  Washington,  the  greatest  and  best-beloved  of  its  military  and  civil 
leaders,  died  at  Mount  Vernon  on  the  14th  of  December,  1799,  when  almost 
sixty-eight  years  of  age.  No  event  since  the  foundation  of  the  government, 
had  made  such  an  impression  on  the  public  mind.  The  national  grief  was 
sincere,  and  party  spirit  was  hushed  into  silence  at  his  grave.  All  hearts 
united  in  homage  to  the  memory  of  him  who  was  properly  regarded  as  the 
FATHER  OF  HIS  COUNTRY.  Congress  was  then  in  session  at  Philadelphia,  and 
when  Judge  Marshall2  announced  the  sad  event,  both  Houses3  immediately 
adjourned  for  the  day.  On  re-assembling  the  next  day,  appropriate  resolutions 
were  passed,  and  the  President  was  directed  to  write  a  letter  of  condolence  to 
Mrs.  Washington,4  in  the  name  of  Congress.  Impressive  funeral  ceremonies  were 

1  Bonaparte,  Cambaceres,  and  the  Abbe  Sieyes  became  the  ruling  power  in  France,  with  the 
title  of  Consuls,  after  the  first  had  overthrown  the  Directory.  Bonaparte  was  the  First  Consul,  and 
was,  in  fact,  an  autocrat,  or  one  who  rules  by  his  own  will.  3  Page  351.  3  Note  3,  page  366. 

4  Martha  Dandridge,  who  first  married  Daniel  Parke  Custis,  and  afterward,  while  yet  a  young 
widow,  was  wedded  to  Colonel  Washington,  was  born  in  Kent  county,  Virginia,  in  1732,  about 
three  months  later  than  her  illustrious  husband.  Her  first  husband  died  when  she  was  about 
twenty-five  years  of  age,  leaving  her  with  two  children,  and  a  large  fortune  in  lands  and  money. 
She  was  married  to  Colonel  Washington,  in  January,  1759.  She  was  ever  worthy  of  such  a  hus 
band  ;  and  while  he  was  President  of  the  United  States,  she  presided  with  dignity  over  the  execu 
tive  mansion,  both  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  When  her  husband  died,  she  said :  "  'Tis  well; 
all  is  now  over ;  I  shall  soon  follow  him  ;  I  have  no  more  trials  to  pass  through."  In  little  less 
than  thirty  months  afterward,  she  was  laid  in  the  family  vault  at  Mount  Vernon.  Her  grandson, 
and  adopted  son  of  Washington  (also  the  last  surviving  executor  of  his  will),  G.  W.  P.  Custis, 
died  at  Arlington  House,  opposite  Washington  City,  October  10,  1857. 


1801.] 


ADAMS'S    ADMINISTRATION. 


387 


observed  by  that  body,  and  throughout  the  country.1  General  Henry  Lee,3  of 
Virginia,  on  the  invitation  of  Congress,  delivered  [December  26,  1799]  an 
eloquent  funeral  oration  before  the  national  legislature ;  and  the  recommenda 
tion  of  Congress,  for  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  wear  crape  on  their  left 
arms  for  thirty  days,  was  generally  complied  with.  The  whole  nation  put  on 
tokens  of  mourning. 


The  death  of  Washington  also  made  a  profound  impression  in  Europe.  To 
the  people  there,  who  were  aspiring  for  freedom,  it  seemed  as  if  a  bright  star 
had  disappeared  from  the  firmament  of  their  hopes.  Rulers,  also,  joined  in 
demonstrations  of  respect.  Soon  after  the  event  of  his  death  was  known  in 
France,  Bonaparte,  then  First  Consul,3  rendered  unusual  honors  to  his  name. 
On  the  9th  of  February  [1800],  he  issued  the  following  order  of  the  day  to 
the  army :  "  Washington  is  dead  !  This  great  man  fought  against  tyranny ;  he 
established  the  liberties  of  his  country.  His  memory  will  always  be  dear  to 
the  French  people,  as  it  will  be  to  all  free  men  of  the  two  worlds  ;  and  especially 
to  French  soldiers,  who,  like  him  and  the  American  soldiers,  have  combatted 
for  liberty  and  equality."  Bonaparte  also  ordered,  that  during  ten  days  black 
crape  should  be  suspended  from  all  the  standards  and  flags  throughout  the 
French  Republic.  Splendid  ceremonies  in  the  Champs  de  Mars,  and  a 
funeral  oration  in  the  Hotel  des  Invalides,  were  also  given,  at  both  of  which 

1  Congress  resolved  to  erecfc  a  mausoleum,  or  monument,  at  Washington  City,  to  his  memory, 
but  the  resolution  has  never  been  carried  into  effect.     An  immense  obelisk,  composed  of  white 
marble,  is  now  [1867]  in  course  of  erection  there,  to  be  paid  for  by  individual  subscriptions. 

2  Note  2,  page  333.  3  Note  1,  page  395. 


388  THE     NATION.  [1801. 

the  First  Consul,  and  all  the  civil  and  military  authorities  of  the  capital  were 
present.  Lord  Bridport,  commander  of  a  British  fleet  of  almost  sixty  vessels, 
lying  at  Torbay,  on  the  coast  of  France,  when  he  heard  of  the  death  of  Wash 
ington,  lowered  his  flag  half-mast,  and  this  example  was  followed  by  the  whole 
fleet.  And  from  that  time  until  the  present,  the  name  of  Washington  has 
inspired  increasing  reverence  at  home  and  abroad,  until  now  it  may  be  said  that 
the  praise  of  him  fills  the  whole  earth. 

After  the  close  of  the  difficulties  with  France,  very  little  of  general  interest 
occurred  during  the  remainder  of  Mr.  Adams's  administration,  except  the 
removal  of  the  seat  of  the  National  Government  to  the  District  of  Columbia,1  in 
the  summer  of  1800  ;  the  admission  into  the  Union  [May,  1800]  of  the  country 
between  the  western  frontier  of  Georgia  and  the  Mississippi  River,  as  the  Mis 
sissippi  Territory  ;  and  the  election  of  a  new  President  of  the  United  States. 
Now,  again,  came  a  severe  struggle  between  the  Federalists  and  Republic 
ans,  for  political  power.3  The  former  nominated  Mr.  Adams  and  Charles 
Cotesworth  Pinckney,3  for  President;  the  latter  nominated  Thomas  Jefferson 
and  Aaron  Burr,4  for-the  same  office.  In  consequence  of  dissensions  among  the 
Federalist  leaders,  and  the  rapid  development  of  ultra-democratic  ideas  among 
the  people,  the  Republican  party  was  successful.  Jefferson  and  Burr  had  an 
equal  number  of  electoral  votes.  The  task  of  choosing,  therefore,  was  trans 
ferred  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  according  to  the  provisions  of  the 
National  Constitution.  The  choice  finally  fell  upon  Mr.  Jefferson,  after  thirty- 
five  balloting^  ;  and  Mr.  Burr  was  proclaimed  Vice-President. 

During  the  year  1800,  the  last  of  Adams's  administration,  the  second  enu 
meration  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  took  place.  The  population 
was  then  five  millions,  three  hundred  and  nineteen  thousand,  seven  hundred  and 
sixty-two — an  increase  of  one  million,  four  hundred  thousand  in  ten  years. 
The  National  revenue,  which  amounted  to  four  millions,  seven  hundred  and 
seventy-one  thousand  dollars  in  1790,  was  increased  to"  almost  thirteen  millions 
in  1800. 


CHAPTER    III. 

JEFFERSON'S    ADMINISTRATION.     [1801  —  1809]. 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON,'  the  third  President  of  the  United  States,  was  in  the 
fifty-eighth  year  of  his  age  when,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1801,  he  was  duly 

,  1  Page  371.  The  District  is  a  tract  ten  miles  square  on  each  side  of  the  Potomac,  ceded  to  the 
United  States  by  Maryland  and  Virginia  in  1790.  The  city  of  Washington  was  laid  out  there  in  ]  791, 
and  the  erection  of  the  Capitol  was  commenced  in  1793,  when  [April  18]  President  "Washington  laid 
the  corner  stone  of  the  north  wing,  with  Masonic  honors.  The  two  wings  were  completed  in  1808, 
and  these  were  burned  by  the  British  in  1814.  See  page  436.  The  central  portion  of  the  Capitol 
was  completed  in  1827,  the  wings  having  been  repaired  soon  after  the  conflagration.  Altogether 
it  covered  an  area  of  a  little  more  than  an  acre  and  a  half  of  ground.  In  course  of  time  it  became 
too  small,  and  its  dimensions  were  greatly  extended.  These  were  completed  in  1865.  The  addition 
is  in  the  form  of  wings,  north  and  south,  projecting  both  east  and  west  beyond  the  main  building. 
2  Page  377.  3  Note  1,  page  385.  4  Note  4,  page  241,  and  page  397. 

6  Thomas  Jefferson  was  born  in  Albernarle  county,  Virginia,  in  April,  1743.    He  was  educated 


1809-3 


JEFFERSON'S    ADMINISTRATION. 


inaugurated  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Republic,  in  the  new  Capitol,  at  Wash 
ington  City.  His  inaugural  speech,  which  was  looked  for  with  great  anxiety, 
as  a  foreshadowing  of  the  policy  of  the  new  President,  was  manly  and  conserv 
ative,  and  it  allayed  many  apprehensions  of  his  opponents.  From  its  tone,  they 


imagined  that  few  of  the  National  office-holders  would  be  disturbed ;  but  in  this 
they  soon  found  themselves  mistaken.  The  Federal  party,  while  in  power, 
having  generally  excluded  Republicans  from  office,  Jefferson  felt  himself  justi 
fied  in  giving  places  to  his  own  political  friends.  He  therefore  made  many 
removals  from  official  station  throughout  the  country ;  and  then  was  commenced 
the  second  act  in  the  system  of  political  proscription,1  which  has  not  always 
proved  wise  or  salutary.  He  retained,  for  a  short  time,  Mr.  Adams's  Secretaries 
of  the  Treasury  and  Navy  (Samuel  Dexter  and  Benjamin  Stoddart),  but  called 


at  William  and  Mary  College,  studied  law  with  the  eminent  George  Wythe,  and  had  his  patriotism 
first  inflamed  by  listening  to  Patrick  Henry's  famous  speech  [note  1,  page  214]  against  the  Stamp  Act. 
He  first  appeared  in  public  life  in  the  Virginia  Assembly,  in  1769,  and  was  one  of  the  most  active 
workers  in  that  body,  until  sent  to  perform  more  important  duties  in  the  Continental  Congress. 
The  inscription  upon"  his  monument,  written  by  himself,  tells  of  the  most  important  of  his  public 
labors :  "  Here  lies  buried  THOMAS  JEFFERSON,  Author  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence ;  of  the 
Statute  of  Virginia  for  religious  freedom;  and  Father  of  the  University  of  Virginia."  He  was 
governor  of  his  own  State,  and  a  foreign  minister.  He  lived  until  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  [July  4,  1826],  and  at  almost  the  same  hour  when  the  spirit  of  Adams 
took  its  flight  [page  457],  his  also  departed  from  the  body,  when  he  was  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
three  years.  *  Page  461 


390  THE      NATION.  [1801. 

Republicans  to  fill  the  other  seats  in  his  cabinet.1  He  set  vigorously  at  work 
to  reform  public  abuses,  as  far  as  was  in  his  power ;  and  so  conciliatory  were 
his  expressed  views  in  reference  to  the  great  body  of  his  opponents,  that  many 
.Federalists  joined  the  Republican  ranks,  and  became  bitter  denouncers  of  their 
former  associates  and  their  principles. 

President  Jefferson's  administration  was  signalized  at  the  beginning  by  the 
repeal  of  the  Excise  Act,2  and  other  obnoxious  and  unpopular  laws.  His  sug 
gestions  concerning  the  reduction  of  the  diplomatic  corps,  hauling  up  of  the 
navy  in  ordinary,  the  abolition  of  certain  offices,  and  the  revision  of  the 
judiciary,  were  all  taken  into  consideration  by  Congress,  and  many  advances 
in  jurisprudence  were  made.  Vigor  and  enlightened  views  marked  his  course  ; 
and  even  his  political  opponents  confessed  his  forecast  and  wisdom,  in  many 
things.  During  his  first  term,  one  State  and  two  Territories  were  added  to  the 
confederacy.  A  part  of  the  North-western  Territory3  became  a  State,  under 
the  name  of  Ohio,4  in  the  autumn  of  1802 ;  and  in  the  spring  of  1803,  Louisi 
ana  was  purchased  [April]  of  Franco  for  fifteen  millions  of  dollars.  This 
result  was  brought  ^about  without  much  difficulty,  for  the  French  ruler  was 
desirous  of  injuring  England,  and  saw  in  this  an  excellent  way  to  do  it.  In 
violation  of  a  treaty  made  in  the  year  1795,  the  Spanish  governor  of  Louisiana 
closed  the  port  of  New  Orleans  in  1802.  Great  excitement  prevailed  through 
out  the  western  settlements ;  and  a  proposition  was  made  in  Congress  to  take 
forcible  possession  of  the  Territory.  It  was  ascertained  that,  by  a  secret  treaty, 
the  country  had  been  ceded  to  France,  by  Spain.  Negotiations  for  its  purchase 
were  immediately  opened  with  Napoleon,  and  the  bargain  was  consummated  in 
April,  1803.  The  United  States  took  peaceable  possession  in  the  autumn  of 
that  year.  It  contained  about  eighty-five  thousand  mixed  inhabitants,  and 
about  forty  thousand  negro  slaves.  When  this  bargain  was  consummated, 
Napoleon  said,  prophetically,  "This  accession  of  territory  strengthens  forever 
the  power  of  the  United  States ;  and  I  have  just  given  to  England  a  maritime 
rival  that  will  sooner  or  later  humble  her  pride."  Out  of  it  two  Territories 
were  formed,  called  respectively  the  Territory  of  New  Orleans  and  the  Dis 
trict  of  Louisiana. 

We  have  already  adverted  to  the  depredations  of  Algerine  corsairs  upon 
American  commerce.  The  insolence  of  the  piratical  powers  on  the  southern 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean,5  at  length  became  unendurable;  and  the  United 
States  government  resolved  to  cease  paying  tribute  to  them.  The  Bashaw  of 
Tripoli  thereupon  declared  war  [June  10,  1801]  against  the  United  States ; 
and  Captain  Bainbridge  was  ordered  to  cruise  in  the  Mediterranean  to  protect 
— /- 

1  James  Madison,  Secretary  of  State;  Henry  Dearborn,  Secretary  of  "War;  Levi  Lincoln,  Attor 
ney  General.  Before  the  meeting  of  Congress  in  December,  he  appointed  Albert  Gallatin  [note  1, 
page  380,  and  note  6,  page  443],  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  Robert  Smith,  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
They  were  both  Republicans.  2  Page  378.  3  Page  362. 

4  No  section  of  the  Union  had  increased,  in  population  and  resources,  so  rapidly  as  Ohio.  When, 
in  1800,  it  was  formed  into  a  distinct  Territory,  the  residue  of  the  North-western  Territory  remained 
as  one  until  1809.  Then  the  Territories  of  Indiana  and  Illinois  were  formed.  When  Ohio  was 
admitted  as  a  State,  it  contained  a  population  of  about  seventy-two  thousand  souls. 

6  Morocco,  Algiers,  Tunis,  and  Tripoli,  in  Africa.     They  are  known  as  the  Barbary  Powers. 


1809.1 


JEFFERSON'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


391 


American  commerce.1  In  1803,  Commodore  Preble  was  sent  thither  to  humble 
the  pirates.  After  bringing  the  Emperor  of  Morocco  to  terms,  he  appeared 
before  Tripoli  with  his  squadron.  One  of  his  vessels  (the  Philadelphia),  com 
manded  by  Bainbridge,2  struck  on  a  rock  in  the  harbor,  while  reconnoitering  ; 


and  before  she  could  be  extricated,  she  was  captured  [October  31,  1803]  by 
the  Tripolitans.  The  officers  were  treated  as  prisoners  of  war,  but  the  crew 
were  made  slaves. 


1  Captain  Bainbridge  had  been  on  that  coast  the  previous  year. 
He  arrived  at  Algiers  in  September,  1800,  in  the  frigate  George  Washing 
ton,  with  the  annual  tribute  money  [page  381].  The  dey,  or  governor, 
demanded  the  use  of  his  vessel  to  carry  an  ambassador  to  Constan 
tinople.  Bainbridga  remonstrated,  when  the  dey  haughtily  observed : 
"  You  pay  me  tribute,  by  which  you  become  my  slaves,  and  therefore 
I  have  a  right  to  order  you  as  I  think  proper."  Bainbridge  was 
obliged  to  comply,  for  the  castle  guns  would  not  allow  him  to  pass  out 
of  the  harbor.  He  sailed  for  the  East,  and  had  the  honor  of  first  dis 
playing  th3  American  flag  before  the  ancient  city  of  Constantinople. 
The  Sultan  regarded  it  as  a  favorable  omen  of  future  friendship,  because 
hisfl&a;  bore  a  crescent  or  half-moon,  and  the  American  a  group  of  stars. 

3  William  Bainbridge  was  born  in  New  Jersey,  in  1774.  He  was  captain  of  a  merchant  vessel 
at  the  age  of  nineteen  years,  and  entered  the  naval  service  in  1798.  He  was  distinguished  during 
the  second  "War  for  Independence  [page  409],  and  died  in  1833. 


UNITED   STATES    FRIGATE. 


392 


THE      NATION. 


[1801. 


LIEUTENANT   DECATUE. 


The  credit  of  the  American  navy  was  somewhat  repaired,  early  in  the 
following  year,  when  Lieutenant  Decatur,1  with  only  sev 
enty-six  volunteers,  sailed  into  the  harbor  of  Tripoli,  in 
the  evening  of  February  16, 1804,  and  runing  alongside 
the  Philadelphia  (which  lay  moored  near  the  castle,  and 
guarded  by  a  large  number  of  Tripolitans),  boarded  her, 
killed  or  drove  into  the  sea  all  of  her  turbaned  defenders, 
set  her  on  fire,  and  under  cover  of  a  heavy  cannonade 
from  the  American  squadron,  escaped,  without  losing  a 
man.2  As  they  left  the  burning  vessel,  the  Americans 
raised  a  shout,  which  was  answered  by  the  guns  of  the 
batteries  on  the  shore,  and  by  the  armed  vessels  at  anchor 
near.  They  went  out  into  the  Mediterranean  unharmed,  sailed  for  Syracuse, 
and  were  received  there  with  great  joy  by  the  American  squadron,  under  Com 
modore  Preble.  This  bold  act  humbled  and  alarmed  the  bashaw;3  yet  his 
capital  withstood  a  heavy  bombardment,  and  his  gun-boats  gallantly  sustained  a 
severe  action  [August  3]  with  the  American  vessels. 

In  the  following  year,  through  the  aid  of  Hainet  Caramelli,  brother  of  Jes- 
suff,  the  reigning  bashaw  (or  governor)  of  Tripoli,  favorable  terms  of  peace 
were  secured.  The  bashaw  was  a  usurper,  and  Hamet,  the  rightful  heir  to  the 
throne,4  was  an  exile  in  Egypt.  He  readily  concerted,  with 
Captain  William  Eaton,  American  consul  at  Tunis,  a  plan 
for  humbling  the  bashaw,  and  obtaining  his  own  restoration  to 
rightful  authority.  Captain  Eaton  acted  under  the  sanction  of 
his  government ;  and  early  in  March  [March  6,  1805],  he  left 
Alexandria,  with  seventy  United  States  seamen,  accompanied 
by  Hainet  and  his  followers,  and  a  few  Egyptian  troops.  They 
made  a  journey  of  a  thousand  miles  partly  across  the  Barcan 
desert,  and  on  the  27th  of  April,  captured  Derne,  a  Tripolitan 
city  on  the  Mediterranean.  Three  weeks  later  [May  18],  they 
had  a  successful  battle  with  Tripolitan  troops  ;  and  on  the  1 8th 
of  June  they  again  defeated  the  forces  of  the  bashaw,  and 


MOHAMMEDAN 
SOLDIER. 


1  Stephen  Decatur  was  born  in  Maryland  in  1779.     He  entered  the  navy  at  the  age  of  nineteen 
years.     After  his  last  cruise  in  the  Mediterranean,  he  superintended  the  building  of  the  gun-boats. 
He  rose  to  the  rank  of  commodore ;  and  during  the  second  War  for  Independence  [page  409],  ho 
was  distinguished  for  his  skill  and  bravery.     He  afterward  humbled  the  Barbary  Powers  [note  5, 
page  390] ;  and  was  esteemed  as  one  among  the  choicest  flowers  of  the  navy.     He  was  killed,  at 
Bladensburg,  in  a  duel  with  Commodore  Barron,  in  March,  1820,  when  forty-one  years  of  age. 

2  While  the  American  squadron  was  on  its  way  to  Syracuse,  it  captured  a  small  Tripolitan  ves 
sel,  bound-4e-€e»stafttincipls^with  a  present  of  female  slaves  for  the  Sultan.     This  was  taken  into 
service,  and  named  the  Intrepid,  and  was  the  vessel  with  which  Decatur  performed  his  bold  exploit 
at  Tripoli.     This  act  greatly  enraged  the  Tripolitans,  and  the  American  prisoners  were  treated  with 
the  utmost  severity.     The  annals  of  that  day  give  some  terrible  pictures  of  white  slavery  on  the 
southern  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 

3  Bashaw,  or  Pacha  FPas-shaw],  is  the  title  of  the  governor  of  a  province,  or  town,  in  the  do 
minions  of  the  Sultan  (or  emperor)  of  Turkey.    The  Barbary  States  [note  5,  page  390]  are  all  under 
the  Sultan's  rule. 

4  The  bashaw,  who  wavS  a  third  son,  had  murdered  his  father  and  elder  brother,  and  compelled 
Hamet  to  fly  for  his  life.     With  quite  a  large  number  of  followers,  he  fled  into  Egypt. 


DECATUR  BURNING  THE  PHILADELPHIA. 


1809.] 


JEFFERSON'S    ADMINISTRATION 


395 


pressed  forward  toward  Tripoli.  The  terrified  ruler  had  made  terms  of  peace 
[June  4,  1805]  with  Colonel  Tobias  Lear,  American  consul-general1  in  the 
Mediterranean,  and  thus  disappointed  the  laudable  ambition  of  Eaton,  and  the 
hopes  of  Hamet.8 

While  these  hostile  movements  were  occurring  in  the  East,  the  President 


had,  in  a  confidential  message  to  Congress,  in  January,  1803,  proposed  the  first 
of  those  peaceable  conquests  which  have  opened,  and  are  still  opening,  to  civil 
ization  and  human  industry,  the  vast  inland  regions  of  our  continent.  He  rec 
ommended  an  appropriation  for  defraying  the  expenses  of  an  exploring  expedi 
tion  across  the  continent  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The 
appropriation  was  made,  and  presently  an  expedition,  consisting  of  thirty  indi 
viduals,  under  Captains  Lewis  and  Clarke,  was  organized.  They  left  the  banks 
of  the  Mississippi  on  the  14th  of  May,  1804,  and  were  absent  about  twenty-seven 
months.  It  was  very  successful,  particularly  in  geographical  discoveries,  and 

1  A  consul  is  an  officer  appointed  by  a  government  to  reside  in  a  foreign  port,  to  have  a  general 
supervision  of  the  commercial  interests  of  his  country  there.  In  some  cases  they  have  powers  almost 
equal  to  a  minister.  Such  is  the  case  with  consuls  within  the  ports  of  Mohammedan  countries.  The 
word  consul  was  applied  to  Napoleon  [page  387]  in  the  ancient  Roman  sense.  It  was  the  title  of 
the  chief  magistrate  of  Rome  during  the  Republic.  The  treaty  made  by  Lear  provided  for  an  ex 
change  of  prisoners,  man  for  man,  as  far  as  they  would  go.  Jessuff  had  about  two  hundred  more 
prisoners  than  the  Americans  held,  and  for  these,  a  ransom  of  $60,000  was  to  be  paid.  It  was  also 
stipulated  that  the  wife  and  children  of  Hamet  should  be  given  up  to  him. 

3  Hamet  afterward  came  to  the  United  States,  and  applied  to  Congress  for  a  remuneration  for 
his  services  in  favor  of  the  Americans.  He  was  unsuccessful ;  but  Congress  voted  $2,400  for  his 
temporary  relief. 


396  THE     NATION.  [1801. 

furnished  the  first  reliable  information  respecting  the  extensive  country  between 
the  Mississippi  and  the  Pacific  Ocean.  During  the  same  year,  the  election  for 
President  of  the  United  States  recurred.  Aaron  Burr,  having  lost  the  confi 
dence  of  the  Democratic  party,1  was  not  re-nominated  for  Vice- President. 
George  Clinton2  was  put  in  his  place;  and  Jefferson  and  Clinton  were  elected 
by  a  great  majority3  over  their  Federal  opponents,  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinck- 
ney,4  of  South  Carolina,  who  was  nominated  for  President,  and  Rufus  King,5 
of  New  York,  for  Vice-President. 

A  serious  difficulty  commenced  in  the  West  during  the  second  year  [1805] 
of  Mr.  Jefferson's  second  administration.  The  fertile  valleys  of  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  were  then  very  rapidly  filling  with  adventurers,  and  the  materials 
for  new  States,  strong  and  ample,  were  gathering.  Michigan  was  erected  into 
a  Territory  in  1805 ;  and  all  along  the  Mississippi,  extensive  settlements  were 
taking  root  and  flourishing.  The  tide  of  population  was  full  and  unceasing,  and 
was  composed,  chiefly,  of  adventurous  characters,  ready  for  any  enterprise  that 
should  offer  the  result  of  great  gain.  Taking  advantage  of  the  restless  spirit 
of  these  adventurers^and  the  general  impression  that  the  Spanish  population  of 
Louisiana  would  not  quietly  submit  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,6 
Aaron  Burr7  thought  to  make  them  subservient  to  his  own  ambitious  purposes. 
His  murder  of  Hamilton  in  a  duel,8  on  the  12th  of  July,  1804,  made  him 
everywhere  detested  ;  and,  perceiving  his  unpopularity  in  the  fact  of  his  having 
been  superseded  in  the  office  of  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  by  George 
Clinton,9  he  sought  a  new  field  for  achieving  personal  aggrandisement.  In 
April,  1805,  he  departed  for  the  West,  with  several  nominal  objects  in  view, 
but  chiefly  in  relation  to  pecuniary  speculations.  These  seemed  to  conceal  his 
real  design  of  effecting  a  strong  military  organization,  for  the  purpose  of  invad 
ing  the  Spanish  possessions  in  Mexico.  General  Wilkinson,10  then  in  the  West, 
and  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  National  army,  became  his  associate.  Wil- 

1  Page  377.  2  Page  350. 

3  The  great  popularity  of  Jefferson's  administration  was  shown  by  the  result  of  this  election.  He 
received  in  the  electoral  college  [note  1,  page  3G1]  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  votes,  and  Mr. 
Pinckney  only  fourteen.  4  Page  384. 

5  Rufus  King  was  born  in  1755,  and  was  in  Harvard  College  in  1775,  when  hostilities  with 
Great  Britain  commenced,  and  the  students  were  dispersed.  He  chose  the  law  for  a  profession,  and 
became  very  eminent  as  a  practitioner.  He  was  in  Sullivan's  army,  on  Rhode  Island  [page  289], 
in  1778 ;  and  in  1784,  the  people,  appreciating  his  talents  and  his  oratorical  powers,  elected  him  to  a 
seat  in  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts.  He  was  an  efficient  member  of  the  National  Convention, 
in  1787,  and  nobly  advocated  the  Constitution  afterward.  He  removed  to  New  York,  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  State  Legislature,  was  also  one  of  the  first  United  States  Senators  from  New  York,  and 
in  1796  was  appointed  minister  to  Great  Britain.  From  1813  10  1826  he  was  a  member  of  the 
United  States  Senate,  and  in  1825  was  again  sent  to  England  as  minister  plenipotentiary.  He 
died,  near  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  in  April,  1827,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years.  6  Page  390. 

7  Aaron  Burr  was  born  in  New  Jersey,  in  1756.      In  his  twentieth  year  he  joined  the  conti 
nental  army,  and  accompanied  Arnold  [note  4,  page  241]  in  his  expedition  against  Quebec,  in  1775. 
His  health  compelled  him  to  leave  the  army  in  1779,  and  he  became  a  distinguished  lawyer  and 
active  public  man.     He  died  on  Staten  Island,  near  New  York,  in  1836,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years. 

8  Note  2,  page  360.     A  political  quarrel  led  to  fatal  results.     Burr  had  been  informed  of  some 
remarks  made  by  Hamilton,  in  public,  derogatory  to  his  character,  and  he  demanded  a  retraction. 
Hamilton  considered  his  demand  unreasonable,  and  refused  compliance.     Burr  challenged  him  to 
fight,  and  Hamilton  reluctantly  met  him  on  the  west  side  of  the  Hudson,  near  Hoboken,  where  they 
fought  with  pistols.     Hamilton  discharged  his  weapon  in  the  air,  but  Burr  took  fatal  aim,  and  his 
antagonist  fell.     Hamilton  died  the  next  day.  9  Page  350.  10  Page  410. 


1809.] 


JEFFERSON'S    ADMINISTRATION. 


397 


kinson  had  just  been  appointed  governor  of  Louisiana,  and  his  official  position 
secured  precisely  the  advantage  which  Burr  sought. 

Burr  went  down  the  Ohio ;  and  one  beautiful  morning  at  the  close  of  April 
[1805],  he  appeared  at  the  house  of  Blennarhasset,  an  Irishman  possessed  of 


fine  education,  a  large  fortune,  and  an  accomplished  and  enthusiastic  wife.1  To 
him  he  unfolded  his  grand  military  scheme  ;  and  the  imaginations  of  Blennar 
hasset  and  his  wife  were  fired.  Dreams  of  immense  wealth  and  power  filled 
their  minds ;  and  when  Burr  had  departed  from  the  quiet  home  of  this 
gentleman,  the  sunshine  of  his  house  faded.  Blennarhasset  was  a  changed  man. 
He  placed  his  wealth  and  reputation  in  the  keeping  of  an  unprincipled  dema 
gogue,  and  lost  both.  At  that  time,  the  brave  and  noble  Andrew  Jackson2  was 
in  command  of  the  militia  of  Tennessee.  In  May,  Burr  appeared  at  the  door 
of  that  stern  patriot,  and  before  he  left  it,  he  had  won  Jackson's  confidence,  and 
his  promise  of  co-operation.  He  also  met  Wilkinson  at  St.  Louis,  and  there 
gave  him  some  hints  of  a  greater  scheme  than  he  had  hitherto  unfolded,  which, 
that  officer  alleged,  made  him  suspicious  that  Burr's  ultimate  aim  was  damage 

1  His  residence  was  upon  an  island  a  little  below  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum  River.  There 
he  had  a  fine  library,  beautiful  conservatories,  and  a  variety  of  luxuries  hitherto  unseen  in  that 
wilderness  region.  His  home  was  an  earthly  paradise,  into  which  the  vile  political  serpent  crawled, 
and  despoiled  it  with  his  slime.  Blennarhasset  became  poor,  and  died  in  1831.  His  beautiful  and 
accomplished  wife  was  buried  by  the  Sisters  of  Charity  hi  the  city  of  New  York,  in  the  year  1842. 

3  Page  460. 


398  THE      NATION.  [1801. 

to  the  Union.  However,  the  schemer  managed  the  whole  matter  with  great 
skill.  He  made  friends  with  some  of  the  dissatisfied  military  and  naval  officers, 
and  won  their  sympathies;1  and  in  the  summer  of  1806,  he  was  very  active  in 
the  organization  of  a  military  expedition  in  the  West.  The  secresy  with 


which  it  was  carried  on,  excited  the  suspicions  of  many  good  men  beyond  the 
mountains,  among  whom  was  Jackson.  Burr  was  suspected  of  a  design  to  dis 
member  the  Union,  and  to  establish  an  independent  empire  west  of  the  Alleg- 
hanies,  with  himself  at  the  head.  Those  suspicions  were  communicated  to  the 
National  Government,  which,  having  reason  to  suspect  Burr  of  premeditated 
treason,  put  forth  the  strong  arm  of  its  power,  and  crushed  the  viper  in  its  egg. 
Burr  was  arrested  [February,  1807],  near  Fort  Stoddart,  on  the  Tombigbee 
River,  in  the  present  State  of  Alabama,  by  Lieutenant  (afterward  Major-Gen 
eral)  Gaines,0  taken  to  Richmond,  in  Virginia,  and  there  tried  on  a  charge  of 
treason.  He  was  acquitted.  The  testimony  showed  that  his  probable  design 
was  an  invasion  of  Mexican  provinces,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  there  an 
independent  government. 

While  Burr's  scheme  was  ripening,  difficulties  with  Spain  were  increasing, 
and  the  United  States  were  brought  to  the  verge  of  a  war  with  that  country. 

1  Many  in  tho  West  supposed  the  government  was  secretly  favoring  Burr's  plans  against  Mex 
ico,  and,  having  no  suspicions  of  any  other  designs,  some  of  the  truest  men  of  that  region  became, 
some  more  and  some  less,  involved  in  the  meshes  of  his  scheme.  2  Page  467. 


1809.]  JEFFERSON'S    ADMINISTRATION.  399 

At  the  same  time,  the  continued  impressment  of  American  seamen  into  the 
English  navy,  and  the  interruptions  to  American  commerce  by  the  British  gov 
ernment,  irritated  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  caused  the  President  to 
recommend  partial  non-intercourse  with  Great  Britain.  This  policy  was 
adopted  by  Congress  [April  15,  1806],  the  prohibition  to  take  effect  in  Novem 
ber  following.  This  was  one  of  the  first  of  the  retaliatory  measures  of  the 
American  government  toward  that  of  Great  Britain. 

The  following  year  [1807]  is  remarkable  in  American  history  as  the  era 
of  the  commencement  of  successful  steamboat  navigation.  Experiments  in  that 
direction  had  boon  made  in  this  country  many  years  before,  but  it  was 
reserved  for  Robert  Fulton1  to  bear  the  honor  of  success.  He  spent  a 
long  time  in  France,  partly  in  the  pursuit  of  his  profession  as  a  portrait-painter, 
and  in  the  study  of  the  subject  of  steam  navigation.  Through  the  kindness  of 
Joel  Barlow,  then  [1797]  in  Paris  (in  whose  family  he  remained  seven  years), 
he  was  enabled  to  study  the  natural  sciences,  modern  languages,  and  to  make 
experiments.  There  he  became  acquainted  with  Robert  R.  Livingston,2  and 
through  his  influence  and  pecuniary  aid,  on  his  return 
to  America,  he  was  enabled  to  construct  a  steamboat, 
and  to  make  a  voyage  on  the  Hudson  from  New  York 
to  Albany,  '-against  wind  and  tide,"  in  thirty-six 
hours.3  He  took  out  his  first  patent  in  1809.  Within 
fifty  years,  the  vast  operations  connected  with  steam 
boat  navigation,  have  been  brought  into  existence. 
Now  the  puff  of  the  steam-engine  is  heard  upon  the 
waters  of  every  civilized  nation  on  the  face  of  the  globe. 

And  now  the  progress  of  events  in  Europe  began  to  disturb  the  amicable 
relations  which  had  subsisted  between  the  governments  of  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  since  the  ratification  of  Jay's  treaty.4  Napoleon  Bonaparte  was 
upon  the  throne  of  France  as  emperor ;  and  in  1806  he  was  King  of  Italy,  and 
his  three  brothers  were  made  ruling  monarchs.  He  was  upon  the  full  tide  of 
his  success  and  conquests,  and  a  large  part  of  continental  Europe  was  now 

1  Robert  Fulton  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  in  1765,  and  was  a  student  of  "West,  the  great 
painter,  for  several  years.     He  had  more  genius  for  mechanics  than  the  fine  arts,  and  when  he 
turned  his  efforts  in  that  direction,  he  became  very  successful.     He  died  in  1815,  soon  after  launch 
ing  a  steamship  of  war,  at  the  age  of  fifty  years.     At  that  time  there  were  six  steamboats  afloat  on 
the  Hudson,  and  he  was  building  a  steamship,  designed  for  a  voyage  to  St.  Petersburg,  in  Russia, 

2  Page  366. 

8  This  was  the  Clermont,  Fulton's  experimental  boat.  It  was  one  hundred  feet  in  length,  twelve 
feet  in  width,  and  seven  in  depth.  The  engine  was  constructed  by  "Watt  and  Bolton,  in  England, 
and  the  hull  was  made  by  David  Brown,  of  New  York.  The  following  advertisement  appeared  in 
the  Albany  Gazette,  September  1st,  1807  :  "The  North  River  Steamboat  will  leave  Paulus's  Hook 
[Jersey  City]  on  Friday,  the  4th  of  September,  at  9  in  the  morning,  and  arrive  at  Albany  on  Satur 
day,  at  9  in  the  afternoon.  Provisions,  good  berths,  and  accommodations  are  provided.  The 
charge  to  each  passenger  is  as  follows : 

"  To  Newburg,        dollars,  3,  time,  14  hours. 
"    Poughkeepsie,     "        4,      "17      " 
"    Esopus,  "        5,      "      20      " 

"    Hudson,  "         5-J-,     "      30      " 

"    Albany,  "        7,"      "      36      " 

4  Page  380. 


400 


THE     NATION", 


[1801. 


prostrate  at  his  feet.  Although  England  had  joined  the  continental  powers 
against  him  [1803],  in  order  to  crush  the  Democratic  revolution  commenced  in 
France,  and  the  English  navy  had  almost  destroyed  the  French  power  at  sea, 
all  Europe  was  yet  trembling  in  his  presence.  But  the  United  States,  by 


maintaining  a  strict  neutrality,  neither  coveted  his  favors  nor  feared  his  power ; 
at  the  same  time  American  shipping  being  allowed  free  intercourse  between 
English  and  French  ports,  enjoyed  the  vast  advantages  of  a  profitable  carrying 
trade  between  them. 

The  belligerents,  in  their  anxiety  to  damage  each  other,  ceased,  in  time,  to 
respect  the  laws  of  nations  toward  neutrals,  and  adopted  measures  at  once 
destructive  to  American  commerce,  and  in  violation  of  the  most  sacred  rights 
of  the  United  States.  In  this  matter,  Great  Britain  took  the  lead.  By  an 
order  in  council,1  that  government  declared  [May  16,  1806]  the  whole  coast  of 
Europe,  from  the  Elbe,  in  Germany,  to  Brest,  in  France,  to  be  in  a  state  of 
blockade.  Napoleon  retaliated  by  issuing  [November  21]  a  decree  at  Berlin, 
which  declared  all  the  ports  of  the  British  islands  to  be  in  a  state  of  blockade. 
This  was  intended  as  a  blow  against  England's  maritime  superiority,  and  it  was 

1  The  British  privy  council  consists  of  an  indefinite  number  of  gentlemen,  chosen  by  the  sover 
eign,  and  having  no  direct  connection  with  the  cabinet  ministers.  The  sovereign  may,  under  the 
advice  of  this  council,  issue  orders  or  proclamations  which,  if  not  contrary  to  existing  laws,  are 
binding  upon  the  subjects.  These  are  for  temporary  purposes,  and  are  called  Orders  in  Council 


1809.]  JEFFERSON'S    ADMINISTRATION.  401 

the  beginning  of  what  he  termed  the  continental  system,  the  chief  object  of 
which  was  the  ruin  of  Great  Britain.     The  latter,  by  another  order  [January 
7,   1807J,  prohibited  all  coast  trade  with  France;  and 
thus   the  gamesters  played  with  the  world's  peace  and 
prosperity.     In   spite   of    pacific   attempts    to    put    an 
end   to  these  ungenerous   measures,    American   vessels 
were  seized  by  both  English  and  French  cruisers,  and 
American  commerce  dwindled  to  a  domestic  coast  trade.1 
The  United  States  lacked  a  navy  to  protect  her  commerce 
on  the  ocean,  and  the  swarms  of  gun-boats2  which  Con 
gress,  from  time  to  time,  had  authorized  as  a  substitute,      A  FELUCCA  GUN-BOAT. 
were  quite  inefficient,  even  as  a  coast-guard. 

The  American  merchants  and  all  in  their  interest,  so  deeply  injured  by  tho 
"  orders"  and  "decrees"  of  the  warring  monarchs,  demanded  redress  of  griev 
ances.  Great  excitement  prevailed  throughout  the  country,  and  the  most  bitter 
feeling  was  beginning  to  be  felt  against  Great  Britain.  This  was  increased  by 
her  haughty  assertion  and  offensive  practice  of  the  doctrine  that  she  had  the 
right  to  search  American  vessels  for  suspected  deserters  from  the  British  navy, 
and  to  carry  away  the  suspected  without  hinderance.3  This  right  was  strenu 
ously  denied,  and  its  policy  vehemently  condemned,  because  American  seamen 
might  be  thus  forced  into  the  British  service,  under  the  pretense  that  they  were 
deserters.  Indeed  this  had  already  happened.4 

Clouds  of  difficulty  now  gathered  thick  and  black.  A  crisis  approached. 
Four  seamen  on  board  the  United  States  frigate  Chesapeake,  were  claimed  as 
deserters  from  the  British  armed  ship  Melampits*  They  wrere  demanded,  but 
Commodore  Barren,  of  the  Chesapeake,  refused  to  give  them  up.  The 

1  In  May,  180G,  James  Monroe  [page  447]  and  William  Pinkney,  were  appointed  to  assist  in 
the  negotiation  of  a  treaty  with  Great  Britain,  concerning  the  rights  of  neutrals,  the  imprisonment 
of  seamen,  right  of  search,  &c.     A  treaty  was  finally  signed,  but  as  it  did  not  offer  security  to 
American  vessels  against  the  aggressions  of  British  ships  in  searching  them  and  carrying  off  seamen, 
Mr.  Jefferson  refused  to  submit  it  to  the  Senate,  and  rejected  it.     The  Federalists  condemned  the 
course  of  the  President,  but  subsequent  events  proved  his  wisdom.     Mr.  Pinkney,  one  of  the  special 
envoys,  was  a  remarkable  man.     He  was  born  at  Annapolis,  Maryland,  in  March,  1764.     He  was 
admitted  to  the  bar,  at  the  age  of  twenty -two  years,  and  became  one  of  the  most  profound  states 
men  and  brilliant  orators  of  the  age.     He  was  a  member  of  the  Maryland  Senate,  in  1811,  when 
President  Madison  appointed  him  Attorney-General  for  the  United  States.      He  was  elected  a 
member  of  Congress,  and  in  1816  was  appointed  United  States  minister  to  St.  Petersburg.     After 
a  short  service  in  the  Senate,  his  health  gave  way,  and  he  died  in  February,  1822,  in  the  fifty-ninth 
year  of  his  age. 

2  These  were  small  sailing  vessels,  having  a  cannon  at  the  bow  and  stern,  and  manned  by  fully 
armed  men,  for  the  purpose  of  boarding  other  vessels. 

3  England  maintains  the  doctrine  that  a  British  subject  can  never  become  an  alien.     At  tho 
time  in  question,  she  held  that  she  had  the  right  to  take  her  native-born  subjects  wherever  found,  and 
place  them  in  the  army  or  navy,  even  though,  by  legal  process,  they  had  become  citizens  of  another 
nation.     Our  laws  give  equal  protection  to  the  native  and  adopted  citizen,  and  would  not  allow 
Great  Britain  to  exercise  her  asserted  privilege  toward  a  Briton  who  had  become  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States. 

4  During  nine  months,  in  the  years  1796  and  1797,  Mr.  King  [page  395],  the  American  minis 
ter  in  London,  had  made  application  for  the  release  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-one  seamen  (a 
greater  portion  of  whom  were  Americans),  who  had  been  seized  on  the  false  charge  of  being  desert 
ers,  and  pressed  into  the  British  service. 

6  A  small  British  squadron,  of  which  the  Mdampus  was  one,  was  lying  in  Lynn  Haven  Bay,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  at  this  time.     It  was  commanded  by  Admiral  Berkeley. 

26 


402  THE      NATION.  [1801. 

Chesapeake  left  the  capes  of  Virginia  on  a  cruise,  on  the  22d  of  June,  1807, 
and  on  the  same  day  she  was  chased  and  attacked  by  the  British  frigate 
Leopard.  Unsuspicious  of  danger  and  unprepared  for  an  attack,  Barren  sur 
rendered  his  vessel,  after  losing  three  men  killed  and  eighteen  wounded.  The 
four  men  were  then  taken  on  board  the  Leopard,  and  the  Chesapeake 
returned  to  Hampton  Roads.1  Investigation  proved  that  three  of  the  seamen, 
who  were  colored  men,  were  native  Americans,  and  that  the  fourth  had  been 
impressed  into  the  British  service,  and  had  deserted. 

Forbearance  was  no  longer  a  virtue.     The  outrage  upon  the  Chesapeake 
aroused  the  nation,  and  provoked  retaliatory  measures.     All  parties  joined  in 
one  loud  voice  of  indignation,  and  many  were  very  anxious  for  a  declaration  of 
war  with  England.     The  President,  however,  proposed  a  pacific  course,  as  long 
as  any  hope  for  justice  or  reconciliation  remained.     He  issued  a  proclamation, 
in  July  [1807],  ordering  all  British  armed  vessels  to  leave  the  waters  of  the 
United  States  immediately,  and  forbidding  any  one  to  enter  until  full  satisfac 
tion  for  the  present  insult,  and  security  against  future  aggressions,  should  be 
made.     Although  the  British  government  understood  the  attack  on  the  Chesa 
peake  as  an  outrage,  yet  diplomacy,  which  is  seldom  honest,  was  immediately 
employed  to  mistify  the  plain  question  of  law  and  right.3     In  the  mean  while, 
France  and  England  continued  to  play  their  desperate  game,  to  the  detriment 
of  commerce,  unmindful  of  the  interests  of  other  nations,  or  the  obligations 
of  international  law.      A  British  order  in  council3  was  issued  on  the  llth 
of  November,  1807,  forbidding  neutral  nations  to  trade  with  France  or  her 
allies,  except  upon  payment  of  tribute  to  Great  Britain.     Napoleon  retaliated, 
by  issuing,  on  the  17th  of  December,  a  decree  at  Milan,  forbidding  all  trade 
with  England  or  her  colonies ;  and  authorizing  the  confiscation  of  any  vessel 
found  in  his  ports,  which  had  submitted  to  English  search,  or  paid  the  exacted 
tribute.     In  other  words,   any  vessel  having  goods  upon  which  any  impost 
whatever 'should  have  been  paid  to  Great  Britain,  should  be  denationalized, 
and  subject  to  seizure  and  condemnation.    These  edicts  were,  of  course,  destruct 
ive  to  the  principal  part  of  the  foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States.     In 
this  critical  state  of  affairs,  the  President  convened  Congress  several  weeks 
[Oct.  25,  1807]  earlier  than  usual ;  and  in  a  confidential  message  [December 
18],  he  recommended  to  that  body  the  passage  of  an  act,  levying  a  commercial 
embargo.     Such  an  act  was  passed  [December  22],  which  provided  for  the  de 
tention  of  all  vessels,  American  and  foreign,  at  our  ports ;  and  ordered  Ameri 
can  vessels  abroad  to  return  home  immediately,  that  the  seamen  might  be 

1  Page  297. 

8  The  President  forwarded  instructions  to  Mr.  Monroe,  our  minister  to  England,  to  demand  im 
mediate  satisfaction  for  the  outrage,  and  security  against  similar  events  in  future.  Great  Britain 
thereupon  dispatched  an  envoy  extraordinary  (Mr.  Eose)  to  the  United  States,  to  settle  the  diffi 
culty  in  question.  The  envoy  would  not  enter  into  negotiations  until  the  President  should  with 
draw  his  proclamation,  and  so  the  matter  stood  until  November,  1811  (more  than  four  years),  when 
the  British  government  declared  the  attack  on  the  Chesapeake  to  have  been  unauthorized,  and  pro 
mised  pecuniary  aid  to  the  families  of  those  who  were  killed  at  that  time.  But  Britain  would  not 
relinquish  the  right  of  search,  and  so  a  cause  for  quarrel  remained. 

8  .Note  1,  page  400. 


1809.] 


JEFFERSON'S    ADMINISTRATION 


403 


trained  for  the  inevitable  war.     Thus  the  chief  commerce  of  the  world  was 
brought  to  a  full  stop. 

The  operation  of  the  embargo  law  was  the  occasion  of  great  distress,  especi 
ally  in  commercial  communities,  yet  it  was  sustained  bj  the  great  body  of  the 


American  people.  It  put  patriotism  and  firmness  to  a  severe  test.  It  bore 
extremely  hard  upon  seamen  and  their  employers,  for  it  spread  ruin  throughout 
the  shipping  interest.  It  was  denounced  by  the  Federal  party,  chiefly  for  polit 
ical  effect  j1  and  as  it  failed  to  obtain  from  England  and  France  any  acknowl 
edgment  of  American  rights,  it  was  repealed  on  the  1st  of  March,  1809,  three 
days  before  Mr.  Jefferson  retired  from  office.  Congress,  at  the  same  time, 
passed  [March  1,  1809]  a  law  which  forbade  all  commercial  intercourse  with 
France  and  England,  until  the  "  orders  in  council"  and  the  "  decrees"  should 
be  repealed. 

1  Mr.  Jefferson  truly  wrote  to  a  friend :  "  The  Federalists  are  now  playing  a  game  of  the  most 
mischievous  tendency,  without,  perhaps,  being  themselves  aware  of  it.  They  are  endeavoring 
to  convince  England  that  we  suffer  more  from  the  embargo  than  they  do,  and  that,  if  they  will 
hold  out  awhile,  we  must  abandon  it.  It  is  true,  the  time  will  come  when  we  must  abandon  it ; 
but  if  this  is  before  the  repeal  of  the  orders  in  council,  we  must  abandon  it  only  for  a  state  of  war." 
John  Quincy  Adams,  who  had  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  because  he  dif 
fered  from  the  majority  of  his  constituents  in  supporting  the  measures  of  the  administration,  wrote 
to  the  President  to  the  effect,  that  from  information  received  by  him,  it  was  the  determination  of 
the  ruling  party  (Federalists)  in  Massachusetts,  and  even  throughout  New  England,  if  the  embargo 
was  persisted  in,  no  longer  to  submit  to  it,  but  to  separate  themselves  from  the  Union ;  and  that  such 
was  the  pressure  of  the  embargo  upon  the  community,  that  they  would  be  supported  by  the  people. 
This  was  explicitly  denied,  in  after  years,  by  the  Federalist  leaders. 


404  THE      NATION.  [1809. 

In  the  midst  of  the  excitement  on  account  of  the  foreign  relations  of  the 
United  States,  another  Presidential  election  was  held.  Who  should  be  the  Dem 
ocratic  candidate?  was  a  question  of  some  difficulty,  the  choice  lying  between 
Messrs.  Madison  and  Monroe,  of  Virginia.  For  some  time,  a  portion  of  the  Dem 
ocratic  party  in  that  State,  under  the  leadership  of  the  eminent  John  Randolph,1 
of  Roanoke,  had  differed  from  the  Administration  on  some  points  of  its  foreign 
policy ;  yet,  while  they  acted  with  the  Federalists  on  many  occasions,  they 
studiously  avoided  identification  with  that  party.  Mr.  Madison  was  the  firm 
adherent  of  Jefferson,  and  an  advocate  and  apologist  of  his  measures,  while  Mr. 
Monroe*  rather  favored  the  views  of  Mr.  Randolph  and  his  friends.  The  strength 
of  the  two  candidates  was  tried  in  a  caucus  of  the  Democratic  members  of  the 
Virginia  Legislature,  and  also  in  a  caucus  of  the  Democratic  members  of  Con 
gress.  Mr.  Madison,  having  a  large  majority  on  both  occasions,  was  nominated 
for  the  office  of  President,  and  George  Clinton  for  that  of  Vice-President. 
Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney  and  Rufus  King  were  the  Federalist  candidates. 
Madison  and  Clinton  were  elected.  At  the  close  of  eight  years'  service,  as 
Chief  Magistrate  of  theilnited  States,  Mr.  Jefferson  left  office  [March  4,  1809], 
and  retired  to  his  beautiful  Monticello,  in  the  bosom  of  his  native  Virginia. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

MADISON'S     ADMINISTRATION.     [1809  —  1817.] 

WHEN  James  Madison,  the  fourth  President  of  the  Republic,  took  the 
chair  of  state,  the  country  was  overspread  with  gloom  and  despondency. 
Although  somewhat  highly  colored,  the  report  of  a  committee  of  the  Massachu 
setts  Legislature,  in  January,  1809,  gives,  doubtless,  a  fair  picture  of  the  con 
dition  of  affairs.  It  said:  "Our  agriculture  is  discouraged;  the  fisheries 
abandoned ;  navigation  forbidden ;  our  commerce  at  home  restrained,  if  not 

1  John  Randolph  was  seventh  in  descent  from  Pocahontas  [page  66],  the  beloved  daughter  of 
the  emperor  of  the  Powhatans.     He  was  born  at  Petersburg,  in  Virginia,  in  June,  1773.     He  was 
in  delicate  health  from  infancy.     He  studied  in  Columbia  College,  New  York,  and  "William  and 
Mary  College,  in  Virginia.     Law  was  his  chosen  profession ;  yet  he  was  too  fond  of  literature  and 
politics  to  be  confined  to  its  practice.     He  entered  public  life  in  1799,  when  he  was  elected  to  a 
seat  in  Congress,  where  he  was  a  representative  of  his  native  State,  in  the  lower  House,  for  thirty 
years,  with  the  exception  of  three  intervals  of  two  years  each.    During  that  time  he  was  a  member 
of  the  Senate  for  two  years.     He  opposed  the  war  in  1812.     His  political  course  was  erratic. 
Jackson  appointed  him  minister  to  St.  Petersburg  in  1830.     His  health  would  not  permit  him  to 
remain  there.     On  his  return  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  but  consumption  soon  laid  him  in  the 
grave.     He  died  at  Philadelphia,  in  May,  1 833.     Mr.  Randolph  was  a  strange  compound  of  moral 
and  intellectual  qualities.     He  was  at  times  almost  an  atheist ;  at  others,  he  was  imbued  with  the 
deepest  emotions  of  piety  and  reverence  for  Deity.     It  is  said  that,  on  one  occasion,  he  ascended  a 
lofty  spur  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  at  dawn,  and  from  that  magnificent  observatory  saw  the  sun  rise.     As 
its  light  burst  in  beauty  and  glory  over  the  vast  panorama  before  him,  he  turned  to  his  servant  and 
said,  with  deep  emotion,  "Tom,  if  any  body  says  there  is  no  God,  tell  them  they  lie!"     Thus  he 
expressed  the  deep  sense  which  his  soul  felt  of  the  presence  of  a  Great  Creator. 

2  Page.  447. 


1817.]  MADISON'S    ADMINISTRATION.  405 

annihilated ;  our  commerce  abroad  cut  off;  our  navy  sold,  dismantled,  or 
degraded  to  the  service  of  cutters,  or  gun-boats;1  the  revenue  extinguished; 
the  course  of  justice  interrupted;  and  the  nation  weakened  by  internal  animos 
ities  and  divisions,  at  the  moment  when  it  is  unnecessarily  and  improvidently 
exposed  to  war  with  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Spain."  This  was  the  lan 
guage  of  the  opponents  of  the  administration,  and  must  be  taken  with  some 
allowance.  That  party  was  strongly  opposed  to  Mr.  Madison,  because  they 


believed  that  he  would  perpetuate  the  policy  of  Mr.  Jefferson.  But  when, 
dressed  in  a  suit  of  plain  black,  he  modestly  pronounced  his  inaugural  address 
[March  4.  1809],  the  tone  and  sentiment  of  which  fell  like  oil  upon  the 
troubled  waters,  those  of  his  most  implacable  political  enemies  who  heard  him, 
could  not  refrain  from  uttering  words  of  approbation ;  and  hopes  were  enter 
tained  by  the  whole  nation,  that  his  measures  might  change  the  gloomy  aspect 
of  affairs. 

To  all  unbiassed  minds,  no  man  appeared  better  fitted  for  the  office  of  Chief 
Magistrate  of  the  Republic,  at  that  time  of  general  commotion,  than  Mr.  Mad 
ison.2  He  had  been  Secretary  of  State  during  the  wl  lie  administration  of  Mr. 

1  Page  401. 

2  James  Madison  was  horn  in  Virginia,  in  March,  1751.     He  was  educated  at  Princeton,  New 
Jersey,  and  was  diverted  from  the  intended  practice  of  the  law  by  the  charms  and  excitements  of 
political  life.     He  assisted  in  framing  the  first  Constitution  of  Virginia,  in  1776.     He  was  a  mem 
ber  of  his  State  Legislature  and  of  the  Executive  Council,  and  in  1780  was  a  delegate  in  the  Conti 
nental  Congress.     In  public  life,  there,  and  in  his  State  councils,  he  was  ever  the  champion  of 
popular  liberty.     As  a  member  of  the  National  Convention,  and  supporter  of  the  Constitution,  he 


406  THE      NATION".  [1809. 

Jefferson,  and  was  familiar  with  every  event  which  had  contributed  to  produce 
the  existing  hostile  relations  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain. 
His  cabinet  was  composed  of  able  men,1  and  in  the  eleventh  Congress,  which 
convened  on  the  22d  of  May,  1809,  in  consequence  of  the  critical  state  of 
affairs,2  there  was  a  majority  of  his  political  friends.  Yet  there  was  a  powerful 
party  in  the  country  (the  Federalists)  hostile  to  his  political  creed,  and  opposed 
to  a  war  with  England,  which  now  seemed  probable. 

At  the  very  beginning  of  Madison's  administration,  light  beamed  upon  the 
future.  Mr.  Erskine,  the  British  minister,  assured  the  President,  that  such 
portions  of  the  orders  in  council3  as  affected  the  United  States,  should  be 
repealed  by  the  10th  of  June.  He  also  assured  him  that  a  special  envoy  would 
soon  arrive,  to  settle  all  matters  in  dispute  between  the  two  governments. 
Supposing  the  minister  to  be  authorized  by  his  government  to  make  these 
assurances,  the  President,  as  empowered  by  Congress,  issued  a  proclamation 
[April  19,  1809],  permitting  a  renewal  of  commercial  intercourse  with  Great 
Britain,  on  that  day.  But  the  government  disavowed  Erskine' s  act,  and  the 
President  again  [August  10]  proclaimed  non-intercourse.  The  light  had 
proved  deceitful.  This  event  caused  great  excitement  in  the  public  mind  ;  and 
had  the  President  then  declared  war  against  Great  Britain,  it  would  doubtless 
have  been  very  popular. 

Causes  for  irritation  between  the  two  governments  continually  increased, 
and,  for  a  time,  political  intercourse  was  suspended.  France,  too,  continued 
its  aggressions.  On  the  23d  of  March,  1810,  Bonaparte  issued  a  decree  at 
Rambouillet,  more  destructive  in  its  operations  to  American  commerce,  than  any 
measures  hitherto  employed.  It  declared  forfeit  every  American  vessel  which 
had  entered  French  ports  since  March,  1810,  or  that  might  thereafter  enter ; 
and  authorized  the  sale  of  the  same,  together  with  the  cargoes — the  money  to 
be  placed  in  the  French  treasury.  Under  this  decree,  many  American  vessels 
were  lost,  for  which  only  partial  remuneration  has  since  been  obtained.4  Bona 
parte  justified  this  decree  by  the  plea,  that  it  was  made  in  retaliation  for  the 
American  decree  of  non-intercourse.5  Three  months  later  [May,  1810],  Con 
gress  offered  to  resume  commercial  intercourse  with  either  France  or  England, 
or  both,  on  condition  that  they  should  repeal  their  obnoxious  orders  and 
decrees,  before  the  3d  of  March,  1811.°  The  French  emperor,  who  was  always 
governed  by  expediency,  in  defiance  of  right  and  justice,  feigned  compliance, 
and  by  giving  assurance  [August]  that  such  repeal  should  take  effect  in  Novem- 


was  one  of  the  wisest  and  ablest;  and  his  voluminous  writings,  purchased  by  Congress,  display  tho 
most  sagacious  statesmanship.  As  a  Republican,  he  was  conservative.  For  eight  years  he  was 
President  of  the  United  States,  when  he  retired  to  private  life.  He  died  in  June,  1836,  at  the  ago 
of  eighty-live  years. 

1  Robert  Smith,  Secretary  of  State;  Albert  Gallatin,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  William  Eustis, 
Secretary  of  War;  Paul  Hamilton,  Secretary  of  the  Navy;  Caesar  Rodney,  Attorney-General. 

8  Its  session  lasted  only  about  five  weeks,  because  peace  seemed  probable. 

3  Note  1,  page  400.  4  Page  468.  B  Page  402. 

6  The  act  provided,  that  if  either  government  should  repeal  its  obnoxious  acts,  and  if  the  other 
government  should  not  do  the  same  within  three  months  thereafter,  then  the  first  should  enjoy 
commercial  intercourse  with  the  United  States,  but  the  other  should  not. 


1817.]  MADISON'S    ADMINISTRATION.  4Q7 

ber,  caused  the  President  to  proclaim  such  resumption  of  intercourse.  It  was 
a  promise  intended  to  be  broken  at  any  moment  when  policy  should  dictate. 
American  vessels  continued  to  be  seized  by  French  cruisers,  as  usual,  and  con 
fiscated  ;  and  in  March,  1811,  Napoleon  declared  the  decrees  of  Berlin1  and 
Milan2  to  be  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  empire.  A  new  envoy  from  France, 
who  arrived  in  the  United  States  at  about  this  time,  gave  official  notice  to  the 
government,  that  no  remuneration  would  be  made  for  property  seized  and  con 
fiscated. 

The  government  of  Great  Britain  acted  more  honorably,  though  wickedly. 
She  continued  her  hostile  orders,  and  sent  ships  of  war  to  cruise  near  the  prin 
cipal  ports  of  the  United  States,  to  intercept  American  merchant  vessels  and 
send  them  to  England  as  lawful  prizes.  While  engaged  in  this  nefarious  busi 
ness,  the  British  sloop  of  war3  Little  Belt,  Captain  Bingham,  was  met  [May 
16,  1811],  off  the  coast  of  Virginia,  by  the  American  frigate  President,  Com 
modore  Rogers.4  That  officer  hailed  the  commander  of  the  sloop,  and  received 
a  cannon  shot  in  reply.  A  brief  action  ensued,  when  Captain  Bingham,  after 
having  eleven  men  killed  and  twenty-one  wounded,  gave  a  satisfactory  answer 
to  Rogers.  The  conduct  of  both  officers  was  approved  by  their  respective  gov 
ernments.  That  of  the  United  States  condemned  the  act  of  Bingham  as  an 
outrage  without  palliation ;  and  the  government  and  people  felt  willing  to  take 
up  arms  in  defense  of  right,  justice,  and  honor.  Powerful  as  was  the  navy  of 
Great  Britain,  and  weak  as  was  that  of  the  United  States,  the  people  of  the 
latter  were  willing  to  accept  of  war  as  an  alternative  for  submission,  and  to 
measure  strength  on  the  ocean.  The  British  navy  consisted  of  almost  nine 
hundred  vessels,  with  an  aggregate  of  one  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand 
men.  The  American  vessels  of  war,  of  large  size,  numbered  only  twelve,  with 
an  aggregate  of  about  three  hundred  guns.  Besides  these,  there  were  a  great 
number  of  gun-boats,  but  these  were  hardly  sufficient  for  a  coast-guard.  Here 
was  a  great  disparity ;  and  for  a  navy  so  weak  to  defy  a  navy  so  strong, 
seemed  madness.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  British  navy  was 
necessarily  very  much  scattered,  for  that  government  had  interests  to  protect  in 
various  parts  of  the  globe. 

The  protracted  interruption  of  commercial  operations  was  attended  with 
very  serious  effect  upon  the  trade  and  revenue  of  the  United  States,  and  all 
parties  longed  for  a  change,  even  if  it  must  be  brought  about  by  war  with 
European  governments.  The  Congressional  elections  in  1810  and  1811,  proved 
that  the  policy  of  Mr.  Madison's  administration  was  sustained  by  a  large  ma 
jority  of  the  American  people,  the  preponderance  of  the  Democratic  party 
being  kept  up  in  both  branches  of  the  National  Legislature.  The  opposition, 
who,  as  a  party,  were  unfavorable  to  hostilities,  were  in  a  decided  minority , 
and  the  government  had  more  strength  in  its  councils  than  at  any  time  during 
Jefferson's  administration. 

For  several  years  war  with  England  had  seemed  inevitable,  and  now  [1811] 

1  Page  400.  3  Page  402.  8  Page  415. 

4  He  died  in  the  Naval  Asylum,  Philadelphia,  in  August,  1838. 


408  THE      NATION.  [1809. 

many  causes  were  accelerating  the  progress  of  events  toward  such  a  result. 
Among  these,  the  hostile  position  of  the  Indian  tribes  on  the  north-western 
frontier  of  the  United  States,  was  one  of  the  most  powerful.  They,  too,  had 
felt  the  pressure  of  Bonaparte's  commercial  system.  In  consequence  of  the 
exclusion  of  their  furs  from  the  continental  markets,  the  Indian  hunters  found 
their  traffic  reduced  to  the  lowest  point.  The  rapid  extension  of  settlements 
north  of  the  Ohio  was  narrowing  their  hunting-grounds,  and  producing  a  rapid 
diminution  of  game ;  and  the  introduction  of  whiskey,  by  the  white  people,  was 
spreading  demoralization,  disease,  and  death  among  the  Indians.  These  evils, 
combined  with  the  known  influence  of  British  emissaries,  finally  led  to  open 
hostilities. 

In  the  spring  of  1811,  it  was  known  that  Tecumtha,  a  Shawnoe1  chief, 
who  was  crafty,  intrepid,  un scrupulous,  and  cruel,  and  who  possessed  the  qual 
ities  of  a  great  leader,  almost  equal  to  those  of  Pontiac,2  was  endeavoring  to 
emulate  that  great  Ottawa  by  confederating  the  tribes  of  the  north-west  in  a 
war  against  the  people  of  the  United  States.  Those  over  whom  himself  and 
twin-brother,  the  Prophet,3  exercised  the  greatest  control,  were  the  Delawares, 
Shawnoese,  Wyandots,  Miamies,  Kickapoos,  Winnebagoes,  and  Chippewas. 
During  the  summer,  the  frontier  settlers  became  so  alarmed  by  the  continual 
military  and  religious  exercises  of  the  savages,  that  General  Harrison,5  then 
governor  of  the  Indiana  Territory,6  marched,  with  a  considerable  force,  toward 
the  town  of  the  Prophet,  situated  at  the  junction  of  the  Tippecanoe  and 
Wabash  Rivers,  in  the  upper  part  of  Tippecanoe  county,  Indiana.  The 
Prophet  appeared  and  proposed  a  conference,  but  Harrison,  suspecting  treach 
ery,  caused  his  soldiers  to  sleep  on  their  arms  [Nov.  6,  1811]  that  night.  At 
four  o'clock  the  next  morning  [Nov.  7]  the  savages  fell  upon  the  American 
camp,  but  after  a  bloody  battle  until  dawn,  the  Indians  were  repulsed.  The 
battle  of  Tippecanoe  was  one  of  the  most  desperate  ever  fought  with  the  Indians, 
and  the  loss  was  heavy  on  both  sides.7  Tecumtha  was  not  present  on  this  occa 
sion,  and  it  is  said  the  Prophet  took  no  part  in  the  engagement. 

These  events,  so  evidently  the  work  of  British  interference,  aroused  the 
spirit  of  the  nation,  and  throughout  the  entire  West,  and  in  the  Middle  and 
Southern  States,  there  was  a  desire  for  war.  Yet  the  administration  fully 
appreciated  the  deep  responsibility  involved  in  such  a  step ;  and  having  almost 
the  entire  body  of  the  New  England  people  in  opposition,  the  President  and  his 
friends  hesitated.  The  British  orders  in  council3  continued  to  be  rigorously 
enforced ;  insult  after  insult  was  offered  to  the  American  flag ;  and  the  British 
press  insolently  boasted  that  the  United  States  "could  not  be  kicked  into  a 

1  Page  19.  2  Page  204. 

3  In  1809,  Governor  Harrison  had  negotiated  a  treaty  with  the  Miamies  [page  19]  and  other 
tribes,  by  which  they  sold  to  the  United  States  a  large  tract  of  land  on  both  sides  of  the  Wabash. 
The  Prophet  was  present  and  made  no  objection;  but  Tecumtha,  who  was  absent,  was  greatly 
dissatisfied.     The  British  emissaries  took  advantage  of  this  dissatisfaction,  to  inflame  him  and  his 
people  against  the  Americans. 

4  Page  17.  6  Page  414.  6  Note  4,  page  390. 

7  Harrison  had  upward  of  sixty  killed,  and  more  than  a  hundred  wounded. 

8  Note  1,  page  400. 


1817.]  MADISON'S    ADMINISTRATION.  409 

war."  Forbearance  became  no  longer  a  virtue ;  and  on  the  4th  of  April,  1812, 
Congress  laid  another  embargo1  upon  vessels  in  American  waters,  for  ninety 
days.  On  the  1st  of  June,  the  President  transmitted  a  special  message  to 
Congress,  in  which  he  reviewed  the  difficulties  with  Great  Britain,  strongly 
portrayed  the  aggressions  inflicted  upon  us  by  that  nation,  and  intimated  the 
necessity  of  war.  The  message  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Relations,  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  a  majority  of  whom2  agreed  upon, 
and  reported  a  manifesto  [June  3],  as  the  basis  of  a  declaration  of  war.  On 
the  following  day  [June  4,  1812],  a  bill,  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Pinckney,  the 
Attorney-General  of  the  United  States,3  declaring  war  to  exist  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain,  was  presented  by  Mr.  Calhoun.  During  the 
proceedings  on  this  subject,  Congress  sat  with  closed  doors.  The  measure  was 
finally  agreed  to,  by  both  Houses,  by  fair  majorities.  It  passed  the  House  of 
Representatives  by  a  vote  of  79  to  49.  On  the  17th  it  passed  the  Senate  by  a 
vote  of  19  to  13,  and  on  that  day  it  received  the  signature  of  the  President.4 
Two  days  afterward  [June  19],  the  President  issued  a  proclamation  which 
formally  declared  war  against  Gr^at  Britain.5  This  is  known  in  history  as  THE 
WAR  OF  1812;  or 

THE  SECOND  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.6 

•  Congress,  having  authorized  the  President  to  declare  war,  took  immediate 
measures  to  sustain  that  declaration.'  It  passed  an  act  which  gave  him  author 
ity  to  enlist  twenty-five  thousand  men,  to  accept  fifty  thousand  volunteers,  and 
to  call  out  one  hundred  thousand  militia  for  the  defense  of  the  sea-coast  and 
frontiers.  Fifteen  millions  of  dollars  were  appropriated  for  the  army,  and 
almost  three  millions  for  the  navy.  But  at  the  very  threshhold  of  the  new  order 

1  Pago  402.     Four  days  after  this  [April  8]  Louisiana  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State. 

3  John  C.  Calhoun,  of  South  Carolina ;  Felix  Grundy,  of  Tennessee ;  John  Smilie,  of  Pennsyl 
vania  ;  John  A.  Harper,  of  New  Hampshire ;  Joseph  Desha,  of  Kentucky ;  and  Ebenezer  Seaver, 
of  Massachusetts.  3  Page  400. 

4  The  following  are  the  words  of  that  important  bill :  "  Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  That  war  be,  and  the 
same  is  hereby  declared  to  exist  between  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and 
the  dependencies  thereof,  and  the  United  States  of  America  and  their  Territories ;  and  that  the 
President  of  the  United  States  is  hereby  authorized  to  use  the  whole  land  and  naval  force  of  the 
United  States  to  carry  the  same  into  effect,  and  to  issue  to  private  armed  vessels  of  the  United 
States,  commissions,  or  letters  of  marque,  and  general  reprisal,  in  such  form  as  he  shall  think  proper, 
and  under  the  seal  of  the  United  States,  against  the  vessels,  goods,  and  effects  of  the  government 
of  the  said  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  the  subjects  thereof." 

5  The  chief  causes  for  this  act  were  the  impressment  of  American  seamen  by  the  British ;  the 
blockade  of  French  ports  without  an  adequate  force  to  sustain  the  act ;  and  the  British  Orders  in 
Council.     The  Federalists  in  Congress  presented  an  ably- written  protest,  which  denied  the  necessity 
or  the  expediency  of  war. 

6  This  is  an  appropriate  title,  for,  until  the  termination  of  that  war,  the  United  States  were  only 
nominally  free.     Blessed  with  prosperity,  the  people  dreaded  war,  and  submitted  to  many  acts  of 
tyranny  and  insult  from  Great  Britain  and  France,  rather  than  become  involved  in  another  conflict. 
Socially  and  commercially,  the  United  States  were  dependent  upon  Europe,  and  especially  upon 
England ;  and  the  latter  was  rapidly  acquiring  a  dangerous  political  interest  here,  when  the  war 
broke  out.     The  war  begun  in  1775  was  really  only  the  first  great  step  toward  independence;  the 
war  begun  in  1812,  first  thoroughly  accomplished  it.     Franklin  once  heard  a  person  speaking  of 
the  Revolution  as  the  War  of  Independence,  and  reproved  him,  saying,  "Sir,  you  mean  the  Revolu 
tion;  the  war  of  Independence  is  yet  to  come.     It  was  a  war  for  Independence,  but  not  of  Inde 
pendence." 


410  THE      NATION.  [1809. 

of  things,  the  administration  was  met  by  determined  opposition.  The  Federal 
members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  published  an  address  to  their  con 
stituents,  in  which  they  set  forth  the  state  of  the  country  at  that  time,  the 
course  of  the  administration  and  its  supporters  in  Congress,  and  the  reasons  of 
the  minority  for  opposing  the  war.  This  was  fair  and  honorable.  But  outside 
of  Congress,  a  party,  composed  chiefly  of  Federalists,  with  some  disaffected 
Democrats,  was  organized  under  the  name  of  the  Peace  party.  Its  object  was 
to  cast  such  obstructions  in  the  way  of  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  as  to  compel 
the  government  to 'make  peace.  This  movement,  so  unpatriotic,  the  offspring 
of  the  lowest  elements  of  faction,  was  frowned  upon  by  the  most  respectable 
members  of  the  Federal  party,  and  some  of  them  gave  the  government  their 
hearty  support,  when  it  was  necessary,  in  order  to  carry  on  the  war  with  vigor 
and  effect. 

The  first  care  of  the  government,  in  organizing  the  army,  was  to  select 
efficient  officers.     Nearly  all  of  the  general  officers  of  the  Revolution  were  in 
their  graves,  or  were  too  old  for  service,  and  even  those  of  subordinate  rank  in 
that  war,  who  yet  remained,  were  far  advanced  in  life. 
Yet  upon  them  the  chief  duties  of  leadership   were 
devolved.     Henry    Dearborn1    was    appointed   major- 
general    and   commander-in- chief;   and   his   principal 
brigadiers  were  James  Wilkinson,2  Wade  Hampton,3 
William  Hull,4  and  Joseph  Bloomfield — all  of  them 
esteemed  soldiers  of  the  Revolution. 

Hull  was  governor  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan, 
and  held  the  commission  of  a  brigadier-general.     When 
war  was  declared,  he  was  marching,  with  a  little  more 
GENERAL  DEARBORN.          than  two  thousand  troops,  from  Ohio,  to  attempt  the 
subjugation  of  the  hostile   Indians.5      Congress  gave 

him  discretionary  powers  for  invading  Canada;  but  caution  and  preparation 
were  necessary,  because  the  British  authorities,  a  long  time  in  expectation  of 
war,  had  taken  measures  accordingly.6  Feeling  strong  enough  for  the  enemy, 
Hull,  on  the  12th  of  July,  1812,  crossed  the  Detroit  River  with  his  whole 
force,  to  attack  Fort  Maiden,  a  British  post  near  the*  present  village  of  Amherst- 
burg.  At  Sandwich,  he  encamped,  and  by  a  fatal  delay,  lost  every  advantage 
which  an  immediate  attack  might  have  secured.  In  the  mean  while,  Fort 

1  Henry  Dearborn  was  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  and  a  meritorious  officer  in  the  continental 
army.     He  accompanied  Arnold  to  Quebec,  and  was  distinguished  in  the  battles  which  ruined 
Burgoyne  [page  281].     He  held  civil  offices  of  trust  after  the  "Revolution.     He  returned  to  private 
life  in  1815,  and  died  at  Roxbury,  near  Boston,  in  1829,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years. 

2  Pages  396  and  426.          3  Note  3,  page  427.  4  Note  4,  page  411.  6  Page  408. 

6  Canada  then  consisted  of  two  provinces.  The  old  French  settlements  on  the  St.  Lawrence, 
with  a  population  of  about  three  hundred  thousand,  constituted  Lower  Canada ;  while  the  more 
recent  settlements  above  Montreal,  and  chiefly  upon  the  northern  shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  including 
about  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  composed  Upper  Canada.  These  were  principally  the 
families  of  American  loyalists,  who  were  compelled  to  leave  the  States  at  the  close  of  the  Revolu 
tion.  Then  each  province  had  its  own  governor  and  Legislature.  The  regular  military  force,  which 
was  scattered  over  a  space  of  more  than  a  thousand  miles,  did  not  exceed  two  thousand  men; 
hence  the  British  commanders  were  compelled  to  call  for  volunteers,  and  they  used  the  Indians 
to  good  effect,  in  their  favor. 


1817.]  MADISON'S    ADMINISTRATION. 

Mackinaw,  one  of  the  strongest  posts  of  the  United  States  in  the  north- west,1 
was  surprised  and  captured  [July  17,  1812]  by  an  allied  force  of  British  and 
Indians ;  and  on  the  5th  of  August,  a  detachment  under  Major  Van  Home, 
sent  by  Hull  to  escort  an  approaching  supply-party  to  camp,  were  defeated  by 
some  British  and  Indians  near  Brownstown,  on  the  Huron  River.2  These 
events,  and  the  reinforcement  of  the  garrison  at  Maiden,  by  General  Brock, 
the  British  commander-in-chief,  caused  Hull  to  recross  the  river  on  the  7th  of 
August,  abandon  the  expedition  against  Canada,  and  take  post  at  Detroit,  much 
to  the  disappointment  of  his  troops,  who  were  anxious  to  measure  strength  with 
the  enemy. 

On  the  9th  of  August,  General  Brock  crossed  the  river  with  seven  hundred 
British  troops  and  six  hundred  Indians,  and  demanded  an  instant  surrender  of 
Detroit,  threatening  at  the  same  time  to  give  free  rein  to  Indian  cruelty  in  the 
event  of  refusal.  Hull's  excessive  prudence  determined  him  to  surrender, 
rather  than  expose  his  troops  to  the  hatchet.  When  the  assailants  approached, 
and  at  the  moment  when  the  Americans  were  hoping  for  and  expecting  a  com 
mand  to  fire,  he  ordered  his  troops  to  retire  within  the  fort,  and  hung  a  white 
flag  upon  the  wall,  in  token  of  submission.  The  army,  fort,  stores,  garrison, 
and  Territory,  were  all  surrendered  [August  16,  1812],  to  the  astonishment  of 
the  victor  himself,  and  the  deep  mortification  of  the  American  troops.  Hull 
was  afterward  tried  by  a  court-martial3  [1814],  on  charges  of  treason  and  cow 
ardice.  He  was  found  guilty  of  the  latter,  and  sentenced  to  be  shot,  but  was 
pardoned  by  the  President  on  account  of  his  revolutionary  services.  The  whole 
country  severely  censured  him ;  and  the  rage  of  the  war  party,  increased  by 
the  taunts  of  the  Federalists,  because  of  the  disastrous  termination  of  one  of  the 
first  expeditions  of  the  campaign,  was  unbounded.  The  difficulties  with  which 
Hull  was  surrounded — his  small  force  (only  about  eight  hundred  effective  men)  ; 
the  inexperience  of  his  officers,  and  the  rawness  of  his  troops ;  his  lack  of  infor 
mation,  because  of  the  interception  of  his  communications  ;  and  the  number  and 
character  of  the  enemy — were  all  kept  out  of  sight,  while  bitter  denunciations 
were  poured  upon  his  head.  In  after  years,  he  was  permitted  fully  to  vindicate 
his  character,  and  the  sober  judgment  of  this  generation,  guided  by  historic 
truth,  must  acquit  him  of  all  crime,  and  even  serious  error,  and  pity  him  as  a 
victim  of  untoward  circumstances.4 

1  Formerly  spelled  Michilimackinac.  It  was  situated  upon  an  island  of  that  name,  near  the 
Straits  of  Mackinaw  or  Michilimakinac. 

3  On  the  8th,  Colonel  Miller  and  several  hundred  men,  sent  by  Hull  to  accomplish  the  object  of 
Van  Home,  met  and  defeated  Tecumtha  [page  408]  and  his  Indians,  with  a  party  of  British,  near 
the  scene  of  Van  Home's  failure. 

3  He  was  taken  to  Montreal  a  prisoner,  and  was  afterward  exchanged  for  thirty  British  cap 
tives.     He  was  tried  at  Albany,  New  York. 

4  Hull  published  his  Vindication  in  1824;  and  in  1848,  his  grandson  published  a  large  octavo 
volume,  giving  a  full  and  thorough  vindication  of  the  character  of  the  general,  the  material  for 
which  was  drawn  from  official  records.     Hull's  thorough  knowledge  of  the  character  of  the  foe  who 
menaced  him,  and  a  humane  desire  to  spare  his  troops,  was  doubtless  his  sole  reason  for  surrender 
ing  the  post.     A  good  and  brave  man  has  too  long  suffered  the  reproaches  of  history.     "William 
Hull  was  born  in  Connecticut  in  1753.     He  rose  to  the  rank  of  major  in  the  continental  army,  and 
was  distinguished  for  his  bravery.     He  was  appointed  governor  of  the  Michigan  Territory  in  1805. 
After  the  close  of  his  unfortunate  campaign,  he  never  appeared  in  public  life.     He  died  near  Boston 
in  1825. 


412  '    THE      NATION.  [1809. 

At  about  this  time,  a  tragedy  occurred  near  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan, 
which  sent  a  thrill  of  horror  through  the  land.  Captain  Heald,  with  a  com 
pany  of  fifty  regulars,  occupied  Fort  Dearborn,  on  the  site  of  the  present 
large  city  of  Chicago.1  Hull  ordered  him  to  evacuate  that  post  in  the  deep 
wilderness,  and  hasten  to  Detroit.  He  left  the  public  property  in  charge  of 
friendly  Indians,  but  had  proceeded  only  a  short  distance  from  the  fort,  along 
the  beach,  when  he  was  attacked  by  a  body  of  Indians.  Twenty-six  of  the  reg 
ular  troops,  and  all  of  the  militia,  were  slaughtered.  A  number  of  women  and 
children  were  murdered  and  scalped ;  and  Captain  Heald,  with  his  wife,  though 
severely  wounded,  escaped  to  Michilimackinac.2  His  wife  also  received  six 
wounds,  but  none  proved  mortal.  This  event  occurred  on  the  day  before  Hull's 
surrender  [Aug.  15, 1812]  at  Detroit,  and  added  to  the  gloom  that  overspread, 
and  the  indignation  that  flashed  through,  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land. 

While  these  misfortunes  were  befalling  the  Army  of  the  North- west,3  the 
opponents  of  the  war  were  casting  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  other  divisions  of 
the  American  troops  operating  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  preparing  for 
another  invasion  of  Canada.4  The  governors  of  Massachusetts,  New  Hamp 
shire,  and  Connecticut,  refused  to  allow  the  militia  of  those  States  to  march  to 
the  northern  frontier  on  the  requisition  of  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
They  defended  their  unpatriotic  position  by  the  plea  that  such  a  requisition  was 
unconstitutional,  and  that  the  war  was  unnecessary.  The  British  government, 
in  the  mean  time,  had  declared  the  whole  American  coast  in  a  state  of  block 
ade,  except  that  of  the  New  England  States,  whose  apparent  sympathy  with 
the  enemies  of  their  country,  caused  them  to  be  regarded  as  ready  to  leave  the 
Union,  and  become  subject  to  the  British  crown.  But  there  was  sterling 
patriotism  sufficient  there  to  prevent  such  a  catastrophe,  even  if  a  movement, 
so  fraught  with  evil,  had  been  contemplated.  Yet  the  effect  was  chilling  to  the 
best  friends  of  the  country,  and  the  President  felt  the  necessity  of  extreme  cir 
cumspection. 

Unmindful  of  the  intrigues  of  its  foes,  however,  the  administration  perse 
vered  ;  and  during  the  summer  of  1812,  a  plan  was  matured  for  invading  Can 
ada  on  the  Niagara  frontier.  The  militia  of  the  State  of  New  York  were 
placed,  by  Governor  Tompkins,  under  the  command  of  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,5 

1  Chicago  is  built  upon  the  verge  of  Lake  Michigan  and  the  borders  of  a  great  prairie,  and  is 
one  of  the  wonders  of  the  material  and  social  progress  of  the  United  States.  The  Pottawatomie 
Indians  [page  18],  by  treaty,  left  that  spot  to  the  white  people  in  1833.  The  city  was  laid  out  in 
1830,  and  lots  were  first  sold  in  1831.  In  1840,  the  population  was  4,470.  Now  [1867]  it  can  not 
be  less  than  180,0001  2  Page  411. 

3  The  forces  under  General  Harrison  were  called  the  Army  of  the  North-west;  those  under  Gen 
eral  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  at  Lewiston,  on  the  Niagara  River,  the  Army  of  the  Center ;  and 
those  under  General  Dearborn,  at  Plattsburg  and  at  Greenbush,  near  Albany,  the  Army  of  the 
North.  *  Page  410 

6  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  a  lineal  descendant  of  one  of  the  earliest  and  best  known  of  the 
Patroons  [note  10,  page  139]  of  the  State  of  New  York,  was  born  at  the  manor-house,  near  Albany, 
in  November,  1764.  The  War  for  Independence  had  just  closed  when  he  came  into  possession  of 
his  immense  estate,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years.  He  engaged  in  polities,  was  a  warm  supporter 
of  the  National  Constitution,  and  was  elected  Lieutenant-Governor  of  New  York  in  1795.  He  was 
very  little  engaged  in  politics  after  the  defeat  of  the  Federal  party  in  1800  [page  388].  After 
the  Second  War  for  Independence,  he  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  Congress;  and,  by  his  casting  vote 
in  the  New  York  delegation,  he  gave  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States  to  John  Quincy  Adams. 


1817.] 


MADISON'S    ADMINISTRATION. 


413 


who  was  commissioned  a  Major-General.  Intelligence  of  the  surrender  of  Hull1 
had  inspired  the  Americans  with  a  strong  desire  to  wipe  out  the  disgrace ;  and 
the  regiments  were  filled  without  much  difficulty.  These  forces  were  concen 
trated  chiefly  at  Lewiston,  on  the  Niagara  frontier,  under  Van  Rensselaer,  and 
at  Plattsburg,  on  Lake  Champlain,  and  Greenbush,  near  Albany,  under  General 
Dearborn. 


The  first  demonstration  against  the  neighboring  province  was  made  on  the 
Niagara,  in  mid-autumn.  In  anticipation  of  such  movement,  British  troops 
were  strongly  posted  on  the  heights  of  Queenstown,  opposite  Lewiston ;  and  on 
the  morning  of  the  13th  of  October  [1812],  two  hundred  and  twenty- five  men, 
under  Colonel  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer,2  crossed  over  to  attack  them.  The 
commander  was  severely  wounded,  at  the  landing ;  but  his  troops  pressed  for 
ward,  under  Captains  Wool3  and  Ogilvie,  successfully  assaulted  a  battery  near 


Here  closed  his  political  life,  and  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  the  performance  of  social 
and  Christian  duties.  He  was  for  several  years  president  of  the  Board  of  Canal  Commissioners, 
and,  while  in  that  office,  he  died  in  January,  1840,  in  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age. 

1  Page  411. 

3  Solomon  Van  Rensselaer  was  one  of  the  bravest  and  best  men  of  his  time;  and  to  his  efforts, 
more  than  to  those  of  any  other  man,  the  salvation  of  the  American  army  on  the  northern  frontier, 
at  this  time,  was  due.  He  died  at  Albany  on  the  3d  of  April,  1852. 

3  John  E.  Wool,  now  [1856]  Major-General  in  the  army  of  the  United  States. 


414  THE     NATION.  [1809. 

the  summit  of  the  hill,  and  gained  possession  of  Queenstown  Heights.  But  the 
victory  was  not  yet  complete.  General  Sir  Isaac  Brock  had  come  from  Fort 
George,  and  with  six  hundred  men  attempted  to  regain  the  battery.  The 
British  were  repulsed,  and  Brock  was  killed.1  In  the  mean  while,  General 
Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  who  had  crossed  over,  returned  to  Lewiston,  and  was 
using  his  most  earnest  eiforts  to  send  reinforcements  ;  but  only  about  one  thou 
sand  troops,  many  of  them  quite  undisciplined,  could  be  induced  to  cross  the 
river.  These  were  attacked  in  the  afternoon  [Oct.  13,  1812]  by  fresh  troops 
from  Fort  George,  and  some  of  their  Indian  allies.  Many  were  killed  and  the 
rest  were  made  prisoners,  while  at  least  fifteen  hundred  of  their  companions-in 
arms  cowardly  refused  to  cross  to  their  aid.  The  latter  excused  their  conduct  by 
the  plea,  put  into  their  mouths  by  the  opponents  of  the  war,  that  they  considered 
it  wrong  to  invade  the  enemy's  country,  the  war  being  avowedly  a  defensive  one. 
"The  enemies  of  the  administration  applauded  them  for  their  conscientiousness, 
while  a  victory  that  might  have  led  to  reconciliation  and  peace,  was  lost  at  the 
winning  moment.  General  Van  Rensselaer,  disgusted  with  the  inefficiency 
everywhere  displayed,  left  the  service,  and  was  succeeded  by  General  Alex 
ander  Smyth,  of  Virginia  This  officer  accomplished  nothing  of  importance 
during  the  remainder  of  the  season :  and  when  the  troops  went  into  winter 
quarters  [Dec.],  there  appeared  to  have  been  very  few  achievements  made  by 
the  American  army  worthy  of  honorable  mention  in  history. 

While  the  army  was  suffering  defeats,  and  became,  in  the  mouths  of  the 
opponents  of  the  administration,  a  staple  rebuke,  the  little  navy  had  acquitted 
itself  nobly,  and  the  national  honor  and  prowess  had  been  fully  vindicated  upon 
the  ocean.  At  this  time  the  British  navy  numbered  one  thousand  and  sixty- 
vessels,  while  that  of  the  United  States,  exclusive  of  gun-boats,2  numbered  only 
twenty.  Two  of  these  were  unseaworthy,  and  one  was  on  Lake  Ontario.  Nine 
of  the  American  vessels  were  of  a  class  less  than  frigates,  and  all  of  them  could 
not  well  compare  in  appointments  with  those  of  the  enemy.  Yet  the  Americans 
were  not  dismayed  by  this  disparity,  but  went  out  boldly  in  their  ships  to  meet 
the  war  vessels  of  the  proudest  maritime  nation  upon  the  earth.3  Victory  after 
victory  told  of  their  skill  and  prowess.  On  the  19th  of  August,  1812,  the 
United  States  frigate  Constitution,  Commodore  Isaac  Hull,4  fought  the  British 
frigate  Gmrriere*  Captain  Dacres,  off  the  American  coast,  in  the  present  track 
of  ships  to  Great  Britain.  The  contest  continued  about  forty  minutes,  when 

1  Sir  Isaac  Brock  was  a  brave  and  generous  officer.  There  is  a  fine  monument  erected  to  his 
memory  on  Queenstown  Heights,  a  short  distance  from  the  Niagara  River.  2  Page  401. 

3  At  the  time  of  the  declaration  of  war,  Commodore  Rogers  [page  407]  was  at  Sandy  Hook, 
New  York,  with  a  small  squadron,  consisting  of  the  frigates  President,  Congress,  United  States,  and 
the  sloop-of-war  Hornet.     He  put  to  sea  on  the  21st  of  June,  in  pursuit  of  a  British  squadron  which 
had  sailed  as  a  convoy  of  the  West  India  fleet.     After  a  slight  engagement,  and  a  chase  of  several 
hours,  the  pursuit  was  abandoned  at  near  midnight.     The  frigate  Essex  [page  430]  went  to  sea  on 
the  3d  of  July;  the  Constitution,  on  the  12th.     The  brigs  Nautilus,  Viper,  and  Vixen  were  then 
cruising  off  the  coast,  and  the  sloop  Wasp  was  at  sea  on  her  return  from  France. 

4  Isaac  Hull  was  made  a  lieutenant  in  the  navy  in  1798,  and  was  soon  distinguished  for  skill 
and  bravery.     He  rendered  important  service  to  his  country,  and  died  in  Philadelphia  in  February, 
1843. 

6  This  vessel  had  been  one  of  a  British  squadron  which  gave  the  Constitution  a  long  and  close 
chase  about  a  month  before,  during  which  the  nautical  skill  of  Hull  was  most  signally  displayed. 


1817.]  MADISON'S    ADMINISTRATION.  415 

Dacres  surrendered;1  and  his  vessel  was 'such  a  complete  wreck,  that  the  victor 
burned  her.  The  Constitution,  it  is  said,  was  so  little  damaged,  that  she  was 
ready  for  action  the  following  day.  This  victory  had  a  powerful  effect  on  the 
public  mind  in  both  countries. 

On  the  18th  of  October,  1812,  the  United  States  sloop-of-war,  Wasp, 
Captain  Jones,  captured  the  British  brig  Frolic,  off  tho 
coast  of  North  Carolina,  after  a  very  severe  conflict  for 
three-quarters  of  an  hour.     The  slaughter  on  board  the 
Frolic  was  dreadful.     Only  three  officers  and  one  seaman, 
of  eighty-four,  remained  unhurt.     The  others  were  killed 
or  badly  wounded.     The  Wasp  lost  only  ten  men.     Her 
term  of  victory  was  short,  for  the  same  afternoon,  the 
British  seventy-four  gun  ship  Poictiers  captured  both 
vessels.      A  week  afterward  [October  25],   the  frigate          SLOOP-OF-WAR. 
United  States,  Commodore  Decatur,2  fought  the  British 
frigate  Macedonian,  west  of  the  Canary  Islands,  for  almost  two  hours.     After 
being  greatly  damaged,  and  losing  more  than  one  hundred  men,  in  killed  and 
wounded,  the  Macedonian  surrendered.      Decatur  lost  only  five  killed  and 
seven  wounded ;  and  Jiis  vessel  was  very  little  injured.     A  few  weeks  after 
ward  [December  29,  1812],  the  Constitution,  then  commanded  by  Commodore 
Bainbridge,3  became  a  victor,  after  combatting  the  British  frigate  Java  for 
almost  three  hours,  off  San  Salvador,  on  the  coast  of  Brazil.     The  Java  had 
four  hundred  men  on  board,  of  whom  almost  two  hundred  were  killed  or 
wounded.     The  Constitution  was  again  very  little  injured ;  but  she  made  such 
havoc  with  the  Java,  that  Bainbridge,  finding  her  incapable  of  floating  long, 
burned  her  [January  1,  1813],  three  days  after  the  action. 

The  Americans  were  greatly  elated  by  these  victories.  Nor  were  they  con 
fined  to  the  national  vessels.  Numerous  privateers,  which  now  swarmed  upon 
the  ocean,  were  making  prizes  in  every  direction,  and  accounts  of  their  exploits 
filled  the  newspapers.  It  is  estimated  that  during  the  year  1812,  upward  of 
fifty  British  armed  vessels,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  merchantmen,  with  an 
aggregate  of  more  than  three  thousand  prisoners,  and  a  vast  amount  of  booty, 
were  captured  by  the  Americans.  These  achievements  wounded  British  pride 
in  a  tender  part,  for  England  claimed  the  appellation  of  "mistress  of  the  seas." 
They  also  strengthened  the  administration ;  and  at  the  close  of  the  year,  naval 
armaments  were  in  preparation  on  the  lakes,  to  assist  the  army  in  a  projected 
invasion  of  Canada  the  following  spring. 

At  the  close  of  these  defeats  upon  land,  and  these  victories  upon  the  ocean, 
the  election  of  President  and  Vice- President  of  the  United  States,  and  also  of 
members  of  Congress,  occurred.  The  administration  was  strongly  sustained  by 
the  popular  vote.  Mr.  Madison  was  re-elected,  with  Elbridge  Gerry4  as  Vice- 
President — George  Clinton  having  died  at  Washington  in  April  of  that  year.5 

1  On  the  Gfuerriere  were  seventy-nine  killed  and  wounded.  The  Constitution  lost  seven  killed 
and  seven  wounded.  a  Page  392. 

3  Page  391.  4  Note  1,  page  385.  6  Note  5,  page  350. 


416  THE      NATION.  [1813. 

A  fraction  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  most  of  the  Federalists,  voted  for  De 
Witt  Clinton1  for  President,  and  Jared  Ingersoll,  for  Vice-President.  Not 
withstanding  the  members  of  Congress  then  elected,  were  chiefly  Democrats,  it 
was  evident  that  the  opposition  was  powerful  and  increasing,  particularly  in  the 
eastern  States,  yet  the  President  felt  certain  that  the  great  body  of  the  people 
were  favorable  to  his  war  policy. 


CHAPTER     Y. 

THE  SECOND   WAR  TOR  INDEPENDENCE.      [1813.] 

DURING  the  autumn  of  1812,  the  whole  western  country,  incensed  by 
Hull's  surrender,  seemed  filled  with  the  zeal  of  the  old  Crusaders.2  Michigan 
had  to  be  recovered,3  and  the  greatest  warlike  enthusiasm  prevailed.  Volun 
teers  had  gathered  under  local  leaders,  in  every  settlement.  Companies  were 
formed  and  equipped  in  a  single  day,  and  were  ready  to  march  the  next.  For 
several  weeks  the  volunteers  found  employment  in  driving  the  hostile  Indians 
from  post  to  post,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  extreme  western  settlements.  They 
desolated  their  villages  and  plantations,  after  the  manner  of  Sullivan,  in  1779,4 
and  the  fiercest  indignation  against  the  white  people  was  thus  excited  among 
the  tribes,  which,  under  the  stimulus  of  their  British  allies,  led  to  terrible 
retaliations.6  So  eager  were  the  people  for  battle,  that  the  snows  of  winter  in 
the  great  wilderness,  did  not  keep  them  from  the  field.  The  campaign  of  1813 
opened  with  the  year.  Almost  the  entire  northern  frontier  of  the  United 
States  was  the  chief  theatre  of  operations.  The  army  of  the  West*  under 
General  Harrison,7  was  concentrating  at  the  head  of  Lake  Erie ;  that  of  the 
Centre*  now  under  Dearborn,  was  on  tht)  banks  of  the  Niagara  River;  and 
that  of  the  North*  under  Hampton,  was  on  the  borders  of  Lake  Champlain. 
Sir  George  Prevost  was  the  successor  of  Brock10  in  command  of  the  British 
army  in  Canada,  assisted  by  General  Proctor  in  the  direction  of  Detroit/1  and 
by  General  Sheaife  in  the  vicinity  of  Montreal  and  the  lower  portions  of  Lake 
Champlain. 

Brave  and  experienced  leaders  had  rallied  to  the  standard  of  Harrison  in 
the  north-west.  Kentucky  sent  swarms  of  her  young  men,  from  every  social 

1  Page  456.  2  Note  5,  page  38.  3  Page  411.  4  Page  304. 

5  Harrison  early  took  steps  to  relieve  the  frontier  posts.  These  were  Fort  Harrison,  on  the 
Wabash;  Fort  "Wayne,  on  the  Miami  of  the  lakes;  Fort  Defiance  [Note  6,  page  374];  and  Fort, 
Deposit,  to  which  the  Indians  laid  siege  on  the  12th  of  September.  Generals  Winchester,  Tupper, 
and  Payne,  and  Colonels  Wells,  Scott,  Lewis,  Jennings,  and  Allen,  were  the  chief  leaders  against 
the  savages.  Operations  were  carried  on  vigorously,  further  west.  Early  in  October,  almost  four 
thousand  volunteers,  chiefly  mounted  riflemen,  under  General  Hopkins,  had  collected  at  Vincennes 
[page  303]  for  an  expedition  against  the  towns  of  the  Peoria  and  other  Indians,  in  the  Wabash 
country.  It  was  this  formidable  expedition,  sanctioned  by  Governor  Shelby,  which  produced  the 
greatest  devastation  in  the  Indian  country.  °  Note  3,  page  412.  7  Page  474. 

8  Note  3,  page  412.  9  Note  3,  page  412.  10  Page  411.  »  Page  412. 


1813.] 


THE    SECOND   WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE. 


417 


rank,  led  by  the  veteran  Shelby,1  and  the  yeomanry  of  Ohio  and  its  neighbor 
hood  hastened  to  the  field.  So  numerous  were  the  volunteers,  that  Harrison 
was  compelled  to  issue  an  order  against  further  enlistments,  and  many  a  warm 
heart,  beating  with  desire  for  military  glory,  was  chilled  by  disappointment. 
General  Harrison  chose  the  west  end  of  Lake  Erie  as  his  chief  place  of  muster, 


with  the  design  of  making  a  descent  upon  the  British  at  Maiden  and  Detroit,2 
and  by  securing  possession  of  those  posts,  recover  Michigan  and  the  forts  west 
of  it.  Early  in  January  [10th,  1813],  General  Winchester,  on  his  way  from 
the  southward,  with  eight  hundred  young  men,  chiefly  Kentuckians,  reached 
the  Maumee  Rapids.3  There  he  was  informed  [January  13,  1813]  that  a 
party  of  British  and  Indians  had  concentrated  at  Frenchtown,  on  the  river 
Raisin,4  twenty-five  miles  south  of  Detroit.  He  immediately  sent  a  detachment, 

1  Isaac  Shelby  was  born  in  Maryland,  in  1750.  He  entered  military  life  in  1774,  and  went  to 
Kentucky  as  a  land-surveyor,  in  1775.  He  engaged  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  and  was  dis 
tinguished  in  tho  battle  on  King's  Mountain  [page  319]  in  1780.  He  was  made  governor  of  Ken 
tucky  in  1792,  and  soon  afterward  retired  to  private  life,  from  which  he  was  drawn,  first  in  1812,  to 
the  duties  of  Chief  Magistrate  of  his  State,  and  again,  in  1813,  to  lead  an  army  to  the  field  against 
his  old  enemy.  He  died  in  1826,  when  almost  seventy-six  vears  of  age.  3  Page  412. 

3  Note  7,  page  374. 

4  Now  a  portion  of  the  flourishing  village  of  Monroe,  Michigan,  two  or  three  miles  from  Lake 
Erie.     The  Raisin  derived  its  name  from  the  fact,  that  in  former  years  great  quantities  of  grapes 
clustered  upon  its  banks. 

27 


418  THE      NATION.  [1813. 

under  Colonels  Allen  and  Lewis,  to  protect  the  inhabitants  in  that  direction. 
Finding  Frenchtown  in  the  possession  of  the  enemy,  they  successfully  attacked 
[January  18]  and  routed  them,  and  held  possession  until  the  arrival  of  Win 
chester  [January  20],  with  almost  three  hundred  men,  two  days  afterward. 

General  Proctor,  who  was  at  Maiden,  eighteen  miles  distant,  heard  of  the 
advance  of  Winchester,  and  proceeded  immediately  and  secretly,  with  a  com 
bined  force  of  fifteen  hundred  British  and  Indians,  to  attack  him.  They  fell 
upon  the  American  camp  at  dawn,  on  the  morning  of  the  22d  of  January. 
After  a  severe  battle  and  heavy  loss  on  both  sides,  Winchester,1  who  had  been 
made  a  prisoner  by  the  Indians,  surrendered  his  troops  on  the  condition,  agreed 
to  by  Proctor,  that  ample  protection  to  all  should  be  given.  Proctor,  fearing 
the  approach  of  Harrison,  who  was  then  on  the  Lower  Sandusky,  immediately 
marched  for  Maiden,  leaving  the  sick  and  wounded  Americans  behind,  without 
a  guard.  After  following  him  some  distance,  the  Indians  turned  back  [January 
23],  murdered  and  scalped2  the  Americans  wTho  were  unable  to  travel,  set  fire 
to  dwellings,  took  many  prisoners  to  Detroit,  in  order  to  procure  exorbitant 
ransom  prices,  and  reserved  some  of  them  for  inhuman  torture.  The  indiffer 
ence  of  Proctor  andTTiis  troops,  on  this  occasion,  was  criminal  in  the  highest 
degree,  and  gave  just  ground  for  the  dreadful  suspicion,  that  they  encouraged 
the  savages  in  their  deeds  of  blood.  Oftentimes  after  that,  the  war-cry  of  the 
Kentuckians  was,  "Remember  the  River  Raisin!"  The  tragedy  was  keenly 
felt  in  all  the  western  Region,  and  especially  in  Kentucky,  for  the  slain,  by  bul 
let,  arrow,  tomahawk,  and  brand,  were  generally  of  the  most  respectable  fam 
ilies  in  the  State ;  many  of  them  young  men  of  fortune  and  distinction,  with 
numerous  friends  and  relations. 

Harrison  had  advanced  to  the  Maumee  Rapids,  when  the  intelligence  of  the 
affair  at  Frenchtown  reached  him.  Supposing  Proctor  would 
press  forward  to  attack  him,  he  fell  back  [January  23,  1813] ; 
but  on  hearing  of  the  march  of  the  British  toward  Maiden,  he 
advanced  [February  1]  to  the  rapids,  with  twelve  hundred  men, 
established  a  fortified  camp  there,  and  called  it  Fort  Meigs,3  in 
honor  of  the  governor  of  Ohio.  There  he  was  besieged 
by  Proctor  several  weeks  afterward  [May  1],  who  was 
at  the  head  of  more  than  two  thousand  British  and  Indians. 
On  the  fifth  day  of  the  siege,  General  Clay4  arrived  [May  5] 
with  twelve  hundred  men,  and  dispersed  the  enemy.  A  largo 
FORT  MEIGS  portion  of  his  troops,  while  unwisely  pursuing  the  fugitives,  were 
surrounded  and  captured ;  and  Proctor  returned  to  the  siege. 
The  impatient  Indians,  refusing  to  listen  to  Tecumtha/  their  leader,  deserted 

1  James  "Winchester  was  born  in  Maryland  in  1756.     He  was  made  brigadier-general  in  1812; 
resigned  his  commission  in  1815 ;  and  died  in  Tennessee  in  1826.  2  Note  4,  page  14. 

3  Fort  Meigs  was  erected  on  the  south  side  of  the  Maumee,  nearly  opposite  the  former  British 
post  [note  8,  page  374],  and  a  short  distance  from  the  present  village  of  Perry sburg. 

4  Green  Clay  was  born  in  Virginia  in  1757,  was  made  a  brigadier  of  Kentucky  volunteers  early 
in  1813,  and  died  in  October,  1826. 

6  Page  408.     Tecumtha  came  with  the  largest  body  of  Indians  ever  collected  on  the  northern 
frontier. *" 


1813.]  THE    SECOND  WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE.  419 

the  British  on  the  eighth  day  [May  8] ;  and  twenty-four  hours  afterward, 
Proctor  abandoned  the  siege  and  returned  to  Maiden  [May  9],  to  prepare  for 
a  more  formidable  invasion.  Thus  terminated  a  siege  of  thirteen  days,  during 
which  time  the  fortitude  and  courage  of  the  Americans  were  wonderfully  dis 
played  in  the  presence  of  the  enemy.  The  Americans  lost  in  the  fort,  eighty- 
one  killed,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty-nine  wounded. 

For  several  weeks  after  the  siege  of  Fort  Meigs,  military  operations  were 
suspended  by  both  parties.  Here,  then,  let  us  take  a  brief  retrospective  glance. 
Congress  assembled  on  the  2d  of  November,  1812,  and  its  councils  were  divided 
by  fierce  party  spirit,  which  came  down  from  the  people.  The  Democrats  had 
a  decided  majority,  and  therefore  the  measures  of  the  administration  were  sus 
tained.  The  British  government  now  began  to  show  some  desire  for  reconcilia 
tion.  Already  the  orders  in  council  had  been  repealed,  and  the  Prince  Regent1 
demanded  that  hostilities  should  cease.  To  this  the  President  replied,  that  being 
now  at  war,  the  United  States  would  not  put  an  end  to  it,  unless  full  provisions 
were  made  for  a  general  settlement  of  differences,  and  a  cessation  of  the  practice 
of  impressment,  pending  the  negotiation.  At  about  the  same  time  a  law  was 
passed,  prohibiting  the  employment  of  British  seamen  in  American  vessels.  The 
British  also  proposed  an  armistice,  but  upon  terms  which  the  Americans  could 
not  accept.  Indeed,  all  propositions  from  that  quarter  were  inconsistent  with 
honor  and  justice,  and  they  were  rejected.  When  these  attempts  at  reconcilia 
tion  had  failed,  the  Emperor  Alexander  of  Russia  offered  his  mediation.  The 
government  of  the  United  States  instantly  accepted  it,2  but  the  British  govern 
ment  refused  it ;  and  so  the  Avar  went  on.  Congress  made  provision  for  prose 
cuting  it  with  vigor ;  and  the  hope  lighted  by  Alexander's  offer,  soon  faded. 

The  American  troops  in  the  West  had  remained  at  Fort  Meigs  and  vicinity. 
Toward  the  close  of  July  [July  21,  1813],  about  four  thousand  British  and 
Indians,  under  Proctor  and  Tecumtha,3  again  appeared  before  that  fortress,  then 
commanded  by  General  Clay.  Meeting  with  a  vigorous  re 
sistance,  Proctor  left  Tecumtha  to  watch  the  fort,  while  he 
marched  [July  28],  with  five  hundred  regulars  and  eight 
hundred  Indians,  to  attack  Fort  Stephenson,  at  Lower  San- 
dusky,4  which  was  garrisoned  by  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
young  men,5  commanded  by  Major  Croghan,  a  brave  soldier, 


FOKT  SANDUSKY. 


1  "When,  in  consequence  of  mental  infirmity,  George  the  Third  became  incompetent  to  reign,  in 
February,  1811,  his  son,  George,  Prince  of  Wales,  and  afterward  George  the  Fourth,  was  made 
regent,  or  temporary  ruler  of  the  realm.    He  retained  the  office  of  king,  pro  tempore,  until  the  death 
of  his  father,  in  1820. 

2  The  President  appointed,  as  commissioners,  or  envoys  extraordinary,  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of 
peace  with  Great  Britain,  under  the  Russian  mediation,  Albert  Gallatin,  John  Quincy  Adams,  and 
James  A.  Bayard.     Mr.  Adams  was  then  American  minister  at  the  Russian  court,  and  was  joined 
by  Messrs.  Gallatin  and  Bayard  in  June  following.  3  Page  408. 

4  On  the  west  bank  of  the  Sandusky  River,  about  fifteen  miles  south  from  Sandusky  Bay.     The 
area  within  the  pickets  [note  1,  page  127]  was  about  an  acre.     The  fort  was  made  of  regular  em 
bankments  of  earth  and  a  ditch,  with  bastions  and  block-houses  [note  3,  page  192]  and  some  rude 
log  buildings  within.     The  site  is  in  the  village  of  Fremont,  Ohio. 

5  The  greater  portion  of  the  garrison  were  very  young  men,  and  some  of  thorn  were  mere 
youths 


420  THE     NATION.  [1813. 

then  only  twenty-one  years  of  age.1  Proctor's  demand  for  surrender  was  accom 
panied  by  the  usual  menace  of  Indian  massacre  ;  but  it 
did  not  intimidate  Croghan.2  After  a  severe  cannonade3 
had  made  a  breach,  about  five  hundred  of  the  besiegers 
attempted  to  rush  in  and  take  the  place  by  assault  [Aug. 
2,  1813] ;  but  so  terribly  were  they  met  by  grape-shot1 
from  the  only  cannon  in  the  fort,  that  they  recoiled,  panic- 
stricken,  and  the  whole  body  fled  in  confusion,  leaving 
one  hundred  and  fifty  of  their  number  killed  or  wounded. 
The  Americans  lost  only  one  man  killed,  and  seven 
wounded.  This  gallant  defense  was  universally  ap 
plauded,5  and  it  had  a  powerful  effect  upon  the  Indians. 
Proctor  and  Tecumtha  left  for  Detroit,  after  this  noble  defense  of  Fort 
Stephenson,  and  the  British  abandoned  all  hope  of  capturing  these  western 
American  posts,  until  they  should  become  masters  of  Lake  Erie.  But  while 
the  events  just  narrated  were  in  progress,  a  new  power  appeared  in  the  conflict 
in  the  West  and  North,  and  complicated  the  difficulties  of  the  enemy.  In  the 
autumn  of  1812.  Commodore  Chauncey  had  fitted  out  a  small  naval  armament 
at  Sackett's  Harbor,  to  dispute  the  mastery,  on  Lake  Ontario,  with  several 
British  armed  vessels  then  afloat.6  And  during  the  summer  of  1813,  Commo 
dore  Oliver  Hazzard  Perry  had  prepared,  on  Lake  Erie,  an  American  squadron 
of  nine  vessels,7  mounting  fifty-four  guns,  to  co-operate  with  the  Army  of  the 
West.  The  British  had  also  fitted  out  a  small  squadron  of  six  vessels,  carrying 
sixty-three  guns,  commanded  by  Commodore  Barclay.  Perry's  fleet  was  ready 
by  the  2d  of  August,  but  some  time  was  occupied  in  getting  several  of  his  ves 
sels  over  the  bar  in  the  harbor  of  Erie.  The  hostile  fleets  met  near  the  west 
ern  extremity  of  Lake  Erie  on  the  morning  of  the  10th  of  September,  1813, 
and  a  very  severe  battle  ensued.  The  brave  Perry  managed  with  the  skill  of 
an  old  admiral,  and  the  courage  of  the  proudest  soldier.  His  flag-ship,  the 
Lawrence,  had  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  battle,  and  very  soon  she  became  an 
unmanageable  wreck,  having  all  her  crew,  except  four  or  five,  killed  or 
wounded.  Perry  then  left  her,  in  an  open  boat,  and  hoisted  his  flag  on  the 
Niagara  at  the  moment  when  that  of  the  Lawrence  fell.  With  this  vessel  he 

1  George  Croghan  was  a  nephew  of  George  Rogers  Clarke  [page  300].     He  afterward  rose  to 
the  rank  of  colonel,  and  held  the  office  of  inspector-general.     He  died  at  New  Orleans  in  ]  849. 

2  In  reply  to  Proctor's  demand  and  threat,  he  said,  in  substance,  that  when  the  fort  should  be 
taken  there  would  be  none  left  to  massacre,  as  it  would  not  be  given  up  while  there  was  a  man  left 
to  fight. 

3  The  British  employed  six  six-pounders  and  a  howitzer,  in  the  siege.     A  howitzer  is  a  piece 
of  ordnance  similar  to  a  mortar,  for  hurling  bomb-shells.  4  Note  4,  page  242. 

5  Major  Croghan  was  immediately  promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant- colonel;  and  the  ladies 
of  Chillicothe  gave  him  an  elegant  sword. 

6  Chauncey's  squadron  consisted  of  six  vessels,  mounting  thirty-two  guns,  in  all.     The  British 
squadron  consisted  of  the  same  number  of  vessels,  but  mounting  more  than  a  hundred  guns.    Not 
withstanding  this  disparity,  Chauncey  attacked  them  near  Kingston  [note  5,  page  180]  early  in 
November,  damaged  them  a  good  deal,  and  captured  and  carried  into  Sackett's  Harbor,  a  schooner 
belonging  to  the  enemy.  He  then  captured  another  schooner,  which  had  $12,000  in  specie  on  board, 
and  the  baggage  of  the  deceased  General  Brock.     See  page  414. 

7  Lawrence  (flag-ship),  20  guns;  Niagara,  20;    Caledonian,  3;  shooner  Ariel,  4 ;   Scorpion,  2; 
Somers,  2  guns  and  2  swivels ;  sloop  Trippe,  and  schooners  Tigress  and  Porcupine,  of  1  gun  ea.cn. 


PERRY  ON  LAKE  ERIE. 


TJFI7BRSIT7 


1813.]  THE    SECOND    WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE.  423 

passed  through  the  enemy's  line,  pouring  broadsides,  right  and  left,  at  half 
pistol-shot  distance.  The  remainder  of  the  squadron  followed,  with  a  fair  wind, 
and  the  victory  was  soon  decided.  At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  every 
British  vessel  had  surrendered  to  him  j1  and  before  sunset,  he  had  sent  a  mes 
senger  to  General  Harrison  with  the  famous  dispatch,  "  We  have  met  the 
enemy,  and  they  are  ours"  This  victory  was  hailed  with  unbounded  demon- 


strations  of  joy.     For  a  moment,  party  rancor  was  almost  forgotten  ;  and  bon 
fires  and  illuminations  lighted  up  the  whole  country. 

Perry's  victory  was  followed  by  immediate  and  energetic  action  on  the  part 
of  Harr son.  The  command  of  Lake  Erie  now  being  secured,  and  a  reinforce 
ment  of  four  thouband  Kentucky  volunteers,  under  Governor  Shelby,  the  old 
hero  of  King's  Mountain,2  having  arrived  [Sept.  17,  1813],  the  general  pro 
ceeded  to  attack  Maiden  and  attempt  the  recovery  of  Detroit.  The  fleet  con 
veyed  a  portion  of  the  troops  across  the  lake  [Sept  27],  but  on  their  arrival  at 
Maiden,  it  had  been  deserted  by  Proctor,  who  was  fleeing,  with  Tecumtha  and 
his  Indians,  toward  the  Moravian  village,  on  the  Thames,  eighty  miles  from 

1  The  carnage  was  very  great,  in  proportion  to  the  numbers  engaged.  The  Americans  lost 
twenty-seven  killed,  and  ninety-six  wounded.  The  British  lost  about  two  hundred  in  killed  and 
wounded,  and  six  hundred  prisoners.  Perry's  treatment  of  his  prisoners  received  the  highest  ap 
plause.  Commodore  Barclay  declared  that  his  humane  conduct  was  sufficient  to  immortalize  him. 
That  brave  commander  was  born  at  Newport,  Ehode  Island,  in  1785.  He  entered  the  service  as 
midshipman,  in  1798.  He  continued  in  active  service  after  the  close  of  the  Second  War  for  Inde 
pendence,  and  died  of  yellow  fever,  in  the  West  India  Seas,  in  1819.  It  was  his  brother,  Com 
modore  M.  C.  Perry,  who,  as  we  shall  observe,  effected  a  treaty  with  Japan.  a  Page  417. 


424  THE    NATION.  [1813. 

Detroit.1  A  body  of  Americans  took  possession  of  Detroit  on  the  29th  of  Sep 
tember  ;  and  on  the  2d  of  October,  Harrison  and  Shelby,  with  Colonel  Richard 
M.  Johnson  and  his  cavalry  (thirty-five  hundred  strong),  started  in  pursuit  of 
the  enemy.2  They  overtook  them  [Oct.  5]  at  the  Moravian  town,  when  a  des 
perate  battle  ensued.  Tecumtha  was  slain  ;3  and  then  his  dismayed  followers, 
who  had  fought  furiously,  broke  and  fled,  Almost  the  whole  of  Proctor's  com 
mand  were  killed  or  made  prisoners,  and  the  general  himself  narrowly  escaped, 
with  a  few  of  his  cavalry.  Here  the  Americans  recaptured  six  brass  field- 
pieces  which  had  been  surrendered  by  Hull,  on  two  of  which  were  engraved  the 
words,  "  Surrendered  by  Burgoyne  at  Saratoga."4  These  pieces  are  now  at 
the  United  States  military  post  of  West  Point,  on  the  Hudson.6 

The  battle  on  the  Thames  was  a  very  important  one.  By  that  victory,  all 
that  Hull8  had  lost  was  recovered ;  the  Indian  confederacy7  was  completely 
broken  up,  and  the  war  on  the  north-western  borders  of  the  Union  was  termi 
nated.  The  name  of  Harrison  was  upon  every  lip ;  and  throughout  the  entire 
Republic,  there  was  a  general  outburst  of  gratitude.  He  was  complimented  by 
Congress,  and  by  various  public  bodies ;  and  a  member  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  asserted,  in  his  place,  that  his  victory  was  "such  as  would  have 
secured  to  a  Roman  general,  in  the  best  days  of  the  republic,  the  honors  of  a 
triumph."  Security  now  being  given  to  the  frontier,  General  Harrison  dis 
missed  a  greater  portion  of  the  volunteers  ;  and  leaving  General  Cass,  with 
about  a  thousand  regulars,  to  garrison  Detroit,  proceeded  »[0ct.  23,  1813]  to 
Niagara,  with  the  remainder  of  his  troops,  to  join  the  Army  of  the  Center,8 
which  had  been  making  some  endeavors  to  invade  Canada.  In  the  mean  while, 
an  Indian  war  had  been  kindled  in  the  South  ;9  and  on  the  ocean,  the  laurel 
wreaths  of  triumph  won  by  the  Americans  during  181 2, 10  had  been  interwoven 
with  garlands  of  cypress  on  account  of  reverses.  Let  us  turn  a  moment  to  the 
operations  of  the  Army  of  the  North.11 

Hostilities  were  kept  up  on  portions  of  the  northern  frontier,  during  the 
winter,  as  well  as  in  the  West.  In  February  [1813],  a  detachment  of  British 
soldiers  crossed  the  St.  Lawrence  on  the  ice,  from  Prescott  to  Ogdensburg,  and 
under  pretense  of  seeking  for  deserters,  committed  robberies.  Major  Forsyth, 
then  in  command  of  riflemen  there,  retaliated.  This  was  resented,  in  turn,  by 


1  In  the  present  town  of  Orford,  "West  Canada. 

2  Commodore  Perry  and  General  Cass  (late  United  States  Senator  from  Michigan)  accom 
panied   General  Harrison  as  volunteer  aids.     The  Americans  moved  with  such  rapidity  that 
they  traveled  twenty-six  miles  the  first  day. 

3  Tecumtha  was  then  only  about  forty  years  of  age.     He  was  a  man  of  great  ability,  and  had 
he  been  born  and  educated  in  civilized  society,  his  powerful  intellect  would  have  made  him  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  characters  of  the  age.     He  possessed  great  dignity,  arid  always  maintained 
it  in  his  deportment.    On  one  occasion  he  was  to  attend  a  conference  held  with  Harrison.    A  circle 
of  the  company  had  been  formed ;  and  when  he  came  and  entered  it,  there  was  no  seat  for  him, 
Harrison's  aid  having  taken  the  one  by  the  side  of  the  general,  intended  for  him.     Harrison  per 
ceived  that  Tecumtha  was  offended,  and  told  his  aid  to  invite  the  chief  to  the  seat  near  him.     The 
aid  politely  said  to  Tecumtha.  "Your  father  requests  you  to  take  a  seat  by  his  side."  The  offended 
chief  drew  his  blanket  around  him,  and,  with  an  air  of  great  dignity,  said,  "  The  Great  Spirit  is  my 
father,  and  I  will  repose  on  the  bosom  of  my  mother;"  and  then  sat  down  upon  the  ground. 

4  Page  281.  5  Note  2,  page  324.  °  Page  411.  7  Page  408. 
8  Pago  412.                      "  Page  428.                           10  Page  415.                      "  Page  412. 


1813.]  THE    SECOND    WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE.  425 

a  British  force  of  twelve  hundred  men,  who  crossed  on  the  21st  of  February, 
and  after  a  conflict  of  an  hour,  drove  out  the  few  military  defenders  of  Ogdens- 
burg,  plundered  and  destroyed  a  -large  amount  of  property,  and  then  returned 
to  Canada.1  These  events  accelerated  the  gathering  of  the  militia  in  that  quar 
ter.  Bodies  of  new  levies  arrived,  almost  daily,  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  but  these, 
needing  discipline,  were  of  little  service,  as  a  defense  of  the  country  between 
that  point  and  Ogdensburg. 

Being  unable  to  afford  assistance  to  the  exposed  points  in  that  region,  Gen 
eral  Dearborn,  the  commander-in-chief,2  resolved  to  attempt  the  capture  of 
York  (now  Toronto),  the  capital  of  Upper  Canada,  and  the  principal  depository 
of  British  military  stores  for  the  supply  of  western  garrisons.  He  embarked 
seventeen  hundred  troops  on  board  the  fleet  of  Commodore  Chauncey,3  at  Sack 
ett's  Harbor,  on  the  25th  of  April  •  and  two  days  afterward  [April  27],  they 
landed  on  the  beach  at  York,  about  two  miles  west  from  the  British  works,  in 
the  face  of  a  galling  fire  from  regulars  and  Indians, 
under  General  Sheafie.  These  were  soon  driven  back  to 
their  fortifications,  and  the  Americans,  under  General 
Pike,4  pressed  forward,  captured  two  redoubts,  and  were 
advancing  upon  the  main  work,  when  the  magazine  of  the 
fort  blew  up,5  hurling  stones  and  timbers  in  every  direc 
tion,  and  producing  great  destruction  of  life  among  the 
assailants.  General  Pike  was  mortally  wounded,  but  he 
lived  long;  enough  to  know  that  the  enemy  had  fled,  and 

•;  GENERAL  PIKE. 

that  the  American  flag  waved  m  triumph  over  the  fort 

at  York.6  The  command  then  devolved  on  Colonel  Pearce ;  and  at  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  the  town  was  in  possession  of  the  Americans.  General  Dear 
born,  who  had  remained  with  the  fleet,  landed  soon  after  the  fall  of  Pike,  but 
did  not  assume  the  immediate  command  until  after  the  surrender  of  the  town. 

When  the  victory  was  completed,  the  fleet  and  troops  returned  [May  1]  to 
Sackett's  Harbor,  but  soon  afterward  proceeded  to  attack  Fort  George,  on  the 
western  shore  of  Niagara  River,  near  its  mouth.  After  a  brief  defense  [May 
.27,  1813],  the  garrison  fled  to  Burlington  Heights,  at  the  western  extremity  of 
Lake  Ontario,7  thirty-five  miles  distant,  closely  pursued  by  a  much  larger  force, 

1  The  Americans  lost,  in  killed  and  wounded,  twenty  men.  The  British  loss  was  about  double 
that  number.  a  Page  410.  3  Page  420. 

4  General  Dearborn  had  given  the  command  of  this  expedition  to  Brigadier-General  Zebulon  M. 
Pike,  a  brave  and  useful  officer,  who  had  been  at  the  head  of  an  expedition,  a  few  years  earlier,  to 
explore  the  country  around  the  head  waters  of  the  Mississippi.     He  was  born  in  New  Jersey,  in 
1779.     He  died  on  board  the  flag-ship  of  Commodore  Chauncey,  with  the  captured  British  flag 
under  his  head,  at  the  age  of  thirty-four  years.    In  the  burial-ground  attached  to  Madison  barracks, 
at  Sackett's  Harbor,  is  a  dilapidated  wooden  monument  erected  over  the  remains  of  General  Pike 
and  some  of  his  companions  in  arms.     When  the  writer  visited  the  spot,  in  1860,  it  was  wasting 
with  decay,  and  falling  to  the  earth.     Such  a  neglect  of  the  burial-place  of  the  illustrious  dead,  is  a 
disgrace  to  our  government. 

5  The  British  had  laid  a  train  of  wet  powder  communicating  with  the  magazine,  for  the  purpose, 
and  when  they  retreated,  they  fired  it. 

6  General  Sheaffe  escaped,  with  the  principal  part  of  the  troops,  but  lost  all  his  baggage,  books, 
papers,  and  a  large  amount  of  public  property. 

7  At  the  head  of  Burlington  Bay,  in  Canada. 


426  THE     NATION.  [1813. 

under  Generals  Chandler1  and  Winder.2  In  this  affair,  Colonel  (now  Lieutenant- 
General)  Scott  was  distinguished  for  his  skill  and  bravery.  On  the  night  of 
the  6th  of  June,  the  British  fell  upon  the  American  camp,  at  Stony  Creek,3  but 
were  repulsed.  It  was  very  dark,  and  in  the  confusion  both  of  the  American 
generals  were  made  prisoners. 

A  British  squadron  appeared  before  Sackett's  Harbor  on  the  same  day 
[May  27]  that  the  Americans  attacked  Fort  George :  and  two  days  afterward 
[May  29J  Sir  George  Prevost  and  a  thousand  soldiers  landed  in  the  face  of  a 
severe  fire  from  some  regulars*  stationed  there.  The  regular  force  of  the  Amer 
icans  consisted  of  only  a  few  seamen,  a  company  of  artillery,  and  about  two 
hundred  invalids — not  more  than  five  hundred  men  in  all.  General  Jacob 
Brown,  the  commander  at  that  station,  rallied  the  militia,  and  their  rapid 
gathering,  at  and  near  the  landing-place,  back  of  Horse  Island,  so  alarmed 
Prevost,  lest  they  should  cut  off  his  retreat,  that  he  hastily  re-embarked,  leaving 
almost  the  whole  of  his  wounded  behind.  Had  he  been  aware  of  the  condition 
of  his  opposers,  he  could  have  made  an  easy  conquest  of  Sackett's  Harbor.  The 
raw  militia  had  become  panic-stricken  at  the  first,  and  when  Prevost  retreated, 
they,  too,  were  endeavoring  to  make  their  way  to  places  of  safety  in  the 
country. 

A  change  in  the  administration  of  military  affairs  occurred  soon  after  the 
event  at  Sackett's  Harbor.  For  some  time,  the  infirmities  of  General  Dearborn, 
the  commander-in-chief,6  had  disqualified  him  for  active  participation  in  the 
operations  of  the  army,  and  in  June  [1813]  he  withdrew  from  the  service.  He 
was  succeeded  in  command  by  General  James  Wilkinson,6  who,  like  Dearborn, 
had  been  an  active  young  officer  in  the  War  for  Independence.  General  John 
Armstrong,7  then  Secretary  of  War,  had  conceived  another  invasion  of  Canada, 
by  the  united  forces  of  the  armies  of  the  Center  and  North.8  For  this  purpose 
a  little  more  than  seven  thousand  men  were  concentrated  at  French  Creek  on 
the  5th  of  November,  1813,  and  on  that  morning  went  down  the  St.  Lawrence 
in  boats,  with  the  intention  of  co-operating  with  about  four  thousand  troops 
under  Hampton,9  in  an  attack  upon  Montreal.  They  landed  the  same  evening, 
a  few  miles  abave  the  British  fort  at  Prescott,  opposite  Ogdensburg.  It  being 
foggy,  Wilkinson  attempted  to  pass  down  the  river  upon  the  flotilla  commanded 
by  General  Brown.  The  fog  cleared  away,  and  the  moon  revealed  the  Amer- 

1  John  Chandler  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts.  Some  years  after  the  war  he  was  United 
States  Senator  from  Maine.  He  died  at  Augusta,  in  that  State,  in  1841.  2  Page  436. 

3  In  the  present  township  of  Saltfleet,  Canada  West.    In  this  affair  the  Americans  lost,  in  killed, 
wounded,  and  missing,  one  hundred  and  fifty-four. 

4  Note  6,  page  185.  6  Page  410. 

6  James  Wilkinson  was  born  in  Maryland,  in  1757,  and  studied  medicine.     He  joined  the  con 
tinental  army  at  Cambridge,  in  1775,  and  continued  in  service  during  the  war.     He  commanded 
the  western  division  of  the  United  States  army  at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  and  became  some 
what  involved,  as  we  have  seen  [page  396],  in  Burr's  scheme,  in  1806.     He  died  near  the  city  of 
Mexico,  in  1825.  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight  years. 

7  Note  4,  page  349.     John  Armstrong  was  a  son  of  Colonel  John  Armstrong,  of  Pennsylvania 
[page  191],  and  was  born  at  Carlisle,  in  that  State,  in  1758.     He  served  in  the  War  of  the  Bevolu- 
tion;  was  Secretary  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania ;  minister  to  France  in  1804;  Secretary  of  War 
in  1813  ;  and  died  in  Duchess  county,  New  York,  in  1843.  8  Note  3,  page  412. 

9  Page  410. 


1813.]  THE    SECOND    WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE.  427 

icans  to  the  garrison  of  the  fort.  The  latter  immediately  opened  a  heavy  fire, 
and  being  thus  annoyed  by  the  enemy  on  shore,  and  by  gun-boats1  in  his  rear, 
Wilkinson  landed  Brown  and  a  strong  detachment  to  go  forward  and  disperse 
quite  a  large  force  near  Williamsburg,  and  to  cover  the  descent  of  the  boats. 
A  severe  battle  ensued  [November  11]  in  which  the  Americans  lost  more  than 
three  hundred  men  in  killed  and  wounded,  and  the  British  about  two  hundred. 
This  is  known  as  the  battle  of  Chrysler's  Field.  The  locality  is  on  the  northern 
shore  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  a  little  more  than  thirty  miles  below  Ogdensburg, 
and  about  ninety  above  Montreal. 

General  Wilkinson  arrived  at  St.  Regis2  the  next  day,  with  the  main  body, 
when  he  was  informed  that  no  troops  from  the  army  of  the  North  would  join 
him.8  He  therefore  abandoned  the  expedition  against  Montreal,  and  went 
into  winter  quarters  at  French  Mills  (now  Fort  Covington,  in  St.  Lawrence 
county),  about  nine  miles  east  of  St.  Regis.  A  little  later,  some  stirring  events 
occurred  on  the  Niagara  frontier.  General  M'Clure,  commander  at  Fort 
George,4  burnt  the  Canadian  village  of  Newark  on  the  10th  of  December. 
Two  days  later  [December  12,  1813]  he  was 
-compelled  by  the  British  to  abandon  Fort 
George.  A  strong  force  of  British  and  Indians 
then  surprised  and  captured  [December  19] 
Fort  Niagara,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Niagara 
River,  near  its  mouth;5  and  in  retaliation  for  FORT  NIAGAEA? 

the  burning  of  Newark,  they  laid  Youngstown, 

Lewiston,  Manchester  (now  Niagara  Falls),  and  the  Tuscarora  Indian  village, 
in  Niagara  county,  in  ashes.  On  the  30th,  the  little  villages  of  Black  Rock 
and  Buffalo6  were  also  consumed,  and  a  large  amount  of  public  and  private 
property  was  destroyed.  With  these  events  ended  the  campaign  of  1813,  in 
the  North. 

Affairs  in  the  extreme  South  assumed  a  serious  aspect  during  the  summer 
of  1813.  In  the  spring  of  that  year,  Tecumseh  (who  was  slain  on  the  Thames 
a  few  months  later)7  went  among  the  Southern  tribes,  to  arouse  them  to  wage 
war  upon  the  white  people.  The  powerful  Creeks8  yielded  to  his  persuasions ; 
and  late  in  August  [30th],  a  large  party  of  them  surprised  and  captured  Fort 
Mimms,  on  the  Alabama  River,9  and  massacred  about  four  hundred  men, 


1  Page  401. 

2  This  is  an  old  French  and  Indian  settlement  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  at  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
Regis  River,  about  fifty  miles  below  Ogdensburg.     The  dividing  line  (45th  degree)  between  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  passes  through  the  center  of  the  village. 

3  There  was  an  enmity  between  "Wilkinson  and  Hampton,  and  Armstrong  resolved  to  command 
the  expedition  himself,  to  prevent  trouble  on  account  of  precedence.     He  joined  the  army  at 
Sackett's  Harbor,  but  soon  returned  to  "Washington,  for  he  and  "Wilkinson  could  not  agree.     To  the 
jealousies  and  bickerings  of  these  old  officers,  must  the  disasters  of  the  land  troops  be,  in  a  great 
degree,  attributed.     General  Hampton  did  move  forward  toward  Canada,  but  finally  fell  back  to 
Plattsburg,  and  leaving  the  command  with  General  Izard,  returned  to  South  Carolina.     He  died  at 
Columbia,  South  Carolina,  in  1835,  aged  eighty-one  years.  4  Page  414.  6  Page  200. 

8  Buffalo  was  then  a  small  village,  containing  about  fifteen  hundred  inhabitants,  and  was  utterly 
destroyed.     It  is  now  [1867]  one  of  the  stateliest  commercial  cities  on  the  continent,  with  a  popu 
lation  of  not  much  less  than  one  hundred  thousand.  7  Page  424.  8  Page  30. 

9  On  the  east  side  of  the  Alabama,  about  ten  miles  above  its  junction  with  the  Tombigbee. 


428  THE    NAT  I  OX.  [1813. 

women,  and  children.  This  event  aroused  the  whole  South.  General  Andrew 
Jackson,1  accompanied  by  General  Coffee,  marched  into  the  Creek  country,  with 
twenty-five  hundred  Tennessee  militia,  and  prosecuted  a  subjugating  war  against 
them,  with  great  vigor. 

On  the  3d  of  November,  General  Coffee,2  with  nine  hundred  men,  sur 
rounded  an  Indian  force  at  Tallushatchee,3  and  killed  two  hundred  of  them. 
Not  a  warrior  escaped.  Within  ten  weeks  afterward,  bloody  battles  had  been 
fought  at  Talladega4  [November  8],  Autossee5  [November  29],  and  Emucfau6 
[January  22d,  1814],  and  several  skirmishes  had  also  taken  place.  The 
Americans  were  always  victorious,  yet  they  lost  many  brave  soldiers.  At 
length  the  Creeks  established  a  fortified  camp  at  the  Great  Horseshoe  Bend  of 
the  Tallapoosa  River,7  and  there  a  thousand  warriors,  with  their  women  and 
children,  determined  to  make  a  last  defensive  stand.  The  Americans  sur 
rounded  them,  and  Jackson,  with  the  main  body  of  his  army,  attacked  them  on 
the  27th  of  March,  1814.  The  Indians  fought  desperately,  for  they  saw  no 
future  for  themselves,  in  the  event  of  defeat.  Almost  six  hundred  warriors 
were  slain,  for  they  disdained  to  surrender.  Only  two  or  three  were  made 
prisoners,  with  about  three  hundred  women  and  children.  This  battle  crushed 
the  power  and  spirit  of  the  Creek  nation,  and  soon  afterward  the  chiefs  of  the 
remnant  signified  their  submission.8  It  was  a  sad  scene  to  the  eyes  of  the 
benevolent  and  good,  to  see  these  ancient  tribes  of  our  land,  who  were  then 
making  rapid  strides  in  the  progress  of  civilization,  so  utterly  ruined  by  the 
destroying  hand  of  war.  They  found  that  might  made  right,  in  the  view  of 
their  subjugators,  and  they  were  compelled  to  make  a  treaty  of  peace  upon  the 
.terms  dictated  by  their  conquerors.  Thus,  time  after  time  since  the  advent  of 
the  white  people  here,  have  the  hands  of  the  stronger  been  laid  upon  the  weaker, 
until  now  nothing  but  remnants  of  once  powerful  nations  remain. 

The  naval  operations  upon  the  ocean,  during  the  year  1813,  were  very  im 
portant.  Many  and  severe  conflicts  between  public  and  private  armed  vessels 
of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  occurred ;  and  at  the  close  of  the  year, 
the  balance-sheet  of  victories  showed  a  preponderance  in  favor  of  the  former.9 
Toward  the  end  of  February,  the  United  States  sloop  of  war  Hornet,  Cap- 

1  Page  460. 

3  John  Coffee  was  a  native  of  Virginia.     He  did  good  service  during  the  second  TVar  for  Inde 
pendence,  and  in  subsequent  campaigns.     He  died  in  1834. 

3  South  side  of  Tallushatchee  Creek,  near  the  village  of  Jacksonville,  in  Benton  county,  Ala 
bama. 

4  A  little  east  of  the  Coosa  River,  in  the  present  Talladega  county. 

8  On  the  bank  of  the  Tallapoosa,  twenty  miles  from  its  junction  with  the  Coosa,  in  Macon 
county. 

6  On  the  west  bank  of  the  Tallapoosa,  at  the  mouth  of  Emucfau  Creek,  in  Tallapoosa  county. 

7  Called  Tohopeka  by  the  Indians.     Near  the  north-east  corner  of  Tallapoosa  county. 

8  Among  those  who  bowed  in  submission  was  "Weathersford,  their  greatest  leader.     He  appeared 
suddenly  before  Jackson,  in  his  tent,  and  standing  erect,  he  said:   "I  am  in  your  power;  do  with 
me  what  you  please.     I  have  done  the  white  people  all  the  harm  I  could.     I  have  fought  them, 
and  fought  them  bravely.     My  warriors  are  all  gone  now,  and  I  can  do  no  more.     When  there  was 
a  chance  for  success,  I  never  asked  for  peace.     There  is  none  now,  and  I  ask  it  for  the  remnant  of 
my  nation." 

9  More  than  seven  hundred  British  vessels  were  taken  by  the  American  navy  and  privateers, 
during  the  years  1812  and  1813. 


1813.]  THE    SECOND    WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE.  4£9 

tain  Lawrence,  fought  [Feb.  24,  1813]  the  British  brig  Peacock,  off  the 
mouth  of  Demarara  River,  South  America.  The  Peacock  surrendered,  after  a 
fierce  conflict  of  fifteen  minutes,  and  a  few  moments  afterward  she  sank,  carry 
ing  down  with  her  nine  British  seamen  and  three  Americans.  The  loss  of  the 
Peacock,  in  killed  and  wounded,  was  thirty-seven ;  of  the  Hornet  only  five. 
The  generous  conduct  of  Captain  Lawrence,  toward  his  enemy  on  this  occasion, 
drew  from  the  officers  of  the  Peacock,  on  their  arrival  in  New  York,  a  public 
letter  of  thanks.1  This,  of  itself,  was  a  wreath  of  honor  for  the  victor,  more 
glorious  than  his  triumph  in  the  sanguinary  conflict. 

On  his  return  to  the  United  States,  Captain  Lawrence  was  promoted  to  the 
command  of  the  frigate  Chesapeake  ;  and  on  the  1st 
of  June,  -1813,  he  sailed  from  Boston  harbor,  in  search 
of  the  British  frigate,  Shannon,  which  had  recently 
appeared  off  the  New  England  coast,  and  challenged 
any  vessel,  of  equal  size,  to  meet  her.  Lawrence 
found  the  boaster  the  same  day,  about  thirty  miles 
from  Boston  light;  and  at  five  in  the  afternoon,  c 
furious  action  began.  The  two  vessels  soon  became 
entangled.  Then  the  Britons  boarded  the  Chesapeake, 
and  after  a  desperate  hand-to-hand  struggle,  hoisted  CAPi'A1N  LAWRENCE. 
the  British  flag.  Lawrence  was  mortally  wounded  at  the  beginning  of  the 
action ;  and  when  he  was  carried  below,  he  uttered  those  brave  words  of  com 
mand,  which  Perry  afterward  displayed  on  his  flag-ship  on  Lake  Erie,  "  Don't 
give  up  the  ship  /"  The  combat  lasted  only  fifteen  minutes ;  but  in  that  time, 
the  Chesapeake  had  forty-eight  killed  and  ninety-eight  wounded ;  the  Shannon 
twenty-three  killed,  and  fifty-six  wounded.  The  body  of  Lawrence,2  with  that 
of  Ludlow,  the  second  in  command,  was  carried  to  Halifax,  in  the  victorious 
Shannon,  and  there  buried  with  the  honors  of  war.  This  event  caused  great 
sadness  in  America,  and  unbounded  joy  in  England.3 

Another  disaster  followed  the  loss  of  the  Chesapeake.  It  was  the  capture 
of  the  American  brig  Argus,  Captain  Allen,  in  August.  The  Argus,  in  the 
spring  [1813],  had  conveyed  Mr.  Crawford,  United  States  minister,  to  France, 
and  for  two  months  had  greatly  annoyed  British  shipping  in  the  English  Chan- 

1  They  said,  "  So  much  was  done  to  alleviate  the  uncomfortable  and  distressing  situation  in 
which  we  were  placed,  when  received  on  board  the  ship  you  command,  that  we  can  not  better 
express  our  feelings  than  by  saying,  we  ceased  to  consider  ourselves  prisoners ;  and  every  thing 
that  friendship  could  dictate,  was  adopted  by  you  and  the  officers  of  the  Hornet,  to  remedy  the 
inconvenience  we  otherwise  should  have  experienced,  from  the  unavoidable  loss  of  the  whole  of 
our  property  and  clothes,  by  the  sudden  sinking  of  the  Peacock:1  The  crew  of  the  Hornet  divided 
their  clothing  with  the  prisoners. 

^  Captain  James  Lawrence  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  and  received  a  midshipman's  warrant 
at  trie  age  of  sixteen  years.  He  was  with  Decatur  at  Tripoli  [page  392].  He  died  four  days  after 
receiving  the  wound,  at  the  age  of  thirty-one  years.  A  beautiful  monument,  in  the  form  of  a  trun 
cated  column  and  pedestal,  was  erected  to  his  memory  in  Trinity  churcn-yard,  New  York.  This,  in 
time  became  dilapidated,  and,  a  few  years  ago,  a  new  one,  of  another  form,  was  erected  near  the 
south  entrance  to  the  church,  a  few  feet  from  Broadway. 

3  A  writer  of  the  time  observed:  "Never  did  any  victory — not  those  of  Wellington  in  Spain, 
nor  even  those  of  Nelson — call  forth  such  expressions  of  joy  on  the  part  of  tho  British ;  a  proof 
that  our  na.val  character  had  risen  somewhat  in  their  estimation." 


430  TTTE      CATION.  [1813. 

nel.  Several  vessels  were  sent  out  to  capture  her ;  and  on  the  14th  of  August, 
the  sloop  of  war1  Pelican,  after  a  brief,  but  severe  action,  defeated  the  Argus. 
In  less  than  a  month  afterward  [Sept.  10],  Perry  gained  his  great  victory  on 
Lake  Erie  ;2  and  the  British  brig  Boxer,  Captain  Blythe,  had  surrendered 
[Sept.  5,  1813],  to  the  United  States  brig  Enterprise,  Lieutenant  Burrows, 
after  an  engagement  of  forty  minutes,  off  the  coast  of  Maine.  Blythe  and  Bur 
rows,  young  men  of  great  promise,  were  both  slain  during  the  action,  and  their 
bodies  were  buried  in  one  grave  at  Portland,  with  military  honors. 

A  distressing  warfare  upon  the  coast  between  Delaware  Bay  and  Charleston, 
was  carried  on  during  the  spring  and  summer  of  1813,  by  a  small  British 
squadron  under  the  general  command  of  Admiral  Cockburn.  His  chief  object 
was  to  draw  the  American  troops  from  the  northern  frontier  to  the  defense  of 
the  seaboard,  and  thus  lessen  the  danger  that  hung  over  Canada.  It  was  a  sort 
of  amphibious  warfare — on  land  and  water — and  was  marked  by  many  acts  of 
unnecessary  cruelty.  The  British  had  talked  of  ' '  chastising  the  Americans 
into  submission,"  and  the  method  now  employed  was  the  instrument.  On  the 
4th  of  February,  1813,  two  ships  of  the  line,  three  frigates,  and  other  British 
vessels,  made  their  appearance  at  the  capes  of  Virginia.3  At  about  the  same 
time,  another  British  squadron  entered  the  Delaware  River,  destroyed  the 
American  shipping  there  in  March,  and  in  April  cannonaded  the  town  of 
Lewiston.  In  May,  Frenchtown,  Havre  de  Grace,  Georgetown,  and  Frederick- 
town,  on  the  Chesapeake,  were  plundered  and  burned  ;  and  then  the  combined 
British  fleet  entered  Hampton  Roads,4  and  menaced  Norfolk.  While  attempt 
ing  to  go  up  to  that  city,  the  enemy  were  nobly  repulsed  [Jan.  22,  1813]  by 
the  Americans  upon  Craney  Island,5  under  the  command  of  Major  Faulkner, 
assisted  by  naval  officers.  The  British  then  fell  upon  Hampton  [Jan.  25] ;  and 
having  surfeited  themselves  with  plunder,  withdrew.  Cockburn6  sailed  down 
the  North  Carolina  coast,  marauding  whenever  opportunity  offered,  and  carried 
away  a  large  number  of  negroes  and  sold  them  in  the  West  Indies.  In  pleas 
ant  contrast  to  this,  was  the  deportment  of  Commodore  Hardy,  whose  squadron 
was  employed  during  the  same  season,  in  blockading  the  New  England  coast. 
Although  he  landed  upon  our  shores  frequently,  yet  his  conduct  was  always 
that  of  a  high-minded  gentleman  and  generous  enemy.7 

During  the  year  1813,  the  United  States  frigate  Essex,  Captain  Porter, 
made  a  long  and  successful  cruise  in  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans.  It  oc 
cupied  the  time  from  April  until  October.  The  Essex  carried  at  her  mast 
head  the  popular  motto,  "Free  Trade  and  Sailor's  Rights ;"  and,  while  in 

1  Page  41 5.  2  Page  423.  3  Page  64.  4  Note  3,  page  297. 

6  Craney  Island  is  low  and  bare,  and  lies  at  the  mouth  of  the  Elizabeth  River,  about  five 
miles  below  Norfolk.  At  the  time  in  question,  there  were  some  unfinished  fortifications  upon 
it.  These  were  strengthened  and  added  to  by  the  insurgents  during  the  late  Civil  War. 

6  Cockburn  died  in  England  in  1853,  at  an  advanced  age. 

7  Congress  had  passed  an  act,  offering  a  reward  of  half  their  value  for  the  destruction  of  British 
ships,  by  other  means  than  those  of  the  armed  vessels  of  the  United  States.    This  was  to  encourage 
the  use  of  torpedoes.     The  cruel  forays  upon  the  southern  coasts  seemed  to  warrant  this  species 
of  dishonorable  warfare.     It  was  employed  against  Hardy's  squadron.     He  was  justly  indignant, 
and  protested  against  it  as  unmanly. 


1814]  THE    SECOND    WAR    FOE    INDEPENDENCE.  431 

the  Pacific,  she  captured  twelve  British  whale-ships,  with  an  aggregate  of 
three  hundred  and  two  men,  and  one  hundred  and  seven  guns.  The  Essex 
was  finally  captured  in  the  harbor  of  Valparaiso  [March, 
28,  1814J,  on  the  western  coast  of  South  America,  by 
the  British  frigate  Phoebe,  and  sloop  of  war  Cherub, 
after  one  of  the  most  desperately  fought  battles  of  the 
war.  It  is  said  that  thousands  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Valparaiso  covered  the  neighboring  heights  as  spectators 
of  the  conflict.  Perceiving  the  overpowering  advantage 
of  the  British,  their  sympathies  were  strongly  elicited 
in  favor  of  the  Essex.  When  any  thing  in  her  favor 
appeared,  loud  shouts  went  up  from  the  multitude ;  and 
when  she  was  finally  disabled  and  lost,  they  expressed 

their  feelings  in  groans  and  tears.     The  Essex  lost  one  hundred   and  fifty- 
four,  in  killed  and  wounded.     Captain  Porter1  wrote  to  the  Secretary 
Navy,  u  We  have  been  unfortunate,  but  not  disgraced." 


CHAPTER    VI. 

SECOND  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE,  CONTINUED.     [1814,  1815.] 

DURING  the  year  1814,  the  war  was  prosecuted  by  both  parties  with  more 
zeal  and  vigor  than  hitherto.  The  means  for  supporting  it  were  much  aug 
mented  by  the  government  of  the  United  States,  notwithstanding  the  public 
credit  was  much  depreciated,  and  treasury  notes  fell  as  low  as  seventeen  per 
cent,  below  par.  At  the  same  time,  Great  Britain  seemed  to  put  forth  increased 
energy,  and  her  vessels  of  war  hovered  along  our  entire  coast,  and  kept  the  sea 
port  towns  in  a  state  of  continual  alarm.  Early  in  that  year,  the  victorious 
career  of  Napoleon,  in  Europe,  was  checked  by  the  allied  powers.  Almost  all 
of  the  governments  of  continental  Europe,  with  that  of  England,  had  combined 
to  crush  him,  and  sustain  the  sinking  Bourbon  dynasty.  Their  armies  were 
allied  in  a  common  cause.  These,  approaching  from  different  directions,  reached 
Paris,  at  the  close  of  March,  1814,  when  the  Russian  and  Prussian  emperors 
entered  the  city.a  Hoping  to  secure  the  crown  to  his  son,  Napoleon  abdicated 
in  his  favor  on  the  4th  of  April,  and  retired  to  Elba.  Peace  for  Europe 

1  Commodore  David  Porter  was  among  the  most  distinguished  of  the  American  naval  com 
manders.  He  was  a  resident  minister  of  the  United  States  in  Turkey,  and  died,  near  Constantin 
ople,  in  March,  1843. 

3  Russians,  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  strong,  advanced  from  Switzerland;  Blucher  led 
one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  Prussians  from  Germany ;  Bernadotte,  the  old  companion-in-arms 
of  Napoleon,  was  at  the  head  of  one  hundred  thousand  Swedes,  and  marched  through  Holland ;  and 
the  English,  in  great  power,  advanced  from  Spain,  under  Wellington.  A  battle  at  Montmartre  left 
Paris  exposed  to  the  enemy,  and  Alexander  and  Frederic  took  possession  of  the  capital  on  the  31st 
of  March. 


432  'TIIE     NATION.  [1814. 

seemed  certain.  British  troops  were  withdrawn  from  the  continent,  and  early 
in  the  summer  of  1814,  fourteen  thousand  of  Wellington's  veterans  were  sent 
to  Canada1  to  operate  against  the  United  States.  Considering  the  moral  and 
material  weakness  of  the  American  army,  hitherto,  the  circumstance  of  the 
continual  employment  of  the  British  troops  on  the  continent,  was  highly  favor 
able  to  the  United  States.  Had  Europe  been  at  peace,  the  result  of  this  second 
War  for  Independence  might  have  been  quite  different. 

The  favorite  project  of  the  public  authorities  continued  to  be  the  invasion  of 
Canada  ;2  and  to  oppose  it,  was  the  chief  solicitude  of  the  British  officers  on 
our  northern  frontiers.  The  principal  force  of  the  enemy  in  Upper  Canada, 
was  placed  under  the  chief  command  of  Lieutenant-General  Drummond,  late  in 
the  season ;  while  the  American  army  on  the  Niagara 
frontier  was  commanded  by  General  Brown,  at  the 
same  time.  General  Wilkinson  was  still  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  toward  the  close  of 
February,  he  broke  up  his  camp  at  French  Mills,3  and 
retired  to  Plattsburg ;  while  General  Brown,  with  two 
"^thousand  men,  marched  to  Sackett's  Harbor,  prepara 
tory  to  his  departure  for  the  Niagara.  Late  in  March, 
Wilkinson  proceeded  to  erect  a  battery  at  Rouse's 
Point,  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Champlain;  and  at  La 
GENERAL  BROWN.  Colle,  three  miles  below,  he  had  an  unsuccessful 

engagement  [March  30]  with  the  British.  The  disas 
trous  result  of  this  affair  brought  Wilkinson  into  disrepute,  and  he  was  tried  by 
a  court-martial,  but  acquitted  of  all  charges  alleged  against  him.  He  had  been 
suspended  from  all  command,  in  the  mean  while,  and  the  charge  of  the  troops 
was  given  to  General  Izard. 

Preparations  had  been  making  on  Lake  Ontario,  during  the  winter  and 
spring,  by  both  parties,  to  secure  the  control  of  that  inland  sea.  Sir  James 
Yeo  was  in  command  of  a  small  British  squadron,  and  on  the  5th  of  May 
[1814],  he  appeared  before  Oswego,  accompanied  by  about  three  thousand  land 
troops  and  marines.4  Oswego  was  then  defended  by  only  about  three  hundred 
troops  under  Colonel  Mitchell,  and  a  small  flotilla  under  Captain  Woolsey. 
The  chief  object  of  the  expedition  was  to  capture  or  destroy  a  large  quantity  of 
naval  and  military  stores,  deposited  at  Oswego  Falls,5  but  the  gallant  band  of 
Americans  at  the  harbor  defeated  the  project.  They  withstood  an  attack,  by 
land  and  water,  for  almost  two  days,  before  they  yielded  to  a  superior  force. 
Afraid  to  penetrate  the  country  toward  the  Falls,  in  the  face  of  such  deter 
mined  opponents,  the  British  withdrew  on  the  morning  of  the  7th  [May,  1814], 
_» , 

1  These  were  embarked  at  Bourdeaux,  in  France,  and  sailed  directly  for  the  St.  Lawrence, 
without  even  touching  the  shores  of  England. 

3  Page  410.  9  Page  427. 

4  The  fort  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  was  then  in  quite  a  dilapidated  state,  and  formed  but  a 
feeble  defense  for  the  troops.     It  was  strengthened  after  this  attack. 

5  At  the  present  village  of  Fulton,  on  the  east  side  of  Oswego  Biver,  and  about  twelve  miles 
from  the  harbor. 


1815.]  THE    SECOND    WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE.  433 

after  losing  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  men,  in  killed  and  wounded.     The 
Americans  lost  sixty-nine. 

Toward  the  close  of  June,  General  Brown  marched  from  Sackett's  Harbor1 
to  the  Niagara  frontier ;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  3d  of  July,  Generals  Scott 
and  Ripley3  crossed  the  river,  with  a  considerable  force,  and  captured  Fort 
Erie,  which  was  situated  on  the  Canada  side  of  the  Niagara  River,  nearly 
opposite  Black  Rock.  The  garrison  withdrew  to  the  intrenched  camp  of  the 
British  General  Riall,  then  at  Chippewa,3  a  few  miles  below.  On  the  morning 
of  the  4th  [July,  1814],  Brown  advanced,  and  on  the  5th  the  two  armies  had  a 
sanguinary  battle  in  the  open  fields  at  Chippewa.  The  British  were  repulsed, 
with  a  loss  of  about  five  hundred  men,  and  retreated  to  Burlington  Heights,4 
where  they  were  reinforced  by  troops  under  General  Drummond,  who  assumed 
the  chief  command  in  person.  The  Americans  lost  a  little  more  than  three 
hundred. 

General  Drummond  was  mortified  by  this  discomfiture  of  his  veteran  troops 
by  what  he  considered  raw  Americans,  and  he  resolved  to  wipe  out  the  stain. 
Collecting  every  regiment  from  Burlington  and  York,  with  some  from  Kingston 
and  Prescott,  he  prepared  for  a  renewal  of  combat.  With  a  force  about  one 
third  greater  than  that  of  Brown/  he  immediately  advanced  to  meet  the  Amer 
icans.  The  latter  had  encamped  at  Bridgewater,  near  Niagara  Falls  ;  and 
there,  at  the  close  of  a  sultry  day,  and  within  the  sound  of  the  great  cataract's 
thunder,  one  of  the  most  destructive  battles  of  the  war  began.6  It  commenced 
at  sunset  and  ended  at  midnight  [July  25,  1814],  when  the  Americans  had 
lost  eight  hundred  and  fifty-eight  men  in  killed  and  wounded,  and  the  British 
twenty  more  than  that.  The  Americans  were  left  in  quiet  possession  of  the 
field,  but  were  unable  to  carry  away  the  heavy  artillery  which  they  had  cap 
tured.7  Brown  and  Scott  being  wounded,8  the  command  devolved  on  Ripley, 
and  the  following  day  [July  26]  he  withdrew  to  Fort  Erie,  where  General 
Gaines,0  a  senior  officer,  who  arrived  soon  afterward,  assumed  the  chief  com 
mand. 

Having  recovered  from  his  wound,  Drummond  again  advanced,  with  five 

1  Page  432. 

2  The  late  Winfield  Scott  was  Lieutenant -General,  and  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  of  the 
United  States,  in  1861,  when  he  retired  from  the  service.     General  James  Ripley  remained  in 
the  army  after  the  war,  and  died  on  the  '2d  of  March,  1839. 

3  On  the  Canada  shore,  about  two  miles  above  Niagara  Falls.  4  Page  425. 

6  Jacob  Brown  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  in  1775.  He  engaged  in  his  country's  service  in 
1813,  and  soon  became  distinguished.  He  was  made  Major-General  in  1814.  P.e  was  General- 
in-chief  of  the  United  States  army  in  1821,  and  held  that  rank  and  office  when  he  died,  in  1828. 

0  The  hottest  of  the  fight  was  in  and  near  an  obscure  road  known  as  Lundy's  Lane.     This  battle 
is  known  by  the  respective  names  of  Bridgewater,  Lundy's  Lane,  and  Niagara  Falls. 

1  After  the  Americans  had  withdrawn,  a  party  of  the  British  returned  and  carried  off  their 
artillery.     This  event  was  so  magnified,  in  the  English  accounts  of  the  battle,  as  to  make  the  victory 
to  appear  on  the  side  of  the  British. 

8  The  British  Generals  Drummond  and  Riall  were  also  wounded.  General  Scott  led  the  advance 
in  the  engagement,  and  for  an  hour  maintained  a  most  desperate  conflict,  when  he  was  reinforced. 
It  was  quite  dark,  and  General  Riall  and  his  suite  were  made  prisoners  by  the  gallant  Major  Jesup. 
A  British  battery  upon  an  eminence  did  terrible  execution,  for  it  swept  the  whole  field.  This  was 
assailed  and  captured  by  a  party  under  Colonel  Miller,  who  replied,  when  asked  by  General  Brown 
if  he  could  accomplish  it,  "I'll  try,  sir."  Three  times  the  British  attempted  to  recapture  this  bat 
tery.  In  the  last  attempt,  Drummond  was  wounded.  °  Pago  398. 

28 


434 


THE      X  AT  I  OX. 


[1814 


NIAGARA  FRONTIER. 


thousand  men,  and  on  the  4th  of  August  appeared  before  Fort  Erie,  and  com 
menced  preparations  for  a  siege.  From  the  7th  until  the 
14th,  there  was  an  almost  incessant  cannonade  between 
the  besiegers  and  the  besieged.  On  the  15th,  Drummond 
made  a  furious  assault,  but  was  repulsed,  with  a  loss  of 
almost  a  thousand  men.  Very  little  was  done  by  either 
party  for  nearly  a  month  after  this  affair,  when  General 
Brown,  who  had  assumed  command  again,  ordered  a  sor 
tie  [Sept.  17]  from  the  fort.  It  was  successful ;  and  the 
Americans  pressed  forward,  destroyed  the  advanced  works 
of  the  besiegers,  and  drove  them  toward  Chippewa.  In 
formed,  soon  afterward,  that  General  Izard  was  approach 
ing,1  with  reinforcements  for  Brown,  Drummond  retired 
to  Fort  George.2  The  Americans  abandoned  and  destroyed  Fort  Erie  in  No 
vember  [November  5],  and,  crossing  the  river,  went  into  winter-quarters  at 
Buffalo,  Black  Rock,  and  Batavia. 

Let  us  consider  the  military  operations  in  northern  New  York,  for  a  mo 
ment.  Very  little  of  mierest  transpired  in  the  vicinity  of  Lake  Champlain 
until  toward  the  close  of  summer,  when  General  Izard3  marched  [August, 
1814]  from  Plattsburg,  with  five  thousand  men,  to  reinforce  General  Brown  on 
the  Niagara  frontier,  leaving  General  Macomb4  in  command,  with  only  fifteen 
hundred  men.  Taking  advantage  of  this  circumstance,  General  Prevost,  who 
led  an  army  of  fourteen  thousand  men,  chiefly  Wellington's  veterans,  to  the 
invasion  of  the  United  States,  marched  for  Plattsburg.  During  the  spring  and 
summer,  the  British  and  Americans  had  each  constructed  a  small  fleet  on  Lake 
Champlain,  and  those  were  now  ready  for  operations ;  the  former  under  Com 
modore  Downie,  and  the  latter  under  Commodore  Macdonough.6 

General  Prevost  arrived  near  Plattsburg  on  the  6th  of  September,  when 


1  Note  3,  page  427.  2  Page  425. 

3  George  Izard  was  born  in  South  Carolina,  in  1777,  and  made  military  life  his  profession. 
After  the  war  he  left  the  army.     He  was  governor  of  Arkansas  Territory  in  1825,  and  died  at 
Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  in  1828. 

4  Alexander  Macomb  was  born  in  the  fort  in  Detroit,  in  1782,  and  entered  the  army  at  the  age 
of  seventeen  years.     He  was  made  a  brigadier  in  1814.     In  1835,  he  was  General-in-chief  of  the 
armies  of  the  United  States,  and  died  in  1841. 

6  Thomas  Macdonough  was  a  native  of  Delaware.  He  was  twenty-eight  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  the  engagement  at  Plattsburg.  The  State  of  New  York  gave  him  one  thousand  acres  of 
land  on  Plattsburg  Bay,  for  his  services.  He  died  in  1825,  at  the  age  of  thirty-nine  years.  Mac- 
donough  was  always  remarkable  for  cool  courage.  On  one  occasion,  while  first  lieutenant  of  a 
vessel  lying  in  the  harbor  of  Gibraltar,  an  armed  boat  from  a  British  man-of-war  boarded  an  Amer 
ican  brig  anchored  near,  in  the  absence  of  the  commander,  and  carried  off  a  seaman.  See  page 
401.  Macdonough  manned  a  gig,  and  with  an  inferior  force,  made  chase  and  recaptured  the 
seaman!  The  captain  of  the  man-of-war  came  aboard  Macdonough's  vessel,  and,  in  a  great  rage, 
asked  him  how  he  dared  to  take  the  man  from  his  majesty's  boat.  "  He  was  an  American  seaman, 
and  I  did  my  duty,"  was  the  reply.  "I '11  bring  my  ship  alongside,  and  sink  you,"  angrily  cried 
the  Briton.  "  That  you  can  do,"  coolly  responded  Macdonough ;  "but  while  she  swims,  that  man 
you  will  not  have."  The  captain,  roaring  with  rage,  said,  "Supposing  I  had  been  in  the  boat, 
would  you  have  dared  to  commit  such  an  act?"  "I  should  have  made  the  attempt,  sir,"  was  the 
calm  reply-  "What!"  shouted  the  captain,  "if  I  were  to  impress  men  from  that  brig,  would  you 
interfere?"  "You  have  only  to  try  it,  sir,"  was  Macdonough's  tantalizing  reply.  The  haughty 
Briton  was  over-matched,  and  he  did  not  attempt  to  try  the  metal  of  such  a  brave  young  man. 
There  were  cannon-balls  in  his  coolness,  full  of  danger. 


1815.] 


THE    SECOND    WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE. 


435 


Macomb's  little  army,  and  quite  a  large  body  of  militia  under  General  Mooers, 
retired  to  the  south  side  of  the  Saranac,  and  prepared  to  dispute  its  passage  by 
the  invaders.  On  the  morning  of  the  llth,  the  British  fleet  came  around 
Cumberland  Head,  with  a  fair  wind,  and  attacked  Mac'donough's  squadron  in 
Plattsburg  Bay.1  At  the  same  time,  the  British  land  troops  opened  a  heavy 
cannonade  upon  the  Americans.  After  a  severe  engagement  of  two  hours  and 


twenty  minutes,  Macdonough  became  victor,  and  the  whole  British  fleet  was 
surrendered  to  him.2  The  land  forces  fought  until  dark,  and  every  attempt  of 
the  British  to  cross  the  Saranac  was  bravely  resisted.  During  the  evening, 
Prevost  hastily  retreated,  leaving  his  sick  and  wounded,  and  a  large  quantity 
of  military  stores,  behind  him.  The  British  loss,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  de 
serted,  from  the  6th  to  the  llth,  was  about  twenty-five  hundred ;  that  of  the 
Americans,  only  one  hundred  and  twenty-one.  The  victory  was  applauded  with 
the  greatest  enthusiasm  throughout  the  land,  and  gave  emphasis  to  the  effect 
of  another  at  Baltimore,  which  had  been  recently  achieved. 

1  "When  the  British  squadron  appeared  off  Cumberland  Head,  Macdonough  knelt  on  the  deck  of 
the  Saratoga  (his  flag-ship),  in  the  midst  of  his  men.  and  prayed  to  the  God  of  Battles  for  aid.  A 
curious  incident  occurred  during  the  engagement  that  soon  followed.  A  British  ball  demolished  a 
hen-coop  on  board  the  Saratoga.  A  cock,  released  from  his  prison,  flew  into  the  rigging,  and 
crowed  lustily,  at  the  same  time  flapping  his  wings  with  triumphant  vehemence.  The  seamen  re 
garded  the  event  as  a  good  omen,  and  they  fought  like  tigers,  while  the  cock  cheered  them  on  with 
his  crowings,  until  the  British  flag  was  struck  and  the  firing  ceased. 

a  The  Americans  lost,  in  killed  and  wounded,  one  hundred  and  sixteen ;  the  British,  one  hun 
dred  and  ninety-four.  Among  them  was  Commodore  Downie,  whose  remains  lie  under  a  monu 
ment  in  a  cemetery  at  Plattsburg,  with  those  of  several  of  his  comrades. 


436  THE      NATION.  [1814. 

So  wide  was  the  theater  of  war,  that  in  our  rapid  view  of  it,  the  shifting 
scenes  carry  us  alternately  from  the  northern  frontier  to  the  western  and  south 
ern  borders,  and  then  upon  the  Atlantic  and  its  coasts.  The  latter  were  expe 
riencing  much  trouble,  while  the  whole  frontier  from  the  Niagara  to  the  St. 
Lawrence  was  in  commotion.  The  principal  ports  from  New  York  to  Maine 
were  blockaded  by  British  war-vessels  ;  and  early  in  the  spring,  a  depredating 
warfare  again1  commenced  on  the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake.  These  were  but 
feebly  defended  by  a  small  flotilla,2  under  the  veteran,  Commodore  Barney;8  and 
when,  about  the  middle  of  August,  a  British  squadron,  of  almost  sixty  sail, 
arrived  in  the  bay,  with  six  thousand  troops,  under  General  Ross,  destined  for 
the  capture  of  Washington  city,  it  proved  of  little  value.  Ross  landed  [Aug. 
19,  1814]  at  Benedict,  on  the  Patuxent  (about  twenty-five  miles  from  its 
mouth),  with  five  thousand  men,  and  marched  toward  Washington  city.4  Bar 
ney's  flotilla,  lying  higher  up  the  stream,  was  abandoned  and  burned,  and  his 
marines  joined  the  gathering  land  forces,  under  General  Winder.  Ross  was 
one  of  Wellington's  most  active  commanders,  and  Winder  had  only  three  thou 
sand  troops  to  oppose  Jiim,  one  half  of  whom  were  undisciplined  militia.  A 
sharp  engagement  took  place  [Aug.  24]  at  Bladensburg,6  a  few  miles  from 
Washington  city,  when  the  militia  fled,  and  Barney,  fighting  gallantly  at  the 
head  of  his  seamen  and  marines,  was  made  prisoner.6  Ross  pushed  forward  to 
Washington  city  the  same  day,  burned  the  Capitol,  President's  house,  and 
other  public  and  private  buildings  [August  24],  and  then  hastily  retreated 
[August  25]  to  his  shipping.7 

The  British  ministry  were  greatly  elated  by  the  destruction  of  the  public 
buildings  and  property  at  Washington,  but  their  jubilant  feelings  were  not 
shared  by  the  best  of  the  English  people  at  large.  The  act  was  denounced,  in 
severe  terms,  on  the  floor  of  the  British  House  of  Commons ;  and  throughout 
civilized  Europe,  it  was  considered  a  disgrace  to  the  perpetrators  and  abettors. 
General  Ross,  however,  seemed  to  glory  in  it  as  heartily  as  did  the  marauder, 
Cockburn ;  and,  flushed  with  success,  he  proceeded  to  attack  Baltimore,  where 
the  veteran,  General  Smith,8  was  in  command.  That  officer,  in  connection  with 

1  Page  430. 

2  It  consisted  of  a  cutter  (a  vessel  with  one  mast),  two  gun-boats  [page  401],  and  nine  barges, 
or  boats  propelled  by  oars. 

8  He  was  bora  in  Baltimore  in  1*759.  He  entered  the  naval  service  of  the  Revolution  in  1775, 
and  was  active  during  the  whole  war.  He  bore  the  American  flag  to  the  French  National  Con 
vention  in  1796,  and  entered  the  French  service.  He  returned  to  America  in  1800,  took  part  in 
the  War  of  1812,  and  died  at  Pittsburg  in  1818. 

4  Another  small  squadren  was  sent  up  the  Potomac,  but  effected  little  else  than  plunder. 

6  Note  1,  page  392. 

6  Until  the  latest  moment,  it  was  not  known  whether  Washington  or  Baltimore  was  to  be  at 
tacked.     Winder's  troops,  employed  for  the  defense  of  both  cities,  were  divided.     The  loss  of  the 
British,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  by  desertion,  was  almost  a  thousand  men  ;  that  of  the  Americans 
was  about  a  hundred  killed  and  wounded,  and  a  hundred  and  twenty  taken  prisoners.     The  Pres 
ident  and  his  Cabinet  were  at  Bladensburg  when  the  British  approached,  but  returned  to  the  city 
when  the  conflict  began,  and  narrowly  escaped  capture. 

7  Washington  then  contained  about  nine  hundred  houses,  scattered,  in  groups,  over  a  surface 
of  three  miles.     The  Great  Bridge  across  the  Potomac  was  also  burnt.     The  light  of  the  conflagra 
tion  was  distinctly  seen  at  Baltimore,  forty  miles  distant. 

8  Samuel  Smith,  the  brave  commander  of  Fort  Mifflin  [page  275]  in  1777.      He  was  born  in 


1815.]  THE    SECOND    WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE.  437 

General  Strieker,  rallied  the  militia  of  the  city  and  vicinity,  and  soon  almost  fif 
teen  thousand  men  were  under  arms,  to  defend  the  town.  BXJBS  landed  [Sept.  12, 
1814],  with  almost  eight  thousand  troops,  at  North  Point,  fourteen  miles  from 
the  city,  while  a  portion  of  the  fleet  went  up  the  Patapsco  to  bombard  Fort 
M 'Henry.  He  immediately  pressed  forward,  but  was  soon  met  by  the  advanced 
corps  of  General  Strieker,  and  a  slight  skirmish  ensued.  Ross  was  killed,  and 
the  command  devolved  on  Colonel  Brooke,  who  continued  to  advance.  A  severe 
battle  now  commenced,  which  continued  an  hour  and  a  quarter,  when  the 
Americans  fell  back,  in  good  order,  toward  the  city.  In  this  engagement  the 
British  lost  about  three  hundred  men ;  the  Americans,  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
three.  Both  parties  slept  on  their  arms  that  night ;  and  the  following  morn 
ing  [Sept.  13],  the  British  advanced,  as  if  to  attack  the  city.  The  fleet,  in  the 
mean  while,  had  opened  its  bombs  and  cannons  upon  the  fort,  whose  garrison, 
under  Major  Armistead,  made  a  most  gallant  defense.  The  bombardment  con 
tinued  most  of  the  day  and  night,  and  no  less  than  fifteen  hundred  bombshells 
were  thrown.  The  people  in  the  city  felt  in  immediate  danger  of  an  attack 
from  the  land  troops ;  but  toward  the  morning  of  the  14th,  these  silently  em 
barked,  and  the  disheartened  and  discomfited  enemy  withdrew.1  This  defense 
was  hailed  as  an  important  victory.2 

The  whole  Atlantic  coast,  eastward  from  Sandy  Hook,3  was  greatly  annoyed 
by  small  British  squadrons,  during  the  summer  of  1814.  These  captured 
many  American  coasting  vessels,  and  sometimes  menaced  towns  with  bombard 
ment.  Finally,  in  August,  Commodore  Hardy4  appeared  before  Stonington, 
and  opened  a  terrible  storm  of  bombshells  and  rockets5  upon  the  town.  The 
attack  continued  four  successive  days  [August  9-12],  and  several  times  land 
forces  attempted  to  debark,  but  were  always  driven  back  by  the  militia.  The 
object  of  this  unprovoked  attack  seems  to  have  been,  to  entice  the  American 
forces  from  New  London,  so  that  British  shipping  might  go  up  the  Thames, 
and  destroy  some  American  frigates,  then  near  Norwich.  The  expedient  sig 
nally  failed,  and  no  further  attempt  of  a  similar  kind  was  made  on  the  Connecti 
cut  coast. 

Further  eastward,  that  part  of  Maine  which  lies  between  the  Penobscot 
River  and  Passamaquoddy  Bay,  became  a  scene  of  stirring  events.  On  the  first 

Pennsylvania  in  1752  ;  entered  the  revolutionary  army  in  17*76  ;  afterward  represented  Baltimore 
in  Congress  many  years;  and  died  in  April,  1839. 

1  General  Smith  estimated  the  entire  loss  of  the  British,  in  their  attack  upon  Baltimore,  at 
"between  six  and  seven  hundred." 

8  An  event,  connected  with  this  attack  on  Baltimore,  was  the  origin  of  the  stirring  song,  The 
Star- Spangled  Banner,  which  was  written  by  Francis  S.  Key,  of  Georgetown,  to  the  air  of 
"  Anacreon  in  Heaven."  With  another  gentleman,  Key  went,  with  a  flag  of  truce,  to  attempt 
the  release  of  a  friend  on  board  the  British  fleet.  They  were  not  allowed  to  return,  lest  they 
should  disclose  the  intended  attack  on  the  city.  From  a  British  vessel  they  saw  the  bom 
bardment  of  Fort  McHenry.  They  watched  the  American  flag  over  the  fort,  all  day,  with  great 
anxiety,  until  the  darkness  of  the  night  hid  it  from  view.  With  eager  eyes,  they  looked  in  that 
direction  at  dawn,  and,  to  their  great  joy,  they  saw  the  star-spangled  banner  yet  waving  over 
the  ramparts.  It  inspired  the  poet.  3  Page  289.  4  Page  430. 

5  Rockets  used  for  setting  fire  to  towns  and  shipping,  are  made  similar  to  the  common  "  sky 
rockets,"  but  filled  with  inflammable  substances,  which  are  scattered  over  buildings  and  the 
rigging  of  ships. 


438  THE     NATION.  [18U. 

of  September  [1814],  the  governor  of  Nova  Scotia  and  Admiral  Griffith 
entered  the  Penobscot  River,  seized  the  town  of  Castine,  and,  by  proclamation, 
took  possession  of  the  country,  then  inhabited  by  about  thirty  thousand  people. 
A  few  days  afterward,  the  United  States  frigate  John  Adams  entered  the 
Penobscot  after  a  successful  cruise,  and  ran  upon  the  rocks.  While  having 
her  injuries  repaired,  she  was  attacked  by  several  of  the  British  sailing  vessels 
and  barges,  manned  by  about  a  thousand  men.  Finding  resistance  to  be  vain, 
Captain  Morris,  her  commander,  fired  her  magazine,  and  blew  her  up. 

Difficulties  again  appeared  in  the  south-west.  We  have  already  considered 
Jackson's  successful  warfare  upon  the  Creek  Indians.1  In  the  course  of  the 
summer  of  1814,  he  wrung  from  them  a  treaty,  which  completed  their  downfall, 
as  a  nation,  and  the  war  at  the  South  was  considered  ended.  They  agreed  to 
surrender  a  large  portion  of  their  beautiful  and  fertile  country,  as  indemnity 
for  the  expenses  of  the  war ;  to  allow  the  United  States  to  make  roads  through 
the  remainder ;  and  also  not  to  hold  intercourse  with  any  British  or  Spanish 
posts.  But  the  common  enemy,  favored  by  the  Spaniards  at  Pensacola,  soon 
appeared,  and  the  Creeks-again  lifted  their  heads  in  hope,  for  a  moment.  A 
British  squadron,  cruising  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  took  possession  of  the  forts 
at  Pensacola,  by  permission  of  the  Spanish  authorities,  and  there  fitted  out  an 
expedition  against  Fort  Bower  (now  Fort  Morgan),  at  the  entrance  to  Mobile 
Bay,3  then  commanded  by  Major  Lawrence.  General  Jackson  then  had  his 
head-quarters  at  Mobile.  The  enemy  appeared  off  Mobile  Point  on  the  15th 
of  September,  and  commenced  the  attack,  by  land  and  water,  at  about  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Fort  Bower  was  garrisoned  by  resolute  men,  and  was 
armed  with  twenty  pieces  of  cannon.  Lawrence  and  his  little  band  made  a 
gallant  defense ;  and  soon  the  British  were  repulsed,  with  the  loss  of  a  ship 
of  war  and  many  men.  Among  the  British  land  troops  on  the  occasion,  were 
two  hundred  Creek  warriors. 

Jackson,  now  a  Major-General  in  the  army,  and  commander  of  the  south 
western  military  district,  assuming  all  the  authority  he  was  entitled  to,  held 
the  Spanish  governor  of  Florida  responsible  for  the  act  of  giving  shelter  to  the 
enemies  of  the  United  States.  Failing  to  obtain  any  satisfactory  guaranty  for 
the  future,  he  marched  from  Mobile  with  about  two  thousand  Tennessee  militia 
and  some  Choctaw  warriors,  against  Pensacola.  On  the  7th  of  November 
[1814]  he  stormed  the  town,  drove  the  British  to  their  shipping,  and  finally 
from  the  harbor,  and  made  the  governor  beg  for  mercy,  and  surrender  Pensa 
cola  and  all  its  military  works,  unconditionally.  The  British  fleet  disappeared 
the  next  day  [November  8],  and  the  victor  retraced  his  steps  [November  9]. 
His  return  was  timely,  for  he  was  needed  where  extreme  danger  was  menacing 
the  whole  southern  country.  On  his  arrival  at  Mobile,  he  found  messages  from 
New  Orleans,  begging  his  immediate  march  thither,  for  the  British  in  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  reinforced  by  thousands  of  troops  from  England,  were  about  to 
invade  Louisiana.  Jackson  instantly  obeyed  the  summons,  and  arrived  there 

1  Page  427.  2  On  the  east  side,  about  thirty  miles  south  from  Mobile. 


1815.] 


THE   SECOND   WAR   FOR  INDEPENDENCE. 


439 


on  the  2d  of  December.  He  found  the  people  of  New  Orleans  in  the  greatest 
alarm,  but  his  presence  soon  restored  quiet  and  confidence.  By  vigorous,  and 
even  rigorous  measures  (for  he  declared  martial  law),1  he  soon  placed  the  city 
in  a  state  of  comparative  security,2  and  when  the  British  squadron,  bearing 
General  Packenham  and  about  twelve  thousand  troops,  many  of  them  Welling 
ton's  veterans,  entered  Lake  Borgne,  he  felt  confident  of  success,  even  against 
such  fearful  odds. 

On  the  14th  of  December,  a  British  fleet  of  barges,  about  forty  in  number, 
and  conveying  twelve  hundred  meny  captured  a  flotilla  of  five  American  gun 
boats,  in  Lake  Borgne,  which  were  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  (late  Com 
modore)  Thomas  Ap  Catesby  Jones.  In  the  engagement  the  Americans  lost, 
in  killed  and  wounded,  about  forty ;  the  British  loss  was  about  three  hundred. 
The  destruction  of  these  gun-boats  gave  the  enemy  power  to  choose  his  point  of 
attack  ;  and  eight  days  afterward  [Dec.  22],  about  twenty-four  hundred  of  the 
British,  under  General  Keane,  reached  the  Mississippi,  nine  miles  below  New 
Orleans.  An  American  detachment,  led  by  Jackson  in  person,  fell  upon  their 
camp  the  following  night  [Dec.  23,  1814],  but  withdrew  to  a  stronger  position, 
after  killing  or  wounding  four  hundred  of  the  British.  The  Americans  lost 
about  one  hundred. 

And  now  preparations  were  instantly  made  for  the  great  battle  which  soon 
afterward  ensued.  Jackson  concentrated  his  troops  (about  three  thousand  in 
number,  and  mostly  militia)  within  a  line  of  intrenchments3  cast  up  four  miles 
below  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  where  they  were  twice  cannonaded  by  the  Brit 
ish,  but  without  much  effect.  Finally,  on  the  morning  of  the  8th  of  January, 
1815,  General  Packenham,  the  Brit 
ish  commander-in-chief,  advanced  with 
his  whole  force,  numbering  more  than 
twelve  thousand  men,  to  make  a  gen 
eral  assault.  Having  been  reinforced 
by  about  three  thousand  militia  (chief 
ly  Kentuckians),  Jackson  now  had 
six  thousand  expert  marksmen  con 
cealed  behind  his  intrenchments,  or 
stationed  at  the  batteries  on  his  ex- 

iii-  A       j  i  BATTLE   OF   NEW   ORLEANS. 

tended  line.      A  deep  and  ominous 

silence  prevailed  behind  these  defenses,  until  the  British  had  approached  within 
reach  of  the  batteries,  when  the  Americans  opened  a  terrible  cannonade.  Yet 
the  enemy  continued  to  advance  until  within  range  of  the  American  muskets 
and  rifles.  Volley  after  volley  then  poured  a  deadly  storm  of  lead  upon  the 

1  Note  8,  page  170. 

2  All  the  inlets,  or  bayous,  were  obstructed,  and  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  were  so  fortified 
as  to  prevent  the  ascent  of  vessels.     A  battery  was  erected  on  Chef  Menteur,  at  the  entrance  to 
Lake  Pontchartrain. 

3  These  intrenchments  were  a  mile  in  length,  extending  from  the  river  so  far  into  'the  swamp, 
as  to  be  impassable  at  the  extremity.     Along  this  line  were  eight  distinct  batteries,  with  heavy 
cannons;  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  was  a  battery  with  fifteen  cannons. 


440  THE      NATION.  [1814. 

invaders.  The  British  column  soon  wavered ;  General  Packenham  fell  in  front 
of  his  troops,  with  not  less  than  a  thousand  dead  and  wounded  lying  around 
him ;  and,  utterly  amazed  by  the  terrible  fire  of  the  Americans,  the  entire 
army  fled  in  confusion,  leaving  seven  hundred  dead,  and  more  than  a  thousand 
vroundedj  on  the  field.  The  fugitives  hastened  to  their  encampment  [Jan.  9], 


and  finally  to  their  ships  [Jan.  18],  and  escaped.1  The  Americans  were  so 
safely  intrenched,  that  they  lost  only  seven  killed  and  six  wounded,  in  this 
victorious  battle.  It  was  the  crowning  victory,2  and  last  land  battle  of  moment, 
of  the  SECOND  WAR  FOR  INDEPENDENCE.3 

While  the  victory  of  the  Americans  at  N,ew  Orleans  saved  that  city  from 
plunder  and  destruction,4  and  the  whole  Southern  country  from  invasion,  the 

1  While  these  operations  were  in  progress  on  the  Mississippi,  the  British  fleet  had  not  been  in 
active.  Some  vessels  bombarded  Fort  St.  Philip,  below  New  Orleans,  on  the  llth  of  January,  and 
continued  the  attack  for  eight  days  without  success.  In  the  mean  while,  Admiral  Cockburn  [page 
430]  was  pursuing  his  detestable  warfare  along  the  Carolina  and  Georgia  coasts,  menacing  Charles 
ton  and  Savannah  with  destruction,  and  landing  at  obscure  points  to  plunder  the  inhabitants. 

a  During  1814,  the  war  continued  on  the  ocean,  yet  there  were  no  battles  of  great  importance. 
The  Peacock  captured  the  British  brig  Epervier,  on  the  29th  of  April,  off  the  coast  of  Florida.  The 
Wasp,  Captain  Blakely,  also  made  a  successful  cruise,  but  after  capturing  her  thirteenth  prize,  dis 
appeared,  and  was  never  heard  of  again.  Probably  lost  in  a  storm.  The  President,  Commodore 
Decatur,  was  captured  off  Long  Island,  on  the  16th  of  January,  1815;  and  on  the  20th  of  February 
following,  the  Constitution,  Commodore  Stewart,  had  a  severe  action  with  the  British  frigate  Gyane, 
and  sloop-of-war  Levant,  and  captured  both.  Soon  after  this,  the  British  brig  Penguin  was  captured, 
but  the  proclamation  of  peace  had  then  ended  the  war.  3  Page  409. 

4  It  is  asserted,  upon  good  authority,  that  Packenham's  watchword,  as  he  led  his  troops  toward 
the  city,  was  "Booty  and  Beauty,"  thereby  indicating  that  plunder  and  ravishment  should  be  the 
soldiers'  reward!  We  can  hardly  believe  Sir  Edward  really  contemplated  such  barbarity. 


UITI7BESIT7 


1815.]  THE    SECOND    WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE.  443 

brave  Jackson,  whose  skill  and  prowess  had  been  chiefly  instrumental  in  pro 
ducing  that  result,  was  mercilessly  assailed  by  some  persons  in  official  station, 
who  could  not  appreciate  his  pure  motives  and  sturdy  patriotism.  Perceiving 
the  necessity  of  prompt  and  vigorous  action,  Jackson  had  taken  all  power  into 
his  hands,  on  his  arrival  at  iNew  Orleans,  and  declared  martial  law.1  Governor 
Claiborne3  wisely  and  generously  seconded  the  measure,  and  surrendering  all 
authority  into  the  hands  of  General  Jackson,  led  a  large  body  of  the  militia  of 
his  State  to  the  field.  Three  days  after  the  battle,  the  news  of  peace  arrived ; 
and  Judge  Hall  immediately  ordered  the  arrest  of  Jackson,  on  a  charge  of  con 
tempt  of  court.3  He  was  tried  ;  and  the  judge  fined  him  a  thousand  dollars. 
The  people  hissed  the  official ;  bore  the  brave  general  upon  their  shoulders  from 
the  court-room  to  the  street,  and  then  the  immense  crowd  sent  up  a  shout,  such 
as  went  over  the  land  with  emphasis  thirteen  years  later,  when  he  was  a  candi 
date  for  the  Chief  Magistracy  of  the  nation4 — "Hurrah  for  Jackson!"  The 
blow  aimed  at  him  recoiled  with  fearful  force  upon  his  persecutors. 

The  country  was  made  vocal  with  rejoicings  on  account  of  the  victory 
at  New  Orleans  ;  and  Congress  honored  General  Jackson  with  thanks  and  a 
gold  medal.  A  little  more  than  a  month  after  the  battle,  a  proclamation  by 
the  President  [Feb.  18,  1815],  that  peace  had  been  secured  by  treaty,  spread  a 
smile  of  tranquillity  and  happiness  over  the  whole  Union.5  For  more  than  a 
year,  efforts  toward  that  end  had  been  put  forth.  As  early  as  December,  1813, 
the  British  government  had  sent  overtures  of  peace  to  that  of  the  United 
States.  They  were  forwarded  by  the  British  schooner  Bramble,,  which  arrived 
at  Annapolis,  in  Maryland,  on  the  1st  of  January,  1814,  bearing  a  flag  of 
truce.  The  President  at  once  informed  Congress  of  the  fact,  and  immedi 
ate  action  was  had.  The  overtures  were  promptly  met,  in  a  conciliatory 
spirit,  by  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and  commissioners  were  ap 
pointed  by  the  two  powers  to  negotiate  a  treaty.8  For  a  long  time  the  Amer 
ican  commissioners  were  treated  with  neglect  by  the  British  government.  They 

1  Note  8,  page  170. 

3  William  C.  C.  Claiborne  was  born  in  Virginia  in  1775,  and  was  educated  at  William  and  Mary 
College.  He  became  an  assistant  clerk  of  the  National  House  of  Representatives  at  the  age  of  six 
teen  years ;  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine,  President  Jefferson  appointed  him  governor  of  the 
Louisiana  Territory.  He  had  already  become  conspicuous  as  a  lawyer  in  the  West ;  and  at  the  age 
of  twenty-two  he  was  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Tennessee.  He  was  elected  to  Congress  the 
following  year,  and  was  a  distinguished  man  in  that  body.  He  was  elected  governor  of  Louisiana 
when  it  became  a  State  in  1812,  and  was  acting  in  that  capacity  when  the  British  menaced  New 
Orleans.  He  left  that  office  in  1817,  when  he  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate.  But  his 
death  was  near,  and  he  never  entered  that  assembly.  He  died  in  November,  1817,  in  the  forty- 
second  year  of  his  age. 

3  A  member  of  the  Louisiana  Legislature  assailed  Jackson  by  a  newspaper  publication.  Jack 
son  ordered  his  arrest.  Judge  Hall  granted  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  Jackson,  in  the  proper  exer 
cise  of  his  power  under  martial  law,  not  only  refused  obedience  to  the  mandates  of  the  writ,  but 
arrested  the  judge,  and  sent  him  out  of  the  city.  For  this  "  contempt  of  court"  Jackson  himself 
was  arrested.  His  noble  defense  was  written  by  Edward  Livingston.  4  Page  459. 

6  As  we  have  observed,  intelligence  of  the  signing  of  the  treaty  reached  New  Orleans  three 
days  after  the  battle.  It  was  not  formally  proclaimed  until  more  than  a  month  afterward. 

6  The  United  States  commissioners  were  John  Quincy  Adams,  James  A.  Bayard,  Henry  Clay, 
John  Russel,  and  Albert  Gallatin.  Those  of  Great  Britain  were  Admiral  Lord  Gambier,  Henry 
froulbourn,  and  William  Adams.  These  commissioners  are  all  dead.  Mr.  Clay,  who  died  in  1852, 
was  the  last  survivor. 


444  THE     NATION.  [1814. 

were  suffered  to  remain  in  England  unnoticed,  for  months,  and  then  the  ministry, 
proposing  first  one  place,  and  then  another,  for  the  negotiations,  exhibited  a  trifling 
spirit,  derogatory  to  true  dignity.  For  half  a  year  the  treaty  was  prolonged 
in  this  way,  until,  finally,  the  commissioners  of  the  two  governments  met  in  the 
city  of  Ghent,  in  Belgium,  in  the  month  of  August,  1814.  On  the  24th  of 
December  following,  a  treaty  was  signed,  which  both  governments  speedily 
ratified.  It  stipulated  a  mutual  restoration  of  all  places  and  possessions  taken 
during  the  war,  or  which  might  be  taken  after  signing  the  treaty ;  declared  that 
all  captures  at  sea  should  be  relinquished,  if  made  within  specified  times  there 
after,  in  different  parts  of  the  world ;  and  that  each  party  should  mutually  put 
a  stop  to  Indian  hostilities,  and  endeavor  to  extinguish  the  traffic  in  slaves. 
The  boundaries,  imperfectly  adjusted  by  the  treaty  of  1783, 1  were  all  settled; 
but  the  subject  of  impressment  of  seamen,  which  was  the  chief  cause  of  the  war,8 
of  paper  blockades,3  and  orders  in  council,4  were  all  passed  by  without  specific 
notice,  in  the  treaty.  With  this  treaty  ended  the  war,  which  had  been  in  prog 
ress  for  two  years  and  eight  months ;  and  the  proclamation  of  the  fact  was  an 
occasion  of  the  most  sincere,  rejoicing  throughout  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain,  for  it  was  an  unnatural  contest — a  conflict  between  brethren  of  the 
same  blood,  the  same  religion,  the  same  laws,  and  the  same  literature. 

During  these  negotiations,  the  war,  as  we  have  seen,  was  vigorously  prose 
cuted,  and  the  opposition  of  the  Federalists  grew  more  intense.5  It  reached  its 
culmination  in  December,  when  delegates,  appointed  by  several  New  England 
Legislatures,6  met  [Dec.  15,  1814]  in  convention  at  Hartford,  for  the  purposes 
of  considering  the  grievances  of  the  people,  caused  by  a  state  of  war,  and  to  de 
vise  speedy  measures  for  its  termination.7  This  convention,  whose  sessions  were 
secret,  was  denounced  as  treasonable  by  the  administration  party ;  but  patriot 
ism  appears  to  have  prevailed  in  its  councils,  whatever  may  have  been  the  de 
signs  of  some.  Its  plans  for  disunion  or  secession,  if  any  were  formed,  were 
rendered  abortive  soon  after  its  adjournment,  by  the  proclamation  of  peace,  fol 
lowed  by  the  appointment  of  a  day  for  national  thanksgiving  to  the  Almighty 
for  the  blessed  event.  That  day  was  observed  throughout  the  Union. 

The  short  time  which  remained  of  the  session  of  Congress,  after  the  proclam 
ation  of  peace,  was  occupied  by  that  body  in  adapting  the  affairs  of  the  govern 
ment  to  the  new  condition  of  things.  The  army  was  reduced  to  a  peace  ostab- 
ment  of  ten  thousand  men,  and  various  acts,  necessary  for  the  public  good 
during  a  state  of  war,  were  repealed.  The  naval  establishment,  however,  was 
kept  up  ;  and  the  depredations  of  Algerine  cruisers  caused  Congress  to  author- 

1  Page  348.  a  Note  5,  page  409. 

3  A  port  being  blockaded  by  proclamation,  without  ships  of  war  being  there  to  maintain  it. 
This  practice  is  no  longer  in  vogue.  4  Note  1,  page  400.  6  Page  410. 

6  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont  were  unrepresented,  except  by  three  county  delegates.     The 
Federalists  in  Vermont,  especially,  were  now  in  a  weak  majority ;  and  Governor  Gilman,  of  New 
Hampshire,  the  members  of  whose  council  were  Democratic,  could  not  call  a  meeting  of  the  Legis 
lature  to  appoint  delegates. 

7  George  Cabot  was  appointed  President  of  the  Convention,  and  Theodore  Dwight,  a  former 
member  of  Congress  from  Connecticut,  and  then  editor  of  the  Hartford  Union,  was  its  secretary. 
The  Convention  was  composed  of  twenty-six  members. 


1815.]  THE    SECOND    WAR    FOR    INDEPENDENCE.  445 

ize  the  President  to  send  a  squadron  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  The  results  of 
the  war,  though  apparently  disastrous  to  all  concerned  at  the  time,  were  seen, 
subsequently,  to  have  been  highly  beneficial  to  the  United  States,  not  so  much 
in  a  material  as  in  a  moral  aspect.  The  total  cost  of  the  war  to  the  United 
States  was  about  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  and  the  loss  of  lives,  by  bat 
tles  and  other  casualties  incident  to  the  war,  has  been  estimated  at  thirty  thou 
sand  persons.  The  cost  of  blood  and  treasure  to  the  British  nation  was  much 
greater.  During  the  war,  the  Americans  captured,  on  the  ocean  and  on  the 
lakes,  fifty-six  British  vessels  of  war,  mounting  886  cannons  ;  and  2,360  mer 
chant  vessels,  mounting  8,000  guns.  There  were  also  lost  on  the  American 
coast,  during  the  war,  by  wreck  or  otherwise,  twenty-nine  British  ships  of  war, 
mounting  about  800  guns.  The  Americans  lost  only  twenty-five  vessels  of  war, 
and  a  much  less  number  of  merchant-ships  than  the  British.1 

The  clouds  of  an  almost  three  years'  war  had  scarcely  disappeared  from  the 
firmament,  when  others  suddenly  arose.  The  contest  with  England  had  but 
just  ended,  when  the  United  States  were  compelled  to  engage  in  a  brief 

WAR    WITH    ALGIERS. 

As  we  have  observed,2  the  United  States  had  paid  tribute  to  Algiers  since 
1795.  Every  year,  as  his  strength  increased,  the  ruler  of  that  Barbary  State 
became  more  insolent,8  and,  finally,  believing  that  the  United  States  navy  had 
been  almost  annihilated  by  the  British  in  the  late  contest,  he  made  a  pretense 
for  renewing  depredations  upon  American  commerce,  in  violation  of  the  treaty. 
The  American  government  determined  to  pay  tribute  no  longer,  accepted  the 
challenge,  and  in  May,  1815,  Commodore  Decatur4  proceeded  with  a  squadron 
to  the  Mediterranean,  to  humble  the  pirate.  Fortunately,  the  Algerine  fleet 
was  cruising  in  the  Mediterranean,  in  search  of  American  vessels.  On  the  17th 
of  June  [1815],  Decatur  met  and  captured  the  flag-ship  (a  frigate)  of  the  Al 
gerine  admiral,  and  another  vessel  with  almost  six  hundred  men,  and  then  sailed 
for  the  Bay  of  Algiers.  He  immediately  demanded  [June  28]  the  instant  sur 
render  of  all  American  prisoners,  full  indemnification  for  all  property  destroyed, 
and  absolute  relinquishment  of  all  claims  to  tribute  from  the  United  States,  in 
future.  Informed  of  the  fate  of  a  part  of  his  fleet,  the  Dey5  yielded  to  the 
humiliating  terms,  and  signed  a  treaty  [June  30]  to  that  effect.  Decatur  then 
sailed  for  Tunis,  and  demanded  and  received  [July,  1815]  from  the  bashaw, 
forty-six  thousand  dollars,  in  payment  for  American  vessels  which  he  had 
allowed  the  English  to  capture  in  his  harbor.  The  same  demand,  on  the  same 
account,  was  made  upon  the  bashaw  of  Tripoli,8  and  Decatur  received  [August] 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars  from  him  and  the  restoration  of  prisoners.  This 
cruise  in  the  Mediterranean  gave  full  security  to  American  commerce  in  those 


1  For  details,  see  Lossing's  Pictorial  Field-Book  of  the  War  of  1812. 

2  Page  381. 

3  Page  381.      In  1812,  the  Dey  compelled  Mr.  Lear,  the  American  consul  [page  395],  to  pay 
him  $27,000  for  the  safety  of  himself,  family,  and  a  few  Americans,  under  the  penalty  of  all 
being  made  slaves.  4  Page  392.  6  Note  3,  page  392.  6  Page  392. 


446  THE     NATION.^  [1817. 

seas,  and  greatly  elevated  the  character  of  the  government  of  the  United  States 
in  the  opinion  of  Europe.  Now  was  accomplished,  during  a  single  cruise,  what 
the  combined  powers  of  Europe  dared  not  to  attempt. 

Now  the  eventful  administration  of  Mr.  Madison  drew  to  a  close,  and  very 
little  of  general  interest  occurred,  except  the  chartering  of  a  new  United  States 
Bank,1  with  a  capital  of  $35,000,000,  to  continue  twenty  years ;  and  the  admis 
sion  of  Indiana  [December,  1816]  into  the  union  of  States.  On  the  16th  of 
March,  1816,  a  caucus  of  Democratic  members  of  Congress,  nominated  James 
Monroe  of  Virginia  (who  had  been  Madison's  Secretary  of  War  for  a  few  months), 
for  President  of  the  United  States,  and  Daniel  D.  Tompkins2  of  New  York, 
for  Vice-President.  The  Federalists,  whose  power,  as  a  party,  was  now 
rapidly  passing  away,  nominated  Rufus  King3  for  President,  and  votes  were 
given  to  several  persons  for  Vice-President.  Monroe  and  Tompkins  were  elected 
by  large  majorities.  Mr.  Monroe's  election  was  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote 
of  the  electoral  college.4  Only  one  (in  New  Hampshire)  was  cast  against  him. 


CHAPTER    V  1 1 . 

MONROE'S     ADMINISTRATION.     [1817—1825]. 

ON  the  4th  of  March,  1817,  James  Monroe,5  the  fifth  President  of  the 
United  States,  was  inaugurated  at  Washington  City.  The  oath  of  office  was 
administered  by  Chief  Justice  Marshall,6  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Madison,  the 
judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  a  large  congregation  of  citizens.  His  address 
on  that  occasion  was  liberal  and  temperate  in  its  tone,  and  gave  general  satis 
faction  to  the  people.  The  commencement  of  his  administration  was  hailed  as 
the  dawn  of  an  era  of  good  feeling  and  national  prosperity.7  He  selected  his 
cabinet  from  the  Republican  party,  and  never  since  the  formation  of  the  gov- 

1  Page  372. 

2  Daniel  D.  Tompkins  was  born  in  1774.     He  was  a  prominent  Democrat  when  Jefferson  was 
elected  [page  389]  President  of  the  United  States.     He  was  chief  justice  of  New  York  and  also 
Governor  of  the  State.     He  died  on  Staten  Island,  in  1825. 

3  Page  395.  «  Note  1,  page  361. 

6  James  Monroe  was  born  in  Westmoreland  county,  Virginia,  in  April,  1759.     He  was  edu 
cated  at  William  and  Mary  College,  and  his  youth  was  spent  amid  the  political  excitements,  when 
the  War  for  Independence  was  kindling.     He  joined  the  Continental  army,  under  Washington,  in 
1776,  and  during  the  campaigns  of  1777  and  1778,  he  was  aid  to  Lord  Stirling.     After  the  battle 
of  Monmouth,  he  left  the  army  and  commenced  the  study  of  law  under  Jefferson.     He  was  again 
in  the  field  when  Arnold  and  Phillips  invaded  his  State,  in  1781   [page  330].     The  next  year, 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Legislature,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  was  elected  a  delegate 
to  the  Continental  Congress.     He  was  in  active  life  as  a  legislator,  foreign  minister,  Governor  of 
Virginia,  and  President  of  the  United  States,  until  his  retirement  from  the  latter  office  in  1825. 
He  died  in  the  city  of  New  York,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1831,  when  in  the  seventy-second  year  of  his 
age.     His  remains  lie  unmarked  by  any  monument,  except  a  simple  slab,  in  a  cemetery  on  the 
north  side  of  Second-street,  in  the  city  of  New  York.  6  Page  351. 

7  President  Monroe,  soon  after  his  inauguration,  made  a  Ions:  tour  of  observation,  extending  to 
Portland,  in  Maine,  on  the  east,  and  to  Detroit,  on  the  west,  in  which  he  was  occupied  more  than  three 
months.     He  was  everywhere  received  with  the  kindest  attentions  and  highest  honors,  and  his 
journey  was  conducive  to  the  national  good. 


1825.]  MONROE'S    ADMINISTRATION.  447 

eminent,  had  a  President,  been  surrounded  with  abler  counselors.1  Monroe 
was  a  judicious  and  reliable  man  ;  and  when  we  reflect  upon  the  condition  of  the 
country  at  that  time — in  a  transition  state  from  war  and  confusion  to  peace  and 
order — his  elevation  to  the  presidency  seems  to  have  been  a  national  blessing. ' 


The  administration  of  Mr.  Monroe  was  marked  by  immense  expansion  in 
the  material  growth  of  the  United  States.  During  the  war,  a  large  number  of 
manufacturing  establishments  had  been  nurtured  into  vigorous  life  by  great 
demands  and  high  prices  ;  but  when  peace  returned,  and  European  manufac 
tures  flooded  the  country  at  very  low  prices,  wide-spread  ruin  ensued,  and 
thousands  of  men  were  compelled  to  seek  other  employments.  The  apparent 
misfortune  was  a  mercy  in  disguise,  for  the  nation.  Beyond  the  Alleghanies, 
millions  of  fertile  acres,  possessing  real  wealth,  were  awaiting  the  tiller's  indus 
try  and  skill.2  Agriculture  beckoned  the  bankrupts  to  her  fields.  Homes  in 

1  His  cabinet  consisted  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  Secretary  of  State  ;  William  H.  Crawford,  Sec 
retary  of  the  Treasury;  John  C.  Calhoun,  Secretary  of  War;  Benjamin  Crowriinshield,  Secretary  of 
the  Navy  ;  and  William  Wirt,  Attorney-General.  He  offered  the  War  Department  to  the  venerable 
Governor  Shelby,  of  Kentucky  [page  417],  who  declined  it.  Calhoun  was  appointed  in  December, 
1817.  Crowninshield,  who  was  in  Madison's  cabinet,  continued  in  office  until  the  close  of  Novem 
ber,  1818,  when  Smith  Thompson,  of  New  York,  was  appointed  in  his  place. 

3  The  progress  of  the  States  and  Territories  west  of  the  Alleghanies  [note  3  page  10]  in  wealth 
and  population,  is  truly  wonderful.  A  little  more  than  sixty  years  ago,  those  immense  lakes,  Onta 
rio,  Erie,  Michigan,  Huron,  and  Superior,  were  entirely  without  commerce,  and  an  Indian's  canoe 
was  almost  the  only  craft  seenupoa  them.  In  1867,  the  value  of  traffic  upon  these  waters  and  the 


navigable   rivers,  is  probably  not  less  than  eight  hundred  millions  of  dollars.     Pee  note  4,  p 
537.     Thirty-six  years  ago  [1^31]  there  were  less  than  five  thousand  white    ecle  in  the  v 


page 

vast 


448  THE      NATION.  [1817. 

the  East  were  deserted ;  emigration  flowed  over  the,  mountains  in  a  broad  and 
vigorous  stream;  and  before  the  close  of  Monroe's  administration,  four  new 
sovereign  States  had  started  into  being1  from  the  wilderness  of  the  great  West, 
and  one  in  the  East.2 

The  first  year  of  Monroe's  administration  was  chiefly  distinguished  by  the 
admission  [December  10,  1817]  of  a  portion  of  the  Mississippi  Territory  into 
the  Union,  as  a  State,3  and  the  suppression  of  two  piratical  and  slave-dealing 
establishments  near  the  southern  and  south-western  borders  of  the  Kepublic. 
One  of  them  was  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Mary's,  Florida,  and  the  other  at 
Galveston,  Texas.  In  addition  to  a  clandestine  trade  in  slaves,  these  bucca 
neers,4  under  pretense  of  authority  from  some  of  the  Spanish  republics  of 
South  America,5  were  endeavoring  to  liberate  the  Floridas  from  the  dominion 
of  Spain.  In  November,  1817,  United  States  troops  proceeded  to  take  pos 
session  of  Amelia  Island,  the  rendezvous  of  the  pirates  on  the  Florida  coast,  and 
the  Galveston  establishment  soon  disappeared  for  want  of  support. 

Other  serious  difficulties  arose  at  about  the  same  time.  A  motley  host, 
composed  chiefly  of  Seminole  Indians,8  Creeks  dissatisfied  with  the  treaty  of 
1814, 7  and  runaway  negroes,  commenced  murderous  depredations  upon  the 
frontier  settlements  of  Georgia  and  the  Alabama  Territory,  toward  the  close  of 
1817.  General  Gaines8  was  sent  to  suppress  these  outrages,  and  to  remove 
every  Indian  from  the  territory  which  the  Creeks  had  ceded  to  the  United 
States,  in  1814.  His  presence  aroused  the  fiercest  ire  of  the  Indians,  who,  it 
was  ascertained,  were  incited  to  hostilities  by  British  subjects,  protected  by  the 
Spanish  authorities  in  Florida.  Gaines  was  placed  in  a  perilous  position,  when 
General  Jackson,  with  a  thousand  mounted  Tennessee  volunteers,  hastened 
[December,  1817]  to  his  aid.  In  March,  1818,  he  invaded  Florida,  took  pos 
session  [April]  of  the  weak  Spanish  post  of  St.  Mark,  at  the  head  of  Apa- 
lachee  Bay,9  and  sent  the  civil  authorities  and  troops  to  Pensacola.10  At  St. 
Mark  he  secured  the  persons  of  Alexander  Arbuthnot  and  Robert  C.  Ambrister, 
who,  on  being  tried  [April  26]  by  a  court  martial,  were  found  guilty  of  being 
the  principal  emissaries  among  the  southern  Indians,  inciting  them  to  hostilities. 


region  between  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Pacific  Ocean:  now  [1867]  the  number  is  probably  five 
millions.  Chicago  was  then  a  mere  hamlet;  now  [1867]  it  is  a  fine  city,  with  not  less,  probably, 
than  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  inhabitants.  And  never  was  the  growth  of  the  Great 
West  more  rapid  than  at  the  present. 

r  Mississippi,  December  10,  1817;  Illinois,  December  3,  1818;  Alabama,  December  14,  1819; 
and  Missouri,  March  2,  1821.  a  Maine,  March  3,  1820. 

8  The  Territory  was  divided.  The  western  portion  was  made  a  State,  and  the  eastern  was 
erected  into  a  Territory,  named  Alabama,  after  its  principal  river.  It  included  a  portion  of  Georgia, 
given  for  a  consideration.  See  page  455.  4  Note  6,  page  149. 

6  During  the  first  quarter  of  the  present  century,  nearly  all  of  the  countries  in  Central  and  South 
America,  which,  since  the  conquests  of  Cortez  [page  43]  and  Pizarro  [note  4,  page  44],  had  been 
under  the  Spanish  yoke,  rebelled,  and  forming  republics,  became  independent  of  Spain.  It  was  the 
policy  of  our  government  to  encourage  these  republics,  by  preventing  the  establishment  of  monarch 
ical  power  on  the  American  continent.  This  is  known  as  the  "  Monroe  doctrine,"  a  term  frequently 
used  in  political  circles. 

8  Page  30.  7  Note  8,  page  428. 

8  Page  398.  Edmund  P.  Gaines  was  born  in  Virginia,  in  1777.  He  entered  the  army  in  1799, 
and  rose  gradually  until  he  was  made  Major-General  for  his  gallantry  at  Fort  Erie  [page  433]  in 
1814.  He  remained  in  the  army  until  his  death,  in  1849.  9  Page  44.  10  Page  438. 


1825.]  MONROE'S     ADMINISTRATION.  451 

They  were  both  executed  on  the  30th  of  the  same  month.1  Jackson  soon  after 
ward  marched  for  Pensacola,  it  being  known  that  the  Spanish  authorities  there 
had  encouraged  the  Indians  in  making  depredations  in  Alabama.  The  Spanish 
governor  protested  against  this  invasion  of  his  territory  ;  but  Jackson,  satisfied 
of  his  complicity  with  the  Indians,  pushed  forward  and  seized  Pensacola  on  the 
24th  of  May.  The  governor  and  a  few  followers  fled  on  horseback  to  Fort 
Barrancas,  at  the  entrance  to  Pensacola  Bay.  This  fortress  was  captured  by 
Jackson  three  days  afterward  [May  27],  and  the  Spanish  authorities  and  troops 
were  sent  to  Havana. 

For  this  invasion  of  the  territory  of  a  friendly  power,  and  his  summary  pro 
ceedings  there,  General  Jackson  was  much  censured.  His  plea,  in  justification, 
was  the  known  interference  of  the  Spanish  authorities  in  Florida,  in  our  domes 
tic  affairs,  by  sheltering  those  who  were  exciting  the  Indians  to  bloody  deeds  ; 
and  the  absolute  necessity  of  prompt  and  efficient  measures  at  the  time.  He 
was  sustained  by  the  government  and  the  voice  of  the  people.  These  measures 
developed  the  necessity  for  a  general  and  thorough  settlement  of  affairs  on  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  Republic,  and  led  to  the  important  treaty2  concluded 
at  Washington  City,  in  February,  1819,  by  which  Spain  ceded  to  the  United 
States  the  whole  of  the  Floridas,  and  the  adjacent  islands.  That  country  was 
erected  into  a  Territory  in  February,  1821 ;  and  in  March  ensuing,  General 
j  ackson  was  appointed  the  first  governor  of  the  newly-acquired  domain. 

We  have  observed  that  the  vast  region  of  Louisiana,  purchased  from  France 
in  1803,  was  divided  into  two  Territories.3  The  Louisiana  Territory  was 
admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State,  in  1812  ;4  and  while  the  treaty  concerning 
Florida  was  pending,  the  southern  portion  of  the  remainder  of  the  Territory 
extending  westward  of  that  State  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  which  was  erected  into 
the  "Missouri  Territory"  in  1812,  was  formed  into  a  separate  government 
in  1819;  and  called  Arkansas.  In  December,  the  same  year,  Alabama  was 

1  Arbuthnot  was  a  Scotch  trader  from  New  Providence,  one  of  the  Bermuda  Islands.  He  had 
a  store  on  the  Suwaney  River,  where  many  of  the  hostile  Indians  and  negroes  congregated.  Am- 
brister  was  a  young  Englishman,  about  twenty-one  years  of  age,  who  had  borno  a  lieutenant's 
commission  in  the  British  service.  He  was  also  at  the  Suwaney  settlements,  and  put  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  Indians  and  negroes. 

3  Made  by  John  Quincy  Adams  for  the  United  States,  and  Don  Onis,  the  Spanish  embassador 
at  Washington.  Hitherto,  the  United  States  had  claimed  a  large  portion  of  Texas,  as  a  part  of 
Louisiana.  By  this  treaty,  Texas  was  retained  by  the  Spaniards.  The  cession  was  made  as  an 
equivalent  for  all  claims  against  Spain  for  injury  done  the  American  commerce,  to  an  amount  not 
exceeding  five  millions  of  dollars.  The  treaty  was  not  finally  ratified  until  February,  1821. 

3  Page  390. 

4  The  admirable  penal  code  of  Louisiana,  which  has  ever  stood  the  test  of  severe  criticism,  is 
"the  work  of  Edward  Livingston,  who  was  appointed  the  principal  of  a  commission  appointed  to 
codify  the  laws  of  that  State.     The  code,  of  which  he  was  the  sole  author,  was  adopted  in  1824. 
Mr.  Livingston  was  born  upon  the  "Manor,"  in  Columbia  county,  New  York,  in  1764.     He  was 
educated  at  Princeton,  studied  law  under  Chancellor  Lansing,  and  became  eminent  in  his  profession. 
He  became  a  member  of  Congress  in  1794,  then  attorney  for  the  district  of  New  York,  and  finally, 
he  went  to  New  Orleans  to  retrieve  a  broken  fortune.     He  was  an  aid  to  General  Jackson,  in  the 
battle  at  New  Orleans,  in  January,  1815,  and  his  pen  wrote  the  noble  defense  of  that  soldier,  when 
he  was  persecuted  by  civil  officers  in  that  city.     See  page  443.     When  the  last  page  of  his  manu 
script  code  of  laws  for  Louisiana  was  ready  for  the  press,  a  fire  consumed  the  whole,  and  he  was 
two  years  reproducing  it.     That  work  is  his  monument.     Mr.  Livingston  was  Secretary  of  State 
under  President  Jackson ;  and  in  1833,  he  was  sent  to  France,  as  the  resident  minister  of  the 
United  States.     He  died  in  Duchess  county,  New  York,  in  May,  1837. 


452  THE      NATION.  [1817. 

admitted  into  the  Union;  and  at  the  same  time,  Missouri  and  Maine  were 
making  overtures  for  a  similar  position.  Maine  was  admitted  in  March,  1820, J 
but  the  entrance  of  Missouri  was  delayed  until  August,  1821,  by  a  violent  and 
protracted  debate  which  sprung  up  between  the  Northern  and  the  Southern 
members  of  Congress  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  elicited  by  the  proposition  for 
its  admission. 


It  was  during  the  session  of  1818-19,  that  a  bill  was  introduced  into  Con 
gress,  which  contained  a  provision  forbidding  the  existence  of  slavery  or  invol 
untary  servitude  in  the  new  State  of  Missouri,  when  admitted.  Heated  debates 
immediately  occurred,  and  the  subject  was  postponed  until  another  session. 
The  whole  country,  in  the  mean  while,  was  agitated  by  disputes  on  the  subject; 
and  demagogues,  as  usual  at  the  North  and  at  the  South,  raised  the  cry  of  Z>is- 
union  of  the  Confederation !  Both  parties  prepared  for  the  great  struggle ; 
and  when  the  subject  was  again  brought  before  Congress  [November  23,  1820], 
angry  disputes  and  long  discussions  ensued.  A  compromise  was  finally  agreed 
to  [February  28,  1821],  by  which  slavery  should  be  allowed  in  Missouri  and 
in  all  territory  south  of  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes  north  latitude 
(southern  boundary  of  Missouri),  and  prohibited  in  all  the  territory  northerly 
and  westerly  of  these  limits.  This  is  known  as  The  Missouri  Compromise.* 
Under  this  compromise,  Missouri  was  admitted  on  the  21st  of  August,  1821,  and 


Page  129.  a  Page  501. 


1825.]  MONROE'S     ADMINISTRATION.  453 

the  excitement  on  the  subject  ceased.     The  Republic  was  now  composed  of 
twenty-four  States. 

While  the  Missouri  question  was  pending,  a  new  election  for  President  and 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  took  place.  Never,  since  the  foundation 
of  the  government,  had  there  been  an  election  so  quiet,  and  so  void  of  part/ 
virulence.  Mr.  Monroe  was  re-elected  President,  and  Mr.  Tompkins1  Vice- 
President  [November,  1820],  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote — the  old  Federal 
party,2  as  an  organization,  being  nearly  extinct.  The  administration  had  been 
very  popular,  and  the  country  was  blessed  with  general  prosperity.  Two  other 
measures,  besides  those  already  noticed,  received  the  warmest  approbation  of  the 
people.  The  first  was  an  act  of  Congress,  passed  in  March,  1818,  in  pursu 
ance  of  Monroe's  recommendation,  making  provision,  in  some  degree,  for  the 
surviving  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Revolution.  It  was  subsequently  extended, 
so  as  to  include  the  widows  and  children  of  those  who  were  deceased.  The 
other  was  an  arrangement  made  with  Great  Britain,  in  October,  1818,  by 
which  American  citizens  were  allowed  to  share  with  those  of  that  realm,  in  the 
valuable  Newfoundland  fisheries.  At  the  same  time,  the  northern  boundary 
of  the  United  States,  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  to  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
was  defined.9 

Few  events  of  general  importance,  aside  from  the  rapid  progress  of  the 
country  in  all  its  industrial  and  governmental  operations,  occurred  during  the 
remainder  of  Monroe's  administration,  except  the  suppression  of  piracy  among 
the  West  India  Islands,  and  the  visit  of  General  La  Fayette4  to  the  United 
States,  as  the  nation's  guest.  The  commerce  of  the  United  States  had  been 
greatly  annoyed  and  injured  by  swarms  of  pirates  who  infested  the  West  India 
seas.  A  small  American  squadron,  under  Commodore  Perry,6  had  been  sent 
thither  in  1819,  to  chastise  the  buccaneers.  Perry  died  of  the  yellow  fever  in 
the  performance  of  his  duty,  and  very  little  was  done  at  that  time.  About  four 
years  later  [1822],  a  small  American  squadron  destroyed  more  than  twenty 
piratical  vessels  on  the  coast  of  Cuba ;  and  the  following  year  the  work  was 
completed  by  a  larger  force,  under  Commodore  Porter.8  The  second-named 
event  was  of  a  more  pleasing  character.  La  Fayette,  the  companion-in-arms 
of  Washington7  during  the  Revolutionary  struggle,  arrived  at  New  York,  from 
France,  in  August,  1824,  and  during  about  eleven  succeeding  months,  he  made 
a  tour  of  over  five  thousand  miles,  throughout  the  United  States.  He  was 
everywhere  greeted  with  the  warmest  enthusiasm,  and  was  often  met  by  men 
who  had  served  under  him  in  the  first  War  for  Independence.  When  he  was 
prepared  to  return,  an  American  frigate,  named  Brandywine,  in  compliment 
to  him,8  was  sent  by  the  United  States  government  to  convey  him  back  to 
France. 

Mr.  Monroe's  administration  now  drew  toward  a  close,  and  in  the  autumn 

1  Page  44G.  2  Page  374.  3  Page  479. 

4  Page  273.  5  Page  423.  e  Page  431.  7  Page  273. 

8  La  Fayette's  first  battle  for  freedom  in  America,  was  that  on  the  Brandywine  Creek,  in  Sep 
tember,  1777,  where  he  was  wounded  in  the  leg.     See  note  5,  page  273. 


454  THE     NATION.  [1825. 

of  1824,  the  people  were  called  upon  to  select  his  successor.  It  soon  became 
evident  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  old  politicians  of  the  Democratic  party 
had  decided  to  support  William  H.  Crawford,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
for  the  succession.  Four  candidates,  representing  the  different  sections  of  the 
Union,1  were  finally  put  in  nomination.  The  result  was,  that  the  choice  de 
volved  upon  the  House  of  Representatives,  for  the  second  time.3  That  body, 
by  an  election  held  in, February,  1825,  chose  John  Quincy  Adams  for  Presi 
dent.  John  C.  Calhoun  had  been  chosen  Vice-President  by  the  people.  The 
election  and  final  choice  produced  great  excitement  throughout  the  country, 
and  engendered  political  rancor  equal  to  that  which  prevailed  during  the  admin 
istration  of  the  elder  Adams.  Mr.  Monroe's  administration  closed  on  the  4th 
of  March  ensuing,  and  he  resigned  to  his  successor  the  Chief  Magistracy  of  a 
highly-prosperous  nation. 


OBAPTER    VIII. 

JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS'S  ADMINISTRATION.      [1825—1829.] 

AT  about  half-past  twelve  o'clock,  on  the  4th  day  of  March,  1825,  John 
Quincy  Adams,3  son  of  the  second  President  of  the  United  States,  entered  the 
hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  took  his  seat  in  the  chair  of  the 
Speaker.  He  was  dressed  in  a  suit  of  black  cloth,  and,  being  small  in  stature, 
did  not  present  a  more  dignified  appearance  than  hundreds  of  his  fellow-citizens 
around  him.  He  appeared,  as  he  really  was,  a  plain  Republican — one  of  the 
people.  When  silence  was  obtained,  he  arose  and  delivered  his  inaugural  ad 
dress  ;  then  descending,  he  placed  himself  on  the  right  hand  of  a  table,  and 
took  the  oath  of  office,  administered  by  Chief-Justice  Marshall.  The  Senate 
being  in  session,  Mr.  Adams  immediately  nominated  his  cabinet  officers,4  and 

1  John  Quincy  Adams  in  the  East,  William  H.  Crawford  in  the  South,  Andrew  Jackson  and 
Henry  Clay  in  the  West.  3  Page  388. 

3  John  Quincy  Adams,  the  sixth  President  of  the  United  States,  was  born  at  Quincy,  Massa 
chusetts,  on  the  llth  of  July,  1767.     He  went  to  Europe,  with  his  father,  at  the  age  of  eleven 
years ;  and,  in  Paris,  he  was  much  in  the  society  of  Franklin  and  other  distinguished  men.    At  the 
age  of  fourteen  years  he  accompanied  Mr.  Dana  to  St.  Petersburg,  as  private  secretary  to  that  em- 
bassador.     He  traveled  much  alone,  and  finally  returned,  and  finished  his  education  at  Harvard 
College.     He  became  a  lawyer,  but  public  service  kept  him  from  that  pursuit.     He  was  made 
United  States  minister  to  the  Netherlands  in  1794,  and  afterward  held  the  same  office  at  Lisbon 
and  Berlin.     He  was  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate  in  1803  ;  and  in  1809  he  was  sent  as 
minister  to  the  Russian  court.     After  negotiating  a  treaty  of  peace  at  Ghent  [page  443],  he  was  ap 
pointed  minister  to  the  English  court.     In  1817  he  was  made  Secretary  of  State,  by  Mr.  Monroe. 
Having  served  one  term  as  President  of  the  United  States,  he  retired;  and  from  1831,  he  was  a 
member  of  Congress  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  the  Speaker's  room,  at  the  Natioal  Capitol, 
on  the  22d  of  February,  1848,  when  in  the  eighty-first  year  of  his  age. 

4  Henry  Clay,  Secretary  of  State ;  Richard  Rush,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  James  Barbour, 
Secretary  of  War ;  Samuel  L.  Southard  (continued  in  office),  Secretary  of  the  Navy ;  and  William 
Wirt  (continued),  Attorney-General.     There  was  considerable  opposition  in  the  Senate  to  the  con 
firmation  of  Henry  Clay's  nomination.    He  had  been  charged  with  defeating  the  election  of  General 
Jackson,  by  giving  his  influence  to  Mr.  Adams,  on  condition  that  he  should  be  appointed  his  Secre- 


1829.]  JOHN   QUINCY  ADAMS'S  ADMINISTRATION.  455 

all  but  one  were  confirmed  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  that  body.  His  political 
views  were  consonant  with  those  of  Mr.  Monroe,  and  the  foreign  and  domestic 
policy  of  his  administration  were  generally  conformable  to  those  views.  The 
amity  which  existed  between  the  United  States  and  foreign  governments,  and 
the  absence  of  serious  domestic  troubles,  made  the  administration  of  Mr.  Adams 


a  remarkably  quiet  one,  and  gave  the  executive  opportunities  for  adjusting  the 
operations  of  treaties  with  the  Indian  tribes,  and  the  arrangement  of  measures 
for  the  promotion  of  those  great  staple  interests  of  the  country — agriculture, 
commerce,  and  manufactures.  Discords,  which  the  election  had  produced,  ex 
cited  the  whole  country  during  Mr.  Adams's  administration,  with  the  agitations 
incident  to  excessive  party  zeal,  and  bitter  party  rancor ;  yet  the  President, 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  all  the  public  interests,  and  as  thoroughly  skilled 
in  every  art  of  diplomacy  and  jurisprudence,  managed  the  affairs  of  State  with 
a  fidelity  and  sagacity  which  command  our  warmest  approbation. 

One  of  the  most  exciting  topics,  for  thought  and  discussion,  at  the  beginning 
of  Adams's  administration  [1825],  was  a  controversy  between  the  National  Gov 
ernment  and  the  chief  magistrate  of  Georgia,  concerning  the  lands  of  the  Creek 
Indians,  and  the  removal  of  those  aboriginals  from  the  territory  of  that  State. 
When  Georgia  relinquished  her  claims  to  considerable  portions  of  the  Missis 
sippi  Territory,1  the  Federal  Government  agreed  to  purchase,  for  that  State, 

tary  of  State.  This,  however,  was  only  a  bubble  on  the  surface  of  political  strife,  and  had  no  truth 
ful  substance.  In  the  Senate,  there  were  twenty-seven  votes  in  favor,  and  fourteen  against  con 
firming  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Clay.  1  Note  2,  page  447. 


456  THE      NATION.  [1825. 

the  Indian  lands  within  its  borders,  "  whenever  it  could  be  peaceably  done  upon 
reasonable  terms."  The  Creeks,  who,  with  their  neighbors,  the  Cherokees, 
were  beginning  to  practice  the  arts  of  civilized  life,  refused  to  sell  their  lands. 
Troup,  the  governor  of  Georgia,  demanded  the  immediate  fulfillment  of  the  con 
tract.  He  caused  a  survey  ef  the  lands  to  be  made,  and  prepared  to  distribute 


them  by  lottery,  to  the  citizens  of  that  State.  Impatient  at  the  tardiness  of  tho 
United  States  in  extinguishing  the  Indian  titles  and  removing  the  remnants  of 
the  tribes,  according  to  stipulation,  the  governor  assumed  the  right  to  do  it  him 
self.  The  United  States  took  the  attitude  of  defenders  of  the  Indians,  and,  for 
a  time,  the  matter  bore  a  serious  aspect.  The  difficulties  were  finally  settled, 
and  the  Creeks1  and  Cherokees2  gradually  removed  to  the  rich  wilderness  be 
yond  the  Mississippi. 

At  about  this  time  a  great  work  of  internal  improvement  was  completed. 
The  Erie  Canal,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  was  finished  in  1825.  It  was  tho 
most  important  and  stupendous  public  improvement  ever  undertaken  in  the 
United  States  ;  and,  though  it  was  the  enterprise  of  the  people  of  a  single  State, 
that  originated  and  accomplished  the  labor  of  forming  the  channel  of  a  river 
through  a  large  extent  of  country,  it  has  a  character  of  nationality.  Its  earli 
est  advocate  was  Jesse  Hawley,  who,  in  a  series  of  articles  published  in  18U7 
and  1808,  signed  Hercules,  set  forth  the  feasibility  and  great  importance  of 
such  a  connection  of  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  and  the  Hudson  River.3  His 

1  Page  30.  2  Page  27. 

3  In  a  manuscript  letter  now  before  tho  writer,  dated  "Albany,  4th  March,  1822,"  JDewitt  Clin 
ton  says  to  Jesss  Hawley,  to  whom  the  letter  is  addressed :   "In  answer  to  your  letter,  I  have  no 


1829.]  JOHN   QUINCY  ADAMS'S  ADMINISTRATION".  457 

views  were  warmly  seconded  by  Gouverneur  Morris,1  Dewitt  Clinton,  and  a 
few  others,  and  its  final  accomplishment  was  the  result,  chiefly,  of  the  untir 
ing  efforts,  privately  and  officially,  of  the  latter  gentleman,  while  a  member 
of  the  Legislature  and  governor  of  the  State  of  New  York.  It  is  three  hun 
dred  and  sixty- three  miles  in  length,  and  the  first  estimate  of  its  cost  was 
$5,000,000.  Portions  of  it  have  since  been  enlarged,  to  meet  the  increasing 
demands  of  its  commerce ;  and  in  1858,  the  people  of  the  State  decided,  by  a 
general  vote,  to  have  it  enlarged  its  entire  length.  That  work  is  now  [1867] 
in  progress. 

A  most  remarkable  coincidence  occurred  on  the  4th  of  July,  1826,  the  fif 
tieth  anniversary  of  American  Independence.  On  that  day,  and  almost  at  the 
same  hour,  John  Adams  and  Thomas  Jefferson  expired.  They  were  both  mem 
bers  of  the  committee  who  had  framed  the  Declaration  of  Independence,2  both 
signed  it,3  both  had  been  foreign  ministers,4  both  had  been  Vice- Presidents,  and 
then  Presidents  of  the  United  States,  and  both  had  lived  to  a  great  age.&  Theso 
coincidences,  and  the  manner  and  time  of  their  death,  produced  a  profound  im 
pression  upon  the  public  mind.  In  many  places  throughout  the  Union,  eulogies 
or  funeral  orations  were  pronounced,  and  these,  collected,  form  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  contributions  to  our  historical  and  biographical  literature. 

After  the  difficulties  with  Georgia  were  settled,  the  remaining  years  of  Mr. 
Adams's  administration  were  so  peaceful  and  prosperous,  that  public  affairs 
present  very  few  topics  for  the  pen  of  the  general  historian.6  The  most  import 
ant  movement  in  foreign  policy,  was  the  appointment,  early  in  1826,  of  com 
missioners7  to  attend  a  congress  of  .representatives  of  the  South  American  Re 
publics,8  held  at  Panama  [July,  1826],  on  the  Pacific  coast.  This  appointment 

hesitation  in  stating  that  the  first  suggestion  of  a  canal  from  Lake  Eric  to  the  Hudson  River,  which 
came  to  my  knowledge,  was  communicated  in  essays  under  the  signature  of  Hercules,  on  Internal 
Navigation,  published  in  the  Ontario  Messenger,  at  Canandaigua.  The  first  number  appeared  on 
the  27th  of  October,  1807,  and  the  series  of  numbers  amounted,  I  believe,  to  fourteen.  The  board 
of  Canal  Commissioners,  which  made  the  first  tour  of  observation  and  survey,  in  1810,  were  pos 
sessed  of  the  writings  of  Hercules,  which  were  duly  appreciated,  as  the  work  of  a  sagacious  in 
ventor  and  elevated  mind.  And  you  were  at  that  time,  and  since,  considered  tho  author."  Dewitt 
Clinton  was  a  son  of  General  James  Clinton,  of  Orange  county,  New  York.  He  was  born  in 
March,  1769.  He  was  mayor  of  New  York  ten  years,  and  was  elected  governor  of  the  State  in 
1817,  and  again  m  1820  and  1826.  He  died  suddenly  while  in  that  office,  in  February,  1828. 

1  Page  364.  .  a  Note  2,  page  251. 

3  Jefferson  was  its  author,  and  Adams  its  principal  supporter,  in  the  Continental  Congress. 

*  Note  2,  page  383,  and  note  5,  page  388. 

6  Mr.  Adams  died  at  Quincy,  Massachusetts,  at  the  age  of  almost  ninety-one  years.  Mr.  Jeffer 
son  died  at  Monticello,  Virginia,  at  the  age  of  almost  eighty-three  years. 

6  An  event  occurred  in  1826  which  produced  great  excitement  throughout  the  country,  and  led 
to  the  formation  of  a  new,  and  for  a  time,  quite  a  powerful  political  party.     William  Morgan,  of 
Western  New  York,  announced  his  intention  to  publish  a  book,  in  which  the  secrets  of  Free 
Masonry  were  to  be  disclosed.     He  was  suddenly  seized  at  Canandaigua  one  evening,  placed  in  a 
carriage,  and  was  never  heard  of  afterward.     Some  Free  Masons  were  charged  with  his  murder, 
and  the  report  of  an  investigating  committee,  appointed  by  the  New  York  State  Legislature,  cor - 
firmed  the  suspicion.     The  public  mind  was  greatly  agitated,  and  there  was  a  disposition  to  excluc!  5 
Free  Masons  from  office.     An  Anti-Masonic  party  was  formed,  and  its  organization  spread  over 
several  States.     In  1831,  a  national  anti-Masonic  convention  was  held  at  Philadelphia,  and  William 
Wirt,  of  Virginia,  was  nominated  for  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States.     Although  the 
party  polled  a  considerable  vote,  it  soon  afterward  disappeared. 

7  R.  C.  Addison,  and  John  Sargeant,  commissioners ;  and  William  B.  Rochester,  of  New  York, 
their  secretary. 

8  Note  5,  page  448.     As  early  as  1823,  General  Bolivar,  while  acting  as  President  of  Colombia, 


458 


THE      NATION. 


[1825. 


produced  much  discussion  in  Congress,  chiefly  on  party  grounds.  The  result 
of  the  congress  at  Panama  was  comparatively  unimportant,  so  far  as  the  United 
States  was  concerned,  and  appears  to  have  had  very  little  influence  on  the 
affairs  of  South  America. 

During  the  administration  of  Mr.  Adams,  the  policy  of  protecting  home 


manufactures,  by  imposing  a  heavy  duty  upon  foreign  articles  of  the  same  kind, 
assumed  the  shape  of  a  settled  national  policy,  and  the  foundations  of  the 
American  System,  as  that  policy  is  called,  was  then  laid.  The  illiberal  commer 
cial  policy  of  Great  Britain,  caused  tariff  laws  to  be  enacted  by  Congress  as 
early  as  1816,  as  retaliatory  measures.1  In  1824,  imposts  were  laid  on  foreign 
fabrics,  with  a  view  to  encourage  American  manufactures.  In  July,  1827,  a 
national  convention  was  held  at  Harrisburg,  in  Pennsylvania,  to  discuss  the 
subject  of  protective  tariffs.  Only  four  of  the  slave  States  sent  delegates.  The 
result  of  the  convention  was  a  memorial  to  Congress,  asking  an  augmentation 
of  duties  on  several  articles  then  manufactured  in  the  United  States.  The  Sec 
retary  of  the  Treasury  called  attention  to  the  subject  in  his  report  in  Decem- 

invited  the  governments  of  Mexico,  Peru,  Chili,  and  Buenos  Ayres,  to  unite  with  him  in  forming  a 
general  congress  at  Panama,  and  the  same  year  arrangements  between  Colombia,  Mexico,  and 
Peru  were  made,  to  effect  that  object.  In  the  spring  of  1825,  the  United  States  government  was 
invited  to  send  a  delegation  to  the  proposed  congress.  The  objects  of  the  congress  were,  to  settle 
upon  some  line  of  policy  having  the  force  of  international  law,  respecting  the  rights  of  those  repub 
lics  ;  and  to  consult  upon  measures  to  be  taken  to  prevent  further  colonization  on  the  American 
continent  by  European  powers,  and  their  interference  in  then  existing  contests. 
1  Page  367. 


1829.]  JACKSON'S     ADM  I  N  IS  T  E  AT  I  0  N.  459 

ber  following.  Congress,  at  an  early  period  of  the  session  of  1827-'28,  took 
up  the  matter,  and  a  Tariff  Bill  became  a  law  in  May  following.  The  Amer 
ican  System  was  very  popular  with  the  manufacturers  of  the  North,  but  the 
cotton-growing  States,  which  found  a  ready  market  for  the  raw  material  in  En 
gland,  opposed  it.  The  taritf  law,  passed  on  the  15th  of  May,  1828,  was  very 
obnoxious  to  the  Southern  politicians.1  They  denounced  it  as  oppressive  and 
unconstitutional,  and  became  rebellious  in  1832  and  1833.2 

The  Presidential  election  took  place  in  the  autumn  of  1828,  when  the  pub 
lic  mind  was  highly  excited.  For  a  long  time  the  opposing  parties  had  been 
marshaling  their  forces  for  the  contest.  The  candidates  were  John  Quincy 
Adams  and  General  Andrew  Jackson.  The  result  was  the  defeat  of  Mr.  Adams, 
and  the  election  of  General  Jackson.  John  C.  Calhoun,3  of  South  Carolina, 
was  elected  Vice- President,  and  both  had  very  large  majorities.  During  the 
contest,  the  people  appeared  to  be  on  the  verge  of  civil  war,  so  violent  was  the 
party  strife,  and  so  malignant  were  the  denunciations  of  the  candidates.  When 
it  was  over,  perfect  tranquillity  prevailed,  the  people  cheerfully  acquiesced  in 
the  result,  and  our  sytem  of  government  was  nobly  vindicated  before  the  world. 

President  Adams  retired  from  office  on  the  4th  of  March,  1829.  He  left 
to  his  successor  a  legacy  of  unexampled  national  prosperity,  peaceful  relations 
with  all  the  world,  a  greatly  diminished  national  debt,  and  a  surplus  of  more 
than  five  millions  of  dollars  in  the  public  treasury.  He  also  bequeathed  to  the 
Republic  the  tearful  gratitude  of  the  surviving  soldiers  of  the  Revolution, 
among  whom  had  been  distributed  in  pensions,4  during  his  administration,  more 
than  five  millions  of  dollars. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

JACKSON'S    ADMINISTRATION.     [1829  — 1837] 

THERE  were  incidents  of  peculiar  interest  connected  with  the  inauguration 
of  Andrew  Jackson,5  the  seventh  President  of  the  United  States.     President 

1  The  chief  articles  on  which  heavy  protective  duties  were  laid,  were  woolen  and  cotton  fab 
rics.  At  that  time,  the  value  of  annual  imports  of  cotton  goads  from  Great  Britain  was  about 
$8,000,000  ;  that  of  woolen  goods  about  the  same."  The  exports  to  Great  Britain,  of  cotton,  rice, 
and  tobacco,  alone  (the  chief  products  of  the  Southern  States),  was  about  $24,000,000  annually. 
These  producers  were  made  to  fear  a  great  diminution  of  their  exports,  by  a  tariff  that  should 
almost  wholly  prohibit  the  importation  of  three  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  British  cotton  and 
woolen  fabrics,  annually.  2  Page  463. 

3  John  C.  Calhouri  was  born  in  South  Carolina  in  1782.  He  first  appeared  in  Congress  in  1811, 
and  was  always  distinguished  for  his  consistency,  especially  in  his  support  of  the  institution  of 
slavery  and  the  doctrine  of  State  supremacy.  He  was  an  able  debater,  and  subtle  politician ; 
and  the  logical  result  of  his  political  teachings  was  the  late  Civil  War.  He  died  at  Washington 
city,  while  a  member  of  the  National  Senate,  in  March,  1850.  4  Page  453. 

5  Andrew  Jackson  was  born  in  Mecklenberg  county,  North  Carolina,  in  March,  1767.  His 
parents  were  from  the  north  of  Ireland,  and  belonged  to  that  Protestant  community  known  as 
Scotch-Irish.  In  earliest  infancy,  he  was  left  to  the  care  of  an  excellent  mother,  by  the  death  of 
his  father.  He  first  saw  the  horrors  of  war,  and  felt  the  wrongs  of  oppression,  when  Cclonel 


460  THE     NATION.  [1829. 

Adams  had  convened  the  Senate  on  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  March,  1829, 
and  at  twelve  o'clock  that  body  adjourned  for  an  hour.  During  that  time,  the 
President  elect  entered  the  Senate  chamber,  having  been  escorted  from  Gadsby's 
Hotel,  by  a  few  surviving  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  old  War  for  Independence. 
These  had  addressed  him  at  the  hotel,  and  now,  in  presence  of  the  chief  officers 
of  government,  foreign  ministers,  and  a  large  number  of  ladies,  he  thus  replied 
to  them : 


"  RESPECTED  FRIENDS — Your  affectionate  address  awakens  sentiments  and 
recollections  which  I  feel  with  sincerity  and  cherish  with  pride.  To  have 
around  my  person,  at  the  moment  of  undertaking  the  most  solemn  of  all  duties 
to  my  country,  the  companions  of  the  immortal  Washington,  will  afford  me 
satisfaction  and  grateful  encouragement.  That  by  my  best  exertions,  I  shall  be 
able  to  exhibit  more  than  an  imitation  of  his  labors,  a  sense  of  my  own  imper- 


Buford's  troops  were  massacred  [page  313,  and  note  1,  page  314]  in  his  neighborhood,  in  1780. 
He  entered  the  army,  and  suffered  in  the  cause  of  freedom,  by  imprisonment,  and  the  death  of  his 
mother  while  she  was  on  an  errand  of  mercy.  He  studied  law,  and  became  one  of  the  most 
eminent  men  in  the  Western  District  of  Tennessee,  as  an  advocate  and  a  judge.  He  was  ever  a 
controlling  spirit  in  that  region.  He  assisted  in  framing  a  State  constitution  for  Tennessee,  arid  was 
the  first  representative  of  that  State  in  the  National  Congress.  He  became  United  States  senator  in 
1797,  and  was  soon  afterward  appointed  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  his  State.  He  settled  near 
Nashville,  and  for  a  long  time  was  chief  military  commander  in  that  region.  When  the  War  of 
1812  broke  out,  he  took  the  field,  and  in  the  capacity  of  Major- General,  he  did  good  service  in  the 
southern  country,  till  its  close.  He  was  appointed  the  first  Governor  of  Florida,  in  1821,  and  an 
1823,  was  again  in  the  United  States  Senate.  He  retired  to  private  life  at  the  close  of  his  presi 
dential  term,  and  died  at  his  beautiful  residence,  The  Hermitage,  near  Nashville,  in  June,  1845,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-eight  years. 


1837.]  JACKSON'S    ADMINISTRATION.  461 

factions,  and  the  reverence  I  entertain  for  his  virtues,  forbid  me  to  hope.  To 
you,  respected  friends,  the  survivors  of  that  heroic  band  who  followed  him,  so 
long  and  so  valiantly,  in  the  path  of  glory,  I  offer  my  sincere  thanks,  and  to 
Heaven  my  prayers,  that  your  remaining  years  may  be  as  happy  as  your  toils 
and  your  lives  have  been  illustrious."  The  whole  company  then  proceeded  to 
the  eastern  portico  of  the  capitol,  where,  in  the  presence  of  a  vast  assembly  of 
citizens,  the  President  elect  delivered  his  inaugural  address,  and  took  the  oath 
of  office,  administered  by  Chief  Justice  Marshall.1  That  jurist  again  adminis 
tered  the  same  oath  to  President  Jackson  on  the  4th  of  March,  1833,  and  a 
few  months  afterward  went  down  into  the  grave. 

President  Jackson  was  possessed  of  strong  passions,  an  uncorrupt  heart,  and 
an  iron  will.  Honest  and  inflexible,  he  seized  the  helm  of  the  ship  of  state 
with  a  patriot's  hand,  resolved  to  steer  it  according  to  his  own  conceptions  of 
the  meaning  of  his  guiding  chart,  The  Constitution,  unmindful  of  the  inter 
ference  of  friends  or  foes.  His  instructions  to  the  first  minister  sent  to  England, 
on  his  nomination — "Ask  nothing  but  what  is  right;  submit  to  nothing 
wrong" — indicate  the  character  of  those  moral  and  political  maxims  by  which 
he  was  governed.  His  audacity  amazed  his  friends  and  alarmed  his  opponents ; 
and  no  middle  men  existed.  He  was  either  thoroughly  loved  or  thoroughly 
hated;  and  for  eight  years  he  braved  the  fierce  tempests  of  party  strife,3 
domestic  perplexities,3  and  foreign  arrogance,4  with  a  skill  and  courage  which 
demands  the  admiration  of  his  countrymen,  however  much  they  may  differ  with 
him  in  matters  of  national  policy.  The  gulf  between  him  and  his  political  oppo 
nents  was  so  wide,  that  it  was  difficult  for  the  broadest  charity  to  bridge  it.  To 
those  who  had  been  his  true  friends  during  the  election  struggle,  he  extended  the 
grateful  hand  of  recognition,  and  after  having  his  inquiries  satisfied,  "Is  he 
capable  ?  is  he  honest?"  he  conferred  official  station  upon  the  man  who  pleased 
him,  with  a  stoical  indifference  to  the  clamor  of  the  opposition.  The  whole  of 
President  Adams's  cabinet  officers  having  resigned,  Jackson  immediately  nom 
inated  his  political  friends  for  his  counselors,  and  the  Senate  confirmed  his 
choice.5 

Among  the  first  subjects  of  general  and  commanding  interest  which  occu 
pied  the  attention  of  President  Jackson,  at  the  commencement  of  his  administra 
tion,  were  the  claims  of  Georgia  to  lands  held  by  the  powerful  Cherokee  tribe 
of  Indians,  and  lying  within  the  limits  of  that  State.  Jackson  favored  the  views 
of  the  Georgia  authorities,  and  the  white  people  proceeded  to  take  possession  of 
the  Indians'  land.  Trouble  ensued,  and  the  southern  portion  of  the  Republic  was 

1  Page  351. 

2  Following  the  precedent  of  Jefferson  [page  389],  he  filled  a  large  number  of  the  public  offices 
with  his  political  friends,  after  removing  the  incumbents.     These  removals  were  for  all  causes ;  and 
during  his  administration,  they  amounted  to  six  hundred  and  ninety  out  of  several  thousands,  who 
were  removable.     The  entire  number  of  removals  made  by  all  the  preceding  Presidents,  from  1790 
to  1829,  was  seventy-four.  3  page  464.  4  Page  468. 

6  Martin  Van  Buren,  Secretary  of  State ;  Samuel  D.  Ingham,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  John 
H.  Eaton,  Secretary  of  War;  John  Branch,  Secretary  of  the  Navy;  and  John  McPherson  Berrian, 
Attorney-General.  It  having  been  determined  to  make  the  Postmaster-General  a  cabinet  officer, 
William  T.  Barry  was  appointed  to  that  station. 


462  THE     NATION.  [1829. 

again  menaced  with  civil  war.  The  matter  was  adjudicated  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  and  on  the  30th  of  March,  1832,  that  tribunal 
decided  against  the  claims  of  Georgia.  But  that  State,'  favored  by  the  Presi 
dent,  resisted  the  decision.  The  difficulty  was  finally  adjusted;  and  in  1838, 
General  Winfield  Scott1  was  sent  thither,  with  several  thousand  troops,  to 
remove  the  Cherokees,  peaceably  if  possible,  but  forcibly  if  necessary,  beyond 
the  Mississippi.  Through  the  kindness  and  conciliation  of  Scott,  they  were 
induced  to  migrate.  They  had  become  involved  in  the  difficulties  of  their  Creek 
neighbors,2  but  were  defended  against  the  encroachments  of  the  Georgians 
during  Adams's  administration.  But  in  December,  1839,  they  were  crushed,  as 
a  nation,  by  an  act  of  Congress,  and  another  of  the  ancient  communities  of  the 
New  World  was  wiped  from  the  living  record  of  empire.  The  Cherokees3  were 
more  advanced  in  the  arts  of  civilized  life  than  the  Creeks.4  They  had  churches, 
schools,  and  a  printing-press,  and  were  becoming  successful  agriculturists.  It 
appeared  cruel  in  the  extreme  to  remove  them  from  their  fertile  lands  and  the 
graves  of  their  fathers,  to  the  wilderness  ;  yet  it  was,  doubtless,  a  proper  meas 
ure  for  insuring  the  prosperity  of  both  races.  But  now  [1867],  again,  the  tide 
of  civilization  is  beating  against  their  borders.  Will  they  not  be  borne  upon  its 
powerful  wave,  further  into  the  wilderness  ? 

Another  cause  for  public  agitation  appeared  in  1832.  In  his  first  annual 
message  [December,  1829]  Jackson  took  strong  ground  against  the  renewal  of 
the  charter  of  the  United  States  Bank,6  on  the  ground  that  it  had  failed  in  the 
great  end  of  establishing  a  uniform  and  sound  currency,  and  that  such  an  insti 
tution  was  not  authorized  by  the  National  Constitution.  He  again  attacked  the 
bank  in  his  annual  message  in  1830,  and  his  objections  were  renewed  in  that 
of  1831.  At  the  close  of  1831,  the  proper  officers  of  the  bank,  for  the  first 
time,  petitioned  for  a  renewal  of  its  charter.  That  petition  was  presented  in 
the  Senate  on  the  9th  of  January,  1832,  and  on  the  13th  of  March,  a  select  com 
mittee  to  whom  it  was  referred,  reported  in  favor  of  renewing  the  charter  for 
fifteen  years.  Long  debates  ensued ;  and,  finally,  a  bill  for  re-chartering  the 
bank  passed  both  Houses  of  Congress :  the  Senate  on  the  llth  of  June,  by 
twenty-eight  against  twenty  votes ;  and  by  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the 
3d  of  July,  by  one  hundred  and  seven  against  eighty-five.  Jackson  vetoed0  it 
on  the  10th  of  July,  and  as  it  failed  to  receive  the  support  of  two  thirds  of  the 
members  of  both  Houses,  the  bank  charter  expired,  by  limitation,  in  1836. 
The  commercial  community,  regarding  a  national  bank  as  essential  to  their 
prosperity,  were  alarmed;  and  prophecies  of  panics  and  business  revulsions, 
everywhere  uttered,  helped  to  accomplish  their  own  speedy  fulfillment. 

An  Indian  war  broke  out  upon  the  north-western  frontier,  in  the  spring  of 
1832.  Portions  of  some  of  the  western  tribes,7  residing  within  the  domain 


1  Page  485.  2  Page  427.  3  Page  27.  4  Page  30.  6  Page  446. 

8  That  is,  refused  to  sign  it,  and  returned  it  to  Congress,  with  his  reasons,  for  reconsideration  by 
that  body.  The  Constitution  gives  the  President  this  power,  and  when  exercised,  a  bill  can  not 
become  law  without  his  signature,  unless  it  shall,  on  reconsideration,  receive  the  votes  of  two  thirds 
of  the  members  of  both  Houses  of  Congress.  See  Article  I,  Section  7,  of  the  Constitution,  in  the 
Supplement.  7  Sacs,  Foxes,  and  Winnebagoes.  See  page  18. 


1837.]  JACKSON'S     AD  MINISTRATION.  463 

of  the  present  State  of  Wisconsin,1  led  by  Black  Hawk,8  a  fiery  Sac  chief, 
commenced  warfare  upon  the  frontier  settlers  of  Illinois,  in  April  of  that  year. 
After  several  skirmishes  with  United  States  troops  and  Illinois  militia,  under 
General  Atkinson,3  the  Indians  were  driven  beyond  the  Mississippi.  Black 
Hawk  was  captured  in  August,  1832,  and  taken  to  Washington  City ;  and  then, 
to  impress  his  mind  with  the  strength  of  the  nation  he  had  foolishly  made  war 
with,  he  was  conducted  through  several  of  the  eastern  cities.  This  brief  strife, 
which  appeared  quite  alarming  at  one  time,  is  known  in  history  as  the  "  Black 
Hawk  War."4 

This  cloud  in  the  West  had  scarcely  disappeared,  when  one  loomed  up  in 
the  South  far  more  formidable  in  appearance,  and  charged  with  menacing  thun- 


der  that,  for  a  while,  shook  the  entire  fabric  of  the  Republic.  The  dis 
contents  of  the  cotton-growing  States,  produced  by  the  tariff  act  of  1828,6 
assumed  the  form  of  rebellion  in  South  Carolina,  toward  the  close  of  1832. 
An  act  of  Congress,  imposing  additional  duties  upon  foreign  goods,  passed  in 

1  That  domain  was  not  erected  into  a  Territory  until  four  years  after  that  event ;  now  it  is  a  rich, 
populous,  and  nourishing  State.  2  Page  18. 

3  Henry  Atkinson  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and  entered  the  army  as  captain,  in  1808. 
He  was  retained  in  the  army  after  the  second  War  for  Independence,  was  made  Adjutant-General, 
and  was  finally  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  Western  Army.     He  died  at  Jefferson  Barracks, 
in  June,  1842. 

4  Black  Hawk  returned  to  his  people,  but  was,  with  difficulty,  restored  to  his  former  dignity  of 
chief.     He  died  in  October,  1840,  and  was  buried  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi.        6  Page  459. 


464  THE      NATION.  [1829. 

the  spring  of  1832,  led  to  a  State  convention  in  South  Carolina,  in  November 
following.  It  assembled  on  the  19th  of  that  month,  and  the  Governor  of  South 
Carolina  was  appointed  its  president.  That  assembly  declared  the  tariff  acts 
unconstitutional,  and  therefore  null  and  void.  It  resolved  that  duties  should 
not  be  paid ;  and  proclaimed  that  any  attempt  to  enforce  the  collection  of  duties 
in  the  port  of  Charleston,  by  the  general  government,  would  be  resisted  by 
arms,  and  would  produce  the  withdrawal  of  South  Carolina  from  the  Union. 
The  State  Legislature,  which  met  directly  after  the  adjournment  of  the  con 
vention,  passed  laws  in  support  of  this  determination.  Military  preparations 
were  immediately  made,  and  civil  war  appeared  inevitable.  Then  it  was  that 
the  executive  ability  of  the  President,  so  much  needed,  was  fully  displayed. 
Jackson  promptly  met  the  crisis  by  a  proclamation,  on  the  10th  of  December, 
which  denied  the  right  of  a  State  to  nullify  any  act  of  the  National  Govern 
ment  ;  and  warned  those  who  were  engaged  in  fomenting  a  rebellion,  that  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  would  be  strictly  enforced  by  military  power,  if 
necessary.  This  proclamation  met  the  hearty  response  of  every  friend  of  the 
Union,  of  whatever  party,  and  greatly  increased  that  majority  of  the  President's 
supporters,  who  had  just  re-elected  him  to  the  Chief  Magistracy  of  the  Repub 
lic.1  The  nullifiers2  of  South  Carolina,  though  led  by  such  able  men  as  Cal- 
houn3  and  Hayne,4  were  obliged  to  yield  for  the  moment ;  yet  their  zeal  and 
determination  in  the  cause  of  State  Supremacy,  were  not  abated.  Every  day 
the  tempest-cloud  of  civil  commotion  grew  darker  and  darker  ;  until,  at  length, 
Henry  Clay,5  a  warm  friend  of  the  American  System,6  came  forward,  in  Con 
gress  [February  12,  1833],  with  a  bill,  which  provided  for  a  gradual  reduction 
of  the  obnoxious  duties,  during  the  succeeding  ten  years.  This  compromise 
measure  was  accepted  by  both  parties.  It  became  a  law  on  the  3d  of  March, 
and  discord  between  the  North  and  the  South  soon  ceased,  but  only  for  a 
season.7 

3  Those  who  favored  the  doctrine  that  a  State  might  nullify  the  acts  of  the  National  Govern- 
rnent,  were  called  nullifiers,  and  the  dangerous  doctrine  itself  was  called  nullification. 

3  Page  458.  Mr.  Calhoun,  who  had  quarreled,  politically,  with  Jackson,  had  recently  resigned 
the  office  of  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  and  was  one  of  the  ablest  men  iu  Congress. 
He  asserted  the  State  supremacy  doctrine  boldly  on  the  floor  of  Congress,  and  held  the  same 
opinion  until  his  death. 

4  Robert  Y.  Hayne  was  one  of  the  ablest  of  southern  statesmen.     The  debate  between  Hayne 
and  Webster,  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  during  the  debates  on  this  momentous  subject,  is 
regarded  as  one  of  the  most  eminent,  for  sagacity  and  eloquence,  that  ever  marked  the  proceedings 
of  that  body.     Mr.  Hayne  was  born  near  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  in  November,  1791.     He  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1812,  and  the  same  year  volunteered  his  services  for  the  defense  of  the  sea- 
board,  and  entered  the  army  as  lieutenant.     He  arose  rapidly  to  the  rank  of  Major-General  of  the 
militia  of  his  State,  and  was  considered  one  of  the  best  disciplinarians  of  the  South.     He  had  exten 
sive  practice  at  the  bar,  before  he  was  twenty-two  years  of  age,  and  it  was  always  lucrative.     He 
was  a  member  of  the  South  Carolina  Assembly  in  1814,  where  he  was  distinguished  for  eloquence. 
He  was  chosen  Speaker  in  1818.     For  ten  years  he  represented  South  Carolina  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  Stales;  and  he  was  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  the  Convention  of  South  Carolina,  which 
reported  the  "ordinance  of  nullification."     He  was  soon  afterward  chosen  Governor  of  his  State. 
He  died  in  September,  1841,  in  the  fiftieth  year  of  his  age.  6  Page  500.  °  Page  459. 

7 'It  is  known  that  Mr.  Clay  introduced  the  Compromise  Bill  with  the  concurrence  of  Mr!  Calhoun. 
The  latter  had  proceeded  to  the  verge  of  treason,  in  his  opposition  to  the  general  government,  and 
President  Jackson  had  threatened  him  with  arrest,  if  he  moved  another  step  forward.  Knowing 


1837.]  JACKSON'S    ADMINISTRATION.  455 

President  Jackson's  hostility  to  the  United  States  Bank  was  again  mani 
fested  in  his  annual  message  to  Congress,  in  December,  1832,  when  he  recom 
mended  the  removal  of  the  public  funds  from  its  custody,  and  a  sale  of  the 
stock  of  the  bank,  belonging  to  the  United  States.1  Congress,  by  a  decided 
vote,  refused  to  authorize  the  measure ;  but  after  its  adjournment,  the  Presi 
dent  assumed  the  responsibility  of  the  act,  and  directed  William  J.  Duane,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  to  withdraw  the  government  funds  (then  almost 
$10,000,000),  and  deposit  them  in  certain  State  banks.  During  a  northern 
tour  which  the  President  had  made  in  the  summer  of  1833,  he  had  urged  Mr. 
Duane  (then  in  Philadelphia)  to  make  the  removal,  but  he  would  only  consent 
to  the  appointment  of  an  agent  to  inquire  upon  what  terms  the  local  banks 
would  receive  the  funds  on  deposit.  The  President  then  ordered  him,  perem- 
torily,  to  remove  them  from  the  bank.  The  Secretary  refused  compliance,  and 
was  dismissed  from  office.  His  successor,  Roger  B.  Taney  (who  was  after 
ward  Chief-Justice  of  the  United  States),  obeyed  the  .  President ;  .and  in 
October,  1 833,  the  act  was  accomplished.  The  effect  produced  was  sudden 
and  wide-spread  commercial  distress.  The  business  of  the  country  was  plunged 
from  the  height  of  prosperity  to  the  depths  of  adversity,  because  its  intimate 
connection  with  the  National  Bank  rendered  any  paralysis  of  the  operations 
of  that  institution  fatal  to  commercial  activity.  The  amount  of  loans  of  the 
bank,  on  the  1st  of  October,  was  over  sixty  millions  of  dollars,  and  the  amount 
of  the  funds  of  the  United  States,  then  on  deposit  in  the  bank,  was  almost  ten 
millions  of  dollars.  The  fact,  that  the  connection  of  the  bank  with  the  business 
of  the  country  was  so  vital,  confirmed  the  President  in  his  opinion  of  the 
danger  of  such  an  enormous  moneyed  institution. 

A  large  portion  of  the  government  funds  were  removed  in  the  course  of  four 
months,  and  the  whole  amount  in  about  nine  months.  Intense  excitement  pre 
vailed  throughout  the  country ;  yet  the  President,  supported  by  the  House  of 
Representatives,  persevered  and  triumphed.  Numerous  committees,  appointed 
by  merchants,  mechanics,  manufacturers,  and  others,  waited  upon  him,  to  ask 
him  to  take  some  measures  for  relief.  He  was  firm  ;  and  to  all  of  them  he  re 
plied,  in  substance,  that  ' '  the  government  could  give  no  relief,  and  provide  no 
remedy ;  that  the  banks  were  the  occasion  of  all  the  evils  which  existed,  and  that 


the  firmness  and  decision  of  the  President,  Mr.  Calhoun  dared  not  take  the  fatal  step.  He  could 
not  recede,  nor  even  stand  still,  without  compromising  his  character  with  his  political  friends.  In 
this  extremity,  a  mutual  friend  arranged  with  Mr.  Clay  to  propose  a  measure  which  would  satisfy 
both  sides,  and  save  tooth  the  neck  and  reputation  of  Mr.  Calhoun.  In  the  discussion  of  the 
matter  in  the  Senate,  the  latter  most  earnestly  disclaimed  any  hostile  feelings  toward  the  Union, 
on  the  part  of  South  Carolina.  The  State  authorities,  he  asserted,  had  looked  only  to  a  judicial 
decision  upon  the  question,  until  the  concentration  of  the  United  States  troops  at  Charleston  and 
Augusta,  by  order  of  the  President,  compelled  them  to  make  provision  to  defend  themselves. 
Several  of  the  State  Legislatures  hastened  to  condemn  the  nullification  doctrine  as  destructive  to 
the  National  Constitution.  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New  York,  Delaware,  Indiana,  Missouri, 
and  Georgia,  all  thus  spoke  out  plainly  in  favor  of  the  Union.  Georgia,  however,  at  the  same 
time,  expressed  its  reprobation  of  the 'tariff  system,  which  had  brought  about  the  movement  in 
South  Carolina,  and  proposed  a  convention  of  the  States  of  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina, 
Georgia,  Alabama,  Tennessee,  and  Mississippi,  to  devise  measures  to  obtain  relief  from  it. 

1  By  the  law  of  1816,  for  chartering  the  bank,  the  funds  of  the  United  States  were  to  be 
deposited  with  that  institution,  and  to  be  withdrawn  only  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

30 


466  THE    NATION.  [1829. 

those  who  suffered  by  their  great  enterprise  had  none  to  blame  but  themselves  ; 
that  those  who  traded  on  borrowed  capital  ought  to  break."  The  State  banks 
received  the  government  funds  on  deposit,  and  loaned  freely.  Confidence  was 
gradually  restored,  and  apparent  general  prosperity1  returned.  Now  [1867], 
after  the  lapse  of  more  than  twenty  years,  the  wisdom  and  forecaste  of  General 
Jackson,  evinced  by  his  distrust  of  the  United  States  Bank,  appears  to  be  uni 
versally  acknowledged.2  Our  present  National  banking  system  possesses  all  of 
the  better  functions  of  that  of  the  United  States  Bank,  without,  apparently, 
any  of  its  dangerous  ones.. 

Trouble  again  appeared  on  the  southern  borders  of  the  Union.     Toward  the 
close  of  1835,  the  Seminole  Indians,  in  Florida,  guided  by  their  head  sachem, 

Micanopy,  and  led  by  their  principal  chief,  Osceola,8 
commenced  a  distressing  warfare  upon  the  frontier 
settlements  of  Florida.  The  cause  of  the  outbreak 
was  an  attempt  to  remove  them  to  the  wilderness 
bepond  the  Mississippi.  In  his  annual  message  in 
^December,  1830,  President  Jackson  recommended 
the  devotion  of  a  large  tract  of  land  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  to  the  use  of  the  Indian  tribes  yet  re 
maining  east  of  that  stream,  forever.  Congress 
passed  laws  in  accordance  with  the  proposition,  and 
the  work  of  removal  commenced,  first  by  the  Chick- 

asaws  and  Choctaws.4  We  have  seen  that  trouble  ensued  with  the  Creeks  and 
Cherokees,5  and  the  Seminoles  in  East  Florida  were  not  disposed  to  leave  their 
ancient  domain.  Some  of  the  chiefs  in  council  made  a  treaty  in  May,  1832, 
and  agreed  to  remove  ;  but  other  chiefs,  and  the  great  body  of  the  nation,  did 
not  acknowledge  the  treaty  as  binding.  In  1834,  the  President  sent  General 
Wiley  Thompson  to  Florida,  to  prepare  for  a  forcible  removal  of  the  Seminoles, 
if  necessary.  The  tone  and  manner  assumed  by  Osceola,  at  that  time,  dis 
pleased  Thompson,  and  he  put  the  chief  in  irons  and  in  prison  for  a  day.  The 
proud  leader  feigned  penitence,  and  was  released.  Then  Jiis  wounded  pride 
called  for  revenge,  and  fearfully  he  pursued  it,  as  we  shall  observe  presently. 
The  war  that  ensued  was  a  sanguinary  one,  and  almost  four  years  elapsed  before 
it  was  wholly  terminated.  Osceola,  with  all  the  cunning  of  a  Tecumtha, 6  and 
the  heroism  of  a  Philip,7  was  so  successful  in  stratagem,  and  brave  in  conflict, 
that  he  baffled  the  skill  and  courage  of  the  United  States  troops  for  a  long  time. 
He  had  agreed  to  fulfill  treaty  stipulations,8  in  December  [1835],  but  instead 

1  Page  470. 

2  The  course  of  President  Jackson,  toward  the  bank,  was  popular  in  many  sections,  but  in  the 
commercial  States  it  caused  a  palpable  diminution  of  the  strength  of  the  administration.     This  was 
shown  by  the  elections  in  1834.     Many  of  his  supporters  joined  the  Opposition,  and  this  combined 
force  assumed  the  name  of  "  Whigs" — the  old  party  name  of  the  Revolution — while  the  adminis 
tration  party  adhered  to  the  name  of  "  Democrats." 

3  Page  468.  4  Page  30.  6  Page  27.  6  Page  424.  7  Page  124. 

8  Osceola  had  promised  General  Thompson  that  the  delivery  of  certain  cattle  and  horses  belong 
ing  to  the  Indians  should  be  made  during  the  first  fortnight  of  December,  1835,  and  so  certain  was 
Thompson  of  the  fulfillment  of  this  stipulation,  that  he  advertised  the  animals  for  sale. 


1837.] 


JACKSON'S    ADMINISTRATION. 


467 


FT.  MICANOPY 

fiBtocK  House 
fi 


of  compliance,  he  was  then  at  the  head  of  a  war  pirty,  murdering  the  unsus 
pecting  inhabitants  on  the  borders  of  the  everglade  haunts  of  the  savages. 

At  that  time  General  Clinch  was  stationed  at  Fort  Drane,1  in  the  interior 
of  Florida,  and  Major  Dade  was  dispatched  from  Fort  Brooke,  at  the  head  of 
Tampa  Bay,  with  more  than  a  hundred  men,  for  his 
relief.  That  young  commander,2  and  all  but  four  of 
his  detachment,  were  massacred  [Dec.  28,  1835] 
near  Wahoo  Swamp.3  On  the  same  day,  and  only 
a  few  hours  before,  Osceola,  and  a  small  war  party, 
killed  and  scalped  General  Thompson,  and  five  of  his 
friends,  who  were  dining  at  a  store  a  few  yards  from 
Fort  King.4  The  assailants  disappeared  in  the  for 
est  before  the  deed  was  known  at  the  fort.  Two 
days  afterward  [Dec.  31],  General  Clinch  and  his 
troops  had  a  battle  with  the  Seminoles  on  the  With 
lacoochee;  and  in  February  [Feb.  29,  1836],  General  Gaines5  was  assailed 
near  the  same  place,6  and  several  of  his  men  were  killed.  The  battle-ground 
is  about  fifty  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

The  Creeks  aided  their  brethren  in  Florida,  by  attacking  white  settlers 
within  their  domain,7  in  May,  1836.  Success  made  them  bold,  and  they  at 
tacked  mail-carriers,  stages,  steamboats,  and  finally  villages,  in  Georgia  and 
Alabama,  until  thousands  of  white  people  were  fleeing  for  their  lives  from 
place  to  place,  before  the  savages.  General  Winfield  Scott8  was  now  in  chief 
command  in  the  South,  and  he  prosecuted  the  war  with  vigor.  The  Creeks  were 
finally  subdued ;  and  during  the  summer,  several  thousands  of  them  were  re 
moved  to  their  designated  homes  beyond  the  Mississippi.  In  October,  Governor 
Call,  of  Georgia,  marched  against  the  Seminoles  with  almost  two  thousand  men. 
A  detachment  of  upward  of  five  hundred  of  these,  had  a  severe  contest  [Nov. 
21]  with  the  Indians  at  Wahoo  Swamp,  near  the  scene  of  Dade's  massacre ;  yet, 
like  all  other  engagements  with  the  savages  in  their  swampy  fastnesses,  neither 
party  could  claim  a  positive  victory.9  The  year  [1836]  closed  with  no  prospect 


1  About  forty  miles  north-east  from  the  mouth  of  the  "Withlacoochee  River,  and  eight  south 
west  from  Orange  Lake. 

a  Francis  L.  Dade  was  a  native  of  Virginia.  After  the  War  of  1812-15,  he  was  retained  in  the 
army,  having  risen  from  third  lieutenant  to  major.  A  neat  monument  has  been  erected  to  the 
memory  of  himself  and  companions  in  death,  at  West  Point,  on  the  Hudson. 

3  Near  the  upper  waters  of  the  Withlacoochee,  about  fifty  miles  north  from  Fort  Brooke.   Three 
of  the  four  survivors  soon  died  of  their  wounds,  and  he  who  lived  to  tell  the  fearful  narrative  (Ran 
som  Clarke),  afterward  died  from  the  effects  of  his  injuries  on  that  day. 

4  On  the  southern  borders  of  Alachua  county,  about  sixty  miles  south-west  from  St.  Augustine. 
Osceola  scalped  [note  4,  page  14]  General  Thompson  with  his  own  hands,  and  thus  enjoyed  his  re 
venge  for  the  indignity  he  had  suffered. 

6  Page  433.  Edmund  P.  Gaines  was  born  in  Virginia  in  1777,  and  entered  the  army  in  1799. 
He  was  breveted  a  major-general  in  1814,  and  presented  by  Congress  with  a  gold  medal  for  his  gal 
lantry  at  Fort  Erie.  He  died  in  1849. 

6  South  side  of  the  river,  in  Dade  county.  The  place  where  Gaines  was  assaulted  is  on  the 
north  side,  in  Alachua  county.  7  Page  30.  8  Page  433. 

9  In  this  warfare  the  American  troops  suffered  dreadfully  from  the  poisonous  vapors  of  the 
swamps,  the  bites  of  venomous  serpents,  and  the  stings  of  insects.  The  Indians  were  inaccessible 
in  their  homes  amid  the  morasses,  for  the  white  people  could  not  follow  them. 


468  THE      NATION.  [1829. 

of  peace,  either  by  treaty  or  by  the  subjugation  of  the  Indians.  The  war  con 
tinued  through  the  winter.  Finally,  after  some  severe  encounters  with  the 
United  States  troops,  several  chiefs  appeared  in  the  camp  of  General  Jesup1 
(who  was  then  in  supreme  command)  at  Fort  Dade,2  and  on  the  6th  of  March, 
1837,  they  signed  a  treaty  which  guarantied  immediate  peace,  and  the  instant 
departure  of  the  Indians  to  their  new  home  beyond  the  Mississippi.  But  the 
lull  was  temporary.  The  restless  Osceola  caused  the  treaty  to  be  broken ;  and 
during  the  summer  of  1837,  many  more  soldiers  perished  in  the  swamps  while 
pursuing  the  Indians.  At  length,  Osceola,  with  several  chiefs  and  seventy 
warriors,  appeared  [Oct.  21]  in  Jessup's  camp  under  the  protection  of  a  flag. 
They  were  seized  and  confined  ;3  and  soon  afterward,  the  brave  chief  was  sent 
to  Charleston,  where  he  died  of  a  fever,  while  immured  in  Fort  Moultrie.4 
This  was  the  hardest  blow  yet  dealt  upon  the  Seminoles ;  but  they  continued  to 
resist,  notwiths*  mding  almost  nine  thousand  United  States  troops  were  in  their 
territory  at  the  lose  of  1837. 

On  the  25th  of  Deceniber,  a  large  body  of  Indians  suffered  a  severe  repulse 
on  the  northern  border  of  Macaco  Lake,5  from  six  hundred  troops  under  Colonel 
Zachary  Taylor.6  That  officer  had  succeeded  General  Jesup,  and  for  more  than 
two  years  afterward,  he  endured  every  privation  in  efforts  to  bring  the  war  to  a 
close.  In  May,  1839,  a  treaty  was  made  which  appeared  to  terminate  the  war  ; 
but  murder  and  robberies  continued,  and  it  was  not  until  1842  that  peace  was 
finally  secured.  This  war,  which  lasted  seven  years,  cost  the  United  States 
many  valuable  lives,  and  millions  of  treasure. 

In  the  autumn  of  1836,  the  election  of  a  successor  to  President  Jackscn 
took  place,  and  resulted  in  the  choice  of  Martin  Van  Buren,  of  New  York. 
Energy  had  marked  every  step  of  the  career  of  Jackson  as  Chief  Magistrate, 
and  at  the  close  of  his  administration,  the  nation  stood  higher  in  the  esteem  of 
the  world  than  it  had  ever  done  before.  At  the  close  of  his  first  term,  our 
foreign  relations  were  very  satisfactory,  except  with  France.  That  government 
had  agreed  to  pay  about  $5,000,000,  by  instalments,  as  indemnification  for 
French  spoliations  on  American  commerce,  under  the  operation  of  the  several 
decrees  of  Napoleon,  from  1806  to  1811. 7  The  French  government  did  not 
promptly  comply  with  the  agreement,  and  the  President  assumed  a  hostile  tone, 
which  caused  France  to  perform  her  duty.  Similar  claims  against  Portugal 

1  Thomas  S.  Jesup  was  bom  in  Virginia  in  1788.  He  was  a  brave  and  useful  officer  during 
the  war  of  1812-15,  and  was  retained  in  the  army.  He  was  breveted  major-general  in  1828, 
and  was  succeeded  in  command  in  Florida  by  Colonel  Zachary  Taylor,  in  1838  He  died  at 
Washington  city  in  1858. 

8  On  the  head  waters  of  the  Withlachoochee,  about  forty  miles  north-east  from  Fort  Brooke,  at 
the  head  of  Tampa  Bay.  See  map  on  page  467. 

3  General   Jesup  was  much  censured  for  this  breach  of  faith  and  the  rules  of  honorable  warfare. 
His  excuse  was  the  known  treachery  of  Osceola,  and  a  desire  to  put  an  end  to  bloodshed  by  what 
ever  means  he  might  be  able  to  employ. 

4  On  Sullivan's  Island,  upon  the  site  of  Fort  Sullivan  of  the  Revolution  [page  249].     Near  the 
entrance  gate  to  the  fort  is  a  small  monument  erected  to  the  memory  of  Osceola. 

5  Sometimes  called  Big  Water  Lake.     The  Indian  namo  is  0-ke-cho-bee,  and  by  that  title  the 
battle  is  known. 

6  The  brave  leader  in  the  Mexican  War  [page  481],  and  afterward  President  of  the  United 
States.     Ses  page  498.  7  See  pages  400  to  407,  inclusive. 


1837.]  VAN    BUREN'S    ADMINISTRATION.  469 

were  made,  and  payment  obtained.  A  treaty  of  reciprocity  had  been  concluded 
with  Russia  and  Belgium,  and  everywhere  the  American  flag  commanded  the 
highest  respect.  Two  new  States  (Arkansas  and  Michigan)  had  been  added  to 
the  Union.  The  original  thirteen  had  doubled,  and  great  activity  prevailed  in 
every  part  of  the  Republic.  Satisfaction  with  the  administration  generally  pre 
vailed,  and  it  was  understood  that  Van  Buren  would  continue  the  policy  of  his 
predecessor,  if  elected.  He  received  a  large  majority ;  but  the  people,  having 
failed  to  elect  a  Vice-President,  the  Senate  chose  Richard  M.  Johnson,  of  Ken 
tucky,  who  had  been  a  candidate  with  Van  Buren,  to  fill  that  station. 

Much  excitement  was  produced,  and  bitter  feelings  were  engendered,  toward 
President  Jackson,  by  his  last  official  act.  A  circular  was  issued  from  the 
Treasury  department  on  the  llth  of  July.  1836,  requiring  all  collectors  of  the 
public  revenue  to  receive  nothing  but  gold  and  silver  in  payment.  This  was 
intended  to  check  speculations  in  the  public  lands,  but  it  also  bore  heavily 
upon  every  kind  of  business.  The  "specie  circular"  was  denounced;  and  so 
loud  was  the  clamor,  that  toward  the  close  of  the  session  in  1837,  both  Houses 
of  Congress  adopted  a  partial  repeal  of  it.  Jackson  refused  to  sign  the  bill, 
and  by  keeping  it  in  his  possession  until  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress, 
prevented  it  becoming  a  law.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1837,  he  retired  from  pub 
lic  life,  to  enjoy  that  repose  which  an  exceedingly  active  career  entitled  him  to. 
He  was  then  seventy  years  of  age. 


CHAPTER    X. 

VAN    BUREN'S    ADMINISTRATION.     [1837  —  1841.] 

MARTIN  VAN  BUREN,  '  the  eighth  President  of  the  United  States,  seemed 
to  stand,  at  the  time  of  his  inauguration — on  the  4th  of  March,  1837 — at  the 
opening  of  a  new  era.  All  of  his  predecessors  in  the  high  office  of  Chief 
Magistrate  of  the  Republic,  had  been  descended  of  Britons,  and  were  engaged 
in  the  old  struggle  for  Independence  Van  Buren  was  of  Dutch  descent,  and 
was  born  after  the  great  conflict  had  ended,  and  the  birth  of  the  nation  had 
occurred.  The  day  of  his  inauguration  was  a  remarkably  pleasant  one.  Seated 
by  the  side  of  the  venerable  Jackson,  in  a  phaeton  made  from  the  wood  of  the 
frigate  Constitution,  which  had  been  presented  to  the  President  by  his  political 


1  Martin  Van  Buren  was  born  at  Kinderhook,  Columbia  county,  New  York,  in  December,  1782. 
He  chose  the  profession  of  law.  In  1815,  he  became  Attorney-General  of  his  native  State,  and  in 
1828  was  elected  Governor  of  the  same.  Having  served  his  country  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  he  was  appointed  minister  to  England  in  1831,  and  was  'elected  Vice-President  of  tho 
United  States  in  the  autumn  of  1832.  Since  his  retirement  from  the  presidency  in  1841,  Mr.  Van 
Buren  has  spent  a  greater  portion  of  his  time  on  his  estate  in  his  native  town.  Pie  visited  Europe 
at  the  close  of  1853,  and  was  the  first  of  the  chief  magistrates  of  the  Republic  who  crossed  the 
Atlantic  after  their  term  of  office  had  expired.  Ex-President  Fillmore  followed  his  example  in 
1855,  and  spent  several  months  abroad.  Mr.  Van  Buren  lived  at  j^inueraooK,  alter  his  retire 
ment  from  public  life,  until  his  death,  on  the  24th  of  July,  1862. 


470  T11K      NATION.  [1837. 

friends  in  New  York,  he  was  escorted  from  the  presidential  mansion  to  the 
capitol  by  a  body  of  infantry  and  cavalry,  and  an  immense  assemblage  of  citi 
zens.  Upon  a  rostrum,  erected  on  the  ascent  to  the  eastern  portico  of  the  cap 
itol,  he  delivered  his  inaugural  address,  and  took  the  prescribed  oath  of  office, 
administered  by  Chief  Justice  Taney.1 


At  the  moment  when  Mr.  Van  Buren  entered  the  presidential  mansion  as 
its  occupant,  the  business  of  the  country  was  on  the  verge  of  a  terrible  convul 
sion  and  utter  prostration.  The  distressing  effects  of  the  removal  of  the  public 
funds  from  the  United  States  Bank,2  in  1833  and  1834,  and  the  operations  of 
the  ''specie  circular,"  3  had  disappeared,  in  a  measure,  but  as  the  remedies  for 
the  evil  were  superficial,  the  cure  was  only  apparent.  The  chief  remedy 
had  been  the  free  loaning  of  the  public  money  to  individuals  by  the  State 
deposit  banks  ;4  but  a  commercial  disease  was  thus  produced,  more  disastrous 
than  the  panic  of  1833-34.  A  sudden  expansion  of  the  paper  currency 
was  the  result.  The  State  banks  which  accepted  these  deposits,  supposed 
they  would  remain  undisturbed  until  the  government  should  need  them 
for  its  use.  Considering  them  as  so  much  capital,  they  loaned  their  own 
funds  freely.  But  in  January,  1836,  Congress  authorized  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  distribute  all  the  public  funds,  except  five  millions  of  dollars, 
among  the  several  States,  according  to  their  representation.  The  funds  were 

1  He  appointed  John  Forsyth  Secretary  of  State  ;  Levi  Woodbury,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ; 
Joel  R.  Poinsett,  Secretary  of  War ;  Mahlon  Dickinson,  Secretary  of  the  Navy;  Amos  Kendall, 
Postmaster-General ;  and  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  Attorney-General.     All  of  them,  except  Mr.  Poinsett, 
held  their  respective  offices  under  President  Jackson. 

2  Page  465.  8  Page  469.  4  Page  466. 


1841.]  VAN    BUREN'S    ADMINISTRATION.  471 

accordingly  taken  from  the  deposit  banks,  after  the  1st  of  January,  1837,  and 
these  banks  being  obliged  to  curtail  their  loans,  a  serious  pecuniary  embarrass 
ment  was  produced.  The  immediate  consequences  of  such  multiplied  facilities 
for  obtaining  bank  loans,  were  an  immensely  increased  importation  of  foreign 
goods,  inordinate  stimulation  of  all  industrial  pursuits  and  internal  improve 
ments,  and  the  operation  of  a  spirit  of  speculation,  especially  in  real  estate, 
which  assumed  the  features  of  a  mania,  in  1886.  A  hundred  cities  were 
founded,  and  a  thousand  villages  were  "  laid  out"  on  broad  sheets  of  paper,  and 
made  the  basis  of  vast  money  transactions.  Borrowed  capital  was  thus  diverted 
from  its  sober,  legitimate  uses,  to  the  fostering  of  schemes  as  unstable  as  water, 
and  as  unreal  in  their  fancied  results  as  dreams  of  fairy-land.  Overtrading 
and  speculation,  which  had  relied  for  support  upon  continued  bank  loans,  was 
suddenly  checked  by  the  necessary  bank  contractions,  on  account  of  the  removal 
of  the  government  funds  from  their  custody ;  and  during  March  and  April, 
1837,  there  were  mercantile  failures  in  the  city  of  New  York  alone,  to  the 
amount  of  more  than  a  hundred  millions  of  dollars.1  Fifteen  months  before 
[December,  1835],  property  to  the  amount  of  more  than  twenty  millions  of 
dollars  had  been  destroyed  by  fire  in  the  city  of  New  York,  when  five  hundred 
and  twenty-nine  buildings  were  consumed.  The  effects  of  these  failures  and 
losses  were  felt  to  the  remotest  borders  of  the  Union,  and  credit  and  con 
fidence  were  destroyed. 

Early  in  May,  1837,  a  deputation  from  the  merchants  and  bankers  of  New 
York,  waited  upon  the  President,  and  solicited  him  to  defer  the  collection  of 
duties  on  imported  goods,  rescind  the  "specie  circular,"  and  to  call  an  extra 
ordinary  session  of  Congress  to  adopt  relief  measures.  The  President  declined 
to  act  on  their  petitions.  When  his  determination  was  known,  all  the  banks 
in  New  York  suspended  specie  payments  [May  10,  1837],  and  their  example 
was  speedily  followed  in  Boston,  Providence,  Hartford,  Albany,  Philadelphia, 
Baltimore,  and  in  smaller  towns  throughout  the  country.  On  the  16th  of  May 
the  Legislature  of  New  York  passed  an  act,  authorizing  the  suspension  of 
specie  payments  for  one  year.  The  measure  embarrassed  the  general  govern 
ment,  and  it  was  unable  to  obtain  gold  and  silver  to  discharge  its  own  obliga 
tions.  The  public  good  now  demanded  legislative  relief,  and  an  extraordinary 
session  of  Congress  was  convened  by  the  President  on  the  4th  of  September. 
During  a  session  of  forty-three  days,  it  did  little  for  the  general  relief,  except 
the  passage  of  a  bill  authorizing  the  issue  of  treasury  notes,  not  to  exceed  in 
amount  ten  millions  of  dollars.8 

During  the  year  1837,  the  peaceful  relations  which  had  long  existed  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  were  somewhat  disturbed  by  a  revolution- 

1  In  two  days,  houses  in  New  Orleans  stopped  payment,  owing  an  aggregate  of  twenty-seven 
millions  of  dollars ;  and  in  Boston  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  failures  took  place  in  six  months. 

3  In  his  message  to  Congress  at  this  session,  the  President  proposed  the  establishment  of  an 
independent  treasury,  for  the  safe  keeping  of  the  public  funds,  and  their  entire  and  total  separation 
from  banking  institutions.  This  scheme  met  with  vehement  opposition.  The  bill  passed  the  Sen 
ate,  but  was  lost  in  the  House.'  It  was  debated  at  subsequent  sessions,  and  finally  became  a  law 
on  the  4th  of  July,  1840.  This  is  known  as  the  Sub- Treasury  Scheme. 


472  'THE    NATION.  [1337. 

ary  movement  in  Canada  which,  at  one  time,  seemed  to  promise  a  separation  of 
that  province  from  the  British  crown.  The  agitation  and  the  outbreak  appeared 
simultaneously  in  Upper  and  Lower  Canada.  In  the  former  province,  the  most 
conspicuous  leader  was  William  Lyon  M'Kenzie,  a  Scotchman,  of  rare  abilities 
as  a  political  writer  and  an  agitator,  and  a  republican  in  sentiment ;  and  in  the 
latter  province,  Louis  Joseph  Papineau,  a  large  land-owner,  and  a  very  influ 
ential  man  among  the  French  population.  The  movements  of  the  Revolution 
ary  party  were  well  planned,  but  local  jealousies  prevented  unity  of  action,  and 
the  scheme  failed.  It  was  esteemed  a  highly  patriotic  effort  to  secure  independ 
ence  and  nationality  for  the  people  of  the  Canadas,  and,  as  in  the  case  of  Cuba, 
at  a  later  period,1  the  warmest  sympathies  of  the  Americans  were  enlisted, 
especially  at  the  North.  Banded  companies  and  individuals  joined  the  rebels  j3 
and  so  general  became  this  active  sympathy  on  the  northern  frontier,  that  peace 
between  the  two  governments  was  jeoparded.  President  Van  Buren  issued  a 
proclamation,  calling  upon  all  persons  engaged  in  the  schemes  of  invasion  of 
Canada,  to  abandon  the  design,  and  warning  them  to  beware  of  the  penalties 
that  must  assuredly  follow  such  infractions  of  international  laws.  In  1838, 
General  Scott  was  sent  to  thejfrontier  to  preserve  order,  and  was  assisted  by 
proclamations  of  the  Governor  of  New  York.  Yet  secret  revolutionary  associ 
ations,  called  "Hunter's  Lodges,"  continued  for  a  long  time.  For  about  four 
years,  that  cloud  hung  upon  our  northern  horizon,  when,  in  September,  1841, 
President  Tyler  issued  an  admonitory  proclamation,  specially  directed  to  the 
members  of  the  Hunter's  Lodges,  which  prevented  further  aggressive  move 
ments.  The  leaders  of  the  revolt  were  either  dead  or  in  exile,  and  quiet  was 
restored. 

While  this  excitement  was  at  its  height,  long  disputes  concerning  the  bound 
ary  between  the  State  of  Maine  and  the  British  province  of  New  Brunswick, 
ripened  into  armed  preparations  for  settling  the  matter  by  combat.  This,  too, 
threatened  danger  to  the  peaceful  relations  between  the  two  governments.  The 
President  sent  General  Scott  to  the  theater  of  the  dispute,  in  the  winter  of 
1839,  and  by  his  wise  and  conciliatory  measures,  he  prevented  bloodshed,  and 
produced  quiet.  The  whole  matter  was  finally  settled  by  a  treaty  [August  20, 
1842],  negotiated  at  Washington  City,  by  Daniel  Webster  for  the  United 
States,  and  Lord  Ashburton  for  Great  Britain.  The  latter  had  been  sent  as 
special  minister  for  the  purpose.  Besides  settling  the  boundary  question,  this 
agreement,  known  as  the  Ashburton  Treaty,  provided  for  the  final  suppression 
of  the  slave-trade,  and  for  the  giving  up  of  criminal  fugitives  from  justice,  in 
certain  cases. 

A  new  presidential  election  now  approached.     On  the  5th  of  May.  1840,  a 

1  Page  502. 

2  A  party  of  Americans  took  possession  of  Navy  Island,  situated  in  the  Niagara  Eiver  about 
two  miles  above  the  Falls,  and  belonging  to  Canada.     They  numbered  seven  hundred  strong,  well 
provisioned,  and  provided  with  twenty  pieces  of  cannon.     They  had  a  small  steamboat  named 
Caroline,  to  ply  between  Schlosser,  on  the  American  side,  and  Navy  Island.     On  a  dark  night  in 
December,  1837,  a  party  of  royalists  from  the  Canada  shore  crossed  over,  cut  the  Caroline  loose, 
set  her  on  fire,  and  she  went  over  the  great  cataract  while  in  full  blaze.     It  was  believed  that  some 
persons  were  on  board  the  vessel  at  the  time. 


1841.]  HARRISON'S    AND    TYLER'S    ADMINISTRATION.  473 

national  Democratic  convention  assembled  at  Baltimore,  and  unanimously  nom 
inated  Mr.  Van  Buren  for  President.  No  nomination  was  made  for  Vice-Pres 
ident,  but  soon  afterward,  Richard  M.  Johnson1  and  James  K.  Polk  were 
selected  as  candidates  for  that  office,  in  different  States.  A  national  Whig"  con 
vention  had  been  held  at  Harrisburg,  in  Pennsylvania,  on  the  4th  of  December 
previous  [1839],  when  General  William  H.  Harrison,  of  Ohio,  the  popular 
leader  in  the  North-West,  in  the  War  of  1812,3  was  nominated  for  President, 
and  John  Tyler,  of  Virginia,  for  Vice-President.  Never,  before,  was  the 
country  so  excited  by  an  election,  and  never  before  was  a  presidential  contest 
characterized  by  such  demoralizing  proceedings.4  The  government,  under  Mr. 
Van  Buren,  being  held  responsible  by  the  opposition  for  the  business  depres 
sion  which  yet  brooded  over  the  country,  public  speakers  arrayed  vast  masses 
of  the  people  against*  the  President,  and  Harrison  and  Tyler  were  elected  by 
overwhelming  majorities.  And  now,  at  the  close  of  the  first  fifty  ^ears  of  the 
Republic,  the  population  had  increased  from  three  and  a  half  millions,  of  all 
colors,  to  seventeen  millions.  A  magazine  wrriter  of  the  day,5  in  comparing 
several  administrations,  remarked  that  "The  great  events  of  Mr.  Van  Buren's 
administration,  by  which  it  will  hereafter  be  known  and  designated,  is  the 
divorce  of  bank  and  State*  in  the  fiscal  affairs  of  the  National  government,  and 
the  return,  after  half  a  century  of  deviation,  to  the  original  design  of  the  Con 
stitution." 


CHAPTER    XI. 

HARRISON'S  AND  TYLER'S  ADMINISTRATION.      [1841—1845.] 

THE  city  of  Washington  was  thronged  with  people  from  every  State  in  the 
Union,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1841,  to  witness  the  ceremonies  of  the  inauguration  of 
General  William  Henry  Harrison,7  the  ninth  President  of  the  United  States.  He 


1  Page  424.  3  Note  2,  page  466.  3  Pages  416  to  424.  inclusive. 

4  Because  General  Harrison  lived  in  the  West,  and  his  residence  was  associated  with  pioneer 
life,  a  log-cabin  became  the  symbol  of  his  party.     These  cabins  were  erected  all  over  the  country, 
in  which  meetings  were  held ;  and,  as  the  hospitality  of  the  old  hero  was  symbolized  by  a  barrel 
of  cider,  made  free  to  all  visitors  or  strangers,  who  "  never  found  the  latch-string  of  his  log-cabin 
drawn  in,"  that  beverage  was  dealt  out  unsparingly  to  all  who  attended  the  meetings  in  the  cabins. 
These  meetings  were  scenes  of  carousal,  deeply  injurious  to  all  who  participated  in  them,  and 
especially  to  the  young.     Thousands  of  drunkards,  in  after  years,  dated  their  departure  from  sobri 
ety  to  the  "Hard  Cider"  campaign  of  1840. 

5  Democratic  Review,  April,  1840. 

0  This  is  in  allusion  to  the  sub-treasury  scheme.  Mr.  Yan  Buren  remarked  to  a  friend,  just 
previous  to  sending  his  message  to  Congress,  in  which  he  proposed  that  plan  for  collecting  and 
keeping  the  public  moneys :  "  We  can  not  know  how  the  immediate  convulsion  may  result ;  but 
.the  people  will,  at  all  events,  eventually  come  right,  and  posterity  at  least  will  do  me  justice.  Be 
the  present  issue  for  good  or  for  evil,  it  is  for  posterity  that  I  will  write  this  message." 

7  William  Henry  Harrison,  son  of  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  was 
born  near  the  banks  of  the  James  River,  in  Charles  City  county,  Virginia,  in  February,  1773.  He 
was  educated  at  Hampden  Sydney  College,  and  was  prepared,  by  studies,  for  a  physician,  but  en 
tered  the  army  as  ensign  in  the  United  States  artillery,  in  1791.  He  was  Secretary  of  the  North- 


474  'THE      NATION.  [1841. 

was  then  an  old  man,  having  passed  almost  a  month  beyond  the  age  of  sixty-eight 
years.  Yet  there  was  a  vigor  in  his  movements  quite  remarkable  for  one  of 
that  age,  and  who  had  passed  through  so  many  hardships  and  physical  labors. 
From  a  platform  over  the  ascent  to  the  eastern  portico  of  the  Capitol,  where 
Mr.  Van  Buren  delivered  his  inaugural  address.  General  Harrison,  in  a  clear 


voice,  read  his.  He  was  frequently  interrupted  by  cheers  during  the  reading. 
When  it  was  concluded,  Chief  Justice  Taney  administered  the  oath  of  office,  and 
three  successive  cannon  peals  announced  the  fact  that  the  Republic  had  a  new 
President.  Harrison  immediately  nominated  his  cabinet  officers.1  and  these 
were  all  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  then  in  session. 

President  Harrison's  inaugural  speech  was  well  received  by  all  parties,  and 
the  dawn  of  his  administration  gave  omens  of  a  brighter  day  for  the  country. 
When  his  Address  went  over  the  land,  and  the  wisdom  of  his  choice  of  cabinet 

western  Territory  in  1797;  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-six  years,  was  elected  the  first  delegate  to 
Congress  from  that  domain.  He  was  afterward  appointed  governor  of  Indiana  Territory,  and  was 
very  active  during  the  War  of  1812.  See  pages  416  to  424  inclusive.  At  its  close  he  retired  to 
his  farm  at  North  Bend,  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio.  He  served  in  the  national  council  for  four 
years  [1824  to  1828]  as  United  States  senator,  when  he  was  appointed  minister  to  Colombia,  one  of 
the  South  American  republics.  He  was  finally  raised  to  the  highest  post  of  honor  in  the  nation. 
His  last  disease  was  pneumonia,  or  bilious  pleurisy,  which  terminated  his  life  in  a  few  days.  His 
last  words  were  (thinking  he  was  addressing  his  successor  in  office) :  "  Sir,  I  wish  you  to  under 
stand  the  principles  of  the  government.  I  wish  them  carried  out.  I  ask  nothing  more." 

1  Daniel  Webster,  Secretary  of  State  ;  Thomas  Ewing,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  John  Bell, 
Secretary  of  War ;  George  E.  Badger,  Secretary  of  the  Navy ;  Francis  Granger,  Postmaster-Gen 
eral  ;  and  J.  J.  Crittenden,  Attorney-General. 


1845.J  TYLER'S    ADMINISTRATION.  475 

counselors  was  known,  prosperity  was  half  restored,  for  confidence  was  re- 
enthroned  in  the  commercial  world.  But  all  the  hopes  which  centered  in  the 
new  President  were  soon  extinguished,  and  the  anthems  of  the  inaugural  day 
were  speedily  changed  to  solemn  requiems.  Precisely  one  month  after  he  uttered 
his  oath  of  office,  the  new  President  died.  That  sad  event  occurred  on  the  4th 
day  of  April,  1841.  Before  he  had  fairly  placed  his  hand  upon  the  machinery  of 
the  government,  it  was  paralyzed,  and  the  only  official  act  of  general  importance 
performed  by  President  Harrison  during  his  brief  administration,  was  the  issu 
ing  of  a  proclamation,  on  the  17th  of  March,  calling  an  extraordinary  session 
of  Congress,  to  commence  at  the  close  of  the  following  May,  to  legislate  upon 
the  subjects  of  finance  and  revenue.1 

In  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  the  Vice-President 
became  the  official  successor  of  the  deceased  President ;  and  on  the  6th  of  April 
the  oath  of  office  was  administered  to 

JOHN     TYLER.2 

He  retained  the  cabinet  appointed  by  President  Harrison  until  September  fol 
lowing,  when  all  but  the  Secretary  of  State  resigned.3 

The  extraordinary  session  of  Congress  called  by  President  Harrison,  com 
menced  its  session  on  the  appointed  day  [May  31,  1841],  and  continued  until 
the  13th  of  September  following.  The  Sub-Treasury  act4  was  repealed,  and  a 
general  Bankrupt  law  was  enacted.  This  humane  law  accomplished  a  material 
benefit.  Thousands  of  honest  and  enterprising  men  had  been  crushed  by  the 

1  The  predecessors  of  Harrison  had  called  extraordinary  sessions  of  Congress,  as  follows :  John 
Adams,  on  the  16th  of  May,  1797 ;  Thomas  Jefferson,  on  the  17th  of  October,  1808,  to  provide  for 
carrying  the  treaty  of  Louisiana  into  effect;  James  Madison,  on  the  23d  of  May,  1809,  and  also  on 
the  25th  of  May,  1813;  and  Martin  Van  Buren,  bn  the  4th  of  September,  1837. 

8  On  the  4th  of  April,  the  members  of  Harrison's  cabinet  dispatched  Fletcher  Webster,  chief 
clerk  in  the  State  Department,  with  a  letter  to  Mr.  Tyler,  announcing  the  death  of  the  President. 
Mr.  Tyler  was  then  at  Williamsburg.  So  great  was  the  dispatch,  both  by  the  messenger  and  the 
Vice-President,  that  the  latter  arrived  in  Washington  on  Tuesday  morning,  the  6th  of  April,  at  four 
o'clock.  As  doubts  might  arise  concerning  the  validity  of  his  oath  of  office  as  Vice-President,  while 
acting  as  President,  Mr.  Tyler  took  the  oath  anew,  as  Chief  Magistrate,  before  Judge  Cranch,  of 
Washington  city.  On  the  following  day  he  attended  the  funeral  of  President  Harrison.  John 
Tyler  was  born  in  Charles  City  county,  Virginia,  in  March,  1790.  He  was  so  precocious  that  he 
entered  William  and  Mary  College  at  the  age  of  twelve  years.  He  graduated  at  the  age  of  seven 
teen,  studied  law,  and  at  nineteen  he  was  a  practicing  lawyer.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Legislature,  where  he  served  for  several  years.  He  was  elected 
to  Congress  to  fill  a  vacancy  caused  by  death,  in  1816,  when  only  twenty-six  years  of  age.  He  was 
there  again  in  1819.  In  1825  he  was  elected  governor  of  Virginia.  He  was  afterward  sent  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States;  and  he  was  much  in  public  life  until  the  close  of  his  Presidential  ca 
reer.  He  took  part  with  the  enemies  of  the  Republic  in  the  late  Civil  War,  and  died  in  Rich 
mond,  Virginia,  on  the  18th  of  January,  1862. 

3  He  then  appointed  Walter  Forward,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  John  C.  Spencer,  Secretary 
of  War;  Abel  P.  Upshur,  Secretary  of  the  Navy;  Charles  A.  Wickliffe,  Postmaster- General ;  and 
Hugh  S.  Legare,  Attorney-General.  Mr.  Tyler  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  three  of  his  cabinet  of 
ficers,  by  death,  in  the  course  of  a  few  months.  Mr.  Legare  accompanied  the  President  to  Boston, 
on  the  occasion  of  celebrating  the  cpmpletion  of  the  Bunker  Hill  monument  [page  235],  in  June, 
1843,  and  died  there.  On  the  28th  of  February  following,  the  bursting  of  a  gun  on  board  the  steam 
ship  Princeton,  while  on  an  excursion  upon  the  Potomac,  killed  Mr.  Upshur,  then  Secretary  of  State ; 
Mr.  Grilmer,  Secretary  of  the  Navy ;  and  several  other  distinguished  gentlemen.  The  President  and 
many  ladies  were  on  board.  Among  the  killed  was  Mr.  Gardiner,  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
whose  daughter  the  President  soon  afterward  married.  *  Note  2,  page  471. 


476 


T  H  E      NATION. 


[1841. 


recent  business  revulsion,  and  were  so  laden  with  debt  as  to  be  hopelessly 
chained  to  a  narrow  sphere  of  action.  The  law  relieved  them ;  and  while  it 
bore  heavily  upon  the  creditor  class,  for  a  while,  its  operations  were  beneficent 
and  useful.  When  dishonest  men  began  to  make  it  a  pretense  for  cheating,  it 
was  repealed.  But  the  chief  object  sought  to  be  obtained  during  this  session. 


namely,  the  chartering  of  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  was  not  achieved.  Two 
separate  bills1  for  that  purpose  were  vetoed2  by  the  President,  who,  like  Jack 
son,  thought  be  perceived  great  evils  to  be  apprehended  from  the  workings  of 
such  an  institution.  The  course  of  the  President  was  vehemently  censured  by 
the  party  in  power,  and  the  last  veto  led  to  the  dissolution  of  his  cabinet.  Mr. 
Webster  patriotically  remained  at  his  post,  for  great  public  interests  would  have 
suffered  by  his  withdrawal,  at  that  time. 

The  year  1842  (second  of  Mr.  Tyler's  administration)  was  distinguished  by 
the  return  of  the  United  States  Exploring  Expedition  ;  the  settlement  of  the 
North-eastern  boundary  question ;  essential  modifications  of  the  tariff;  and 
domestic  difficulties  in  Rhode  Island.  The  exploring  expedition,  commanded  by 
Lieutenant  Wilkes,  of  the  United  States  navy,  had  been  sent,  several  years  be 
fore,  to  traverse  and  explore  the  great  southern  ocean.  It  coasted  along  what 


1  One  was  passed  on  the  16th  of  August,  1841 ;  the  other,  modified  so  as  to  meet  the  Presi 
dent's  objections,  as  it  was  believed,  passed  September  9th.  2  Note  6,  page  462. 


1845.]  TYLER'S     ADMINISTRATION.  477 

is  supposed  to  be  an  Antarctic  continent,  for  seventeen  hundred  miles  in  the 
vicinity  of  latitude  66  degrees  south,  and  between  longitude  96  and  154  degrees 
east.  The  expedition  brought  home  a  great  many  curiosities  of  island  human 
life,  and  a  large  number  of  fine  specimens  of  natural  history,  all  of  which  are 
now  [1867]  well  preserved  in  the  custody  of  the  National  Institute,  Smithsonian 
building,  in  Washington  city.  The  expedition  made  a  voyage  of  about  ninety 
thousand  miles,  equal  to  almost  four  times  the  circumference  of  the  globe. 

The  modifications  of  the  tariff  were  important.  By  the  compromise  act  of 
1832,1  duties  on  foreign  goods  were  to  reach  the  minimum  of  reduction  at  the 
close  of  1842,  when  the  tariff  would  only  provide  revenue,  not  protection  to 
manufactures,  like  that  of  1828. 2  The  latter  object  appeared  desirable;  and 
by  an  act  passed  on  the  29th  of  June,  1842,  high  tariffs  were  imposed  on 
many  foreign  articles.  The  President  vetoed  it;  but  a  bill,  less  objectionable, 
received  his  assent  on  the  9th  of  August. 

The  difficulties  in  Rhode  Island  originated  in  a  movement  to  adopt  a 
State  Constitution  of  government,  and  to  abandon  the  old  charter  given  by 
Charles  the  Second,3  in  1663,  under  which  the  people  had  been  ruled  for  one 
hundred  and  eighty  years.  Disputes  arose  concerning  the  proper  method  to  be 
pursued  in  making  the  change,  and  these  assumed  a  serious  aspect.  Two  par 
ties  were  formed,  known,  respectively,  as  the  "suffrage,"  or  radical  party;  the 
other  as  the  "  law  and  order,"  or  conservative  party.  Each  formed  a  Constitu 
tion,  elected  a  governor  and  legislature,4  and  finally  armed  [May  and  June, 
1843]  in  defense  of  their  respective  claims.  The  State  was  on  the  verge  of 
civil  war,  and  the  aid  of  National  troops  had  to  be  invoked,  to  restore  quiet  and 
order.  A  free  Constitution,  adopted  by  the  "  law  and  order"  party  in  Novem 
ber,  1842,  to  go  into  operation  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  May,  1843,  was  sus 
tained,  and  became  the  law  of  the  land. 

During  the  last  year  of  President  Tyler's  administration,  the  country  was 
much  agitated  by  discussions  concerning  the  proposed  admission  of  the  independ 
ent  republic  of  Texas,  on  our  south-west  frontier,  as  a  State  of  the  Union. 
The  proposition  was  warmly  opposed  at  the  North,  because  the  annexation 
would  increase  the  area  and  political  strength  of  slavery,  and  lead  to  a  war  with 
Mexico.5  A  treaty  for  admission,  signed  at  Washington  on  the  12th  of  April, 

1  Page  464.  2  Page  459.  3  Page  158. 

4  The  "  suffrage"  party  elected  Thomas  W.  Dorr,    governor,  and  the  "  law  and  order"  party 
chose  Samuel  "W.  King  for  chief  magistrate.     Dorr  was  finally  arrested,  tried  for  and  convicted  of 
treason,  and  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  life.     The  excitement  having  passed  away,  in  a  meas 
ure,  he  was  released  in  June,  1845,  but  was  deprived  of  all  the  civil  rights  of  a  citizen.'    These  dis 
abilities  were  removed  in  the  autumn  of  1853. 

5  Texas  was  a  part  of  the  domain  of  that  ancient  Mexico  conquered  by  Cortez  [page  43].     In 
1824,  Mexico  became  a  republic  under  Generals  Victoria  and  Santa  Anna,  and  was  divided  into 
States  united  by  a  Federal  Constitution.     One  of  these  was  Texas,  a  territory  which  was  origin 
ally  claimed  by  the  United  States  as  a  part  of  Louisiana,  purchased  [page  390]  from  France  in 
1803,  but  ceded  to  Spain  in  1820.     In  1821-22,  a  colony  from  the  United  States,  under  Stephen 
F.  Austin,  made  a  settlement  on  both  sides  of  the  Colorado  River ;  and  the  Spanish  government 
favoring  immigration  thither,  caused  a  rapid  increase  in  the  population.     There  were  ten  thousand 
Americans  in  that  province  in  1833.     Santa  Anna  became  military  dictator ;  and  the  people  of 
Texas,  unwilling  to  submit  to  his  arbitrary  rule,  rebelled.   A  war  ensued  ;  and  on  the  2d  of  March. 
1836.  a  convention  declared  Texas  independent.     Much  bloodshed  occurred  afterward;  but  a  final 


478  THE      NATION.  [1845. 

1844,  was  rejected  by  the  Senate  on  the  8th  of  June  following.  To 'the  next 
Congress  the  proposition  was  presented  in  the  form  of  a  joint  resolution,  and 
received  the  concurrence  of  both  Houses  on  the  1st  of  March,  1845,  and 
the  assent  of  the  President  on  the  same  day.  This  measure  had  an  important 
bearing  upon  the  Presidential  election  in  1844.  It  became  more  and  more  pop 
ular  with  the  people  throughout  the  Union,  and  James  K.  Polk,  of  Tennessee, 
who  was  pledged  in  favor  of  the  measure,  was  nominated  for  the  office  of  Pres 
ident  of  the  United  States,  by  the  National  Democratic  Convention,  assembled 
at  Baltimore  on  the  27th  of  May,  1844.  George  M.  Dallas  was  nominated  for 
Yice-President  at  the  same  time ;  and  in  November  following,  they  were  both 
elected.  The  opposing  candidates  were  Henry  Clay  and  Theodore  Frelinghuy- 
sen.  The  last  important  official  act  of  President  Tyler  was  the  signing,  on  the 
3d  of  March,  1845,  of  the  bill  for  the  admission  of  Florida  and  Iowa  into  the 
Union  of  States. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

FOLK'S     ADMINISTRATION.     [1845  —  1849.] 

NEVER  before  had  so  large  a  concourse  of  people  assembled  at  the  Nation.  1 
city,  to  witness  the  inauguration  of  a  new  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  nation,  as  on  ihc 
4th  of  March,  1845,  when  James  Knox  Polk,1  of  Tennessee,  the  tenth  President  of 
the  United  States,  took  the  oath  of  office,  administered  by  Chief  Justice  Taney. 
The  day  was  unpleasant.  A  lowering  morning  preceded  a  rainy  day,  and  the 
pleasures  of  the  occasion  were  marred  thereby.  The  address  of  the  President, 
on  that  occasion,  clearly  indicated  that  energetic  policy  which  distinguished  his 
administration.  On  the  day  of  his  inauguration  he  nominated  his  cabinet 
officers,2  and  the  Senate  being  in  session,  immediately  confirmed  them. 

Among  the  most  important  topics  which  claimed  the  attention  of  the  admin 
istration,  were  the  annexation  of  Texas,  and  the  claims  of  Great  Britain  to  a 
large  portion  of  the  vast  territory  of  Oregon,  on  the  Pacific  coast.  The  former 

battle  of  San  Jacinto,  in  which  the  Texans  were  led  by  General  Sam  Houston,  afterward  a 
United  States  Senator  from  Texas,  vindicated  the  position  the  people  had  taken,  and  terminated 
the  strife.  Texas  remained  an  independent  republic  until  its  admission  into  our  National  Union 
in  1845. 

1  James  K.  Polk  was  born  in  Mecklenburg  county,  North  Carolina,  in  November,  IT 95.  While 
lie  was  a  child,  his  father  settled  in  Tennessee ;  and  the  first  appearance  of  young  Polk  in  public 
life,  was  as  a  member  of  the  Tennessee  Legislature,  in  1823.  lie  had  been  admitted  to  the  bar 
three  years  before,  but  public  life  kept  him  from  the  practice  of  his  profession,  except  at  intervals. 
He  was  elected  to  Congress  in  1825,  and  was  in  that  body  almost  continually  until  elevated  to  the 
Presidential  chair.  He  was  elected  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  1835,  and  contin 
ued  in  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  that  office  during  five  consecutive  sessions.  He  was  elected 
governor  of  Tennessee  in  1839,  and  President  of  the  United  States  in  1844.  He  retired  to  his 
residence,  near  Knoxville,  Tennessee,  at  the  close  of  his  term,  in  1849,  and  died  there  in  June  of 
the  same  year. 

3  James  Buchanan,  Secretary  of  State;  Robert  J.  Walker,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  William 
L.  Marcy,  Secretary  of  War;  George  Bancroft,  Secretary  of  the  Navy;  Cave  Johnson,  Postmaster- 
General;  and  John  Y.  Mason,  Attorney-General. 


1849.] 


FOLK'S    ADMINISTRATION. 


479 


demanded  and  received  the  earliest  consideration.  On  the  last  day  of  his  offi 
cial  term,  President  Tyler  had  sent  a  messenger  to  the  Texan  Government, 
with  a  copy  of  the  joint  resolutions  of  the  American  Congress,1  in  favor  of  an 
nexation.  These  were  considered  by  a  convention  of  delegates,  called  for  the 
purpose  of  forming  a  State  Constitution  for  Texas.  That  body  approved  of  the 
measure,  by  resolution,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1845.  On  that  day  Texas  became 


cue  of  the  States  of  our  Republic.  The  other  momentous  subject  (the  chiims 
of  Great  Britain  to  certain  portions  of  Oregon),  also  received  prompt  atten 
tion.  That  vast  territory,  between  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Pacific, 
had  been,  for  some  time,  a  subject  of  dispute  between  the  two  countries.2  Ir. 
1818,  it  was  mutually  agreed  that  each  nation  should  equally  enjoy  the  privileges 
of  all  the  bays  and  harbors  on  the  coast,  for  ten  years.  This  agreement  ,was  re 
newed  in  1827,  for  an  indefinite  time,  with  the  stipulation,  that  either  party 
might  rescind  it  by  giving  the  other  party  twelve  months'  notice.  Such  notice 

1  The  communication  was  made  through  A.  J.  Donelson,  the  "American"  candidate  for  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States,  in  1856,  who  was  our  Charge  d' Affaires  to  the  Texan  Government. 

2  Captain  Grey,  of  Boston,  entered  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  Eiver  in  1792,  and  Captains 
Lewis  and  Clarke  explored  that  region,  from  the  Kocky  Mountains  westward,  in  1804-'5.    In  1811, 
the  late  J.  J.  Astor  established  a  trading  station  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River.  _  The  British 
doctrine,  always  practiced  by  them,  that  the  entrance  of  a  vessel  of  a  civilized  nation  into  the 
mouth  of  a  river,  gives  title,  by  the  right  of  discovery,  to  the  territory  watered  by  that  river  and 
its  tributaries,  clearly  gave  Oregon  to  54  degrees  40  "minutes,  to  the  United  States,  for  the  dis 
covery  of  Captain  Grey,  in  1792,  was  not  disputed. 


480  THE      NATION.  [1845. 

was  given  by  the  United  States  in  1846,  and  the  boundary  was  then  fixed  by 
treaty,  made  at  Washington  city,  in  June  of  that  year.  Great  Britain  claimed 
the  whole  territory  to  54 J  40'  north  latitude,  the  right  to  which  was  disputed 
by  the  United  States.  The  boundary  line  was  finally  fixed  at  latitude  49° ; 
and  in  1848,  a  territorial  government  was  established.  In  March,  1853,  Ore 
gon  was  divided,  and  the  north  3rn  portion  was  made  a  separate  domain,  by  the 
title  of  Washington  Territory. 

The  annexation  of  Texas,  as  had  been  predicted,  caused  an  immediate  rup 
ture  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico ;  for  the  latter  claimed  Texas  as  a 
part  of  its  territory,  notwithstanding  its  independence  had  been  acknowledged 
by  the  United  States,  England,  France,  and  other  governments.  Soon  after 
[March  6,  1845]  Congress  had  adopted  the  joint  resolution  for  the  admission 
of  that  State  into  the  Union,1  General  Almonte,  the  Mexican  minister  at  Wash 
ington,  formally  protested  against  that  measure,  and  demanded  his  passports. 
On  the  4th  of  June  following,  General  Herrera,  President  of  Mexico,  issued  a 
proclamation,  declaring  the  rights  of  Mexico,  and  his  determination  to  defend 
them — by  arms,  if  necessary.  But,  independent  of  the  act  complained  of,  there 
already  existed  a  cause  for  serious  ^disputes  between  the  United  States  and 
Mexico.2  Ever  since  the  establishment  of  republican  government  by  the  latter, 
in  1824,  it  had  been  an  unjust  and  injurious  neighbor.  Impoverished  by  civil 
wars,  its  authorities  did  not  hesitate  to  replenish  its  Treasury  by  plundering 
American  vessels  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  or  by  confiscating  the  property  of 
American  merchants  within  its  borders.  The  United  States  government 
remonstrated  in  vain,  until,  in  1881,  a  treaty  was  formed,  and  promises  of 
redress  were  made.  But  aggressions  continued ;  and  in  1840,  the  aggregate 
amount  of  American  property  which  had  been  appropriated  by  Mexicans,  was 
more  than  six  millions  of  dollars.  The  claim  for  this  amount  remained  unset 
tled3  when  the  annexation  of  Texas  occurred  [July  4,  1845],  and  peaceful 
relations  between  the  two  governments  were  suspended. 

The  President  being  fully  aware  of  the  hostile  feelings  of  the  Mexicans, 
ordered  [July]  General  Zachary  Taylor,4  then  in  command  of  troops  in  the 
South-West,  to  proceed  to  Texas,  and  take  a  position  as  near  the  Rio  Grande,5 
as  prudence  would  allow.  This  force,  about  fifteen  hundred  strong,  was  called 
the  "Army  of  Occupation,"  for  the  defense  of  Texas.  At  the  same  time,  a 
strong  squadron,  under  Commodore  Conner,  sailed  for  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  to 
protect  American  interests  there.  General  Taylor  first  landed  on  the  25th  of 
July  on  St.  Joseph's  Island,6  and  then  embarked  for  Corpus  Christ!,  a  Mexican 

1  Page  478.  2  Pronounced  May-hee-co  by  the  Spaniards. 

3  Commissioners  appointed  by  the  two  governments  to  adjust  these  claims,  met  in  1840.     The 
Mexican  commissioners  acknowledged  two  millions  of  dollars,  and  no  more.     In  1843  the  whole 
amount  was  acknowledged  by  Mexico,  and  the  payment  was  to  be  made  in  instalments  of  three 
hundred  thousand  dollars  each.     Only  three  of  these  instalments  had  been  paid  in  1845,  and  the 
Mexican  government  refused  to  decide  whether  the  remainder  should  be  settled  or  not. 

4  Taylor's  actual  rank  in  the  army  list  was  only  that  of  Colonel.     He  had  been  made  a  Brig 
adier-General  by  brevet,  for  his  good  conduct  in  the  Florida  War  [page  468].     A  title  by  brevet  is 
only  honorary.     Taylor  held  the  title  of  Brigadier-General,  but  received  only  the  pay  of  a  Colpnel. 

6  Great  or  Grand  river.     Also  called  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte — Brave  North  river. 
6  There  the  flag  of  the  United  States  was  first  displayed  in  power  over  Texas  soil 


1849.]  POLK'"S     ADMINISTRATION.  481 

village  beyond  the  Nueces,  and  near  its  mouth.  There  he  formed  a  camp 
[September,  *1845],  and  remained  during  the  succeeding  autumn  and  winter. 
It  was  during  the  gathering  of  this  storm  of  war  on  our  south-western  frontier, 
that  the  difficulties  with  Great  Britain,  concerning  Oregon,  occurred,  which  we 
have  already  considered. 

By  a  dispatch  dated  January  13, 1846,  the  Secretary  of  War  ordered  Gen 
eral  Taylor  to  advance  from  Corpus  Christi  to  near  the  mouth  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  opposite  the  Spanish  city  of  Matamoras;  because  Mexican  troops  were 
then  gathering  in  that  direction,  with  the  evident  intention  of  invading  Texas. 
This  was  disputed  territory  between  Texas  and  the  Mexican  province  of  Tamau- 
lipas ;  and  when,  on  the  25th  of  March,  he  encamped  at  Point  Isabel,  on  the  coast, 
about  twenty-eight  miles  from  Matamoras,  General  Taylor  was  warned  by  the 
Mexicans  that  he  was  upon  foreign  soil.  Regardless  of  menaces,  he  left  his  stores 
at  Point  Isabel,  under  Major  Monroe  and  four  hundred  and  fifty  men,  and  with  the 
remainder  of  his  army  advanced  [March  28,  1846]  to  the  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande, 
where  he  established  a  fortified  camp,  and  commenced  the  erection  of  a  fort.1 

President  Herrera's  desire  for  peace  with  the  United  States  made  him  un 
popular,  and  the  Mexican  people  elected  General  Paredes2  to  succeed  him. 
That  officer  immediately  dispatched  General  Ampudia3  with  a  large  force,  to 
Matamoras,  to  drive  the  Americans  beyond  the  Nueces.  Ampudia  arrived  on 
the  llth  of  April,  1846,  and  the  next  day  he  sent  a  letter  to  General  Taylor, 
demanding  his  withdrawal  within  twenty-four  hours.  Taylor  refused  compli 
ance,  and  continued  to  strengthen  his  camp.  Ampudia  hesitated  ;  and  on  the 
24th  of  that  month  he  was  succeeded  in  command  by  the  more  energetic 
Arista,4  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  northern  division  of  the  army  of  Mexico, 
whose  reported  reinforcements  made  it  probable  that  some  decisive  action  would 
soon  take  place.  This  change  of  affairs  was  unfavorable  to  the  Americans,  and 
the  situation  of  the  "  Army  of  Occupation"  was  now  becoming  very  critical. 
Parties  of  armed  Mexicans  had  got  between  Taylor  and  his  stores  at  Point 
Isabel,  and  had  cut  off  all  inter-communication.  Arista's  army  was  hourly 
gathering  strength ;  and  already  an  American  reconnoitering  party,  under 
Captain  Thornton,5  had  been  killed  or  captured  [April  24]  on  the  Texas  side  of 
the  Rio  Grande.  This  was  the  first  blood  shed  in 

THE     WAR     WITH     MEXICO. 

When  he  had  nearly  completed  the  fort  opposite  Matamoras,  General  Tay 
lor  hastened  [May  1],  with  his  army,  to  the  relief  of  Point  Isabel,  which  was 
menaced  by  a  large  Mexican  force6  collected  in  his  rear.  He  left  a  regiment 

1  It  was  named  Fort  Brown,  in  honor  of  Major  Brown,  the  officer  in  command  there.  It  was 
erected  under  the  superintendence  of  Captain  Mansfield,  and  was  large  enough  to  accommodate 
about  two  thousand  men.  2  Pronounced  Pa-ray-dhes. 

3  Pronounced  Am-poo-dhee-ah.  4  Pronounced  Ah-rees-tah. 

6  General  Taylor  had  been  informed  that  a  body  of  Mexican  troops  were  crossing  the  Rio 
Grande,  above  his  encampment,  and  he  sent  Captain  Thornton,  with  sixty  dragoons,  to  reconnoitre. 
They  were  surprised  and  captured.  Sixteen  Americans  were  killed,  and  Captain  Thornton  escaped 
by  an  extraordinary  leap  of  his  horse. 

6  General  Taylor  was  apprised  of  this  force  of  fifteen  hundred  Mexicans,  by  Captain  Walker, 


482  THE      X  ATI  Off.  [1845. 

of  infantry  and  two  companies  of  artillery,  under  Major  Brown   (in  whose 
honor,  as  we  have  just  observed,  the  fortification  was  named),  to  defend  the 
fort,  and    reached    Point   Isabel   the    same    day,  without   molestation.     This 
departure  produced  great  joy  in  Matamoras,  for  the  Mexicans  regarded  it  as  a 
cowardly  retreat.     Preparations  were  immediately  made  to  attack  Fort  Brown ; 
and  on  the  morning  of  the  3d  of  May  [1846],  a  battery  at  Matamoras  opened 
a  heavy  cannonade  and  bombardment  upon  it,  while  quite  a  large  body  of 
troops  crossed  the  river,  to  attack  it  in  the  rear.     General  Taylor  had  left 
orders  that,  in  the  event  of  an  attack,  and  aid  being  required,  heavy  signal-guns 
should  be  fired  at  the  fort.     For  a  long  time  the  little  garrison  made  a  noble 
defense,  and  silenced  the  Mexican  battery ;  but  when,  finally,  the  enemy  gath 
ered  in  strength  in  the  rear,  and  commenced  planting  cannons,  and  the  heroic 
Major  Brown  was  mortally  wounded,1  the  signals  were  given  [May  6],  and 
Taylor  prepared  to  march  for  the  Rio  Grande.     He  left  Point  Isabel  on  the 
evening  of  the  7th,  with  a  little  more  than  two  thousand  men,  having  been 
reinforced   by  Texas  volunteers,  and  marines  from  the  American  fleet   then 
blockading  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande.     At  noon,  the  next  day  [May  8], 
they  discovered  a  Mexican  army,  umjer  Arista,  full  six  thousand  strong,  drawn 
up  in  battle  array  upon  a  portion  of  a  prairie  flanked  by  ponds  of  water,  and 
beautified  by  trees,  which  gave  it  the  name  of  Palo  Alto.     As  soon  as  his  men 
could  take  refreshments,  Taylor  formed  his  army,  and  pressed  forward  to  the 
attack.     For  five  hours  a  hot  contest  was  maintained,  when,  at  twilight,  the 
Mexicans  gave  way  and  fled,  and  victory,  thorough  and  complete,  was  with  the 
Americans.     It  had  been  an  afternoon  of  terrible  excitement  and  fatigue,  and 
when  the  firing  ceased,  the  victors  sank  exhausted  upon  the  ground.     They  had 
lost,  in  killed  and  wounded,  fifty-three  ;a  the  Mexicans  lost  about  six  hundred. 
At  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  9th  of  May,  the  deep  slumbers  of  the 
little  army  were  broken  by  a  summons  to  renew  the  march  for  Fort  Brown. 
They  saw  no  traces  of  the  enemy  until  toward  evening,  when  they  discovered 
them  strongly  posted  in  a  ravine,  called  Resaca  de  la  Palma,3  drawn  up  in 
battle  order.     A  shorter,  but  bloodier  conflict  than  that  at  Palo  Alto,  the  pre 
vious  day,  ensued,  and  again  the  Americans  were  victorious.     They  lost,  in 
killed  and  wounded,  one  hundred  and  ten ;  the  Mexican  loss  was  at  least  one 
thousand.     General  La  Vega4  and  a  hundred  men  were  made  prisoners,  and 

the  celebrated  Texas  Ranger,  who  had  been  employed  by  Major  Monroe  to  keep  open  a  communi 
cation  between  Point  Isabel  and  Taylor's  camp.  Walker  had  fought  them  with  his  single  company, 
armed  with  revolving  pistols,  and  after  killing  thirty,  escaped,  and,  with  six  of  his  men,  reached 
Taylor's  camp. 

1  He  lost  a  leg  by  the  bursting  of  a  bomb-shell  [note  2,  page  296],  and  died  on  the  9th  of  May. 
He  was  born  in  Massachusetts  in  1788  ;  was  in  the  war  of  1812 ;  was  promoted  to  Major  in  1843 ; 
and  was  fifty-eight  years  of  age  when  he  died. 

a  Among  the  fatally  wounded  was  Captain  Page,  a  native  of  Maine,  who  died  on  the  12th  of 
July  following,  at  the  age  of  forty-nine  years.  Also,  Major  Ringgold,  commander  of  the  Flying 
Artillery,  who  died  at  Point  Isabel,  four  days  afterward,  at  the  age  of  forty-six  years. 

8  Pronounced  Ray-sah-kah  day  la  Pal-mah,  or  Dry  River  of  Palms.  The  ravine  is  supposed  to 
be  the  bed  of  a  dried-up  stream.  The  spot  is  on  the  northerly  side  of  the  Rio  Grande,  about  threo 
miles  from  Matamoras.  In  this  engagement,  Taylor's  force  was  about  one  thousand  seven  hundred  ; 
Arista  had  been  reinforced,  and  had  about  seven  thousand  men. 

4  Lay  Vay-goh.     He  was  a  brave  officer,  and  was  captured  by  Captain  May,  who,  rising  in  his 


1849.]  FOLK'S  ADMINISTRATION.  483 

eight  pieces  of  cannon,  three  standards,  and  a  quantity  of  military  stores,  were 
captured.  The  Mexican  army  was  completely  broken  up.  Arista  saved  him 
self  by  solitary  flight,  and  made  his  way  alone  across  the  Rio  Grande.  After 
suffering  a  bombardment  for  one  hundred  and  sixty  hours,  the  garrison  at  Fort 
Brown  were  relieved,  and  the  terrified  Mexicans  were  trembling  for  the  safety 
of  Matamoras. 

When  intelligence  of  the  first  bloodshed,  in  the  attack  upon  Captain  Thorn 
ton  and  his  party,  on  the  24th  of  April,  and  a  knowledge  of  the  critical  situa 
tion  of  the  little  Army  of  Occupation,  reached  New  Orleans,  and  spread  over 
the  land,  the  whole  country  was  aroused;  and  before  the  battles  of  Palo  Alto 
and  Resaca  de  la  Palma  [May  8,  9]  were  known  in  the  States,  Congress  had 
declared  [May  11,  1846]  that,  "by  the  act  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico,  a  state 
of  war  exists  between  that  government  and  the  United  States  ;"  authorized  the 
President  to  raise  fifty  thousand  volunteers,  and  appropriated  ten  millions  of 
dollars  [May  13]  toward  carrying  on  the  contest.  Within  two  days,  the  Sec 
retary  of  War  and  General  Scott1  planned  [May  15]  a  campaign,  greater  in  the 
territorial  extent  of  its  proposed  operations,  than  any  recorded  in  history.  A 
fleet  was  to  sweep  around  Cape  Horn,  and  attack  the  Pacific  coast  of  Mexico ; 
an  u  Army  of  the  West"  was  to  gather  at  Fort  Leavenworth,2  invade  New 
Mexico,  and  co-operate  with  the  Pacific  fleet ;  and  an  "  Army  of  the  Center" 
was  to  rendezvous  in  the  heart  of  Texas,3  to  invade  Old  Mexico  from  the  north. 
On  the  23d  of  the  same  month  [May],  the  Mexican  government  made  a  formal 
declaration  of  war  against  the  United  States. 

When  news  of  the  two  brilliant  victories  reached  the  States,  a  thrill  of  joy 
went  throughout  the  land,  and  bonfires,  illuminations,  orations,  and  the  thunder 
of  cannons,  were  seen  and  heard  in  all  the  great  cities.  In  the  mean  while, 
General  Taylor  was  in  Mexico,  preparing  for  other  brilliant  victories.4  He 
crossed  the  Rio  Grande,  drove  the  Mexican  troops  from  Matamoras,  and  took 
possession  of  that  town  on  the  18th  of  May.  There  he  remained  until  the  close 
of  August,  receiving  orders  from  government,  and  reinforcements,  and  prepar 
ing  to  march  into  the  interior.  The  first  division  of  his  army,  under  General 
Worth,6  moved  toward  Monterey6  on  the  20th.  Taylor,  with  the  remainder  (in 
all,  more  than  six  thousand  men),  followed  on  the  3d  of  September;  and  on 
the  19th,  the  whole  army7  encamped  within  three  miles  of  the  doomed  city,  then 

stirrups,  shouted,  "Remember  your  regiment!  Men,  follow!"  and,  with  his  dragoons,  rushed  for 
ward  in  the  face  of  a  heavy  fire  from  a  battery,  captured  La  Vega,  killed  or  dispersed  the  gunners, 
and  took  possession  of  the  cannons.  1  Page  485. 

2  A  strong  United  States  post  on  the  southern  bank  of  the  Missouri  River,  on  the  borders  of 
the  Great  Plains.     These  plains  extend  to  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

3  At  San  Antonia  de  Bexar,  the  center  of  Austin's  settlement  [note  5,  page  477],  south  of  the 
Colorado  river. 

4  On  the  30th  of  May  he  was  rewarded  for  his  skill  and  bravery  by  a  commission  as  Major- 
General,  by  brevet.     See  note  4,  page  480. 

6  William  J.  Worth  was  born  in  Columbia  county,  New  York,  in  1794.  He  was  a  gallant  soldier 
during  the  War  of  1812-15;  was  retained  in  the  army,  and  for  his  gallantry  at  Monterey,  was 
made  a  Major-General  by  brevet,  and  received  the  gift  of  a  sword  from  Congress.  He  was  of  great 
service  during  the  whole  war  with  Mexico.  He  died  in  Texas  in  May,  1849. 

6  Pronounced  Mon-tar-ray.     It  is  the  capital  of  New  Leon. 

7  The -principal  officers  with  General  Taylor,  at  this  time,  were  Generals  Worth,  Quitman. 
Twiggs,  Butler,  Henderson,  and  Hamer. 


484  THE      NATION.  [1845. 

defended  by  General  Ampudia,1  with  more  than  nine  thousand  troops.  It  was 
a  strongly  built  town,  at  the  foot  of  the  great  Sierra  Madre,  well  fortified  by 
both  nature  and  art,  and  presented  a  formidable  obstacle  in  the  march  of  the 
victor  toward  the  interior.  But  having  secured  the  Saltillo  road,2  by  which 
supplies  for  the  Mexicans  in  Monterey  were  to  be  obtained,  General  Taylor 
commenced  a  siege  on  the  21st  of  September.  The  conflict  continued  almost 
four  days,  a  part  of  the  time  within  the  streets  of  the  city,  where  the  carnage 
was  dreadful.  Ampudia  surrendered  the  town  and  garrison  on  the  fourth  day3 
[September  24],  and  leaving  General  Worth  in  command  there,  General  Tay 
lor  encamped  at  Walnut  Springs,  three  miles  distant,  and  awaited  further 
orders  from  his  government.4 

When  Congress  made  the  declaration  of  war;  and  authorized  the  raising  of 
an  army  from  the  great  body  of  the  people,  General  Wool5  was  commissioned 
to  muster  and  prepare  for  service,  the  gathering  volunteers.  He  performed 
this  duty  so  promptly,  that  by  the  middle  of  July,  twelve  thousand  of  them 
had  been  inspected,  and  mustered  into  service.  Nine  thousand  of  them  were 
sent  to  the  Rio  Grande,  to  reinforce  General  Taylor,  and  the  remainder 
repaired  to  Bexar,c  in  Texas,  wherejthey  were  disciplined  by  General  Wool,  in 
person,  preparatory  to  marching  into  the  province  of  Chihuahua,7  in  the  heart 
of  Mexico.  Wool  went  up  the  Rio  Grande  with  about  three  thousand  men, 
crossed  the  river  at  Presidio,  and  on  the  last  day  of  October,  reached  Monclova, 
seventy  miles  north-west  from  Monterey.  His  kindness  to  the  people  won  their 
confidence  and  esteem,  and  he  was  regarded  as  a  friend.  There  he  was  informed 
of  the  capture  of  Monterey,  and  guided  by  the  advice  of  General  Taylor,  he 
abandoned  the  project  of  penetrating  Chihuahua,  and  marched  to  the  fertile  dis 
trict  of  Parras,  in  Coahuila,  where  he  obtained  ample  supplies  for  his  own  and 
Taylor's  forces. 

The  armistice"  at  Monterey  ceased  on  the  18th  of  November,  by  order  of 
the  United  States  government.  General  Worth,  with  nine  hundred  men,  took 
possession  of  Saltillo  [November  15,  1846],  the  capital  of  Coahuila,9  and  Gen 
eral  Taylor,  leaving  General  Butler  in  command  at  Monterey,  marched  for 
Victoria,  the  capital  of  Tamaulipas,  with  the  intention  of  attacking  Tampico, 

1  Page  481. 

a  This  road  passed  through  the  mountains  along  the  San  Juan  river,  and  is  the  only  commu 
nication  between  Monterey  and  the  fertile  provinces  of  Coahuila  and  Durango.  The  command  of 
this  road  was  obtained  after  a  severe  contest  with  Mexican  cavalry,  on  the  20th  of  May,  by  a  party 
under  General  Worth. 

3  The  Mexican  soldiers  were  permitted  to  march  out  with  the  honors  of  war ;  and,  being  short 
of  provisions,  and  assured  that  Santa  Anna,  now  at  the  head  of  the  Mexicans,  desired  peace,  Gen 
eral  Taylor  agreed  to  a  cessation  of  hostilities  for  eight  weeks,  if  permitted  by  his  government. 

4  The   Americans  lost  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,   five   hundred   and   sixty-one.     The 
number  lost  by  the  Mexicans  was  never  ascertained,  but  it  was  supposed  to  be  more  than  one 
thousand. 

5  John  Ellis  "Wool  is  a  native  of  New  York.     He  entered  the  army  in  1812,  and  soon  rose  to 
the  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel,  for  gallant  conduct  on  Queenstown  Heights  [page  413].    He  was 
breveted  brigadier  in  1826,  and  for  gallant  conduct  at  Buena  Vista,  in  1847.  was  breveted  Major- 
General.     He  took   an  active  part  for  his  country  in  the  late  Civil   War,  and,  in  1862,  was 
appointed  full  Major-General. 

6  Austin's  settlement.     See  note  5,  page  477.  7  Pronounced  Chee-wah-wah. 
8  The  agreement  for  a  cessation  of  hostilities  is  so  called.         9  Pronounced  Co-ah-weel-ah. 


1849.]  FOLK'S    ADMINISTRATION.  485 

on  the  coast.  That  place  had  already  surrendered1  [November  14],  and  being 
informed  that  Santa  Anna  was  collecting  a  large  force  at  San  Luis  Potosi,a  he 
returned  to  Monterey,  to  reinforce  General  Worth,  if  necessary.  Worth  was 
joined  by  Wool's  division,  near  Saltillo,  on  the  20th  of  December,  and  Taylor 
again  advanced  and  took  possession  of  Victoria,  on  the  29th. 

And  now  the  conquering  Taylor  was  compelled  to  endure  a  severe  trial  of 
his  temper  and  patriotism.  General  Scott3  had  arrived 
before  Vera  Cruz  [January,  1847],  for  the  purpose  of 
invading  Mexico  from  that  point,  and  being  the  senior 
officer,  took  the  supreme  command.  Just  as  Taylor 
was  preparing  for  a  vigorous  winter  campaign,  he  re 
ceived  an  order  from  General  Scott,  to  send  him  a 
large  portion  of  his  best  officers  and  troops  to  assist 
against  Vera  Cruz,  and  to  act  thereafter  only  on  the 
defensive.*  Taylor  was  deeply  mortified,  but,  like  a 
true  soldier,  instantly  obeyed,  and  he  and  General 
Wool  were  left  with  an  aggregate  force  of  only  about 

P  -,  I  GENERAL   SCOTT. 

five  thousand  men  (only  five  hundred  regulars;  t3  op 
pose  an  army  of  twenty  thousand,  now  gathering  at  San  Luis  Potosi,  under 
Santa  Anna.  They  united  their  forces  at  Agua  Nueva,5  twenty  miles  south 
from  Saltillo,  on  the  San  Luis  road,  early  in  February  [Feb.  4,  1847],  and 
weak  as  he  was,  Taylor  determined  to  fight  the  Mexicans,  who  were  now  ad 
vancing  upon  him.  The  opportunity  was  not  long  delayed.  The  Americans 
fell  back  [Feb.  21]  to  Buena  Vista,6  within  eleven  miles  of  Saltillo,  and  there, 
in  a  narrow  defile  in  the  mountains,  encamped  in  battle  order.  At  about  noon 
the  next  day  [Feb.  22] — the  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Washington — the  Mex 
ican  army  approached  within  two  miles  of  them  ;  and  Santa  Anna,  assuring 
Taylor  that  he  was  surrounded  by  twenty  thousand  troops,  and  could  not 
escape,  ordered  him  to  surrender  within  an  hour.  Taylor  politely  refused  the 
request,  and  both  armies  prepared  for  battle.7  There  was  some  skirmising  dur- 


1  Commodore  Connor,  who  commanded  the  "  Home  Squadron"  in  the  Gulf,  captured  Tampico. 
Tobasco  and  Tuspan  were  captured  by  Commodore  Perry  [page  512],  in  October  following. 

a  Santa  Anna  was  elected  provisional  President  of  Mexico,  in  December,  and  in  violation  of  his 
peace  promises  to  Commodore  Connor,  he  immediately  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  army. 

3  Winfield  Scott  was  born  in  Virginia  in  1786.    He  was  admitted  to  law  practice  at  the  age  of 
twenty  years.     He  joined  the  army  in  1808,  was  made  Lieutenant-Colonel  in  1812,  and  passed 
through  the  war  that  ensued,  with  great  honor  to  himself  and  his  country.     He  was  breveted 
major-general  in  1814,  and  was  made  general-in-chief  of  the  army  in  1841.     His  successes  in  Mex 
ico  greatly  added  to  his  laurels.     On  the  15th  of  February,   1855,  he  was  commissioned  a  Lieu- 
tenant-General.     Owing  to  infirmities,  he  retired  from  active  duty  in  the  autumn  of  1861.     He 
died  at  West  Point,  May  29,  1866,  one  of  the  greatest  captains  of  the  age. 

4  The  necessity  for  this  order  was  as  painful  to  General  Scott  as  it  was  mortifying  to  General 
Taylor.     Before  leaving  Washington,  Scott  wrote  a  long  private  letter  to  Taylor,  apprising  him  of 
this  necessity,  expressing  his  sincere  regrets,  and  speaking  in  highest  praise  of  the  victories  already 
achieved  in  Mexico.  5  Pronounced  Ag-wah  New-van,  or  New  Water. 

6  Pronounced  Bwe-naw  Ves-tah — Pleasant  View.  This  was  the  name  of  a  hacienda  (planta 
tion)  at  Angostura. 

*  Santa  Anna  wrote  as  follows: 

"  CAMP  AT  ENCATADA,  February  22d,  1847. 

"  GOD  AND  LIBERTY  ! — You  are  surrounded  by  twenty  thousand  men,  and  can  not,  in  any 
human  probability,  avoid  suffering  a  rout,  and  being  cut  to  pieces  with  your  troops ;  but  as  you  de- 


486 


THE     NATION. 


[1845. 


ing  the  afternoon,  when  the  battle-cry  of  the  Americans  was,  "The  Memory 
of  Washington!"  Early  the  following  morning  [Feb.  23]  a  terrible  conflict 
commenced.  It  was  desperate  and  bloody,  and  continued  until  sunset.  Sev 
eral  times  the  overwhelming  numbers  of  the  Mexicans  appeared  about  to  crush 
the  little  band  of  Americans ;  and  finally  Santa  Anna  made  a  desperate  assault1 
upon  the  American  center,  commanded  by  Taylor  in  person.  It  stood  like  a 
rock  before  a  billow ;  and  by  the  assistance  of  the  artillery  of  Bragg,  Wash 
ington,  and  Sherman,  the  martial  wave  was  rolled  back,  the  Mexicans  fled  in 
confusion,  and  the  Americans  were  masters  of  the  bloody  field.  During  the 
night  succeeding  the  conflict,  the  Mexicans  all  withdrew,  leaving  their  dead 

and  wounded  behind  them.2  The  invaders 
were  now  in  possession  of  all  the  northern 
Mexican  provinces,  and  Scott  was  prepar 
ing  to  storm  Vera  Cruz3  and  march  to  the 
capital.4  In  the  course  of  a  few  months 
General  Taylor  left  Wool  in  command 
[Sept.,  1847],  and  returned  home,  every 
where  receiving  tokens  of  the  highest  re 
gard  from  his  countrymen.  Let  us  now 
consider  other  operations  of  the  war  during  this  period. 

The  command  of  the  "  Army  of  the  West"5  was  given  to  General  Kearney,8 
with  instructions  to  conquer  New  Mexico  and  California.  He  left  Fort  Leaven- 
worth  in  June,  and  after  a  journey  of  nine  hundred  miles  over  the  Great  Plains 
and  among  the  mountain  ranges,  he  arrived  at  Santa  Fe,  the  capital  of  New 


REGION  OF  TAYLOR'S  OPERATIONS. 


serve  consideration  and  particular  esteem,  I  wish  to  save  you  from  such  a  catastrophe,  and  for  that 
purpose  give  you  this  notice,  in  order  that  you  may  surrender  at  discretion,  under  the  assurance 
that  you  will  be  treated  with  the  consideration  belonging  to  the  Mexican  character ;  to  which  end 
you  will  be  granted  an  hour's  time  to  make  up  your  mind,  to  commence  from  the  moment  that  my 
flag  of  truce  arrives  in  your  camp..  With  this  view,  I  assure  you  of  my  particular  consideration. 

"  ANTONIO  LOPEZ  DE  SANTA  ANNA. 
"To  General  Z.  Taylor,  Commanding  the  Forces  of  the  U.  S." 

General  Taylor  did  not  take  the  allotted  time  to  make  up  his  mind,  but  instantly  sat  down  and 
wrote  the  following  reply : 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS,  ARMY  OF  OCCUPATION,  Near  Buena  Vista,  Feb.  22d,  1847. 

"SiR:  In  reply  to  your  note  of  this  date,  summoning  me  to  surrender  my  forces  at  discre 
tion,  I  beg  leave  to  say  that  I  decline  acceding  to  your  request.*  With  high  respect,  I  am,  sir,  your 
obedient  servant,  Z.  TAYLOK,  Major-General  U.  S.  Army." 

1  To  deceive  the  Americans,  Santa  Anna  resorted  to  the  contemptible  trick  of  sending  out  a 
flag  in  token  of  surrender,  at  the  moment  of  making  the  assault,  hoping  thereby  to  cause  his 
enemy  to  be  less  vigilant.  Taylor  was  too  well  acquainted  with  Mexican  treachery  to  be  de 
ceived. 

a  The  Americans  lost  two  hundred  and  sixty-seven  killed,  four  hundred  and  fifty-six  wounded, 
and  twenty-three  missing.  The  Mexicans  lost  almost  two  thousand.  They  left  five  hundred  of 
their  comrades  dead  on  the  field.  Among  the  Americans  slain  was  Lieutenant-Colonel  Clay,  son  of 
the  distinguished  Henry  Clay,  of  Kentucky.  Page  500.  3lPage  489. 

4  On  the  day  of  the  battle  at  Buena  Vista,  General  Minon,  with  eight  hundred  cavalry,  was 
driven  from  Saltillo  by  Captain  Webster  and  a  small  party  of  Americans.  On  the  26th  of  February, 
Colonels  Morgan  and  Irvin  defeated  a  party  at  Agua  Frio ;  and  on  the  7th  of  March,  Major  Gid- 
dings  was  victorious  at  Ceralvo.  8  Page  483. 

8  Stephen  W.  Kearney  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey.  He  was  a  gallant  soldier  in  the  War  of 
1812-15.  He  was  breveted  a  Brigadier  in  1846,  and  Major-General  in  December  the  same  year,  for 
gallant  conduct  in  the  Mexican  War.  He  died  at  Vera  Cruz,  in  October,  1848,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
four  years. 


1849.]  FOLK'S    ADMINISTRATION.  487 

Mexico,  on  the  18th  of  August.  He  met  with  no  resistance ;'  and  having  taken 
peaceable  possession  of  the  country,  and  constituted  Charles  Bent  its  governor, 
he  marched  toward  California.  He  soon  met  an  express  from  Commodore  Stock 
ton2  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Fremont,  informing  him  that  the  conquest  of  Cali 
fornia  had  already  been  achieved. 

Fremont  had  been  sent  with  a  party  of  about  sixty  men  to  explore  portions 
of  New  Mexico  and  California.  When  he  arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  Monterey, 
on  the  Pacific  coast,  he  was  opposed  by  a  Mexican  force  under  General  Castro. 
Fremont  aroused  all  the  American  settlers  in  the  vicinity  of  San  Francisco 
Bay,  captured  a  Mexican  post  and  garrison,  and  nine  cannons,  and  two  hun 
dred  and  fifty  muskets,  at  Sonoma  Pass  [June  15,  1846],  and  then  advanced  to 
Sonoma,  and  defeated  Castro  and  his  troops.  The  Mexican  authorities  were 
effectually  driven  out  of  that  region  of  the  country ;  and  on  the  5th  of  July, 
the  American  Californians  declared  themselves  independent,  and  placed  Fre 
mont  at  the  head  of  their  affairs.  Two  days  afterward,  Commodore  Sloat, 
then  in  command  of  the  squadron  in  the  Pacific,  bombarded  and  captured  Mon 
terey  ;  and  on  the  9th,  Commodore  Montgomery  took  possession  of  San  Fran 
cisco.  Commodore  Stockton  arrived  on  the  15th,  and  with  Colonel  Fremon*. 
took  possession  of  the  city  of  Los  Angelos  on  the  17th  of  August.  On  receiv 
ing  this  information,  Kearney  sent  the  main  body  of  his  troops  to  Santa  Fe, 
and  with  one  hundred  men  he  pushed  forward  to  Los  Angelos,  near  the  Pacific 
coast,  where  he  met  [Dec.  27, 1847]  Stockton  and  Fremont.  In  company  with 
these  officers,  he  shared  in  the  honors  of  the  final  important  events  [Jan.  8, 
1847],  which  completed  the  conquest  and  pacification  of  California.  Fremont, 
the  real  liberator  of  that  country,  claimed  the  right  to  be  governor,  and  was 
supported  by  Stockton  and  the  people  ;  but  Kearney,  his  superior  officer,  would 
not  acquiesce.  Fremont  refused  to  obey  him ;  and  Kearney  departed,  sailed 
to  Monterey,  and  there,  in  conjunction  with  Commodore  Shubrick,  he  assumed 
the  office  of  governor,  and  proclaimed  [Feb.  8,  1847]  the  annexation  of  Cali 
fornia  to  the  United  States.  Fremont  was  ordered  home  to  be  tried  for  dis 
obedience  of  orders.  He  was  deprived  of  his  commission  ;  but  the  President, 
valuing  him  as  one  of  the  ablest  officers  in  the  army,  offered  it  to  him  again. 
Fremont  refused  it,  and  went  again  to  the  wilderness  and  engaged  in  explor 
ation.3 

1  The  governor  and  four  thousand  Mexicans  troops  fled  at  his  approach,  and  the  people,  num 
bering  about  six  thousand,  quietly  submitted. 

2  Robert  F.  Stockton  is  a  son  of  one  of  the  New  Jersey  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence.     He  entered  the  navy  in  1811,  and  was  appointed  commodore  in  1838.     He  left  the  navy  in 
May,  1850,  and  has  since  been  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate  from  New  Jersey. 

3  John  Charles  Fremont  was  born  at  Savannah,  Georgia,  in  January,  1813.     His  father  was  a 
Frenchman ;  his  mother  a  native  of  Virginia.     He  was  born  while  his  parents  were  on  a  journey, 
and  his  infancy  was  spent  among  the  wilds  of  the  south-west.    At  the  age  of  thirteen  he  commenced 
the  study  of  law,  but  was  soon  afterward  placed  in  a  good  school  for  the  enlargement  of  his  educa 
tion.    He  was  very  successful ;  and  after  leaving  school  became  a  teacher  in  Charleston,  and  then 
instructor  in  mathematics  on  board  a  sloop-of-war.     As  a  civil  engineer,  he  had  few  equals,  and  in 
this  capacity  he  made  many  explorations,  in  the  service  of  private  individuals  and  the  government, 
as  lieutenant.     His  several  explorations  are  among  the  wonders  of  the  age.     In  1846,  the  citizens 
of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  presented  him  with  an  elegant  sword,  in  a  gold  scabbard,  as  a  testi 
monial  of  their  appreciation  of  his  great  services  to  the  country ;  and  in  1850,  the  Bang  of  Prussia, 


488 


THE      NATION. 


[1845,. 


Other  stirring  events  were  occurring  in  the  same  direction  at  this  time. 
While  Kearney  was  on  his  way  to  California,  Colonel  Doniphan,  by  his  com 
mand,  was  engaged,  with  a  thousand  Missouri  volunteers,  in  forcing  the  Nav- 
ajo  Indians  to  make  a  treaty  of  peace.  This  was  accomplished  on  the  22d  of 
November,  1846,  and  then  Doniphan  marched  toward  Chihuahua,  to  join  Gen 
eral  Wool.  At  Braceti,  in  the  valley  of  the  Rio  del  Norte,  they  met  a  large 


Mexican  force  on  the  22d  of  December,  under  General  Ponce  de  Leon.  He 
sent  a  black  flag  to  Doniphan,  with  the  message,  "  We  will  neither  ask  nor  give 
quarter."  The  Mexicans  then  advanced  and  fired  three  rounds.  The  Mis- 
sourians  fell  upon  their  faces,  and  the  enemy,  supposing  them  to  be  all  slain, 
rushed  forward  for  plunder.  The  Americans  suddenly  arose,  .and  delivering  a 
deadly  fire  from  their  rifles,  killed  two  hundred  Mexicans,  and  dispersed  the 
remainder  in  great  confusion.  Doniphan  then  pressed  forward,  and  when 
within  eighteen  miles  of  the  capital  of  Chitiuah.ua,  he  was  confronted  [Feb.  28, 
1847]  by  four  thousand  Mexicans.  These  he  completely  routed,1  and  then 
pressing  forward  to  the  city  of  Chihuahua,  he  entered  it  in  triumph,  raised  the 

sent  him  the  grand  golden  medal  struck  for  those  who  have  made  essential  progress  in  science. 
In  1851,  he  was  elected  the  first  United  States  senator  for  California;  and,  in  June,  1856,  he  was 
nominated  for  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States.  He  served  as  Major-General  in  the 
National  army  during  a  portion  of  the  late  Civil  War. 

1  The  Americans  lost,  in  killed  and  wounded,  only  eighteen  men  ;  the  Mexicans  lost  about  six 
hundred. 


1849.]  FOLK'S    ADMINISTRATION.  489 

flag  of  the  United  States  upon  its  citadel,  in  the  midst  of  a  population  of  forty 
thousand  [March  2],  and  took  possession  of  the  province  in  the  name  of  his  gov 
ernment.  After  resting  six  weeks  he  marched  to  Saltillo  [May  22],  where 
General  Wool  was  encamped.  From  thence  he  returned  to  New  Orleans,  hav 
ing  made  a  perilous  march  from  the  Mississippi,  of  about  five  thousand  miles. 
The  conquest  of  all  Northern  Mexico,1  with  California,  was  now  complete,  and 
General  Scott  was  on  his  march  for  the  great  capital.  Let  us  now  consider 

GENERAL    SCOTT'S    INVASION    OF    MEXICO. 

The  Mexican  authorities  having  scorned  overtures  for  peace  made  by  the 
government  of  the  United  States  in  the  autumn  of  1846.  it  was  determined  to 
conquer  the  whole  country.  For  that  purpose  General  Scott  was  directed  to 
collect  an  army,  capture  Vera  Cruz,2  and  march  to  the  Mexican  capital.  His 
rendezvous  was  at  Lobos  Island,  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  north 
from  Vera  Cruz  ;  and  on  the  9th  of  March,  1847,  he  landed  near  the  latter  with 
an  army  of  about  thirteen  thousand  men,  borne  thither  by  a  powerful  squadron 
commanded  by  Commodore  Connor.3  He  invested  the  city  on  the  13th ;  and 
five  days  afterward  [March  18],  having  every  thing  ready  for  an  attack,4  he 
summoned  the  town  and  fortress,  for  the  last  time,  to  surrender  A  refusal 
was  the  signal  for  opening  a  general  cannon 
ade,  and  bombardment  from  his  batteries  and 
the  fleet.  The  siege  continued  until  the  27th, 
when  the  city,  the  strong  castle  of  San  Juan 
d'Ulloa,  with  five  thousand  prisoners,  and 
five  hundred  pieces  of  artillery,  were  surren 
dered  to  the  Americans.  The  latter  had  only 
forty  men  killed,  and  about  the  same  number 
wounded.  At  least  a  thousand  Mexicans 

.  ...    ,  ,  ENTRENCHMENTS  AT  VERA  CRUZ. 

were  killed,  and  a  great  number  were  maimed. 

It  is  estimated  that  during  this  siege,  not  less  than  six  thousand  seven  hundred 
shots  and  shells  were  thrown  by  the  American  batteries,  weighing,  in  the  ag 
gregate,  more  than  forty  thousand  pounds. 

Two  days  after  the  siege  [March  29,  1847],  General  Scott  took  possession 
of  Yera  Cruz,  and  on  the  8th  of  April,  the  advanced  force  of  his  army,  under 
General  Twiggs,  commenced  their  march  for  the  interior  by  way  of  Jalapa.6 
Santa  Anna  had  advanced,  with  twelve  thousand  men,  to  Cerro  Gordo,  a  difli- 


1  Some  conspiracies  in  New  Mexico  against  the  new  government,  ripened  into  revolt,  in  Janu 
ary,  1847.  Governor  Bent  and  others  were  murdered  at  Fernando  de  Taos  on  the  19th,  and  mas 
sacres  occurred  in  other  quarters.  On  the  23d,  Colonel  Price,  with  three  hundred  and  fifty  men, 
marched  against  and  defeated  the  insurgents  at  Canada,  and  finally  dispersed  them  at  the  mountain 
gorge  called  the  Pass  of  Embudo. 

a  This  city  was  considered  the  key  to  the  country.  On  an  island  opposite  was  a  very  strong 
fortress  called  the  castle  of  San  Juan  d'Ulloa  [pronounced  San-whan-dah-oo-loo-ah],  always  cele 
brated  for  its  great  strength,  and  considered  impregnable  by  the  Mexicans. 

3  Page  480. 

4  The  engineering  operations  were  performed  very  skillfully  under  the  direction  of  Colonel  Tot- 
ten,  an  officer  of  the  War  of  1812.     For  his  bravery  at  Vera  Cruz,  he  was  made  Brigadier-General, 
by  brevet.     He  died  at  Washington  City,  April  22,  1864.  6  Pronounced  Hah-lah-pah. 


490  THE     NATION.  [1845. 

cult  mountain  pass  at  the  foot  of  the  eastern  chain  of  the  Cordilleras.  He  was 
strongly  fortified,  and  had  many  pieces  of  cannon  well  placed  for  defense. 
Scott  had  followed  Twiggs  with  the  main  body.  He  had  left  a  strong  garrison 
at  Yera  Cruz,  and  his  whole  army  now  numbered  about  eight  thousand  five 
hundred  men.  Having  skillfully  arranged  his  plans,  he  attacked  the  enemy  on 
the  18th  of  April.  The  assault  was  successful.  More  than  a  thousand  Mex 
icans  were  killed  or  wounded,  and  three  thousand  were  made  prisoners.  Hav 
ing  neither  men  to  guard,  nor  food  to  sustain  the  prisoners,  General  Scott  dis 
missed  them  on  parole.1  The  boastful  Santa  Anna  narrowly  escaped  capture  by 
fleeing  upon  a  mule  taken  from  his  carriage.8  The  Americans  lost,  in  killed 
and  wounded,  four  hundred  and  thirty-one. 

The  victors  entered  Jalapa  on  the  19th  of  April ;  and  on  the  22d,  General 
Worth  unfurled  the  stars  and  stripes  upon  the  castle  of  Perote,  on  the  summit 
of  the  eastern  Cordilleras,  fifty  miles  from  Jalapa.  This  was  considered  the 
strongest  fortress  in  Mexico  next  to  Yera  Cruz,  yet  it  was  surrendered  without 
resistance.  Among  the  spoils  were  fifty-four  pieces  of  cannon,  and  mortars, 
and  a  large  quantity  of  munitions  of  war.  Onward  the  victorious  army 
marched ;  and  on  the  15th  of  May  [1847]  it  entered  the  ancient  walled  and 
fortified  city  of  Puebla,3  without  opposition  from  the  eighty  thousand  inhabit 
ants  within.  Here  the  Americans  rested,  after  a  series  of  victories  almost  un 
paralleled.  Within  two  months,  an  army  averaging  only  about  ten  thousand 
men,  had  taken  some  of  the  strongest  fortresses  on  this  continent,  made  ten 
thousand  prisoners,  and  captured  seven  hundred  pieces  of  artillery,  ten  thou 
sand  stand  of  arms,  and  thirty  thousand  shells  and  cannon-balls.  Yet  greater 
conquests  awaited  them. 

General  Scott  remained  at  Puebla  until  August,*  when,  being  reinforced  by 
fresh  troops,  sent  by  way  of  Yera  Cruz,  he  resumed  his  march  toward  the  cap 
ital,  with  more  than  ten  thousand  men, 
leaving  a  large  number  sick  in  the  hos 
pital.6  Their  route  was  through  a 
beautiful  region,  well  watered,  and 
clothed  with  the  richest  verdure,  and 

leras.     From  their  lofty  summits,  and 
almost  from  the  same  spot  where  Cortez  and  his  followers  stood  amazed  more 

1  Note  6,  page  311. 

2  Before  the  battle,  Santa  Anna  said,  "  I  will  die  fighting  rather  than  the  Americans  shall 
proudly  tread  the  imperial  city  of  Azteca,"     So  precipitate  was  his  Might  that  he  left  all  his  papers 
behind  him,  and  his  wooden  leg.     He  had  been  so  severely  wounded  in  his  leg,  while  defending 
Yera  Cruz  against  the  French,  in  1838,  that  amputation  became  necessary,  and  a  wooden  one  was 
substituted.  3  Pronounced  Pweb-lah. 

4  During  this  long  halt  of  the  American  army,  the  government  of  the  United  States  made  un 
availing  efforts  to  negotiate  for  peace.  The  Mexican  authorities  refused  the  olive  branch,  and 
boasted  of  their  patriotism,  valor,  and  strength,  while  losing  post  after  post;  in  their  retreat  toward 
the  capital. 

6  At  one  time  there  were  eighteen  hundred  men  sick  at  Puebla ;  and  at  Perote  seven  hundred 
died  during  the  summer,  notwithstanding  the  situations,  of  these  places,  on  lofty  table-lands,  were 
considered  exceedingly  healthful. 


KOCTE  OF  THE  U.  S.  AKMY  FKOM  VEKA  CUUZ  TO  MEXICO. 


BOMBARDMENT   OP   VERA   CRUZ. 


1849.] 


FOLK'S    ADMINISTRATION. 


493 


than  three  centuries  before/  Scott  and  his  army  looked  down  [August  10,  1847] 
upon  that  glorious  panorama  of  intervales,  lakes,  cities,  and  villages,  in  the 
great  valley  of  Mexico — the  capital  of  the  Aztec  Empire2 — the  seat  of  "the 
Halls  of  the  Montezumas."3 

General  Twiggs4  cautiously  led  the  advance  of  the  American  army  toward 
the  city  of  Mexico,  on  the  llth  of  August,  and  enc.mped  at  St.  Augustine,  on 
the  Acapulco  road,  eight  miles  south  of  the  capital.  Before  him  lay  the  strong 
fortress  of  San  (or  St.)  Antonio,  and  close  on  his  right  were  the  heights  of 
Churubusco,  crowned  with  embattled  walls  covered  with  cannons,  and  to  be 
reached  in  front  only  by  a  dangerous  causeway.  Close  by  was  the  fortified 
camp  of  Contreras,  containing  six  thousand  Mexicans,  under  General  Valencia ; 
and  between  it  and  the  city  was  Santa  Anna,  and  twelve  thousand  men,  held  in 
reserve.  Such  was  the  general  position  of  the  belligerents  when,  a  little  after 
midnight  on  the  20th  of  August  [1847],  General  Smith6  marched  to  the  attack 
of  the  camp  at  Contreras.  The  battle  opened  at  sunrise.  It  was  sanguinary, 
but  brief,  and  the  Americans  were  victorious.  Eighty  officers  and  three  thou 
sand  private  soldiers  were  made  prisoners ;  and  the  chief  trophies  were  thirty- 
three  pieces  of  artillery.  In  the  mean  while,  Generals  Pierce8  and  Shields,7 
with  a  small  force,  kept  Santa  Anna's  powerful  reserve  at  bay. 

General  Scott  now  directed  a  similar  movement 
against  Cherubusco.  Santa  Anna  advanced ;  and  the 
whole  region  became  a  battle-field,  under  the  eye  and 
control  of  the  American  commander-in-chief.  The 
invaders  dealt  blow  after  blow  successfully.  Antonio 
yielded,  Churubusco  was  taken,  and  Santa  Anna  aban 
doned  the  field  and  fled  to  the  capital.  It  was  a 
memorable  day  in  Mexico.  An  army,  thirty  thou 
sand  strong,  had  been  broken  up  by  another  less  than 
one  third  its  strength  in  numbers;  and  at  almost 
every  step  the  Americans  were  successful.  Full  four 
thousand  of  the  Mexicans  were  killed  or  wounded, 
three  thousand  were  made  prisoners,  and  thirty  seven 
pieces  of  cannon  were  taken,  all  in  one  day.  The 
Americans  lost,  in  killed  and  wounded,  almost  eleven 


OPERATIONS   NEAR   MEXICO. 


1  Page  43. 

8  According  to  the  faint  glimmerings  of  ancient  Mexican  history  which  have  come  down  to  us, 
the  Aztecs,  who  occupied  that  country  when  it  first  became  known  to  Europeans  [page  43],  came 
from  the  North,  and  were  more  refined  than  any  other  tribes,  which,  from  time  to  time,  had  held 
possession  of  the  country.  They  built  a  city  within  the  borders  of  Lake  Tezcuco,  and  named  it 
Mexico,  in  honor  of  Mexitli,  their  god  of  war.  Where  the  present  great  cathedral  stands,  they  had 
erected  an  immense  temple,  dedicated  to  the  sun,  and  there  offered  human  sacrifices.  It  is  related, 
that  at  its  consecration,  almost  sixty  thousand  human  beings  were  sacrificed.  The  temple  was  built 
about  the  year  1480,  by  the  predecessor  of  Montezuma,  the  emperor  found  by  Cortez. 

This  expression,  referring  to  the  remains  of  the  palace  of  Montezuma  in  Mexico,  was  often 
used  during  the  war. 

*  David  E.  Twiggs  was  born  in  Georgia,  in  1790,  He  served  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  was 
retained  in  the  army.  He  was  breveted  a  Major-General  after  the  battle  of  Monterey,  in  Mexico. 
He  deserted  Ins  flag,  and  was  dismissed  from  the  army  in  1861.  Died  September  15,  1862. 

5  General  Persifer  P.  Smith,  of  Louisiana.  •  Page  514. 

7  General  James  Shields,  of  Illinois,  afterward  a  representative  of  that  State  m  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States. 


494  THE      NATION..  [1845. 

hundred.  They  might  now  have  entered  the  city  of  Mexico  in  triumph,  but 
General  Scott  preferred  to  bear  the  olive  branch,  rather  than  the  palm.  As  he 
advanced  to  Tacubaya,  [August  21],  within  three  miles  of  the  city,  a  flag  came 
from  Santa  Anna  to  ask  for  an  armistice,  preparatory  to  negotiations  for  peace.1 
It  was  granted,  and  Nicholas  P.  Trist,  who  had  been  appointed,  by  the  United 
States  government,  a  commissioner  to  treat  for  peace,  went  into  the  capital 
[August  24]  for  the  purpose.  Scott  made  the  palace  of  the  archbishop,  at 
Tacubaya,  his  head-quarters,  and  there  anxiously  awaited  the  result  of  the  con 
ference,  until  the  5th  of  September,  when  Mr.  Trist  returned,  with  the  intelli 
gence  that  his  propositions  were  not  only  spurned  with  scorn,  but  that  Santa 
Anna  had  violated  the  armistice  by  strengthening  the  defenses  of  the  city. 
Disgusted  with  the  continual  treachery  of  his  foe,  Scott  declared  the  armistice 
at  an  end,  on  the  7th  of  September,  and  prepared  to  storm  the  capital. 

The  first  demonstration  against  the  city  was  on  the  morning  of  the  8th  of 
September,  when  less  than  four  thousand  Americans  attacked  fourteen  thousand 
Mexicans,  under  Santa  Anna,  at  El  Molinos  del'  Rey  (the  King's  Mills)  near 
Chepultepec.  They  were  at  first  repulsed,  with  great  slaughter  ;  but  returning 
to  the  attack,  they  fought  desperately  for  an  hour,  and  drove  the  Mexicans  from 
their  position.  Both  parties  suffered  dreadfully.  The  Mexicans  left  almost  a 
thousand  dead  on  the  field,  and  the  Americans  lost  about  eight  hundred.  And 
now  the  proud  Chepultepec  was  doomed.  It  was  a  lofty  hill,  strongly  fortified, 
and  the  seat  of  the  military  school  of  Mexico.  It  was  the  last  place  to  be 
defended  outside  the  suburbs  of  the  city.  Scott  erected  four  heavy  batteries  to 
bear  upon  it,  on  the  night  of  the  llth  of  September  ;  and  the  next  day  [Sep 
tember  12,  1847],  a  heavy  cannonade  and  bombardment  commenced.  On  the 
1 3th,  the  assailants  commenced  a  furious  charge,  routed  the  enemy,  with  great 
slaughter,  and  unfurled  the  American  flag  over  the  shattered  castle  of  Chepul 
tepec.  The  Mexicans  fled  to  the  city  along  an  aqueduct,  pursued  by  General 
Quitman2  to  its  very  gates.  That  night,  Santa  Anna  and  his  army,  with  the 
officers  of  government,  fled  from  the  doomed  capital ;  and  at  four  o'clock  the 
following  morning  [September  14],  a  deputation  from  the  city  authorities 
waited  upon  General  Scott,  and  begged  him  to  spare  the  town  and  treat  for 
peace.  He  would  make  no  terms,  but  ordered  Generals  Worth  and  Quitman3 
to  move  forward,  and  plant  the  stripes  and  stars  upon  the  National  Palace. 
The  victorious  generals  entered  at  ten  o'clock,  and  on  the  Grand  Plaza*  took 
formal  possession  of  the  Mexican  Empire.  Order  soon  reigned  in  the  capital. 
Santa  Anna  made  some  feeble  efforts  to  regain  lost  power,  and  failed.  He 
appeared  before  Puebla  on  the  22d  of  September,  where  Colonel  Childs  had 
been  besieged  since  the  13th.  The  approach  of  General  Lane  frightened  him 
away ;  and  in  a  battle  with  the  troops  of  that  leader  at  Huamantla,  Santa 

1  Note  1,  page  242. 

2  John  A.  Quitman  was  a  native  of  New  York.     He  led  volunteers  to  the  Mexican  war,  and 
was  presented  with  a  sword  by  Congress.     He  was  Governor  oY  Mississippi  in  1851,  and  was  a 
leader  of  secessionists.     He  died  July  15,  1858. 

3  The  approach  of  each  was  along  separate  aqueducts.     See  map,  page  493. 

4  Place.     This  is  the  large  public  square  in  the  city  of  Mexico. 


GENERAL   SCOTT   ENTERING   THE    CITY   OP   MEXICO 


1349.]  FOLK'S     ADMINISTRATION.  497 

Anna  was  defeated.  On  the  18th  of  October  he  was  again  defeated  at  Atlixco, 
and  there  his  troops  deserted  him.  Before  the  close  of  October,  he  was  a 
fugitive,  stripped  of  every  commission,  and  seeking  safety,  by  flight,  to  the 
shores  of  the  Gulf.1  The  president  of  the  Mexican  Congress  assumed  provis 
ional  authority ;  and  on  the  2d  of  February,  1848,  that  body  concluded  a  treaty 
of  peace,  with  commissioners  of  the  United  States  at  Gaudaloupe  Hidalgo. 
This  treaty  was  finally  agreed  to  by  both  governments,  and  on  the  4th  of  July 
following,  President  Polk  proclaimed  it.  It  stipulated  the  evacuation  of  Mex 
ico  by  the  American  army,  within  three  months  ;  the  payment  of  three  millions 
of  dollars  in  hand,  and  twelve  millions  of  dollars,  in  four  annual  instalments, 
by  the  United  States  to  Mexico,  for  the  territory  acquired  by  conquest ;  and  in 
addition,  to  assume  debts  due  certain  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  the 
amount  of  three  millions  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  It  also  fixed  bound 
aries,  and  otherwise  adjusted  matters  in  dispute.  New  Mexico  and  California 
now  became  Territories  of  the  United  States. 

During  the  same  month  that  a  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  at  Gaudaloupe 
Hidalgo,  a  man  employed  by  Captain  Sutter,  who  owned  a  mill  twenty-five 
miles  up  the  American  fork  of  the  Sacramento  River,  discovered  gold.  It  was 
very  soon  found  in  other  localities,  and  during  the  summer,  rumors  of  the  fact 
reached  the  United  States.  These  rumors  assumed  tangible  form  in  President 
Polk's  message  in  December,  1848  ;  and  at  the  beginning  of  1849,  thousands 
were  on  their  way  to  the  land  of  gold.  Around  Cape  Horn,  across  the  Isthmus 
of  Panama,  and  over  the  great  central  plains  of  the  continent,  men  went  by 
hundreds ;  and  far  and  wide  in  California,  the  precious  metal  was  found.  From 
Europe  and  South  America,  hundreds  flocked  thither ;  and  the  Chinese  came 
also  from  Asia,  to  dig  gold.  The  dreams  of  the  early  Spanish  voyagers,3  and 
those  of  the  English  who  sought  gold  on  the  coasts  of  Labrador,3  and  up  the 
rivers  in  the  middle  of  the  continent,4  have  been  more  than  realized.  Emigrants 
yet  [1867]  continue  to  go  thither,  and  the  gold  peem*  inexhaustible.5 

The  war  with  Mexico,  and  the  settlement  of  the  Oregon  boundary  question* 
with  Great  Britain,  were  the  most  prominent  events,  having  a  relation  to  for 
eign  powers,  which  distinguished  Mr.  Polk's  administration.  Two  measures  of 
a  domestic  character,  appear  prominently  among  many  others  which  mark  his 
administration  as  full  of  activity.  These  were  the  establishment  of  an  inde 
pendent  treasury  system,7  by  which  the  national  revenues  are  collected  in  gold 
and  silver,  or  treasury  notes,  without  the  aid  of  banks ;  and  a  revision  of  the 
tariff  laws  in  1846,  by  which  protection  to  American  manufacturers  was 
lessened.  It  was  during  the  last  year  of  his  administration  that  Wisconsin  was 
admitted  [May  29,  1848]  into  the  Union  of  States,  making  the  whole  number 
thirty.  At  about  this  time,  the  people  of  the  Union  were  preparing  for  another 
presidential  election.  The  popularity  which  General  Taylor  had  gained  by  his 
brilliant  victories  in  Mexico,  caused  him  to  be  nominated  for  that  exalted  sta 
tion,  in  many  parts  of  the  Union,  even  before  he  returned  home  ;8  and  he  was 

1  Note  6,  page  515.  a  Page  43.         3  Page  52.         *  Page  56.         6  Note  3,  page  373. 

8  Page  479.  7  Note  2,  page  471.  8  Page  486. 

32 


498 


THE    NATION. 


[1840. 


chosen  to  be  a  candidate  for  that  office,  by  a  national  convention  held  at  Phila 
delphia  in  June,  1848.  His  opponent  was  General  Lewis  Cass,  of  Michigan, 
now  [1856]  United  States  senator  from  that  State.1  General  Taylor  was 
elected  by  a  large  majority,  with  Millard  Fillmore,  of  New  York,  as  Vice- 
President. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

TAYLOR'S    ADMINISTRATION       [1849—1850.] 

THE  4th  of  March,  1849,  was  Sunday,  and  the  inauguration  of  Zachary 
Taylor,3  the  twelfth  President  of  the  United  States,  did  not  take  place  until  the 


next  day.     Again  people  had  gathered  at  the  Federal  city  from  all  parts  of 
the  Union,  and  the  day  being  pleasant,  though  cloudy,  a  vast  concourse  were 


1  Note  2,  page  424. 

2  Zachary  Taylor  was  born  in  Virginia,  in  November,  1784. 


lie  went  with  his  father  to  Ken 
tucky  the  following  year,  and  his  childhood  was  passed  near  the  present  city  of  Louisville.  He 
entered  the  United  States  army  in  1807.  He  was  a  distinguished  subaltern  during  the  war  of 
1812-15,  and  attained  the  rank  of  major.  He  was  of  great  service  in  the  Florida  War  [page  468]  ; 
and  when  hostilities  with  Mexico  appeared  probable,  he  was  sent  in  that  direction,  and,  as  we 
have  seen,  displayed  great  skill  and  braver}-.  He  died  in  July,  1850,  having  performed  the  duties 
of  President  for  only  sixteen  months. 


185'J.]  TAYLOR'S    ADMINISTRATION.  499 

assembled  in  front  of  the  eastern  portico  of  the  capitol,  long  before  the  appointed 
hour  for  the  interesting  ceremonies.  In  a  clear  and  distinct  voice,  he  pro 
nounced  his  inaugural  address,  and  then  took  the  oath  of  office  administered  by 
Chief  Justice  Taney.  On  the  following  day  he  nominated  his  cabinet  officers,1 
and  the  appointments  were  immediately  confirmed  by  the  Senate.  With  th* 
heart  of  a  true  patriot  and  honest  man,  Taylor  entered  upon  his  responsible 
duties  with  a  sincere  desire  to  serve  his  country  as  faithfully  in  the  cabinet,  as 
he  had  done  in  the  fiald."  He  had  the  sympathies  of  a  large  majority  of  the 
people  with  him,  and  his  inauguration  was  the  promise  of  great  happiness  and 
prosperity  for  the  country. 

When  President  Taylor  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office,  thousands  of 
adventurers  were  nocking  to  California  from  all  parts  of  the  Union,  and  ele 
ments  of  a  new  and  powerful  State  were  rapidly  gathering  there.  Statesmen 
and  politicians  perceived  the  importance  of  the  new  Territory,  and  soon  the 
question  whether  slavery  should  have  a  legal  existence  there,  became  an  absorb 
ing  topic  in  Congress  and  among  the  people.  The  inhabitants  of  California 
decided  the  question  for  themselves.  In  August,  1849,  General  Riley,  tho 
military  Governor  of  the  Territory,  established  a  sort  of  judiciary  by  proclama 
tion,  with  Peter  H.  Burnet  as  Chief  Justice.  Before  that  time  there  was  no 
statute  law  in  California.  By  proclamation,  also,  Governor  Riley  summoned 
a  convention  of  delegates  to  meet  at  Monterey,  to  form  a  State  Constitution. 
Before  it  convened,  the  inhabitants  in  convention  at  San  Francisco,  voted 
against  slavery  ;  and  the  Constitution,  prepared  and  adopted  at  Monterey,  on 
the  first  of  September,  1849,  excluded  slavery  from  the  Territory,  forever. 
Thus  came  into  political  form  the  crude  elements  of  a  State,  the  birth  and 
maturity  of  which  seems  like  a  dream.  All  had  been  accomplished  within 
twenty  months  from  the  time  .when  gold  was  discovered  near  Sutters  Mill. 

Under  the  Constitution,  Edward  Gilbart  and  G.  H.  Wright,  were  elected 
delegates  for  California  in  the  National  House  of  Representatives ;  and  the  State 
Legislature,  'at  its  first  session,  elected  John  Charles  Fremont3  and  William  M. 
Gwinn,  United  States  senators.  When  the  latter  went  to  Washington,  they 
carried  their  Constitution  with  them,  and  presented  a  petition  [February, 
1859]  asking  for  the  admission  of  that  Territory  into  the  Union  as  a  free  and 
independent  State.4  The  article  of  the  Constitution  which  excluded  slavery, 
became  a  cause  for  violent  debates  in  Congress,  and  of  bitter  sectional  feeling 
in  the  South  against  the  people  of  the  North.  The  Union,  so  strong  in 
the  hearts  of  the  people,  was  shaken  to  its  center,  and  prophets  of  evil 

1  He  appointed  John  M.  Clayton,  Secretary  of  State ;  William  M.  Meredith,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury;  George  W.  Crawford,"  Secretary  of  War ;  William  B.  Preston,  Secretary  of  the  Navy; 
Thomas  Evving,  Secretary  of  the  Interior  (a  new  office  recently  established,  in  which  pome  of  the 
duties  before  performed  by  the  State  and  Treasury  departments  are  attended  to) ;  Jacob  Collamer, 
Postmaster-General;  and  Reverdy  Johnson,  Attorney-General. 

3  Page  481  to  page  486,  inclusive.  *  Page  488. 

4  At  this  time  our  government  was  perplexed  by  the  claims  of  Texas  to  portions  of  the  Terri 
tory  of  New  Mexico,  recently  acquired  [page  497],  and  serious  difficulty  was  apprehended.     Early 
in  1850,  the  inhabitants  of  New  Mexico  petitioned  Congress  for  a  civil  government,  and  the  Mor 
mons  of  the  Utah  region  also  petitioned   for  the  organization  of  the  country  they  had  recently 
settled,  into  a  Territory  of  the  United  States. 


500 


THE      NATION. 


[1849. 


predicted  its  speedy  dissolution.  As  in  1832,1  there  were  menaces  of  secession 
from  the  Union,  by  Southern  representatives,  and  never  before  did  civil  war 
appear  so .  inevitable.  Happily  for  the  country,  some  of  the  ablest  statesmen 
and  patriots  the  Republic  had  ever  gloried  in.  were  members  of  the  national 
Legislature,  at  that  time,  and  with  consummate  skill  they  directed  and  con 
trolled  the  storm.  In  the  midst  of  the  tumult  and  alarm  in  Congress,  and 
throughout  the  land,  Henry  Clay  again2  appeared  as  the  potent  peace-maker 


between  the  Hotspurs  of  the  North  and  South  ;  and  on  the  25th  of  January, 
1850,  he  oifered,  in  the  Senate  a  plan  of  compromise  which  met  the  difficulty. 
Eleven  days  afterward  [February  5,  1850J  he  spoke  nobly  in  defense  of  his 
plan,  denounced  secession  as  treason,  and  implored  his  countrymen  to  make 


1  Page  381. 

2  Page  464.     Henry  Clay  was  born  in  Hanover  county,  Virginia,  in  April,  1777.     His  early  edu 
cation  was  defective,  and  he  arose  to  greatness  by  the  force  of  his  own  genius.     His  extraordinary 
intellectual  powers  began  to  develop  at  an  early  age,  and  at  nineteen  ho  commenced  the  study 
of  the  law.     When  admitted  to  practice,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  lie  went  over  the  mountains  to  the 
fertile  valleys  of  Kentucky,  and  there  laid  the  foundations  of  his  greatness  as  a  lawyer  and  orator. 
The  latter  quality  was  first  fully  developed  when  a  convention  was  called  to  revise  the  Constitution 
of  Kentucky.     Then  he  worked  manfully  and  unceasingly  to  procure  the  election  of  delegates  who 
would  favor  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves.     He  became  a  member  of  the  Kentucky  Legislature  in 
1803,  and  there  he  took  a  front  rank.»    He  was  chosen  to  fill  a  vacant  seat  in  the  United  States 
Senate  in  1806,  and  in  1811  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of  Eepresentatives.  and  become 
its  Speaker.     From  that  time  until  his  denth,  he  was  continually  in  public  life.     He  long  held  a 
front  rank  among  American  statesmen,  and  died,  while  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate,  in 
the  city  of  Washington,  at  the  close  of  June,  1852. 


1850.]  FILLMORE'S    ADMINISTRATION.  501 

every  sacrifice  but  honor,  in  support  of  the  Union.  Mr.  Clay's  plan  was 
warmly  seconded  by  Daniel  Webster;1  and  other  senators  approving  of  compro 
mise,  submitted  propositions.  Finally,  on  motion  of  Senator  Foote  of  Missis 
sippi,  a  committee  of  thirteen  was  appointed  to  consider  the  various  plans  and 
report  a  bill.  The  committee  consisted  of  six  northern  and  six  southern  sen 
ators,  and  these  chose  the  thirteenth.  The  Senate  appointed  Mr.  Clay  chairman 
of  the  committee,  and  on  the  8th  of  May  following,  he  reported  a  bill.  It  was 
discussed  for  four  months,  and  on  the  9th  of  September,  each  measure  included 
in  the  bill  having  been  thoroughly  considered  separately,  the  famous  Compro 
mise  Act  of  1850,  having  passed  both  Houses  of  Congress,  became  a  law. 
Because  several  measures,  distinct  in  their  objects,  were  embodied  in  the  act,  it 
is  sometimes  known  as  the  "  Omnibus  Bill."  The  most  important  stipulations 
of  the  act  were,  1st.  That  California  should  be  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a 
State,  with  its  anti-slavery  Constitution,  and  its  territorial  extent  from  Oregon 
to  the  Mexican  possessions ;  2d.  That  the  vast  country  east  of  California,  con 
taining  the  Mormon  settlements  near-  the  Great  Salt  Lake,2  should  be  erected 
into  a  Territory  called  Utah,  without  mention  of  slavery ;  3d.  That  New  Mex 
ico  should  be  erected  into  a  Territory,  within  satisfactory  boundaries,  and  with 
out  any  stipulations  respecting  slavery,  and  that  ten  millions  of  dollars  should 
be  paid  to  Texas  from  the  National  treasury,  in  purchase  of  her  claims ;  4th. 
That  the  slave-trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia  should  be  abolished  ;  5th.  A 
law  providing  for  the  arrest  in  the  northern  or  free  States,  and  return  to  their 
masters,  of  all  slaves  who  should  escape  from  bondage.  The  last  measure  of 
the  Compromise  Act  produced  wide-spread  dissatisfaction  in  the  Free-labor 
States ;  and  the  execution,  evasion,  and  violation  of  the  law,  in  several 
instances,  have  led  to  serious  disturbances  and  much  bitter  sectional  feeling. 

While  the  great  Compromise  question  was  under  discussion,  the  nation  was 
called  to  lament  the  loss  of  its  Chief  Magistrate.  President  Taylor  was  seized 
with  a  malady,  similar  in  its  effects  to  cholera,  which  terminated  his  earthly 
career  on  the  9th  of  July,  1850.  In  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the 
Constitution,4  he  was  immediately  succeeded  in  office  by 

MILLARD     FILL  MORE,5 

who,  on  the  10th  of  July,  took  the  oath  to  "  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States."  President  Taylor's  cabinet  resigned;  but 
the  new  President,  with  great  delicacy,  declined  to  consider  their  resignations 

1  Page  508.  2  Page  503.  3  Article  II.,  section  1,  of  the  National  Constitution. 

4  Millard  Fillmore  was  born  in  January,  1800,  in  Cayuga  county,  New  York.  His  early  edu 
cation  was  limited,  and  at  a  suitable  age  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  wool-carder.  At  the  age  of  nine 
teen,  his  talent  attracted  the  attention  of  Judge  Wood,  of  Cayuga  county,  and  he  took  the  humble 
apprentice  under  his  charge,  to  study  the  science  of  law.  He  became  eminent  in  his  profession. 
He  was  elected  to  the  Assembly  of  his  native  State  in  1829,  and  in  1832,  was  chosen  to  represent 
his  district  in  Congress.  He  was  re-elected  in  1837,  and  was  continued  in  office  several  years.  In 
1844,  he  was  an  unsuccessful  candidate  for  the  office  of  Governor  of  his  native  State,  and  in  1848 
he  was  elected  Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  The  death  of  Taylor  gave  him  the  presidency, 
and  he  conducted  public  affairs  with  dignity  and  skill.  In  the  summer  of  1856,  he  was  nominated 
for  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  by  the  "  American"  party,  with  A.  J.  Donelsou  for 
Vice-President.  See  Note  1,  page  479. 


502 


THE     NATION. 


[1850. 


until  after  the  obsequies  of  the  deceased  President  had  been  performed.  At  his 
request,  they  remained  in  office  until  the  15th  of  the  month,  when  President 
Fillmore  appointed  new  heads  of  the  departments.1 

The  administration  of  President  Taylor  had  been  brief,  but  it  was  distin- 


guished  by  events  intimately  connected,  as  we  shall  observe,  by  men  and 
measures,  with  the  late  Civil  War.  One  of  these  was  an  invasion  of  Cuba  by  a 
force  under  General  Lopez,  a  native  of  that  island,  w^hich  was  organized  and 
officered  in  the  United  States,  in  violation  of  existing  neutrality  laws.  It  was 
said  that  the  native  Cubans  were  restive  under  the  rule  of  Spanish  Governor- 
Generals,2  and  that  a  desire  for  independence  burned  in  the  hearts  of  many  of 
the  best  men  there.  Lopez  was  ranked  among  these,  and,  in  forming  this 
invading  expedition,  he  counted  largely  upon  this  feeling  for  co-operation.  He 

1  Daniel  Webster,  Secretary  of  State ;  Thomas  Corwin,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  Charles  M. 
Conrad,  Secretary  of  War;  Alexander  H.H.Stuart,  Secretary  of  the  Interior;  William  A.  Graham, 
Secretary  of  the  Navy;  John  J.  Crittenden,  Attorney-General;  Nathan  K.  Hall,  Postmaster-Gen 
eral.  Daniel  Webster  was  born  in  Salisbury,  New  Hampshire,  in  January,  1782,  and  was  educated 
chiefly  at  the  Phillips  Academy  at  Andover,  and  Dartmouth  College  at  Hanover.  He  studied  law 
in  Boston,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1805.  He  commenced  practice  in  his  native  State,  and 
soon  became  eminent.  He  first  appeared  in  public  life  in  1813,  when  he  took  his  seat  as  a  member 
of  the  National  House  of  Representatives.  At  that  session  his  speeches  were  remarkable,  and  a 
southern  member  remarked,  "The  North  has  not  his  equal,  nor  the  South  his  superior."  Although 
in  public  life  a  greater  portion  of  the  time  from  that  period  until  his  death,  yet  he  always  had  an 
extensive  and  lucrative  law  practice.  He  stood  foremost  as  a  constitutional  lawyer ;  and  for  many 
years  he  was  peerless  as  a  statesman.  He  died  at  Marshfield,  Massachusetts,  in  October,  1852,  at 
the  age  of  almost  seventy-one  years.  a  Page  40. 


1853]  FILLMORE'S     ADMINISTRATION.  503 

landed  at  Cardenas  on  the  19th  of  April,  1850,  expecting  to  be  joined  by  some 
of  the  Spanish  troops  and  native  Cubans,  a'id  by  concerted  action  to  overturn 
the  Government.  But  the  people  and  troops  did  not  co-operate  with  him,  and 
he  returned  to  the  United  States  to  prepare  for  a  more  formidable  expedition. 
We  shall  meet  him  again  presently. 


During  Taylor's  administration,  one  State  was  formed  and  three  Territories 
were  organized ;  :md  preparations  were  made  for  establishing  other  local 
governments  within  the  domain  of  the  United  States.  That  State  was 
California,  and  the  Territories  were  of  those  of  New  Mexico,  Utah,  and  Minne 
sota.1  The  greater  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  Utah  are  of  the  religious  sect 
called  Mormons,  who,  after  suffering  much  in  Missouri  and  Illinois,  from  their 
opposers,  left  those  States  in  1848,  and  penetrated  the  deep  wilderness  in  the 
interior  of  our  continent ;  and  near  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  in  the  midst  of  the 
savage  Utah  tribes,  they  have  built  a  large  city,  made  extensive  plantations, 
and  founded  an  empire  almost  as  large,  in  territorial  extent,  as  that  of 

1  Minnesota  (sky-colored  water)  is  the  Indian  name  of  the  river  St.  Peter,  the  largest  tributary 
of  the  Mississippi,  in  that  region.  It  was  a  part  of  the  vast  Territory  of  Louisiana,  and  was  organ 
ized  in  March,  1849.  An  embryo  village,  twelve  miles  below  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  named 
St.  Paul,  was  made  the  capital,  and  in  less  than  ten  years  it  contained  more  than  ten  thousand 
souls.  Its  growth  was  unprecedented,  even  in  the  wonderful  progress  of  other  cities  of  the  West, 
and  at  one  time  it  promised  to  speedily  equal  Chicago  in  its  population.  The  whole  region  of 
Minnesota  is  very  attractive  ;  and  it  has  beea  called  the  New  England  of  the  West. 


504  THE     CATION".  [1850. 

Alexander  the  Great.1  The  sect  was  founded  in  1827,  by  a  shrewd  young 
man  named  Joseph  Smith,  a  native  of  central  New  York,  who  professed  to 
have  received  a  special  revelation  from  Heaven,  giving 
hitn  knowledge  of  a  book  which  had  been  buried  many 
centuries  before,  in  a  hill  near  the  village  of  Palmyra, 
whose  leaves  were  of  gold,  upon  which  were  engraved 
the  records  of  the  ancient  people  of  America,  and  a 
new  gospel  for  man.  He  found  dupes,  believers,  and 
followers;  and  now  [1867]  there  are  Mormon  mission 
aries  in  many  portions  of  the  globe,  and  the  communion 
numbers,  probably,  not  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty 
JOSEPH  SMITH,  thousand  souls.  There  has  long  been  a  sufficient  number 
in  Utah  to  entitle  them  to  a  State  constitution,  and  admission  into  the  Union, 
but  their  social  system,  which  embraces  polygamy,  sanctioned  by  authority,  is 
a  bar  to  such  admission.  Their  permission  of  polygamy,  or  men  having  more 
than  one  wife,  will  be  a  serious  bar  to  their  admission,  for  Christianity  and 
sound  morality  forbid  the  custom.  The  Mormons  have  poetically  called  their 
country  Deseret — the  land  of  the  Honey  Bee — but  Congress  has  entitled  it 
Utah,  and  by  that  name  it  must  be  known  in  history. 

The  country  inhabited  by  the  Mormons~ts  one  of  the  most  remarkable  on  the 
face  of  the  globe.  It  consists  of  a  series  of  extensive  valleys  and  rocky  mar 
gins,  spread  out  into  an  immense  basin,  surrounded  by  rugged  mountains,  out 
of  which  no  waters  flow.  It  is  midway  between  the  States  on  the  Mississippi 
and  the  Pacific  Ocean,  perfectly  isolated  from  habitable  regions,  and  embracing 
a  domain  covering  sixteen  degrees  of  longitude  in  the  Utah  latitude.  On  the 
east  are  the  sterile  spurs  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  stretching  down  to  the  vast 
plains  traversed  by  the  Platte  river  ;  on  the  west,  extending  nearly  a  thousand 
miles  toward  the  Pacific,  are  arid  salt  deserts,  broken  by  barren  mountains ; 
and  north  and  south  are  immense  mountain  districts.  The  valleys  afford  pe- 


1  Tho  Mormon  exodus  was  ono  of  the  most  wonderful  events  on  record,  when  considered  in  all 
its  phases.  In  September,  1846,  the  last  lingering  Mormons  at  Nauvoo,  Illinois,  where  they -had 
built  a  splendid  temple,  were  driven  away  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  by  1,600  troops.  In  Febru 
ary  preceding,  some  sixteen  hundred  men,  women,  and  children,  fearful  of  the  wrath  of  the  people 
around  them,  had  crossed  the  Mississippi  on  the  ice,  and  traveling  with  ox-teams  and  on  foot,  they 
penetrated  the  wilderness  to  the  Indian  country,  near  Council  Bluffs,  on  the  Missouri.  The  rem 
nant  who  started  in  autumn,  many  of  whom,  were  sick  men,  feeble  women,  and  delicate  girls,  were 
compelled  to  traverse  the  same  dreary  region.  The  united  host,  under  the  guidance  of  Brigham 
Young,  who  is  yet  their  temporal  and  spiritual  leader,  halted  on  the  broad  prairies  of  Missouri  the 
following  summer,  turned  up  the  virgin  soil,  and  planted.  Here  leaving  £i  few  to  cultivate  and 
gather  for  wanderers  who  might  come  after  them,  the  host  moved  on,  making  the  wilderness  vocal 
with  preaching  and  singing.  Order  marked  every  step  of  their  progress,  for  the  voice  of  Young, 
whom  they  regarded  as  a  seer,  was  to  them  as  the  voice  of  God.  On  they  went,  forming  Tabernacle 
Camps,  or  temporary  resting-places  in  the  wilderness.  N"o  obstacles  impeded  their  progrc  ss.  They 
forded  swift -running  streams,  and  bridged  the  deeper  floods ;  crept  up  the  great  eastern  slopes  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  from  the  lofty  summits  of  the  "Wasatch  range,  they  beheld,  on  the  20th  of 
July,  1847,  the  valley  where  they  were  to  rest  and  build  a  city,  and  the  placid  waters  of  the  Great 
Salt  Lake,  glittering  in  the  beams  of  the  setting  sun.  To  those  weary  wanderers,  this  moutain  top 
was  a  Pisgah.  From  it  they  saw  the  Promised  Land — to  them  a  scene  of  wondrous  interest. 
Westward,  lofty  peaks,  bathed  in  purple  air,  pierced  the  sky ;  and  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach, 
north  and  south,  stretched  the  fertile  Valley  of  Promise,  and  here  and  there  the  vapors  of  hot 
springs,  gushing  from  rocky  coverts,  curled  above  the  hills,  like  smoke  from  the  hearth-fires  of  home. 
The  Pilgrims  entered  the  valley  on  the  21st  of  July,  and  on  the  24th  the  President  and  High 
Council  arrived.  There  they  planted  a  city,  the  Jerusalem — the  Holy  City — of  the  Mormon  people. 


MORMON   EMIGRATION. 


1851.]  FILLMORE'S     ADMINISTRATION.  597 

rennial  pasturage,  and  the  soil  is  exceedingly  fertile.  Wild  game  abounds  in 
the  mountains ;  the  streams  are  filled  with  excellent  fish ;  the  climate  is 
delightful  at  all  seasons  of  the  year;  and  "breathing  is  a  real  luxury." 
Southward,  over  the  rim  of  the  great  basin,  is  a  fine  cotton-growing  region, 
into  which  the  Mormons  are  penetrating.  The  vast  hills  and  mountain  slopes 
present  the  finest  pasturage  in  the  world  for  sheep,  alpacas,  and  goats.  The 
water-power  of  the  whole  region  is  immense.  Iron-mines  everywhere  abound, 
and  in  the  Green  river  basin,  there  are  inexhaustible  beds  of  coal.  In  these 
great  natural  resources  and  defenses,  possessed  by  a  people  of  such  indomitable 
energy  and  perseverance  as  the  Mormons  have  shown,  we  see  the  vital  ele 
ments  of  a  powerful  mountain  nation,  in  proportions,  in  the  heart  of  our  conti 
nent,  and  in  the  direct  pathway  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  States,  that 
may  yet  play  a  most  important  part,  for  good  or  for  evil,  in  the  destinies  of 
our  country  and  of  the  world. 

The  most  important  measure  adopted  during  the  early  part  of  Fillmore's 
administration  was  the  Compromise  Act,  already  considered.1  During  his  offi 
cial  career  the  President  firmly  supported  the  measure,  and  at  the  close  of  his 
administration,  in  the  spring  of  1853,  there  seemed  to  be  very  little  disquie 
tude  in  the  public  mind  on  the  subject  of  slavery.  That  calm  was  the  lull 
before  a  tempest.  The  Fugitive  Slave  Law  was  so  much  at  variance  with  the 
spirit  of  free  institutions,  Christian  ethics,  and  the  civilization  of  the  age,  that 
the  hearts  of  the  people  of  the  free-labor  States,  and  of  thousands  in  the  slave- 
labor  States,  burned  with  a  desire  not  only  to  purge  the  National  statute-books 
of  that  law,  but  to  stay  the  further  spread  of  slavery  over  the  domain  of  the 
Republic.  That  desire,  and  a  determination  of  the  slave-holders  to  extend  the 
area  of  their  labor  system,  speedily  led  to  terrible  results,  as  we  shall  observe 
presently. 

In  the  spring  of  1851,  Congress  made  important  and  salutary  changes  in 
the  general  post-office  laws,  chiefly  in  the  reduction  of  letter  postage,  fixing 
the  rate  upon  a  letter  weighing  not  more  than  half  an  ounce,  and  pre-paid,  at 
three  cents,  to  any  part  of  the  United  States,  excepting  California  and  the 
Pacific  Territories.  The  exception  was  afterward 
abandoned.  At  the  same  time,  electro-magnetic  tele 
graphing  had  become  quite  perfect ;  and  by  means  of 
the  subtile  agency  of  electricity,  communications  were 
speeding  over  thousands  of  miles  of  iron  wire,  with 
the  rapidity  of  lightning.  The  establishment  of  this 
instantaneous  communication  between  distant  points 
is  one  of  the  most  important  achievements  of  this  age 
of  invention  and  discovery ;  and  the  names  of  Fulton 
and  Morse2  will  be  forever  indissolubly  connected  in 
the  commercial  and  social  history  of  our  republic. 

-p.        .  ,,  f   _OK,     *,  .  S.    F.    B.    MORSE. 

During  the  summer  01  1851,  there  was  again  con- 

1  Page  501. 

3  In  1832,  Professor  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  had  his  attention  directed  to  the  experiments  of 
Franklin,  upon  a  wire  a  few  miles  in  length  on  the  banks  of  the  Schuylkill,  in  which  the  velocity 


508  THE     NATION.  [1851. 

siderable  excitement  produced  throughout  the  country  because  other  concerted 
movements  were  made,  at  different  points,  in  the  organization  of  a  military 
force  for  the  purpose  of  invading  Cuba.1  The  vigilance  of  the  government  of 
the  United  States  was  aAvakened,  and  orders  were  given  to  its  marshals  to 
arrest  suspected  men,  and  seize  suspected  vessels  and  munitions  of  war.  Pur 
suant  to  these  orders,  the  steamboat  Cleopatra  was  detained  at  New  York ; 
and  several  gentlemen,  of  the  highest  respectability,  were  arrested  on  a  charge 
of  a  violation  of  existing  neutrality  laws.  In  the  mean  time  the  greatest 
excitement  prevailed  in  Cuba,  and  forty  thousand  Spanish  troops  were  concen 
trated  there,  while  a  considerable  naval  force  watched  and  guarded  the  coasts. 
These  hindrances  caused  the  dispersion  of  the  armed  bands  who  were  pre 
paring  to  invade  Cuba,  and  quiet  was  restored  for  a  while.  But  in  July  the 
excitement  was  renewed.  General  Lopez,2  who  appears  to  have  been  under  the 
control  of  designing  politicians,  made  a  speech  to  a  large  crowd  in  New 
Orleans,  in  favor  of  an  invading  expedition.  Soon  afterward  [August,  1851], 
he  sailed  from  that  port  with  about  four  hundred  and  eighty  followers,  and 
landed  [August  11]  on  the  northern  coast  of  Cuba.  There  he  left  Colonel 
William  L.  Crittenden,  of  Kentucky,  with  one  hundred  men,  and  proceeded 
toward  the  interior.  Crittenden  and  his~f>arty  were  captured,  carried  to 
Havana,  and  on  the  16th  were  shot.  Lopez  was  attacked  on  the  13th,  and  his 
little  army  was  dispersed.  He  had  been  deceived.  There  appeared  no  signs 
of  a  promised  revolution  in  Cuba,  and  he  became  a  fugitive.  He  was  arrested 
on  the  28th,  with  six  of  his  followers,  taken  to  Havana,  and  on  the  1st  of 
September  was  executed. 

In  the  autumn  of  1851,  more  accessions  were  made  to  the  vastly  extended 

of  electricity  was  found  to  be  so  inappreciable  that  it  was  supposed  to  be  instantaneous.  Pro 
fessor  Morse,  pondering  upon  this  subject,  suggested  that  electricity  might  be  made  the  means  of 
recording  characters  as  signs  of  intelligence  at  a  distance;  and  in  the  autumn  of  1832  he  con 
structed  a  portion  of  the  instrumentalities  for  that  purpose.  In  1835  he  showed  the  first  com 
plete  instrument  for  telegraphic  recording,  at  the  New  York  City  University.  In  1837  he 
completed  a  more  perfect  machinery.  In  1838  he  submitted  the  matter  and  the  telegraphic 
instruments  to  Congress,  asking  their  aid  to  construct  a  line  of  sufficient  length  "to  test  its 
practicability  and  utility."  The  committee  to  whom  the  subject  was  referred  reported  favorably, 
and  proposed  an  appropriation  of  $30,000  to  construct  the  first  line.  The  appropriation,  how 
ever,  was  not  made  until  the  3d  of  March,  1843.  The  posts  for  supporting  the  wires  were 
erected  between  Washington  and  Baltimore,  a  distance  of  forty  miles.  In  the  spring  of  1844 
the  line  was  completed,  and  the  proceedings  of  the  Democratic  Convention,  then  sitting  in  Balti 
more,  which  nominated  James  K.  Polk  for  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States,  was  the  first  use, 
for  public  purposes,  ever  made  by  the  telegraph,  whose  lines  have  been  extended  to  ail  parts  of 
the  civilized  world,  the  total  length  of  which,  at  this  time  [1867],  is  about  '225,000  miles.  Pro 
fessor  Morse's  system  of  Eecording  Telegraphs  is  adopted  generally  on  the  continent  of  Europe, 
and  has  been  selected  by  the  government  of  Australia  for  the  telegraphic  systems  of  that  coun 
try.  A  very  ingenious  machine  for  recording  telegraphic  communications  with  printing  types,  so 
as  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  copying,  was  constructed,  a  few  years  ago,  by  House,  and  is  now 
extensively  used.  Professor  Morse  is  the  eldest  son  of  Rev.  Jedediah  Morse,  the  first  American 
geographer.  He  was  born  in  Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  in  1791.  and  was  graduated  at  Yale 
College  in  1810.  Ho  studied  painting  in  England,  and  was  very  successful.  He  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  National  Academy  of  Design  in  New  York,  and  he  was  the  first  to  deliver  a 
course  of  lectures  upon  art  in  America.  He  became  a  professor  in  the  University  of  the  city  of 
New  York,  and  there  perfected  his  magnetic  telegraph.  Mr.  Morse  now  [1867]  resides  on  his 
beautiful  estate  of  Locust  Grove,  near  Poughkeepsie,  New  York,  but  since  the  summer  of  1866 
has  spent  much  time  in  Europe.  He  has  received  many  testimonials  of  appreciation  from  eminent 
individuals  and  societies  beyond  the  Atlantic. 

1  Page  502.  2  Page  502. 


1851.]  FILLMORE'S    ADMINISTRATION.  5Q9 

possessions  of  the  United  States.  Population  was  pouring  into  the  regions  of 
the  Northwest,  beyond  the  Mississippi,  and  crowding  the  dusky  inhabitants  of 
the  Indian  reservations  in  Minnesota.  Negotiations  for  a  cession  of  those 
lands  to  the  United  States  were  opened.  These  resulted  in  the  purchase  of 
many  millions  of  acres  from  the  Upper  and  Lower  Sioux  tribes  of  Indians,1 
their  removal  to  another  reservation,  and  the  blooming  of  the  wilderness  they 
occupied  under  the  hands  of  the  white  man.  And  while  inter-emigration  was 
seen  flowing  in  a  continuous  stream  'in  that  direction,  population  was  also 
flowing  in  large  volume  from  Europe,  increasing  the  inhabitants  and  wealth 
of  the  country.  There  had  been  for  some  time  unwonted  activity  everywhere, 
and  this  was  one  of  its  many  phases.  States  and  Territories  were  growing. 
Additional  representatives  in  the  National  Legislature  were  crowding  its  halls.2 
These  were  becoming  too  narrow,  and  Congress  made  provision  for  enlarging 
them.  Accordingly,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1851,  the  corner-stone  of  the  addition 
to  the  National  Capitol  was  laid  by  the  President,  with  appropriate  cere 
monies.3 

Circumstances  at  about  the  time  we  are  considering,  caused  a  remarkable 
American  expedition  to  the  polar  regions.  Sir  John  Franklin,  an  English 
navigator,  sailed  to  that  part  of  the  globe,  with  two  vessels,  in  May,  1845,  in 
search  of  the  long-sought  northwest  passage  from  Europe  to  the  West  Indies.4 
Years  passed  by,  and  no  tidings  of  him  came.  Expe 
ditions  were  sent  from  England  in  search  of  him; 
and  in  May,  1850,  Henry  Grinnell,  a  wealthy  mer 
chant  of  New  York,  sent  two  ships,  in  charge  of  Lieu 
tenant  De  Haven,  to  assist  in  the  benevolent  effort. 
They  returned,  after  remarkable  adventures,  in  the 
autumn  of  1851,  without  success.  The  effort  was 
renewed  by  the  opulent  merchant,  in  connection  with 
his  government,  in  1853,  and  in  May  of  that  year 
two  vessels  under  the  command  of  Elisha  Kent  Kane, 
M.  D.,  the  surgeon  of  the  first  expedition,  sailed  from 

V      K"      TV"  A  N"F 

New  York,  while  a  similar  expedition  was  sent  out 

from  England.     Kane  and  his  party  made  valuable  discoveries,  among  which 

was  that  of  the  "open  polar  sea,"  whose  existence  was  believed  in  by  scien- 

1  Page  31. 

2  Each  State  is  entitled  to  two  senators.     The  number  of  States  now  [1867]  being  thirty- 
eight,  the  Senate  is  composed  of  seventy-six  members.     The  number  of  Representatives  to  which 
each  State  is  entitled,  is  determined  by  the  number  of  inhabitants  and  the  ratio  of  representation. 
The  present  number  of  the  members  in  the  House  of  Representatives  is  two  hundred  and  fifty- 
three,  including  delegates  from  nine  Territories.  • 

3  Note  1,  page  388.     On  the  occasion  of  laying  the  corner-stone,  an  oration  was  pronounced 
by  Daniel  Webster,  in  the  course  of  which  he  said:    "If,  therefore,  it  shall  hereafter  be  the  will 
of  God  that  this  structure  shall  fall  from  its  base,  that  its  foundations  be  upturned,  and  the 
deposit  beneath  this  stone  brought  to  the  eyes  of  men,  be  it  then  known,  that  on   this  day  the 
Union  of  the^United  States  of  America  stands  firm — that  their  Constitution  still  exists  unimpaired, 
and  with  all  its  usefulness  and  glory,  growing  every  day  stronger  in  the  affections  of  the  great 
body  of  the  American  people,  and  attracting,  more  and  more,  the  admiration  of  the  world. ': 

4  Note  2,  page  47,  also  page  52,  and  note  8,  page  59. 

5  Elisha  Kent  Kane  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  in  February,  1822,  and  lie  took  his  degree  in 
the  Medical  University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1 843.     He  entered  the  American  navy  as  assistant- 


510  THE     NATION  [1851. 

tific  men,  but  they  failed  to  find  Sir  John  Franklin.1  They  suffered  much, 
and  were  finally  compelled  to  abandon  their  ships  and  make  their  way  in 
open  boats  to  a  Danish  settlement  in  Greenland.  Their  long  absence  created 
fears  for  their  safety,  and  a  relief  expedition  was  sent  in  search  of  them.  In 
the  vessels  of  the  latter  they  returned  home  in  the  autumn  of  1855. • 

The  public  attention  was  directed  to,  and  popular  sympathy  was  strongly 
excited  in  behalf  of  Hungary,  by  the  arrival  in  the  United  States,  toward  the 
close  of  1851,  of  Louis  Kossuth,  the  exiled  Governor  of  that  country,  whose 
people,  during  the  revolutions  of  1848,3  had  sought  independence  of  the  crown 
of  Austria.  He  came  to  ask  material  aid  for  his  country  in  its  struggle  which 
then  continued.  The  sympathy  of  the  people  with  the  Hungarians,  and  the 
eloquence  of  the  exile,  as  he  went  from  place  to  place  pleading  the  cause  of  his 
nation  and  enunciating  important  international  doctrines,4  made  his  mission 
the  chief  topic  of  thought  and  conversation  for  a  long  time.  The  policy  of  our 
government  forbade  its  giving  material  aid,  but  Kossuth  received  the  expres 
sion  of  its  warmest  sympathies.5  His  advent  among  us,  and  his  bold  enuncia- 

surgeon,  and  was  attached  as  a  physician  to  the  first  American  embassy  to  China.  "While  in  the 
Bast,  he  visited  many  of  the  Islands,  and  met  with  wild  adventures.  After  that  he  ascended  the 
Nile  to  the  confines  of  Nubia,  and  passed  a  season  mrEgypt.  After  traveling  through  Greece 
and  a  part  of  Europe,  on  foot,  he  returned  to  the  United  States  in  1846.  He  was  immediately  sent 
to  the  coast  of  Africa,  where  he  narrowly  escaped  death  from  fever.  Soon  after  his  recovery  he 
went  to  Mexico,  as  a  volunteer  in  the  war  then  progressing,  where  his  bravery  and  endurance 
commanded  universal  admiration.  His  horse  was  killed  under  him,  and  himself  was  badly 
wounded.  He  was  appointed  senior  surgeon  and  naturalist  to  the  "  Grinnel  Expedition,"  '  ;<: 
tioned  in  the  text;  and  after  his  return  he  prepared  an  interesting  account  of  the  explorat-ou 
He  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  a  second  expedition,  and  he  accomplished  much  in  behalf 
of  geographical  science.  Dr.  Kane  held  an  accomplished  pencil  and  ready  pen,  and  his  scientific 
attainments  were  of  a  high  order.  The  records  of  this  wonderful  expedition,  prepared  by  himself, 
were  published  in  two  superb  volumes,  illustrated  by  engravings  from  drawings  by  his  hand.  The 
hardships  which  he  had  endured  made  great  inroads  on  the  health  of  Dr.  Kane  (who  was  a  very 
light  man,  weighing  only  106  pounds);  and  in  October,  1856,  he  sailed  for  England,  and  from 
thence  to  Havana,  where  lie  died  on  the  16th  of  February,  1857. 

1  In   1855,   an  overland  exploring  party,    sent  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Fur  Company,   were 
informed  by  the  Esquimaux  that  about  four  years  before  a  party  of  white  men  had  perished  in 
the  region  of  Montreal  Island.     They  saw  among  the  Indians  articles  known  to  have  belonged  to 
Sir  John  and  his  party,  and  the  belief  is  that  they  perished  on  the  northern  borders  of  North 
America,  so  late  as  the  year  1851. 

2  In  the  mean  time  the  great  problem,  which  for  three  hundred  years  had  perplexed  the  mari 
time  world,  had  been  worked  out  by  an  English  navigator.     The   fact  of  a  northwest  passage 
around  the  Arctic  coast  of  North  America,  from  Baffin's  Bay  to  Behring's  Straits,  has   been 
unquestionably  demonstrated  by  Captain  McClure,  of  the  ship  Investigator,  who  was  sent  in  search 
of  Sir  John  Franklin  in  October,  1853.     Having  passed  through  Behring's  Straits,  and  sailed 
eastward,  he  reached  a  point,  with  sleds  upon  the  ice,  which  had  been  penetrated  by  navigators 
from  the  East  (Captain  Parry  and  others),  thus  establishing  the  fact  that  there  is  a  water  connec 
tion  between  Baffin's  Bay  and  those  straits.     Already  the  mute  whale  had  demonstrated  this  fact 
to  the  satisfaction  of  naturalists.     The  same  species  are  found  in  Behring's  Straits  and  Baffin's 
Bay,  and  as  the  waters  of  the  tropical  regions  would  be  like  a  sea  of  fire  to  them,  they  must  have 
had  communication  through  the  polar  channels. 

3  In  February,  1848.  the  French  people  drove  Louis  Philippe  from  his  throne,  and  formed  a 
temporary  republic.     The  revolutionary  spirit  spread;   and  within  a  few  months,  almost  every 
country  on  the  continent  of  Europe  was  in  a  state  of  agitation,  and  the  monarchs  made  many 
concessions  to  the  people.     Hungary  made  an  effort  to  become  free  from  the  rule  of  Austria,  but 
was  crushed  by  the  povter  of  a  Russian  army. 

4  He  asserted  that  grand  principle,  that  one  nation  has  no  right  to  interfere  with  the  domestic 
concerns  of  another,  and  that  all  nations  are  bound  to  use  their  efforts  to  prevent  such  interference. 

5  Matters  connected  with  his  reception,  visit,  and  desires  occupied  much  of  the  attention  of 
Congress,  and  elicited  warm  debates  during  the  session  of  1852.      The  Chevalier  Hulseman,  the 
Austrian  minister  at  Washington,  formally  protested  against  the  reception  of  Kossuth  by  Con- 


1852.]  FILLMORE'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

tion  of  the  hitherto  unrecognized  national  duties,  are  important  and  interesting 
events  in  the  history  of  our  republic. 

Some  ill-feeling  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  was  engen 
dered  during  the  summer  of  1852,  when  the  subject  of  difficulties  concerning 
the  fisheries1  on  the  coast  of  British  America  was  brought  to  the  notice  of  Con 
gress,  and  for  several  months  there  were  indications  of  a  serious  disturbance 
of  the  amicable  relations  between  the  two  governments.  American  fishers 
were  charged  with  a  violation  of  the  treaty  of  1818,  which  stipulated  that  they 
should  not  cast  their  lines  or  nets  in  the  bays  of  the  British  possessions,  except 
at  a  distance  of  three  miles  or  more  from  the  shore.  Now,  the  British  govern 
ment  claimed  the  right  to  draw  a  line  from  head-land  to  head-land  of  these 
bays,  and  to  exclude  the  Americans  from  the  waters  within  that  line.2  An 
armed  naval  force  was  sent  to  sustain  this  claim,  and  American  vessels  were 
threatened  with  seizure  if  they  did  not  comply.  The  government  of  the  United 
States  regarded  the  assumption  as  illegal,  and  two  steam-vessels  of  war 
(Princeton  and  Fulton)  were  sent  to  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia  to  protect  the 
rights  of  American  fishermen.  The  dispute  was  amicably  settled  by  mutual 
concessions,  in  October,  1853,  and  the  cloud  passed  by. 

During  the  summer  of  1853,  another  measure  of  national  concern  was  ma 
tured  and  put  in  operation.  The  great  importance  of  commercial  intercourse 
with  Japan,  because  of  the  intimate  relations  which  must  soon  exist  between 
our  Pacific  coast  and  the  East  Indies,  had  been  felt  ever  since  the  foundation 
of  Oregon3  and  California.4  An  expedition,  to  consist  of  seven  ships  of  war, 
under  the  command  of  Commodore  Perry,  a  brother  of  the  "Hero  of  Lake 
Erie,"5  was  fitted  out  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  a  letter  from  the  President 
of  the  United  States  to  the  emperor  of  Japan,  soliciting  the  negotiation  of  a 
treaty  of  friendship  and  commerce  between  the  two  nations,  by  which  the  ports 
of  the  latter  should  be  thrown  open  to  American  vessels,  for  purposes  of  trade. 
The  mission  of  Commodore  Perry  was  highly  successful.  He  negotiated  a 
treaty,  by  which  it  was  stipulated  that  ports  on  different  Japanese  Islands 
should  be  open  to  American  commerce  ;6  that  steamers  from  California  to  China 
should  be  furnished  with  supplies  of  coals;  and  that  American  sailors  ship 
wrecked  on  the  Japanese  coasts  should  receive  hospitable  treatment.  Subse 
quently  a  peculiar  construction  of  the  treaty  on  the  part  of  the  Japanese 
authorities,  in  relation  to  the  permanent  residence  of  Americans  there,  threat 
ened  a  disturbance  of  the  amicable  relations  which  had  been  established.  The 


gress;  and,  because  his  protest  was  not  heeded,  he  retired  from  his  post,  and  left  the  duties  of 
his  office  with  Mr.  Auguste  Belmonte,  of  New  York.  Previous  to  this,  Hulseman  issued  a 
written  protest  against  the  policy  of  our  government  in  relation  to  Austria  and  Hungary,  and 
that  protest  was  answered,  in  a  masterly  manner,  in  January,  1851,  by  Mr.  Webster,  the  Secre 
tary  of  State. 

1  Pages  47  and  453. 

2  This  stipulation  was  so  construed  as  to  allow  American  fishermen  to  catch  cod  within  the 
large  bays  where  they  could  easily  carry  on  their  avocations  at  a  greater  distance  than  three  miles 
from  any  land.     Such  had  been  the  common  practice,  without  interference,  until  the  assumption 
of  exclusive  right  to  their  bays  was  promulgated  by  the  British. 

3  Page  479.  4  Page  487.  B  Page  423. 
6  Previous  to  this,  the  Dutch  had  monopolized  the  trade  of  Japan.     See  note  5,  page  59. 


512  THE     NATION.  [1852. 

matter  was  adjusted,  and  in  1860,  a  large  and  imposing  embassy  from  the 
empire  of  Japan  visited  the  United  States.  The  intercourse  between  the  two 
countries  is  becoming  more  and  more  intimate. 

The  relations  between  the  United  States  and  old  Spain,  on  account  of  Cuba, 
became  interesting  in  the  autumn  of  1852.  The  Spanish  authorities  of  Cuba, 
being  thoroughly  alarmed  by  the  attempts  at  invasion,1  and  the  evident  sym 
pathy  in  the  movement  of  a  large  portion  of  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
became  excessively  suspicious,  and  many  little  outrages  were  committed  at 
Havana,  which  kept  alive  an  irritation  of  feeling  inconsistent  with  social  and 
commercial  friendship.  The  idea  became  prevalent,  in  Cuba  and  in  Europe, 
that  it  was  the  policy  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  to  ultimately 
acquire  absolute  possession  of  that  island,  and  thus  have  the  control  over  the 
commerce  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  (the  door  to  California),  and  the  trade  of  the 
West  India  group  of  islands,  which  are  owned,  chiefly,  by  France  and  England. 
To  prevent  such  a  result,  the  cabinets  of  France  and  England  asked  that  of  the 
United  States  to  enter  with  them  into  a  treaty  which  should  secure  Cuba  to 
Spain,  by  agreeing  to  disclaim,  "now  and  forever  hereafter,  all  intention  to 
obtain  possession  of  the  Island  of  Cuba,"  and  "  to  discountenance  all  such 
attempts,  to  that  eifect,  on  the  part  of  any  power  or  individual  whatever." 
Edward  Everett,  then  Secretary  of  State,  issued  a  response  [December  1,  1852] 
to  this  extraordinary  proposition,  which  the  American  people  universally 
applauded  for  its  keen  logic  and  patriotic  and  enlightened  views.  He  told 
France  and  England  plainly,  that  the  question  was  an  American  and  not  a 
European  one,  and  not  properly  within  the  scope  of  their  interference ;  that 
while  the  United  States  government  disclaimed  all  intention  to  violate  existing 
neutrality  laws,  it  would  not  relinquish  the  right  to  act  in  relation  to  Cuba 
independent  of  any  other  power ;  and  that  it  could  not  see  with  indifference 
"  the  Island  of  Cuba  fall  into  the  hands  of  any  other  power  than  Spain."2  Lord 
John  Russell,  the  English  prime-minister,  answered  this  letter  [February, 
1853],  and  thus  ended  the  diplomatic  correspondence  on  the  subject  of  the 
proposed  "  Tripartite  Treaty,"  as  it  was  called. 

The  most  important  of  the  closing  events  of  Mr.  Fillmore's  administration 
was  the  creation  by  Congress  of  a  new  Territory  called  Washington,  out  of  the 
northern  part  of  Oregon.3  The  bill  for  this  purpose  became  a  law  on  the  2d  of 
March,  1853,  two  days  before  Fillmore's  successor,  Franklin  Pierce,  of  New 

1  Pages  502  and  508. 

2  As  early  as  1 823,  when  the  Spanish  provinces  in  South  America  were  in  rebellion,  or  forming 
into  independent  republics,  President  Monroe,  in  a  special  message  upon  the  subject,  promulgated 
the  doctrine,  since  acted  upon,  that  the  United  States  ought  to  resist  the  extension  of  foreign 
domain  or  influence  upon  the  American  continent,  and  not  allow  any  European  government,  by 
colonizing  or  otherwise,  to  gain  a  foothold  in  the  New  World  not  already  acquired.     [See  note  5, 
page  448.]     This  was  directed  specially  against  the  efforts  expected  to  be  made  by  the  allied 
sovereigns  who  had  crushed  Napoleon,  to  assist  Spain  against  her  revolted  colonies  in  America, 
and  to  suppress  the  growth  of  democracy  there.     It  became  a  settled  policy  of  our  government, 
and  Mr.  Everett  reasserted  it  in  its  fullest  extent.     Such  expression  seemed  to  be  important  and 
seasonable,  because  it  was  well  known  that  Great  Britain  was  then  making  strenuous  efforts  to 
obtain  potent  influence  in  Central  America,  so  as  to  prevent  the  United  States  from  acquiring 
exclusive  property  in  the  routes  across  the  isthmus  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

3  Page  479. 


1853.] 


PIERCE'S    ADMINISTRATION. 


513 


Hampshire,  was  inaugurated.  ^The  latter  was  nominated  for  the  office  by  the 
Democratic  convention  held  at  Baltimore  early  in  June,  1852,  when  William 
R.  King,  of  Alabama,  was  named  for  the  office  of  Vice-President.  At  the 
same  place,  on  the  16th  of  June,  Winfield  Scott  was  nominated  for  President 
and  William  A.  Graham  for  Yice-President,  by  a  Whig  convention.  The 
Democratic  nominees  were  elected,  but  failing  health  prevented  the  Yice- 
President  taking  his  seat.  He  died  in  April,  1863,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight 
years. 


CHAPTER     XIV. 

PIERCE'S     ADMINISTRATION.       [1853  —  1857.] 

A  DRIVING  sleet  tilled  the  air  on  the  4th  of  March,  1853,  when  Franklin 
Pierce,1  the  fourteenth  President  of  the  United  States,  stood  upon  the  rude 


platform  of  New  Hampshire  pine,  erected  for  the  purpose  over  the  steps  of  the 
eastern  portico  of  the  Federal  capitol,  and  took  the  oath  of  office,  administered 
by  Chief  Justice  Taney.  The  military  display  on  that  occasion  was  larger 

1  Franklin  Pierce  was  born  at  Hillsborough,  New  Hampshire,  in  November,  1 804.  He  is  the 
son  of  General  Benjamin  Pierce,  an  active  officer  in  the  old  War  for  Independence,  and  one  of  the 
most  useful  men  in  New  Hampshire.  In  1820,  when  sixteen  years  of  age,  young  Pierce  became 

33 


514  TiIE     NATION.  [1853. 

than  had  ever  been  seen  in  the  streets  of  the  National  city,  and  it  was  estimated 
that  at  least  twenty  thousand  strangers  were  in  Washington  on  the  morning 
of  the  inauguration.  Untrammeled  by  special  party  pledges,  the  new  Chief 
Magistrate  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  office  under  pleasant  auspices ;  and 
his  inaugural  address,  full  of  promises  and  patriotic  sentiments,  received  the 
general  approval  of  his  countrymen.  Three  days  afterward  [March  7]  the 
Senate,  in  special  session,  confirmed  his  cabinet  appointments.1 

The  most  serious  difficulty  which  President  Pierce  was  called  upon  to 
encounter,  at  the  commencement  of  his  administration,  was  a  dispute  concern 
ing  the  boundary-line  between  the  Mexican  province  of  Chihuahua2  and  New 
Mexico.3  The  Mesilla  valley,  a  fertile  and  extensive  region,  was  claimed  by 
both  Territories ;  and  under  the  direction  of  Santa  Anna,4  who  was  again  Presi 
dent  of  the  Mexican  Republic  in  1854,  Chihuahua  took  armed  possession  of  the 
disputed  territory.  For  a  time  war  seemed  inevitable  between  the  United 
States  and  Mexico.  The  dispute  was  finally  settled  by  negotiations,  and 
friendly  relations  have  existed  between  the  two  governments  ever  since. 
Those  relations  were  delicate  during  a  large  portion  of  the  late  Civil  War  in 
the  United  States,  while  French  bayonets  kept  the  Austrian  Archduke  Maxi 
milian  in  the  attitude  of  a  ruler,  with  the  title  of  emperor,  over  the  Mexican 
people,  whose  liberties  Napoleon  the  Third^emperor  of  France,  was  thereby 
trying  to  destroy.  The  republican  government  in  power  when  Maximilian 


a  student  in  Bowdoin  College,  at  Brunswick,  Maine.  He  was  graduated  in  1824,  chose  law  as  a 
profession,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  at  the  bar  in  1827.  He  became  a  warm  politician,  and 
partisan  of  General  Jackson  in  1828 ;  and  the  next  year,  when  he  was  twenty-five  years  of  age, 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Legislature  of  his  native  State.  There  he  served  four  years.  He 
was  elected  to  Congress  in  1833,  and  served  his  constituents  in  the  House  of  Representatives  for 
four  years.  In  1837,  the  Legislature  of  New  Hampshire  elected  him  to  a  seat  in  the  Federal 
Senate.  He  resigned  his  seat  in  June,  1842,  and  remained  in  private  life  until  1845,  when  he 
was  appointed  United  States  District  Attorney  for  New  Hampshire.  He  was  commissioned  a 
Brigadier-General  in  March,  1847,  and  joined  the  army  in  Mexico,  under  General  Scott.  After 
the  war  he  retired  from  public  life,  where  he  remained  until  called  to  the  highest  office  in  the 
gift  of  the  people.  When,  in  the  spring  of  1857,  he  left  the  chair  of  state,  he  again  retired  into 
private  life,  and  has  never  been  in  public  employment  since. 

1  "William  L.  Marcy,  Secretary  of  State;  James  Guthrie,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  Robert 
McClelland,  Secretary  of  the  Interior;  Jefferson  Davis.  Secretary  of  War;  James  C.  Dobbin,  Sec 
retary  of  the  Navy;  James  Campbell,  Postmaster-General;  Caleb 
Gushing,  Attorney-General. 

3  Note  7,  page  484. 

3  Page  497. 

4  Antonio  Lopez  de  Santa   Anna  is  a  native  of  Mexico,  and  first 
came  into  public  life  in  1821,  during  the  excitements  of  revolution.     He 
has  been  one  of  the  chief  revolutionists  in  that  unhappy  country.     He 
was  chosen  President  of  the  Republic  in  1833.    After  an  exciting  career 
as  a  commanding  General,  he  was  again  elected  President  in  1841,  but 
was  hurled  from  power  in  1845.    After  the  capture  of  the  city  of  Mexico 
by  the   Americans,  under  General  Scott  [page  494],  he  retired  to  the 
West  Indies,  and  finally  to  Carthagena,  where  he  resided  until   1853, 
when  he  returned  to  Mexico,  and  was  elected  President  again.     In  the 
summer  of  1854,  he  was  accused  of  a  design  to  assume  imperial  power, 

and  violent  insurrections  were  the  consequence.     These  resulted  in  his  SANTA  ANNA. 

being  again  deprived  of  power,  and  ho  has  never  been  able  to  regain  it. 

Much  of  the  time  since  he  was  driven  from  public  life  he  has  lived  in  exile  in  Cuba,  and  in  1866 
he  was  a  resident  of  the  United  States.  He  went  to  Mexico  during  the  earlier  period  of  1867, 
when  he  was  arrested,  and  thrown  into  prison.  Few  men  have  experienced  greater  vicissitudes 
than  Santa  Anna. 


1853.]  PIERCE'S     ADMINISTRATION 

came  was  steadily  recognized  by  that  of  the  United  States  as  the  legitimate 
government  of  Mexico,  and,  diplomatically,  Maximilian  was  unknown  to  it. 

The  earlier  portion  of  Pierce's  administration  was  distinguished  by  impor 
tant  explorations  by  sea  and  land,  in  the  interest  of  American  commerce.     The 
acquisition  of  California,  and  the  marvelous  rapidity  with  which  it  was  filling 
with  an  enterprising   population,  opened  to 
the  view  of  statesmen  an  immense  commer 
cial  interest  on  the  Pacific  coast,  which  de 
manded  the  most  liberal   legislation.      Con 
gress    seems    to     have     comprehended    the 
importance    of   the    matter,    and   under   its 
authority  four  armed  vessels  and  a  supply- 
ship   sailed  [May,  1853]  from  Norfolk,  under 
Captain  Rins^old,  for   the  eastern  coast  of 

,          .  fn-rr  T.        T_-    f     i  AN   OCEAN   STEAMSHIP. 

Asia,  by  the  way  01  Cape  Horn.  Its  chiei  ob 
ject  was  a  thorough  exploration  of  those  regions  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  which  it  was 
then  evident  would  soon  be  traversed  between  the  ports  of  our  own  western 
frontier  and  the  East  Indies ;  also  of  the  whaling-grounds  of  the  Kamtchatka 
Sea  and  Behring's  Straits,  on  the  borders  of  which  the  United  States  have 
recently  [1867]  purchased  from  Russia,  at  the  cost  of  $7,000,000  in  gold,  a  large 
and  important  territory.  Steamships  have  just  commenced  [1867]  making 
stated  and  regular  voyages  from  California  to  China  and  Japan. 

While  the  expedition  just  mentioned  was  away,  plans  were  maturing  for 
the  construction  of  one  or  more  railways  across  the  continent,  to  connect,  by  a 
continuous  line  of  transportation,  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans.  Congress 
authorized  surveys  for  such  road  or  roads,  and  by  midsummer  [1853]  four 
expeditions  were  fitted  out  for  the  purpose — one  to  explore  from  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Mississippi,  at  St.  Paul,  to  Puget's  Sound,  on  the  Pacific ;  another 
to  cross  the  continent  from  the  Mississippi,  along  a  line  adjacent  to  the  thirty- 
sixth  parallel  of  latitude ;  another  from  the  Mississippi,  by  way  of  the  Great 
Salt  Lake,  in  Utah  ;  and  a  fourth  from  some  point  on  the  Lower  Mississippi  to 
the  coast  of  Southern  California,  at  San  Pedro,  Los  Angelos,  or  San  Diego. 
These  expeditions  performed  their  duties  well,  in  the  midst  of  great  hardships,1 
and  now  [1867]  over  one  of  these  routes,  called  the  Central,  which  traverses 
Missouri,  Kansas,  Colorado,  Utah,  Nevada,  and  California,  a  railway  is  com 
pleted  a  long  distance,  at  each  end.  Who  can  estimate  the  effect  of  these 
gigantic  operations  upon  the  destiny  of  our  Republic,  when  it  shall  be  thus 
connected  in  commercial  relations  with  that  of  "  Farther  India,"  whose  wealth 
the  civilized  world  so  long  coveted  ? 

1  At  the  time  these  explorations  were  going  on,  Colonel  Fremont  (see  page  488)  was  at  the 
head  of  a  similar  party  among  the  Rocky  Mountains.  That  exploring  in  the  direction  of  the 
Great  Salt  Lake,  was  in  charge  of  Captain  Gunnison,  of  the  National  army.  He  found 
the  Indians  hostile  when  he  approached  the  Mormon  country,  and  among  the  Wasatch 
mountains  they  fell  upon  the  explorers  and  killed  a  number  of  them,  including  the  leader. 
Fremont's  party  suffered  dreadfully  for  want  of  food  in  the  midst  of  deep  snow.  For  forty-five 
days  they  fed  on  the  meat  of  exhausted  mules  which  they  slew,  and  every  particle  was  devoured, 
even  the  entrails !  They  were  met  and  saved  by  another  party  in  February,  1854. 


516 


THE    NATION. 


[1853. 


While  the  government  was  putting  forth  its  energies  in  preparing  the  way 
for  the  triumph  of  American  commerce,  private  enterprise  was  busy  in  the 
promotion  of  general  industry,  and  in  the  noble  work  of  international  fraternity 
in  the  great  interest  of  Labor.  In  the  year  1851,  an  immense  building,  com 
posed  of  iron  and  glass,  was  created  in  Hyde  Park,  London,  under  royal 
patronage,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  an  exhibition  of  the  results  of  the  industry 
of  all  nations.  It  was  a  World's  Fair,  and  representatives  of  every  civilized 
nation  on  the  globe  were  there  mingling  together  as  brothers  of  one  family,  and 
all  equally  interested  in  the  perfection  of  each  other's  productions.  The  idea 
was  one  of  great  moral  grandeur,  for  it  set  an  insignia  of  dignity  upon  labor, 
hitherto  withheld  by  those  who  bore  scepters  and  orders.  There  men  of  all 
nations  and  creeds  received  a  lesson  upon  the  importance  of  brotherhood  among 
the  children  of  men,  such  as  the  pen  and  tongue  could  not  teach.  For  the 
conception  and  consummation  of  that  noble  work,  mankind  will  forever  revere 
its  author,  Prince  Albert,  the  husband  of  Queen  Victoria.  The  enterprise  was 
repeated  in  this  country  in  1853,  when,  at  the  expense  of  the  money  and 

energy  of  private  republicans,  a 
"  Crystal  Palace  "  was  built  and 
_a_"  World's  Fair"  was  held  in 
the  city  of  New  York.  It  was 
opened  in  July  of  that  year,  with 
imposing  ceremonies,  led  by  the 
Chief  Magistrate  of  the  nation.1 
The  emperor  of  the  French  has 
twice  imitated  the  act  of  the 
British  queen  and  her  consort. 
During  the  spring  and  summer 

CRYSTAL   PALACE   IN   NEW   YORK.  ,.   ,  .  ,.  TTT       ,  , , 

of  1867,  an  immense   "World's 

Fair"  was  open  in  Paris.  These  are  important  historical  events,  for  they 
mark  a  new  and  most  promising  epoch  in  the  annals  of  mankind.  History 
often  has  better  stories  to  tell  than  those  of  wars  and  military  conquests,  and 
the  rise  and  fall  of  dynasties  and  empires. 


1  On  that  occasion,  a  prayer  was  made  by  Dr.  Wainwright,  provisional  bishop  of  the  Protest 
ant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  diocese  of  New  York  (since  deceased) ;  an  address  was  pronounced 
by  Theodore  Sedgwick.  president  of.  the  Association  by  which  the  building  was  erected ;  and  on 
the  16th  of  the  month,  a  grand  entertainment  was  given  by  the  directors  to  distinguished  guests, 
among  whom  were  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  members  of  his  cabinet,  Sir  Charles 
Lyell,  the  eminent  English  geologist,  and  others. 

One  of  the  speakers  on  that  occasion  [Elihu  Burritt]  said :  "  Worthy  of  the  grandest  circum 
stances  which  could  be  thrown  around  a  human  assembly,  worthy  of  this  occasion  and  a  hundred 
like  this,  is  that  beautiful  idea,  the  coronation  of  Labor.  *  *  *  Not  American  labor,  not 
British  labor,  not  French  labor,  not  the  labor  of  the  New  World  or  the  Old,  but  the  labor  of  man 
kind  as  one  undivided  brotherhood — labor  as  the  oldest,  the  noblest  prerogative  of  duty  and 
humanity."  And  Rev.  E.  H.  Chapin  closed  with  the  beautiful  invocation:  "6 !  genius  of  Art,  fill 
us  with  the  inspiration  of  still  higher  and  more  spiritual  beauty.  0 !  instruments  of  invention, 
enlarge  our  dominion  over  reality.  Let  iron  and  fire  become  as  blood  and  muscle,  and  in  this 
electric  net-work  let  heart  and  brain  inclose  the  world  with  truth  and  sympathy.  And  thou, 
0!  beautiful  dome  of  light,  suggestive  of  the  brooding  future,  the  future  of  human  love  and  divine 
communion,  expand  and  spread  above  the  tribes  of  men  a  canopy  broad  as  the  earth,  and  glorious 
as  the  upper  heaven." 


1853.]  TIERCE'S     ADMINISTRATION.  5]^ 

When  the  Thirty-third  Congress  assembled,  on  the  first  Monday  in  Decem 
ber,  1853,  a  greater  degree  of  good  feeling  seemed  to  prevail  among  the  mem 
bers  than  had  been  exhibited  for  the  several  preceding  years,  when  the  chief 
topics  of  their  deliberations  were  connected  with  the  subject  of  Slavery.  The 
country  was  at  peace  and  amity  with  all  the  world,  as  a  general  proposition,1 
and  the  people  looked  to  their  representatives  for  the  conception  and  adoption 
of  measures  for  the  public  welfare,  which  the  circumstances  of  the  nation 
required.  The  construction  of  a  railway  across  the  continent  was  expected  to 
absorb  much  of  their  attention.  Important  treaties  were  pending  between  our 
government  and  those  of  Mexico  and  Central  America,  concerning  territory 
and  inter-oceanic  communications  across  the  Isthmus  between  North  and  South 
America ;  also  concerning  boundary-lines  in  the  region  of  New  Mexico  and 
California. 

There  was  an  interest,  too,  far  away  in  the  Pacific,  that  demanded  serious 
consideration.  The  government  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  was  then  making 
earnest  overtures  for  annexing  that  ocean  empire  to  our  republic.  This  was  a 
matter  of  great  moment,  for  these  Islands  are  destined  to  be  of  vast  impor 
tance  in  the  operations  pf  the  future  commerce  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  A  large 
majority  of  the  white  people  there  are  Americans  by  birth ;  and  the  govern 
ment,  in  all  its  essential  operations,  is  controlled  by  Americans,  notwithstand 
ing  the  ostensible  ruler  is  a  native  sovereign.  The  consuls  of  France  and 
England,  when  they  perceived  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  reigning 
monarch  to  have  his  domain  annexed  to  the  United  States,  charged  the  scheme 
upon  certain  American  missionaries,  and  officially  protested  against  their 
alleged  conduct.  They  declared  that  France  and  England  would  not  remain 
indifferent  spectators  of  such  a  movement.  The  missionaries,  as  well  as  the 
United  States  commissioner,  disclaimed  any  tampering  with  the  native  authori 
ties  on  the  subject ;  at  the  same  time,  the  latter,  in  a  published  reply  to  the 

1  There  was  a  little  feeling  of  hostility  between  our  government  and  that  of  Austria  for  a  while 
in  1853,  but  it  soon  subsided.  It  grew  out  of  a  circumstance  connected  with  the  exercise  of  the 
power  of  our  government  in  defense  of  a  citizen  of  foreign  birth  in  a  foreign  port,  as  follows : 
When  Austria,  by  aid  of  Russia,  crushed  the  rebellion  in  Hungary,  in  1848,  many  of  the  active 
patriots  became  exiles  in  foreign  lands.  A  large  number  came  to  the  United  States,  and  many 
of  them  became  naturalized  citizens — that  is,  after  due  legal  .preparation,  took  an  oath  to  support 
the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  to  perform  faithfully  all  the  duties  of  a  citizen. 
One  of  these,  named  Martin  Koszta,  a  native  of  Hungary,  had  taken  such  steps.  While  engaged 
in  business  at  Smyrna,  on  the  Mediterranean,  he  was  seized,  by  order  of  the  Austrian  consul- 
general,  and  taken  on  board  an  Austrian  brig,  to  be  conveyed  to  Trieste  as  a  rebel  refugee,  not 
withstanding  he  carried  an  American  protection.  Captain  Ingraham,  of  the  United  States  sloop- 
of-war  St.  Louis,  then  lying  in  the  harbor  of  Smyrna,  immediately  claimed  Koszta  as  an  American 
citizen.  On  the  refusal  of  the  Austrian  authorities  to  release  the  prisoner,  Ingraham  cleared  his 
vessel  for  action  [July  2],  and  threatened  to  fire  upon  the  brig  if  Koszta  was  not  delivered  up 
within  a  given  time.  The  Austrians  yielded  to  the  powerful  arguments  of  forty  well-shotted 
cannon,  and  Koszta  was  placed  in  the  custody  of  the  French  consul,  to  await  the  action  of  the 
respective  governments.  Ingraham's  course  was  everywhere  applauded  ;  and  Congress  signified 
its  approbation  by  voting  him  an  elegant  sword.  The  pride  of  the  Austrian  government  was 
severely  wounded,  and  it  issued  a  protest  against  the  proceedings  of  Captain  Ingraham,  and  sent 
it  to  all  the  European  courts.  Mr.  Hulseman,  the  Austrian  minister  at  Washington,  demanded 
an  apology,  or  other  redress,  from  our  government,  and  menaced  the  United  States  with  the  dis 
pleasure  of  his  royal  master.  But  no  serious  difficulty  occurred.  It  was  plainly  perceived  that 
the  Austrians  were  in  the  wrong ;  and  Koszta,  under  the  protection  of  the  United  States  flag, 
returned  to  this  land  of  free  opinions. 


518  THE     NATION.  [1854. 

protest,  denied  the  right  of  foreign  governments  to  interfere  to  prevent  such 
a  result,  if  it  should  be  deemed  mutually  desirable.  Preliminary  negotiations 
were  commenced,  and  a  treaty  was  actually  formed,  when,  on  the  15th  of 
December,  1854,  King  Kamehameha  died,  at  the  age  of  forty-nine  years,  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Prince  Alexander  Liholiho.  The  new  king  imme 
diately  ordered  the  discontinuance  of  negotiations  with  the  United  States,  and 
the  subject  of  annexation  was  not  revived  until  after  the  visit  of  Emma, 
Queen  of  the  Islands,  to  England  and  the  United  States,  in  1866.  That  such 
annexation  will  finally  occur,  seems  to  be  prohesied  by  the  history  of  the  past 
and  the  teachings  of  the  present. 

Just  as  the  preliminaries  were  arranged  in  Congress  for  entering  vigorously 
upon  the  business  of  the  session,  the  chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee  on 
Territories  (Mr.  Douglas,  of  Illinois)  presented  a  bill  [Jan.,  1854]  Avhich  dis 
turbed  the  harmony  in  Congress,  and  the  quietude  of  the  people.  In  the  center 
of  our  continent  is  a  vast  region,  almost  twice  as  large,  in  territorial  extent,  as 
the  original  thirteen  States,1  stretching  between  Missouri,  Iowa,  and  Minne 
sota,  and  the  Pacific  Territories,  from  the  thirty-seventh  parallel  of  north  lati 
tude  to  the  British  possessions,'2  and  embracing  one-fourth  of  all  the  public 
lands  of  the  United  States.  The  bill  alluded  to^proposed  to  erect  this  vast 
region  into  two  Territories,  the  southern  portion,  below  the  fortieth  parallel,  to 
be  named  Kansas,  and  the  northern  and  larger  portion,  Nebraska.  The  bill 
contained  a  provision  which  would  nullify  the  Compromise  of  1820,3  and  allow 
the  inhabitants  of  those  Territories  to  decide  for  themselves  whether  they 
would  have  the  institution  of  slavery  or  not.  This  proposition  surprised  Con 
gress  and  the  whole  country,  and  it  became  a  subject  of  discussion  throughout 
the  Union.  The  slavery  agitation  was  aroused  in  all  its  strength  and  rancor, 
and  the  whole  North  became  violently  excited.  Public  meetings  were  held  by 
men  of  all  parties,  and  petitions  and  remonstrances  against  the  measure, 
especially  in  its  relation  to  Nebraska,  were  poured  into  the  Senate,4  while  the 
debate  on  the  subject  was  progressing,  from  the  30th  of  January  [1854]  until 
the  3d  of  March.  On  the  latter  day  the  bill  passed  that  body  by  the  decisive 
vote  of  thirty-seven  to  fourteen.  The  measure  encountered  great  opposition  in 
the  House  of  Representatives ;  and  by  means  of  several  amendments,  its  final 
defeat  seemed  almost  certain,  and  the  excitement  subsided. 

At  about  this  time  a  bill  was  reported  in  the  Senate  [March  10],  providing 
for  the  construction  of  a  railway  to  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  and  on  the  same  day 
when  the  Nebraska  Bill  passed  that  body  [March  3d],  the  House  of  Represen 
tatives  adopted  one  called  the  Homestead  Bill,  which  provided  that  any  free 
white  male  citizen,  or  any  one  who  may  have  declared  his  intentions  to  become 
one  previous  to  the  passage  of  this  act,  might  select  a  quarter  section  [one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres]  of  land  on  the  public  domain,  and  on  proof  being 
given  that  he  had  occupied  and  cultivated  it  for  five  years,  he  might  receive 

1  Page  174.  2  Page  480.  s  Page  452. 

*  A  petition  against  the  measure  was  presented  to  the  Senate  immediately  after  the  passage 
of  the  bill  by  that  body,  signed  by  three  thousand  clergymen  of  New  England. 


1854.J  PIERCE'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

a  title  to  it  in  fee,  without  being  required  to  pay  any  thing  for  it.  This  bill 
was  discussed  in  both  Houses  for  several  weeks  ;  and  finally  an  amendment, 
graduating  the  prices  of  all  the  public  lands,  was  adopted  in  its  stead.1  The 
public  mind  had  become  comparatively  tranquil  when,  on  the  9th  of  May 
[1854],  the  Nebraska  bill  was  again  called  up  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 
It  became  the  absorbing  subject  for  discussion.  During  a  fortnight,  violent 
debates,  with  great  acrimony  of  feeling,  occurred,  and  on  one  occasion  there 
was  a  session  of  thirty-six  consecutive  hours'  duration,  when  an  adjournment 
took  place  in  the  midst  of  great  confusion.  The  country,  meanwhile,  was 
much  excited,  for  the  decision  of  the  question  was  one  of  great  moment  in  its 
relation  to  the  future.  While  it  was  pending  the  suspense  became  painful. 
But  it  did  not  last  long.  The  final  question  was  taken  on  the  22d,  and  the 
bill  was  passed  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and  thirteen  to  one  hundred.  Three 
days  afterward  [May  25],  the  Senate  agreed  to  it  as  it  came  from  the  House 
by  a  vote  of  thirty-five  to  thirteen,  and  it  received  the  signature  of  the  Presi 
dent  on  the  last  day  of  May.2 

New  difficulties  with  the  Spanish  authorities  of  Cuba3  appeared,  while  the 
Nebraska  subject  was  under  discussion.  Under  cover  of  some  pretense,  the 
American  steamship,  Black  Warrior,  was  seized  in  the  harbor  of  Havana 
[February  28, 1854],  and  the  vessel  and  cargo  were  declared  confiscated.  The 
outrage  was  so  flagrant,  that  a  proposition  was  immediately  submitted  to  the 
lower  House  of  Congress  to  suspend  the  neutrality  laws,4  and  compel  the 
Havana  officials  to  behave  properly.  Under  the  provisions  of  such  laws,  any 
number  of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  who  may  be  engaged  in  hostilities 
against  Spain,  would  forfeit  the  protection  of  their  government,  and  become 
liable  to  punishment  for  a  violation  of  law.  It  was  on  this  account  that  Crit- 
tenden  and  his  party  were  shot  at  Havana,5  without  the  right  of  claiming  the 
interference  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  in  their  behalf.  The  Presi 
dent  sent  a  special  messenger  to  the  government  at  Madrid,  with  instructions 
to  the  American  minister  to  demand  immediate  redress,  in  the  form  of  indem 
nity  to  the  owners  of  the  Black  Warrior.  But  the  Spanish  government  justi 
fied  the  act  of  the  Cuban  authorities,  when  such  formal  demand  was  made.  In 

1  It  provided  that  all  lands  which  had  been  in  market  ten  years  should  be  subject  to  entry  at 
one  dollar  per  acre;  fifteen  years,  at  seventy-five  cents;  and  so  on,  in  the  same  ratio — those 
which  had  been  in  market  for  thirty  years  being  offered  at  twelve  and  a  half  cents.  It  also  pro 
vided  that  every  person  availing  himself  of  the  act  should  make  affidavit  that  he  entered  the 
land  for  his  own  use;  and  no  one  could  acquire  more  than  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  or 
two  quarter-sections. 

3  A  fe,w  days  after  the  final  passage  of  the  Nebraska  bill,  the  city  of  Boston  was  made  a 
theater  of  great  excitement,  by  the  arrest  of  a  fugitive  slave  there,  and  a  deputy-marshal  was  shot 
dead,  during  a  riot.  United  States  troops  from  Rhode  Island  were  employed  to  sustain  the  officers 
of  the  law,  and  a  local  military  force  was  detailed,  to  assist  in  the  protection  of  the  court  and  the 
parties  concerned,  until  the  proceedings  in  the  case  should  be  completed.  The  United  States 
Commissioner  decided  in  favor  of  the  claimant  of  the  slave,  and  he  was  conveyed  to  Virginia  by  a 
government  vessel.  This  commotion  in  Boston  is  known  as  the  Burns  Riot — the  name  of  the 
fugitive  slave  being  Burns. 

3  Page  502. 

4  These  are  agreements  (still  existing)  made  between  the  governments  of  the  United  States 
and  Old  Spain,  to  remain  neutral  or  inactive,  when  either  party  should  engage  in   war  with 
another. 

5  Page  508. 


520  THE     NATION.  [1854. 

the  mean  while  the  perpetrators  of  the  outrage  became  alarmed,  and  the  Cap 
tain-General  (or  Governor)  of  Cuba,  with  pretended  generosity,  offered  to  give 
up  the  vessel  and  cargo,  on  the  payment  by  the  owners  of  a  fine  of  six  thou 
sand  dollars.  They  complied,  but  under  protest.1  The  matter  was  finally 
settled  amicably  between  the  governments  of  the  United  States  and  Spain,2  and 
since  then  nothing  has  materially  disturbed  the  friendly  relations  between  the 
two  countries. 

The  irritation  caused  by  the  difficulties  with  Cuban  officials  was  made  the 
pretext,  after  the  passage  of  the  Nebraska  bill,  for  a  conference  of  three  of  the 
American  ministers  plenipotentiary  in  Europe.  In  August  [1854],  the  Presi 
dent  directed  Mr.  Buchanan,  then  American  embassador  at  London,  Mr.  Mason, 
embassador  at  Paris,  and  Mr.  Soule,  embassador  at  Madrid,  to  meet  at  some 
convenient  place,  to  confer  upon  the  best  means  of  settling  the  difficulties  about 
Cuba,  and  gaining  possession  of  the  island,  by  purchase  or  otherwise.  They 
accordingly  met  at  Ostend,  a  seaport  town  in  Belgium,  on  the  9th  of  October, 
1854.  After  remaining  there  three  days,  they  adjourned  to  Aix-la-Chapelle,  in 
Rhenish  Prussia,  and  from  thence,  on  the  18th  of  the  same  month,  they 
addressed  a  letter  to  the  United  States  government,  which  embodied  their 
views.  That  letter  is  known  in  history  -as  The  Ostend  Circular,  and  is 
regarded  as  one  of  the  most  disgraceful  passages  in  the  history  of  American 
diplomacy.  Its  arguments  were  the  plea  of  the  highway  robber,  enforced  by 
the  doctrine  that  "  Might  makes  Right."  It  recommended  the  purchase  of 
Cuba,  if  possible  ;  if  not,  the  acquisition  of  it  by  force.  "  If  Spain,"  said  the 
authors  of  that  infamous  letter,  "  actuated  by  stubborn  pride  and  a  false  sense 
of  honor,  should  refuse  to  sell  Cuba  to  the  United  States,"  then  "  by  every 
law,  human  and  divine,  we  shall  be  justified  in  wresting  it  from  Spain,  if  we 
possess  the  power."  The  bald  iniquity  of  the  proposition  amazed  honest 
people  in  both  hemispheres.  Why  it  should  have  been  left  unrebuked  by  the 
government  at  Washington  was  a  mystery  which  the  light  of  subsequent 
events  revealed.  It  seems  clear,  in  that  light,  that  it  was  a  part  of  the  scheme 
of  those  conspirators,  who,  a  few  years  later,  attempted  to  destroy  the  Repub 
lic,  that  they  might  establish  that  dazzling  empire  of  Wrong,  founded  on 
Human  Slavery,  of  which  they  dreamed,  and  which  they  promised  their 
deluded  followers — an  empire  which  was  to  be  comprised  within  what  they 
called  The  G-olden  Circle,  whose  center  was  Havana,  the  capital  of  Cuba.3 

1  Protesting  against  an  act  which  a  party  is  compelled  to  perform,  leaves  the  matter  open  for  a 
future  discussion  and  final  settlement. 

2  The  President  of  the  United  States,  having  been  informed  that  expeditions  were  preparing  in 
different  parts  of  the  Union,  for  the  purpose  of  invading  Cuba,  issued  a  proclamation  against  such 
movements,  on  the  1st  of  June,  1854,  and  called  upon  all  good  citizens  to  respect  the  obligations 
of  existing  treaties,  between  the  governments  of  our  Republic  and  Spain. 

3  The  Golden  Circle,  as  denned  by  the  conspirators,  had  a  radius  of  sixteen  degrees  of  latitude 
and  longitude,  with  its  center  at  Havana.     It  will  be  perceived,  by  drawing  that  circle  on  a  map, 
that  it  included  the  Slave-labor  States  of  our  Republic.     It  reached  northward  to  the  Pennsyl 
vania  line,  and  southward  to  the  Isthmus  of  Darien.     It  embraced  the  West  India  Islands,  and 
those  of  the  Caribbean  Sea,  with  a  greater  part  of  Mexico  and  Central  America.     The  plan  of  the 
conspirators  seems  to  have  been,  first,  to  secure  Cuba,  and  then  the  other  islands  of  that  tropical 
region,  with  Mexico  and  Central  America ;  and  then  to  sever  the  Slave-labor  and  the  Free-labor  States 
of  our  Republic,  making  the  former  a  part  of  the  great  empire,  whose  corner-stone,  as  one  of  the 


1854.]  PIERCE'S     ADMINISTRATION.  521 

While  the  good  name  of  the  government  was  suffering  at  the  hands  of 
unfaithful  citizens,  who  were  plotting  mischief  against  its  weaker  neighbors, 
some  salutary  measures  were  adopted  which  gave  a  little  relief  to  the  picture 
of  that  dark  period  in  our  history.  While  a  conspiracy  for  obliterating  the 
boundary-line  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico,  by  blotting  out  the 
nationality  of  the  latter,  was  fast  ripening,  the  two  governments  successfully 
negotiated  a  treaty  by  which  that  boundary  was  denned  and  fixed.  The  treaty 
was  ratified  early  in  1854,  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  decision  of  the  commis 
sioners  appointed  to  run  the  boundary  should  be  final.  By  that  treaty  the 
United  States  were  to  be  released  from  all  obligations  imposed  by  the  treaty 
of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,1  to  defend  the  Mexican  frontier  against  the  Indians, 
and  as  a  consideration  for  this  release,  and  for  the  territory  ceded  by  Mexico, 
the  United  States  agreed  to  pay  to  the  latter  ten  millions  of  dollars — seven 
millions  on  the  ratification  of  the  treaty,  and  the  remainder  as  soon  as  the 
boundary-line  should  be  established.  These  conditions  were  complied  with, 
and  a  good  understanding  between  the  two  governments  has  ever  since 
existed. 

At  about  the  same  time,  a  reciprocity  treaty  was  negotiated  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain,  which  lowered,  and  in  some  instances  effaced, 
the  barriers  to  free  commerce  between  the  British  provinces  in  America  and 
our  Republic.  It  provided  that  the  fisheries  of  the  provinces,  excepting  those 
of  Newfoundland,2  should  be  open  to  American  citizens  ;  that  disputes  respect 
ing  fisheries  should  be  settled  by  arbitration  ;  that  the  British  should  have  a 
right  to  participate  in  the  American  fisheries  as  far  as  the  36th  degree  of  north 
latitude,  and  that  there  should  be  free  commerce  between  the  provinces  and 
the  United  States,  in  flour,  breadstuffs,  fruits,  fish,  animals,  lumber,  and  a 
variety  of  natural  productions  in  their  unmanufactured  state.  It  stipulated 
that  the  St.  Lawrence  River  and  the  Canadian  canals  should  be  thrown  open 
to  American  vessels ;  and  the  United  States  government  agreed  to  urge  the 
respective  States  to  admit  British  vessels  into  their  canals,  upon  similar  terms. 
This  treaty  was  submitted  to  the  provincial  Legislatures,  and  to  the  govern 
ments  of  the  contracting  powers,  and  was  ratified  by  all.  The  arrangement 
was  terminated,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  treaty,  early  in  1866. 

When  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  began  to  bear  the  bitter  fruit  which  its 
author,  James  M.  Mason,  of  Virginia,  desired  and  expected  ;3  when  the  Kansas- 
less  reticent  of  the  conspirators  avowed,  was  to  be  human  slavery.  A  secret  association,  known 
as  the  Order  of  the  Lone  Star,  and  another  subsequently  organized  as  its  successor,  whose  mem 
bers  were  called  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,  were  formed  for  the  purpose  of  corrupting  the 
people  and  carrying  out  the  iniquitous  design.  The  latter  played  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  Civil  War 
which  broke  out  in  1861,  as  the  secret  friends  and  efficient  allies  of  the  conspirators,  who  were 
making  open  war  on  the  Republic. 

1  Page  497.  2  Page  47. 

3  Senator  Mason,  one  of  the  most  unscrupulous  of  the  conspirators  who  brought  about  the  late 
Civil  War,  was  the  author  of  this  Act.  The  writer  was  informed  by  a  personal  acquaintance  of 
Mason's,  at  Winchester,  that  the  Senator  declared  to  him  that  he  made  the  law  as  obnoxious  as 
possible  to  the  people  of  the  Free-Labor  States,  in  order  that  it  should  excite  universal  disgust 
and  opposition,  and  cause  such  violations  of  it,  and  a  general  refusal  to  comply  with  its  unchristian 
requirements,  as  to  give  a  plausible  pretext  to  the  slaveholders  to  revolt  and  attempt  to  dissolve 
the  Union.  4 


522  THE     NATION.  [1854. 

Nebraska  bill  had  opened  afresh  the  agitation  of  the  Slavery  question,  and  when 
the  barbaric  declaration  of  the  "  Ostend  Circular  "  appeared  to  give  no  offense  to 

the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  nation  and  his  ad 
visers,  the  conspirators  plotted  more  actively 
and  worked  more  boldly  than  ever.  The  "  Great 
Idea  of  the  Age,"  as  they  called  it,  was  the 
extension  of  the  area  of  slavery,  by  the  con 
quest  and  annexation  of  countries  adjacent 
to  our  Republic.  Their  attempts  on  Cuba 
were  baffled,  and  they  turned  their  attention 
to  Mexico  and  Central  America.  Their  ope 
rations  at  first  assumed  the  form  of  emigra 
tion  schemes,  and  their  first  theater  was  a 
region  on  the  great  Isthmus,  inhabited  chiefly 
by  a  race  of  degraded  natives,  and  belonging 
to  the  State  of  Nicaragua,  known  as  the 

JAMES   M.    MASON.  -»r  T  •        -i  i 

Mosquito  coast.  It  promised  to  be  a  terri 
tory  of  great  importance  in  a  commercial  point  of  view.1  Under  the  specious 
pretext  that  the  British  were  likely  to  possess  itpTrmed  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  appealing  to  the  Monroe  doctrine2  for  justification,  emigrated  to  that 
region.  Already  the  great  guns  of  the  American  navy  had  been  heard  on  the 
Mosquito  shore,  as  a  herald  of  coming  power.3 

It  was  in  the  autumn  and  early  winter  of  1854  that  the  first  formidable 
"  emigration  "  to  the  Mosquito  country  was  undertaken.     It  was  alleged  that 


1  A  railway  across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  has  been  constructed.  The  first  trains  passed 
over  it,  from  Aspinwall  to  Panama,  on  the  28th  of  January,  1855.  The  project  of  a  ship-canal 
across  the  Isthmus  of  Darien.  or  Panama,  has  occupied  the  attention  of  statesmen  and  commercial 
men  for  many  years.  The  first  actual  exploration  of  the  Isthmus,  with  a  view  to  cutting  a  ship- 
canal  across  it,  was  made  in  1853,  by  a  party  of  twenty-three,  under  the  direction  of  William 
Kennish,  of  New  York.  They  were  sent  out  by  J.  C.  Prevost,  commander  of  the  British  steam 
ship  Virago,  in  pursuance  of  orders  from  the  .commander  of  the  British  squadron  then  in  the 
Pacific.  They  commenced  on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  traveled  northward  to  the  Atlantic  shore. 
For  ten  days  they  traversed  a  dense  forest,  which  covered  a  fine,  fertile,  and  well-watered  plain, 
which  at  no  time  rose  more  than  fifty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  party  became  short 
of  provisions ;  and  having  separated  for  some  prudent  purpose,  a  portion  of  them  were  murdered 
and  plundered  by  the  Indians.  The  survivors  returned  to  the  Virago,  without  accomplishing 
much.  In  January,  1854,  Lieutenant  Strain,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  with  a' party  of  twenty, 
started  from  the  Atlantic  side  to  explore  the  Isthmus.  They  suffered  dreadfully ;  and  as  nothing 
was  heard  from  them  for  several  weeks,  it  was  supposed  that  all  had  perished.  Their  provisions 
became  exhausted,  and  some  died  from  famine.  The  Indians,  however,  did  not  molest  them,  but 
fled  to  the  mountains.  When  Lieutenant  Strain  and  the  survivors  reached  the  Pacific  coast,  they 
were  destitute  of  both  clothing  and  food.  Since  then  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  explore  that 
dreary  region. 

3  See  note  2,  page  512. 

8  There  was  a  little  village  on  the  Mosquito  coast  called  Greytown,  in  which  some  American 
citizens  resided.  These  alleged  that  they  had  been  outraged  by  the  local  authorities,  who  professed 
to  derive  their  power  directly  from  the  Mosquito  king,  or  chief  of  the  native  tribes.  An  appeal  was 
made  to  the  commander  of  a  vessel  of  the  United  States  navy,  then  lying  near.  That  shallow 
official,  named  Rollins,  who  was  always  valiant  when  there  was  no  danger,  actually  bombarded 
the  little  town,  as  a  punishment  for  the  acts  of  its  authorities.  This  brought  out  the  denuncia 
tions  of  English  residents,  who  alleged  that,  by  arrangements  with  the  Mosquito  monarch,  their 
government  was  the  protector  of  his  dominions.  The  British  government  itself  assumed  that 
position,  and  for  a  while  the  folly  of  Hollius  caused  expectations  of  serious  difficulty. 


1855.]  PIERCE'S     ADMINISTRATION.  593 

a  large  tract  of  the  territory  had  been  granted  by  the  Mosquito  king  to  two 
British  subjects,1  and  upon  this,  by  arrangement,  the  emigrants,  led  by  Colonel 
H.  L.  Kinney,  proceeded  to  settle.  The  government  of  Nicaragua  protested 
against  this  invasion  of  that  State,  in  violation  of  the  neutrality  laws  of  the 
United  States.  The  Nicaraguan  minister  at  Washington  called  the  attention 
of  our  government  to  the  subject  [January  16,  1855],  and  especially  to  the  fact 
of  the  British  claim  to  political  jurisdiction  there,  and  urged  that  the  United 
States,  while  asserting  the  "  Monroe  doctrine  "  as  a  correct  political  dogma, 
could  not  sanction  the  act  complained  of,  as  it  was  done  under  guarantees  of 
British  authority.  Our  government,  as  a  matter  of  policy,  interfered,  but  with 
a  mildness  that  allowed  the  emigration  scheme  to  go  on,  and  assume  more  for 
midable  proportions  and  aspects. 

An  agent  of  the  conspirators,  named  William  Walker,  who  had  already,  with 
a  few  followers,  invaded  the  State  of  Sonora,  Mexico,  from  California,  and  been 
repulsed,  reappeared  on  the  theater  in  connection  with  Kinney,  who  invited 
him  to  assist  him  "in  improving  the  lands  and  developing  the  mineral 
resources "  of  his  grant  on  Lake  Nicaragua.  Ostensibly  for  that  purpose, 
Walker  left  San  Francisco  with  three  hundred  men,  and  arrived  on  the  coast 
of  Nicaragua  on  the  27th  of  June.  He  cast  oif  all  disguise  the  next  day,  and 
attempted  to  capture  the  town  of  Rivas,  believing  that  one  of  the  factions 
opposed  to  the  Nicaraguan  government,  which  he  proposed  to  unite  himself 
with,  would  aid  in  his  scheme.  In  this  he  was  mistaken.  Even  one  hundred 
and  fifty  Central  Americans,  who  had  joined  him,  under  General  Castillon, 
deserted  when  they  saw  the  forces  of  Nicaragua  approaching.  It  was  with 
great  difficulty  that  Walker  and  his  followers  retreated  to  the  coast  and 
escaped  in  a  schooner. 

Walker,  who  appears  to  have  been  the  special  favorite  of  Jefferson  Davis, 
the  chief  leader  in  the  late  attempt  to  destroy  our  Republic,  and  who  Avas  then 
the  Secretary  of  War,  and  ruling  spirit  in  President  Pierce's  cabinet,  was  not 
allowed  to  remain  idle,  for  the  scheme  to  open  Central  America  to  the  slave 
system  of  our  Southern  States2  was  to  be  consummated  as  far  as  possible  while 
Davis  was  in  power  in  the  government,  and  could  procure  official  sanction  to 
the  practical  operations  of  the  doctrine  of  the  "  Ostend  Circular."  Walker 
accordingly  made  his  appearance  again  on  the  soil  of  Nicaragua,  with  armed 
followers,  in  August;  and  on  the  5th  of  September  following  [1855]  the 

1  For  some 'time  the  British  had  been  endeavoring  to  obtain  a  controlling  influence  in  this 
region,  and  they  had  induced  the  chief  of  the  Mosquito  nation  to  assume  authority  independent 
of  the  State  of  Nicaragua. 

"  While,  so  early  as  1850,  Davis  and  his  fellow-conspirators  were  evidently  fostering  the 
scheme  for  seizing  Cuba,  that  it  might  become  a  part  of  the  slave  empire  already  alluded  tor  they 
appear  to  have  been  plotting  for  the  seizure  of  the  Central  American  States  for  the  same  purpose, 
and  in  this  scheme  the  obsequious  political  friends  of  Davis  and  the  slave-holding  interests  in  the 
North  were  in  complicity.  A  month  before  the  sailing  of  the  Cuban  expedition  under  Lopez  [see 
page  508],  a  Pennsylvanian,  named  John  Broadhead,  in  a  letter  to  Davis,  expressed  his  desire  to 
be  appointed  a  minister  to  Nicaragua,  saying:  "  I  should  like  to  go  into  that  country  and  help 
open  it  to  civilization  and  niggers.  I  could  get  strong  recommendations  from  the  President's  (Tay 
lor's)  special  friends  in  Pennsylvania  for  the  place,  were  the  mission  vacant,  and  I  think  I  would 
prove  a  live  minister.  I  am  tired  of  being  a  white  slave  at  the  North,  and  long  for  a  home  in  the 
sunny  South."  President  Taylor  was  Secretary  Davis's  father-in-law. 


524  THE     NATION.  [1856. 

"  emigrants "  in  the  Mosquito  country,  assuming  independence  of  Nicaragua, 
organized  a  civil  government  there  by  the  appointment  of  Kinney  as  chief 
magistrate,  with  a  council  of  five  assistants.  At  that  time  the  inhabitants  of 
Nicaragua  were  in  a  state  of  revolution,  and  the  government  was  weak. 
Taking  advantage  of  this  state  of  things,  Walker  pushed  his  scheme  of  armed 
occupation  vigorously.  He  fought  and  vanquished  [September  3,  1855]  four 
hundred  government  troops  at  Virgin  Bay,  and  marched  triumphantly  upon 
and  captured  Grenada  [October  12],  the  capital  of  the  State.  Then  he  placed 
General  Rivas,  a  Nicaraguan,  in  the  Presidential  chair ;  treated  Kinney  with 
contempt,  and  drove  him  from  his  Mosquito  domain,  and  busied  himself  in 
strengthening  his  military  power  by  "emigrants"  from  the  United  States.  A 
British  consul  recognized  the  new  government  of  Nicaragua,  and  John  H. 
Wheeler,1  the  American  minister  resident  there,  gave  it  the  nurture  of  the  sun 
shine  of  his  kindly  regard. 

This  attempt  to  establish  a  political  power  in  Central  America,  by  armed 
adventurers  from  the  United  States,  created  alarm  among  the  other  govern 
ments  on  the  Isthmus,  and  in  the  winter  of  1856  an  alliance  of  those  States 
against  Nicaragua  under  its  foreign  usurpers  was  attempted.  Early  in  March 
Costa  Rica  made  a  formal  declaration  of  war  against  that  State ;  and  on  the 
10th  of  the  same  month  Walker,  who  was  the  real  head  of  the  new  govern 
ment,  made  a  corresponding  declaration  against  Costa  Rica.  The  latter  called 
upon  all  the  Central  American  States  to  "  unite  and  destroy  the  invaders  from 
the  North,"  while  Walker  shamelessly  declared  that  he  was  there  by  invitation 
of  the  liberal  party  in  Nicaragua.  Hostilities  commenced  on  the  20th  of 
March.  The  Costa  Ricans  marched  into  Nicaragua,  and  on  the  llth  of  April 
a  sanguinary  conflict  occurred,  in  which  Walker's  troops  were  victorious,  and 
the  invaders  were  driven  from  the  State.  This  made  the  usurper  arrogant. 
He  levied  a  forced  loan  on  the  people  in  support  of  his  power.  General  Rivas,2 
becoming  disgusted  with  him,  finally  abdicated  the  presidency,  abandoned 
Walker,  and  proclaimed  against  him.  This  was  followed  on  the  24th  of  June 
[1856]  by  a  new  election  for  President,  when  Walker  received  two-thirds  of 
the  popular  vote.  On  the  12th  of  July  he  was  inaugurated  President  of 
Nicaragua,  and  thus  the  first  grand  act  of  the  conspiracy  against  our  weak 
neighbors  was  accomplished.  The  government  at  Washington  hastened  to 
acknowledge  the  new  nation,  and  Walker's  embassador,  in  the  person  of  a 

1  John  H.  Wheeler  was  a  resident  of  western  North  Carolina,  and  while  on  his  way  to  New- 
York,  to  embark  for  Nicaragua,  two  of  his  slaves,  who  attended  him,  were  detained  in  Philadel 
phia  [July  18,  1855],  through  the  instrumentality  of  persons  there  who  sought  to  make  them 
free.  One  of  these  (Passmore  Williamson)  was  ordered  by  Judge  Kane  (father  of  Dr.  Kane,  the 
Arctic  explorer),  of  the  United  States  District  Court,  to  bring  the  slaves  before  him.  Williamson 
declared  that  the  slaves  had  never  been  in  his  custody,  and  of  course  he  could  not  produce  them. 
On  motion  of  Colonel  Wheeler,  Judge  Kane  committed  Williamson  to  prison,  for  contempt  of 
court,  where  he  remained  for  several  months.  This  case,  in  connection  with  other  questions  in 
regard  to  slavery,  produced  great  excitement  throughout  the  country.  Williamson,  after  his 
release,  prosecuted  Kane  for  false  imprisonment. 

3  Rivas,  who,  by  Walker's  power,  had  been  made  President  of  Nicaragua,  as  we  have 
seen,  had  sent  a  minister  to  Washington  named  Parker  H.  French.  The  Government 
refused  to  receive  him.  Davis's  scheme  was  not  ripe,  and  would  not  be  until  Walker,  his  pliant 
instrument  of  mischief,  was  at  the  head  of  the  government,  with  an  army  at  his  back. 


1855.]  PIERCE'S    ADMINISTRATION.  525 

Roman  Catholic  priest  named  Vigil,  was  cordially  received  by  President 
Pierce  and  his  cabinet.  Thus  strengthened,  Walker  ruled  with  a  high  hand, 
offending  commercial  nations  by  his  interference  with  trade.  The  other  Cen 
tral  American  States  coalesced  against  him,  when  he  declared  all  their  ports  in 
a  state  of  blockade ;  and  he  performed  other  acts  which  showed  his  innate 
weakness,  and  led  to  his  ruin. 

For  about  two  years  Walker  held  possession  of  Nicaragua  by  hard  strug 
gling,  but  the  combined  power  of  the  other  states  finally  crushed  him.  On 
the  20th  of  May,  1857,  he  was  compelled  to  surrender  two  hundred  men,  the 
remnant  of  his  army,  at  Rivas,  and  by  the  interposition  of  Commodore  Davis, 
of  our  navy,  then  on  that  coast,  he  and  a  few  of  his  followers  were  brought 
away  unharmed.  So  soon  as  he  arrived  at  New  Orleans,  he  commenced  fit 
ting  out  another  Nicaraguan  expedition.  He  left  there  in  November,  1857, 
and  on  the  25th  of  that  month  he  landed  at  Puenta  Arenas,  where  Commodore 
Paulding,  of  our  navy,  seized  him  [Dec.  3]  and  two  hundred  and  thirty-two  of 
his  followers,  and  took  Walker  to  New  York  as  a  prisoner.  James  Buchanan 
was  then  President  of  the  United  States.  He  privately  commended  Pauld- 
ing's  act,1  but  "  for  prudential  reasons,"  he  said — that  is,  to  avoid  giving  offense 
to  the  slavery  propagandists — he  publicly  condemned  the  Commodore,  in  a 
special  message  to  Congress  [January  7,  1858],  for  thus  "violating  the  sove 
reignty  of  a  foreign  country !"  He  declined  to  hold  Walker  as  a  prisoner,* 
and  then  that  willing  agent  of  Davis  and  his  fellow-conspirators  were  allowed 
to  freely  traverse  the  slave-labor  States,  preaching  a  new  crusade  against  Cen 
tral  America,  and  collecting  funds  for  the  purpose  of  a  new  invasion.  Walker 
sailed  from  Mobile  with  a  third  expedition,  and  was  arrested  off  the  mouths  of 
the  Mississippi,  but  only  for  having  left  port  without  a  clearance  !  He  was 
tried  by  the  United  States  Court  at  New  Orleans  and  acquitted,  when  he 
recommenced  operations,  went  again  to  Central  America,  made  much  mischief, 
and  was  finally  captured  and  shot  at  Truxillo.  Thus  ended  one  of  the  first 
acts  in  the  bloody  drama  of  the  late  Rebellion. 

While  these  fillibustering  movements  were  in  progress  on  our  Southern 
frontier,  the  attention  of  the  government  was  called  to  other  important  matters. 
Among  these  was  a  war  by  the  Indians  upon  the  white  settlers  in  the  Territo 
ries  of  Oregon  and  Washington,  on  the  Pacific  coast,  toward  the  close  of  1855, 
caused,  in  a  great  measure,  by  the  bad  conduct  of  government  agents  and 
speculators ;  and  probably  in  a  measure  by  the  machinations  of  their  English 
neighbors.2  United  States  troops  were  sent  to  suppress  hostilities,  but  they 
failed  to  accomplish  it.  They  were  defeated  in  battle,  and  not  long  afterward 


1  Oral  statement  to  the  author  by  Commodore  Tatnall  (late  of  the  United  States  Navy),  at 
Sackett's  Harbor,  New  York,  in  July,  1860.     Tatnall  expressed  much  indignation   at  this  dis 
graceful  conduct  of  the  President,  so  calculated  to  demoralize  the  public  service,  and  said  : — "Few 
of  us  will  be  likely  to  do  our  duty  hereafter  for  fear  of  punishment,  by  public  censure,  while  the 
hand  that  inflicts  it  gives  us  a  certificate  of  private  approval." 

2  Circumstances  seemed  to  give  the  color  of  justice  to  the  suspicion,  that  the  savages  were 
incited  to  war  on  the  settlements  by  persons  connected  witli  the  English  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
who  had  married  Indian  women,  and  who  were  desirous  of  monopolizing  the  fur-trade  of  that 
region. 


526  THE     NATION.  [1855. 

several  white  families  were  murdered  by  the  savages.  Finally,  Major-General 
Wool,1  then  stationed  at  San  Francisco,  proceeded  to  Portland,  in  Oregon,  to 
organize  a  campaign  against  them.  The  Indians  had  formed  a  powerful  com 
bination,  and  during  the  winter  and  spring  of  1855--'56,  hostilities  were  so  gen 
eral  in  both  Territories,  that  it  appeared  at  one  time  as  if  the  settlers  would  be 
compelled  to  abandon  the  country.  This  "  Indian  trouble,"  as  it  was  called, 
was  brought  to  a  close  in  Oregon  during  the  ensuing  summer,  but  there  was 
restlessness  observed  everywhere  among  the  savage  tribes  westward  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains. 

The  friendly  relations  between  our  Government  and  that  of  Great  Britain 
were  slightly  disturbed  early  in  1855,  by  the  enlistment,  in  the  United  States, 
of  recruits  for  the  British  army,  then,  in  connection  with  a  French  army,  at 
war  with  the  Russians  on  the  Crimean  Peninsula.  It  was  done  under  the 
sanction  of  British  officials  in  this  country,  in  violation  of  our  neutrality  laws. 
In  this  business  the  British  minister  at  Washington  was  implicated,  and  our 
government  demanded  his  recall.  The  British  government  refused  compli 
ance.  After  waiting  p'atiently  several  months,  while  diplomatic  correspond 
ence  was  going  on,  the  President  dismissed  the  offending  minister ;  also  the 
British  consuls  at  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Cincinnati,  who  had  been 
guilty  of  a  similar  offense.  Irritation  followed  the&e  measures  for  a  while,  but 
law  and  equity  so  clearly  vindicated  the  action  of  the  United  States,  that  a 
new  minister  was  soon  sent  to  Washington,  and  friendly  feeling  was  restored. 

The  most  prominent  events  to  be  considered  in  the  history  of  the  adminis 
tration  of  President  Pierce  and  his  immediate  successor,  are  what  may  be 
called  the  preliminary  skirmishes  before  the  late  great  and  final  battle  waged 
between  the  slave  power  and  its  opponent.  The  former,  made  bold  and  trucu 
lent  by  success,  was  rapidly  bringing  not  only  the  government,  the  commerce, 
and  the  varied  industries  of  the  Republic  in  abject  subserviency  at  its  feet,  but 
was  making  the  conscience  of  the  nation,  as  manifested  in  morals  and  religion, 
plastic  in  its  hands,  and  giving  it  its  own  shape  and  proclivities.  The  Chief 
Magistrate  at  that  time  appeared  to  sympathize  with  its  sentiments,  and  smile 
complacently  upon  its  deeds  ;  and  so,  having  disposed,  as  it  thought,  of  all  its 
serious  opponents,  it  began  to  work  its  will  with  a  high  hand,  apparently 
unconscious,  of  the  fact  that  there  were  moral  forces  at  work  in  opposition, 
which,  like  those  of  the  material  universe,  are  sometimes,  though  invisible, 
intangible,  and  latent,  more  potent  in  action  than  those  which  are  seen  and 
felt.  That  such  'forces  existed  was  speedily  made  manifest. 

The  virtual  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  Act2  and  the  passage  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  Act3  left  all  the  territory  of  the  Republic  open  to  the  social 
institutions  of  every  section  of  the  Union.  '  The  question  immediately  arose, 
Shall  the  domain  of  the  Republic  be  the  theater  of  all  free  or  all  slave  labor, 
with  the  corresponding  civilization  of  each  as  a  consequence  ?  It  was  evident 
that  one  or  the  other  of  these  social  systems  must  prevail,  for  the  antagonism 
was  so  pronounced  that  one  or  the  other  must  immediately  yield.  That  ques- 

1  Pages  413  and  484.  a  Pages  452  and  501.  3  Page  518. 


1855.]  PIERCE'S    ADMINISTRATION.  527 

tion  was  scarcely  uttered,  when  positive  action  proceeded  to  answer  it.  The 
slave  power,  complacently  viewing  its  conquests,  and  the  abjectness  of  its  cap 
tives  in  its  presence,1  had  no  doubt  of  its  supremacy,  for  on  the  surface  of 
society  there  seemed  to  be  only  slight  ripples  to  indicate  the  agitation  of  serious 
opposition.  So  it  sounded  the  trumpet  for  battle,  and  the  newly  organized 
Territory  of  Kansas  was  its  chosen  field  of  conflict. 

The  iniquitous  Fugitive  Slave  Act,  and  the  aggressions  and  arrogance  of 
the  slave  power,  had  aroused  the  Christian  manhood  of  the  nation,  and  the 
Champion  of  Wrong,  to  its  utter  astonishment,  saw  the  gauntlet  it  had  cast 
down  immediately  taken  up  boldly  by  the  Champion  of  Right.  The  latter 
commenced  the  contest  with  the  peaceful  weapon  of  the  ballot-box.  Suddenly 
emigration  began  to  flow  in  a  copious  stream  from  the  free-labor  States,  and 
especially  from  New  England,  into  the  new  Territory.  It  was  obvious  that  the 
settlers  there  from  those  States  would  soon  out-vote  those  from  the  slave-labor 
States,  and  the  dominant  power  thus  far,  alarmed  and  exasperated,  began  to 
organize  physical  forces  in  Missouri,  to  counteract  the  moral  forces  of  its  oppo 
nent,  if  necessary.  Combinations  were  formed  under  various  titles,2  and  both 
parties  founded  settlements  and  planted  the  seeds  of  towns.3  The  government 
put  forth  its  strength  in  that  direction  in  October,  1854,  when  A.  H.  Reeder, 
appointed  Governor  of  the  Territory,  arrived,  and  took  measures  for  the  elec 
tion  of  a  territorial  legislature. 

With  the  election  of  members  for  a  legislature,  at  the  close  of  March,  1855, 
the  struggle  in  Kansas  fairly  commenced.  The  men  from  the  Free-labor  States 
plainly  perceived  that  they  must  contend  against  fraud  and  violence  in  every 
form.  The  Missouri  slave-holders  were  prepared  to  go  into  the  Territory  and 
secure  the  election  of  men  in  sympathy  with  them.  Already  in  November 
[1854],  when  a  delegate  to  Congress  was  elected,  out  of  nearly  twenty-nine 
hundred  votes  cast,  over  seventeen  hundred  were  put  in  by  Missourians  who 

1  Merchants  having  a  large  "Southern  trade,"  have  confessed  that  for  some  time  before  the 
breaking  out  of  the  late  civil  war,  they  were  careful  not  to  allow  the  New  York  Tribune,  and  sim 
ilar  publications  that  advocated  the  righteousness  of  freedom  for  all,  to  be  seen  in  their  stores 
when  their  "Southern"  customers  were  there! 

2  They  were   respectively  called  "Social  Band,"   "Friend's  Society,"  "Blue  Lodge,"  "The 
Sons  of  the  South,"  et  cetera.     So  early  as  the  24th  of  July,  1854,  or  about  two  weeks  after  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  Act,  an  "Emigrant  Aid  Society,"  under  an  act  of  incorpora 
tion  by  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  in  April  previous,  when  the  cloud  of  difficulty  was 
gathering,  was  formed  in  Boston,  and  was  efficient  in  sending  settlers  to  Kansas.     This  move 
ment  created  great  exasperation  among  the  slave-holders,  and  at  a  meeting  held  at  Westport, 
Missouri,  early  in  July  [1854],  it  was  resolved  that  Missourians,  who  formed  the  associations  there 
represented,  should  be  ready  at  all  times  to  assist,  when  called  upon  by  pro-slavery  citizens  in 
Kansas,  to   remove  from  the  Territory  by  force  every  person  who  should  attempt  to  settle  there 
"  under  the  auspices  of  the  Northern  Emigrant  Society."     They  recommended  the  slave-holders 
of  other  counties  in  Missouri  to  take  similar  action. 

3  The  settlers  from  Free-labor  States  founded  the  towns  of  Lawrence,  Topeka,  Boston  (after 
ward  Manhattan),  Grasshopper  Falls,  Pawnee,  and  one  or  two  others.     Those  from  the  Slave- 
labor  States  founded  Kickapoo,  Doniphan,  Atchison,  and  a  few  others  on  or  near  the  Missouri 
River.     A  few  days  after  the  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act,  hundreds  of  Missourians 
went  over  into  Kansas,  selected  a  tract  of  land,  and  put  a  mark  upon  it,  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  a  sort  of  pre-emption  right  to  it,  and  finally,  at  a  public  meeting,  resolved  as  follows : 
— "That  we  will  afford  protection  to  no  abolitionist  as  a  settler  of  this  Territory.     That  we 
recognize  the  institution  of  slavery  as  already  existing  in  this  Territory,  and  advise  slave-holders 
to  introduce  their  property  as  early  as  possible."  -i 


528  THE     NATION.  [1855. 

had  no  business  there.1  Now,  these  Missourians  were  more  open  in  their  usur 
pation  of  the  rights  of  the  citizens  of  Kansas.  While  only  eight  hundred  and 
thirty-one  legal  electors  voted  for  members  of  the  Legislature,  there  were  no 
less  than  six  thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty  votes  polled.  A  thousand 
men  came  from  Missouri,  armed  with  deadly  weapons,  two  cannon,  tents,  and 
other  things  that  appear  in  time  of  war,  and  encamped  around  Lawrence.2 
These  carried  the  election  by  the  most  shameful  fraud  and  violence ;  and  in 
like  manner  such  ruffians  controlled  every  other  poll  in  the  Territory.  Then  a 
reign  of  terror  commenced  in  Kansas,  and  actual  civil  war  darkened  that  beau 
tiful  land  for  more  than  a  year.  All  classes  of  men  carried  deadly  weapons, 
and  a  slight  or  accidental  quarrel  frequently  produced  unusual  violence. 

The  Legislature  of  Kansas,  thus  illegally  chosen,  was  called  by  the  Gov 
ernor  to  meet  at  Pawnee  City,  on  the  Kansas  River,  nearly  a  hundred  miles 
from  the  Missouri  line.  It  immediately  adjourned  to  Shawnee  Mission,  on  the 
Missouri  border,  and  there  proceeded  to  enact  the  most  barbarous  laws  for  the 
upholding  of  slavery  in  the  new  Territory.  These  were  regularly  vetoed  by 
the  Governor,  and  as  regularly  passed  over  his  veto.  He  was  so  obnoxious  to 
the  pro-slavery  party,  that  they  asked  President  Pierce  to  remove  him.  He 
did  so,  and  sent  ex-Governor  Wilson  Shannon,  of  Ohio,  to  fill  his  place.  That 
official  was  acceptable  to  the  Missourians,  for  he  decjared  that  he  was  for  slavery 
in  Kansas,  and  that  the  Kansas  Legislature  was  legal,  and  its  laws  were  bind 
ing  on  the  people ! 

The  actual  settlers  in  Kansas,  the  larger  portion  of  whom  were  from  the 
Free-labor  States,  held  a  mass  convention  on  the  5th  of  September  [1855], 
when  they  resolved  not  to  recognize  the  laws  of  the  Legislature,  fraudulently 
chosen,  as  binding  upon  them.  They  refused  to  vote  for  a  delegate  to  Congress 
at  an  election  appointed  by  that  Legislature,  and  they  called  a  delegate  conven 
tion  at  Topeka  on  the  1 9th  of  October.  By  that  convention  Governor  Reeder 

1  A  Democrat,  named  John  W.  Whitfield,  was  elected.  He  was  an  officer  in  the  Confederate 
army  during  a  portion  of  the  late  rebellion.  David  R.  Atchison,  then  a  member  of  the  United 
States  Senate  from  Missouri,  was  one  of  the  chief  promoters  of  the  frauds  and  ruffianism  by 
which  attempts  were  made  to  seize  Kansas.  He,  too,  was  a  leader  in  the  rebellion. 

*  This  band  of  lawless  men  were  led  by  Claiborne  F.  Jackson,  who  was  elected  Governor  of 
Missouri  by  the  Democrats  in  1860.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the  rebellion  against  his  Govern 
ment,  and  died  a  refugee  in  Arkansas,  in  1862.  On  the  evening  before  the  election  we  are  con 
sidering,  his  followers  held  a  meeting  at  his  tent,  near  Lawrence,  and  took  measures  to  crush 
any  attempt  to  have  a  legal  polling  of  the  votes.  They  threatened  to  hang  an  honest  judge  of 
the  election,  should  he  appear,  and  compelled  another,  under  similar  threats,  to  receive  every  vote 
offered  by  a  Missourian.  Some  of  these  voted  several  times;  and  three  of  the  men  elected  were 
residents  of  Missouri.  Every  man  who  did  not  sympathize  with  them,  if  known,  was  not  allowed 
to  vote.  The  result  satisfied  the  slave-holders.  The  newspapers  in  their  interest  advised  the 
Missourians  who  had  thus  "conquered  Kansas"  to  "hold  it,  or  die  in  the  attempt;"  and  when 
Governor  Reeder  refused  to  give  certificates  to  some  of  the  men  thus  illegally  elected,  and 
ordered  a  new  election  on  the  22d  of  May,  to  fill  their  places,  he  was  threatened  with  death.  "  This 
infernal  scoundrel,"  said  a  Missouri  paper  (The  Brunswicker),  "will  have  to  b3  wiped  out  yet." 
No  man  was  safe  who  dared  to  express  his  views  in  support  of  law  and  order.  One  example  of 
the  methods  used  by  the  slave-holders  in  conquering  Kansas,  cited  by  Mr.  Grceley  in  his  American 
Conflict  (i.  239),  will  suffice: — "William  Phillips,  a  Free-State  lawyer  of  Leavenworth,  saw  fit  to 
sign  the  protest  against  the  wholesale  frauds  whereby  the  election  at  that  place  was  carried.  A 
few  days  thereafter,  he  was  seized  by  a  crowd  of  Missouri  ruffians,  taken  by  force  to  Weston, 
Missouri,  eight  miles  distant,  and  there  tarred  and  feathered,  ridden  on  a  rail,  and  finally  sold  at 
auction  to  a  negro,  who  was  compelled  to  purchase  him." 


1856.]  PIERCE'S     ADMINISTRATION.  529 

was  nominated  for  delegate  in  place  of  Whitfield,  and  was  elected  by  the 
legal  votes  of  the  Territory.  On  the  23d  of  the  same  month  a  convention  of 
the  same  party,  chosen  by  the  settlers,  assembled  at  Topeka  and  formed  a  con 
stitution,  which  was  approved  by  the  legal  votes  of  the  Territory,  whereby 
Kansas  should  become  a  Free-labor  State,  and  under  this  they  asked  for  the 
admission  of  their  Territory  into  the  Union  as  such.  By  this  act  a  portion  of 
the  strife  between  freedom  and  slavery  for  supremacy  in  Kansas  was  now 
transferred  to  Washington  City.  There  Reeder  and  Whitfield  contested  the 
claim  of  each  to  a  seat.  In  the  mean  time  elections  had  been  held  [January 
17,  1856]  under  the  new  State  Constitution,  and  matters  seemed  dark  for  the 
pro-slavery  party  in  that  State,  when  President  Pierce  gave  them  comfort  by 
sending  in  a  special  message  to  Congress  [January  24],  in  which  he  represented 
the  action  of  the  legal  citizens  of  Kansas  in  forming  a  State  Constitution  as 
rebellion ! 

All  through  the  spring  of  1856,  violence  and  bloodshed  prevailed  in  Kansas. 
Seeing  the  determination  of  the  actual  settlers  to  maintain  their  rights,  armed 
men  nocked  into  the  Territory  from  the  Slave-labor  States,  and,  under  pretext 
of  compelling  submission  to  the  laws  of  the  illegal  Legislature,  they  roamed 
over  the  land,  committing  excesses  of  every  kind.1  Finally,  Congress  sent  a 
committee  of  investigation2  to  Kansas,  wrhose  majority  made  a  report  on  the 
1st  of  July  [1856],  in  which  the  political  action  of  the  legal  voters  of  Kansas 
was  fully  vindicated,  and  the  frauds  by  which  the  pro-slavery  Legislature  had 
been  chosen,  and  Whitfield  elected  a  delegate,  had  been  fully  exposed.  The 
Missouri  member  of  the  committee  dissented  from  the  report,  and  the  mission 
failed  to  produce  positive  action,  to  the  great  disappointment  of  the  country. 

As  the  autumn  advanced,  and  the  time  for  the  election  of  a  President  of  the 
Republic  drew  nigh,  that  question  so  absorbed  public  attention,  that  troubles 
in  Kansas  almost  ceased.  There  were  now  three  distinct  political  parties,  and 
three  candidates  for  the  Chief  Magistracy  were  before  the  people.  A  new  and 
powerful  party,  composed  chiefly  of  the  opponents  of  the  extension  and  exist 
ence  of  slavery,  had  lately  appeared.  It  was  formed  of  men  of  every  political 
creed,  who  were  willing  to  cut  loose  from  old  organizations  for  the  purpose  of 
opposing  the  scheme  of  the  slave-holders,  and  the  leaders  of  the  party  of  which 
President  Pierce  was  the  head,  to  make  slavery  a  national  instead  of  a  sectional 
institution.  This  was  called  the  Republican  party.  In  the  autumn  of  1856,  it 
had  assumed  vast  proportions  in  the  Free-labor  States,  and  was  kindly  regarded 
by  large  numbers  of  patriotic  men  in  the  Slave-labor  States.  There  was  another 
powerful  political  organization,  known  as  the  American  or  Know-Nothing  party, 
whose  proceedings  were  at  first  in  secret.  Its  chief  bond  of  union  Avas  opposition 
to  foreign  influence  and  the  denunciation  of  Roman  Catholicism  in  our  political 

1  A  regiment  of  reckless  young  men,  from  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  entered  the  Territory, 
under  a  man  named  Buford,  in  the  spring  of  1856,  for  the  purpose,  as  they  said,  of  making 
Kansas  a  Slave-labor  State  at  all  hazards.  These,  with  armed  men  under  Atchison,  Stringfellow, 
and  other  ruffians,  traversed  the  Territory,  executing  their  wicked  wills  at  pleasure,  without  even 
a  rebuke  from  the  Executive  of  the  nation. 

5  Composed  of  William  A.  Howard,  of  Michigan.  John  Sherman,  of  Ohio,  and  Mordecai  Oliver, 
of  Missouri. 

34 


530  THE     NATION.  [1856. 

affairs.  The  Democratic  party,  dating  its  modern  organization  at  the  election 
of  General  Jackson,  in  1828,1  had  been  divided  and  weakened  by  the  slavery 
question,  for  many  good  men  had  left  it  when  it  became  the  avowed  supporter 
of  that  institution,  or  had  formed  a  new  organization  within  its  fold ;  while  the 
old  ~W7i.ig  party2  was  virtually  annihilated  as  a  distinct  one. 

On  the  22d  of  February,  1856,  a  national  convention  of  the  American  party, 
held  at  Philadelphia,  nominated  ex-President  Fillmore3  for  the  office  of  Chief 
Magistrate,  with  A.  J.  Donelson,  of  Tennessee,  for  Vice-President.  On  the 
5th  of  June  following,  a  national  Democratic  Convention4  in  Cincinnati  nomi 
nated  for  President  of  the  Republic  James  Buchanan,  of  Pennsylvania,  one  of 
the  authors  of  the  "  Ostend  Circular,"5  with  John  C.  Breckenridge,  of  Ken 
tucky,  for  Vice-President.  This  nomination  was  satisfactory  to  the  Slave 
power,  and  the  convention  gave  the  coveters  of  Cuba  and  other  territory 
within  the  Golden  Circle6  to  understand  that  the  party  it  represented  was  in 
sympathy  with  their  doctrines  and  schemes.7 

On  the  17th  of  June  [1856],  a  national  convention  of  Republicans,  assem 
bled  at  Philadelphia,  nominated  John  C.  Fremont,  of  California,8  for  President, 
and  William  L.  Dayton,  of  New  Jersey,  for  Vice-President.  That  convention 
put  forth  strong  resolutions,  indicative  of  the  creed  of  the  new  and  powerful 
party  it  represented.9  An  exciting  canvass  followed  these  several  nominations, 
and  the  vote  [November  4,  1856]  resulted  in  the  choice  of  James  Buchanan. 
After  this,  nothing  of  great  importance  occurred  during  the  remainder  of  Presi 
dent  Pierce's  administration,  which  expired  on  the  4th  of  March,  1857. 

1  Page  459.  a  Note  2,  page  466.  3  Note  5,  page  501. 

4  The  two  wings  of  the  Democratic  party  (that  leaning  toward  the  anti-slavery  policy  of  the 
Republicans  being  called  the  "Free-Soil  Democracy")  had  been  reconciled,  and  the  organization 
was  nearly  a  unit  at  this  time.  Delegates  from  each  wing  met  in  this  convention,  and  they  gen 
erally  agreed  upon  measures  that  were  adopted. 

6*  Page  520.  8  Note  3,  page  520. 

7  In  a  series  of  resolutions,  the  convention  took  ground  in  favor  of  the  efforts  then  making  by 
filibiisteros,  as  the  Spaniards  call  small  bodies  of  invaders,  in  Central  America,  saying,  in  allusion 
to  Walker's  outrages  in  Nicaragua :  "  The  people  of  the  United  States  cannot  but  sympathize  with 
the  efforts  which  are  being  made  by  the  people  of  Central  America  to  regenerate  that  portion  of 
the  continent  which  covers  the  passage  across  the  inter-oceanic  isthmus."  They  declared  that 
the  next  administration  would  be  expected  to  use  every  proper  effort  "to  insure  our  ascendency 
in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,"  and  "Resolved,  That  the  Democratic  party  are  in  favor  of  the  acquisition 
of  the  Island  of  Cuba,  on  such  terms  as  shall  be  honorable  to  ourselves  and  just  to  Spain."  A. 
G.  Brown,  Senator  from  Mississippi,  who  was  one  of  a  committee  appointed  to  visit  Buchanan  at 
his  home  near  Lancaster,  and  apprise  him  of  his  nomination,  was  so  well  satisfied  that  the 
nominee  was  in  favor  of  the  national  policy  of  the  slave-holders,  that  he  wrote  a  cheerful  letter  to 
that  effect  [June  18.  1856]  to  S.  R.  Adams,  which  he  closed  by  saying:  "In  my  judgment,  he  is 
as  worthy  of  Southern  confidence  and  Southern  votes  as  ever  Mr.  Calhoun  was."  Mr.  Buchanan 
did  not  disappoint  his  most  sanguine  "Southern"  friends. 

B  Page  488. 

9  In  the  matter  of  aggression  upon  weak  neighbors,  the  convention  took  direct  issue  with  the 
Democratic  party,  by  resolving,  "That  the  highwayman's  plea  that  'might  makes  right,'  embodied 
in  the  Ostend  Circular,  was  in  every  respect  unworthy  of  American  diplomacy,  and  would  bring 
shame  and  dishonor  on  any  government  or  people  that  gave  it  their  sanction." 


1857.] 


BUCHANAN'S    ADMINISTRATION. 


531 


CHAPTER     XV. 

BUCHANAN'S     ADMINISTRATION.       [1857—1861.] 

JAMES  BUCHANAN,'  the  fifteenth  President  of  the  Republic,  took  the  oath 
of  office  at  Washington  City  on  the  4th  of  March,  1857.  It  was  administered 
to  him  by  the  venerable  Roger  B.  Taney,  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  United 


States.     Among  the  spectators  on  that  occasion  was  a  citizen  who  bore  a  near 
relationship  to  the  great  Washington,  and  who  had  been  present  at  the  inaugu- 

1  James  Buchanan  was  born  in  Franklin  County,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  23d  of  April,  1791. 
He  was  educated  at  Dickenson  College,  where  he  was  graduated  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years.  In 
1809  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  was  soon  in  successful  practice  in  his  native  State.  In  1814, 
when  only  twenty-three  years  of  age,  he  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania. 
This  was  his  first  prominent  appearance  in  public  life.  In  1815  he  distinguished  himself  in  his 
State  Legislature  as  an  opponent  of  the  United  States  Bank,  and  became  one  of  the  foremost  men 
in  the  Democratic  party.  He  was  elected  to  Congress  in  1820,  and  there  he  soon  became  distin 
guished  as  a  speaker  and  debater.  After  ten  years'  service,  he  retired  from  Congress  in  1831, 
when  President  Jackson  appointed  him  minister'to  Russia.  In  1833  he  was  elected  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  where  he  also  served  ten  years.  President  Polk  called  him  to  his  cabinet,  as  Sec 
retary  of  State  ;  and  in  1849  he  again  retired  to  private  life.  In  1853  he  was  appointed  minister 
to  England;  and  in  June,  1856,  he  was  nominated  for  President  of  the  United  States.  In  Novem- 


530  TIIE     NATION.  [1857. 

ration  of  every  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Republic.1  Two  days  afterward,  the 
Senate  confirmed  Mr.  Buchanan's  cabinet  appointment.'2 

The  beginning  of  Buchanan's  administration  was  marked  by  an  event  which 
greatly  intensified  the  sectional  strife  concerning  slavery.  Dred  Scott,  a 
negro,  had  been  held  as  a  slave  in  Missouri  until  1834,  when  his  master,  who 
was  a  surgeon  in  the  army,  being  ordered  to  a  post  in  Illinois,  took  him  into 
that  Free-labor  State.  There  Scott  married  the  slave  girl  of  another  officer, 
with  the  consent  of  the  masters.  They  had  two  children,  born  within  Free- 
labor  territory.  The  mother  had  been  bought  by  the  master  of  Scott,  and 
when  he  returned  to  Missouri  he  held  the  parents  and  children  in  bondage. 
They  were  sold,  and  Scott  finally  sued  for  his  freedom,  on  the  ground  of  his 
involuntary  residence  for  years  in  a  Free-labor  region.  The  State  Circuit  Court 
of  St.  Louis  County,  in  which  the  case  was  tried,  gave  judgment  in  his  favor. 
This  was  reversed  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  and  the  question  was 
carried  to  and  heard  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  at  Washing 
ton,  in  May,  1854,  Chief  Justice  Taney  presiding.  The  decision  was  reserved, 
for  alleged  prudential  reasons,  until  after  the  Presidential  election,  in  the 
autumn  of  1856.3  That  decision,  uttered  by  the  Chief  Justice,  was  against 
Scott,  the  majority  of  the  court  agreeing  with  its  head  in  denying  to  any  per 
son,  "  whose  ancestors  were  imported  to  this  country  and  sold  as  slaves,"  any 
right  to  sue  in  a  court  of  the  United  States ;  in  other  words,  denying  the  right 
of  citizenship  to  any  person  who  had  been  a  slave,  or  was  the  descendant  of  a 
slave. 

The  legitimate  business  of  the  court  was  simply  a  denial  of  jurisdiction  ; 
but  the  Chief  Justice  took  the  occasion  to  give  the  sanction  and  aid  of  that 
august  tribunal  to  the  efforts  of  the  slave-holders  to  nationalize  the  institution 

J5 

of  slavery.  With  a  strange  disregard  of  popular  intelligence,  he  asserted,  in 
opposition  to  testimony  to  the  contrary,  found  in  abundance  in  our  records  of 
legislation  and  social  life,  that  the  framers  and  supporters  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  did  not  include  the  black  race  in  our  country  in  the  great 
proclamation  that  "  all  men  are  created  equal ;"  that  our  Revolutionary  fathers 
and  their  progenitors,  "  for  more  than  a  century  before,"  regarded  the  black 
race  among  us  as  "  so  far  inferior,  that  they  had  no  rights  which  the  white  man 
was  bound  to  respect"  and  that  they  "  were  never  thought  or  spoken  of  except 

her  following  he  was  elected  to  that  high  office,  and  on  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  he  again  retired 
to  private  life  at  his  seat,  called  "  Wheatlarid,"  near  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,,  where  he  still  [1867] 
remains. 

1  George  "Washington  Parke  Custis,  the  grandson  of  Mrs.  Washington,  the  adopted  son  of  the 
patriot,  and  the  last  surviving  executor  of  his  will.     Mr.  Custis  died  at  Arlington  House,  near 
Washington  City,  in  the  autumn  of  1857. 

2  He  appointed  Lewis  Cass,  Secretary  of  State;  Howell  Cobb,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  John 
B.  Floyd,  Secretary  of  War;  Isaac  Toucey,  Secretary  of  the  Navy;  Jacob  Thompson,  Secretary 
of  the    Interior;    Aaron  V.    Brown,    Postmaster-General;    and  Jeremiah   S.  Black,    Attorney- 
General. 

3  The  majority  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  at  that  time,  whose  sympathies  were  with 
the  slave-holders,  decided  that,  on  account  of  the  excitement  produced  bv  the  Nebraska  bill  and 
events  in   Kansas,  it  was   best  to   postpone  the    decision.     "It   is  quite  probable,"  says    the 
author  of  The  American  Conflict,  i.  252,  "that  the  action  of  the  court  in  the  premises,  if  made 
public  at  the  time  originally  intended  [Term  of  1855-6],  would  have  reversed  the  issue  of  that 
Presidential  election.1' 


1857.]  BUCHANAN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  533 

as  property"  He  further  alleged  that  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  "  held  the 
same  views,  as  is  equally  evident  from  its  provisions  and  language,"  when  in 
that  instrument  slaves  are  always  spoken  of  as  "  persons,"  and  not  as  property. 
Having,  with  these  and  other  statements,  equally  discordant  with  the  facts  of 
history,  declared  the  colored  people  of  our  country  incapable  of  being  citizens, 
he  proceeded  to  declare  also  that  the  Missouri  Compromise  Act,  and  all  other 
acts  of  Congress  restricting  slavery,  were  unconstitutional,  and  that  neither 
Congress,  nor  local  Legislatures,  had  any  authority  for  restricting  the  spread 
of  the  institution  of  slavery  The  majority  of  the  court  agreed  with  the  Chief- 
Justice  in  these  extra-judicial  opinions,  and  the  leaders  of  the  dominant  politi 
cal  party  assumed  that  the  nation  was  bound  to  acquiesce  in  the  judgment  of 
these  five  or  six  fallible  men,  who  proposed  to  turn  back  the  tide  of  Christian 
civilization  into  the  darker  channels  of  a  barbaric  age  from  which  it  had  broken, 
and  was  making  the  desert  of  humanity  "  blossom  as  the  rose."  The  conscience 
of  the  nation  refused  acquiescence.1 

The  newly  elected  President,  who  appears  to  have  been  informed  of  this 
decision  before  its  promulgation,  regarded  it  with  great  favor,  and  acted 
accordingly.  In  his  inaugural  address,  delivered  two  days  before  the  decision 
was  promulgated,  he  hinted  at  the  measure  as  one  that  would  "  speedily  and 
finally  "  settle  the  slavery  question.2  "  The  whole  Territorial  question,"  he  said, 
"  being  thus  settled  upon  the  principle  of  popular  sovereignty — a  principle  as 
ancient  as  free  government  itself — every  thing  of  a  practical  nature  has  been 
decided,"  and  he  expressed  a  hope  that  the  long  agitation  of  the  subject  of 
slavery  was  "  approaching  its  end."  A  council  of  priests  could  not  stop  the 
motion  of  the  earth,  and  Galileo  knew  it,  and  said  so ;  the  opinions  of  a  few 
men  could  not  prevent  the  great  heart  of  the  nation  beating  with  strong 
desires  to  have  our  Republic  in  fact,  as  in  name — 

"The  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave." 

Kansas  was  still  a  battle-field  on  which  Freedom  and  Slavery  were  openly 
contending.  The  energetic  measures  of  John  W.  Geary,  who  had  succeeded 
Shannon  as  governor  of  the  Territory,  had  smothered  the  fires  of  civil  war  for 
a  time.  He  was  succeeded  by  Robert  J.  Walker,  a  Mississippian,  who  was 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  under  President  Polk  ;  and  Frederick  P.  Stanton,  of 
Tennessee,  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Territory.  The  two  parties  were 

1  Roger  Brooke  Taney  was  born  in  Maryland,  on  the  17th  of  March,  1777,  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  as  a  practicing  lawyer  in  1799.    He  served,  at  an  early  age,  in  the  Senate  and  Assembly 
of  Maryland.    He  was  appointed  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States  in  1831,  and  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  in  1833.     He  was  appointed  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States  on  the  death  of  Judge 
Marshall,  and  took  his  seat  as  such  in  January,  1837.    He  remained  in  that  office  until  his  death,  in 
the  city  of  Washington,  on  the  12th  of  October,  1864,  when  his  place  was  filled  by  Salmon  P. 
Chase,  of  Ohio,  the  present  [1867]  incumbent. 

2  Discussing  the  right  of  the  citizens  of  a  Territory  to  settle  the  question  whether  or  not 
slavery  should  exist  in  such  Territory,  he  said :   "  It  is  a  judicial  question,  which  legitimately 
belongs  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  before  whom  it  is  now  pending,  and  will,  it  is 
understood,  be  speedily  and  finally  settled.     To  their  decision,  in  common  with  all  good  citizens. 
I  shall  cheerfully  submit."     It  should  be  remembered  that  the  subject  of  discussion  was  never 
before  the  court  for  adjudication' in  any  shape,  and  that  the  decision  was  an  extra-judicial  opinion 
of  the  Chief  Justice,  supported  by  some  of  his  associates,  and  of  no  more  binding  force  in  law 
than  the  opinion  of  any  other  citizen.     That  opinion  was  promulgated  on  the  6th  of  March,  1857. 


534  THE     CATION.  [1858. 

working  energetically  for  the  admission  of  Kansas  as  a  State,  with  opposing 
ends  in  view.  The  pro-slavery  party,  in  convention  at  Lecompton  early  in 
September,  1857,  formed  a  constitution,  in  which  was  a  clause  providing  that 
"  the  rights  of  property  in  slaves  now  in  the  Territory  shall  in  no  manner  be 
interfered  with,"  and  forbade  any  amendments  of  the  instrument  until  1864. 
It  was  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people  on  the  21st  of  December  following, 
but,  by  the  terms  of  the  election  law,  no  one  might  vote  against  that  Consti 
tution.  The  vote  was  taken :  "  For  the  Constitution,  with  slavery,"  or  "  For 
the  Constitution,  without  slavery ;"  so  that,  in  either  case,  a  Constitution  that 
protected  and  perpetuated  slavery  would  be  voted  for.  The  vote  for  the  Con 
stitution  with  slavery  was,  of  course,  largely  the  majority. 

Meanwhile,  an  election  for  a  Territorial  Legislature  was  held.  Assured  by 
Walker  that  justice  should  rule,  the  friends  of  Free  labor  generally  voted,  and, 
notwithstanding  enormous  frauds,1  they  carried  the  Legislature  and  elected  a 
delegate  to  Congress.  The  new  Legislature,  unquestionably  legal,  ordered  the 
Lecompton  Constitution  to  be  submitted  to  the  people  of  the  Territory  for 
their  adoption  or  rejection.  The  result  was  its  rejection  by  over  ten  thousand 
majority.2  Regardless  of  this  strong  expression  of  the  will  of  the  people  of 
Kansas,  the  President  sent  the  pro-slavery  Lecompton  Constitution  to  Con 
gress  [February  2,  1858],  wherein  was  a  large  Democratic  majority,  with  a 
message  in  which  he  recommended  its  acceptance  and  ratification.3  It  was 
accepted  by  the  Senate  (32  yeas,  25  nays),  but  in  the  House  a  substitute  pro 
posed  by  the  venerable  Senator  Crittenden,  of  Kentucky,  was  adopted,  which 
provided  for  the  re-submission  of  the  Lecompton  Constitution  to  the  people  of 
Kansas.  It  was  done,  and  that  instrument  was  again  rejected  by  about  ten 
thousand  majority.  The  political  power  in  Kansas  was  now  in  the  hands  of 
the  friends  of  freedom,  and  finally,  at  the  'dose  of  January,  1861,  that  Territory 
was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  Free-labor  State,  and  the  thirty-fourth 
member  of  the  family.  So  ended  one  of  the  most  desperate  of  the  skirmishes 
before  the  great  battle  between  Freedom  and  Slavery,  which  we  shall  consider 
presently.  And  in  1862,  the  opinion  of  Chief  Justice  Taney,  that  a  descendant 
of  a  slave  could  not  become  a  citizen  of  the  Republic,  was  practically  rejected 
as  unsound,  by  the  issuing  of  a  passport  ,to  one,  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  to 
travel  abroad  as  a  "citizen  of  the  United  States." 

While  the  friends  of  freedom  were  anxiously  considering  how  they  should 
save  their  country  from  the  perils  with  which  the  institution  of  slavery  threat 
ened  it,  the  friends  of  that  system,  emboldened  by  the  sympathy  of  the 
government,  formed  plans  for  its  perpetuity,  and  their  own  profit  and  aggran 
dizement,  which  would  practically  disregard  the  plain  requirements  of  the 

1  One  or  two  examples  may  be  given.  In  a  little  precinct  on  the  Missouri  border,  where  there 
were  but  forty-three  legal  votes,  1,600  votes  were  taken ;  and  at  another  place,  where  no  poll  was 
opened,  1,200  were  returned. 

8  The  vote  was,  for  the  Constitution  with  slavery,  138:  for  it  without  slavery.  24:  against  it, 
10,226. 

3  In  that  message  he  said,  referring  to  the  opinion  of  Chief  Justice  Taney,  already  considered : 
"It  has  been  solemnly  adjudged,  by  the  highest  judicial  tribunal  knovvm  to  our  laws,  that  slavery 
exists  in  Kansas  by  virtue  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Kansas  is,  therefore,  at 
this  moment,  as  much  a  slave  State  as  Georgia  or  South  Carolina." 


1857.]  BUCHANAN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  535 

National  Constitution,  and  defy  the  laws  of  the  land  and  the  humane  spirit  of 
the  time.  They  resolved  to  re-open  the  African  slave-trade.  In  direct  viola 
tion  of  the  laws,  native  Africans  were  landed  on  the  coasts  -of  the  Southern 
States,  and  placed  in  hopeless  bondage.  In  Louisiana,  leading  citizens  engaged 
in  a  scheme  for  legalizing  that  horrid  traffic,  under  the  deceptive  guise  of  what 
they  called  the  "  African  Labor-supply  Association,"1  and  in  Savannah,  Georgia, 
a  grand  jury,  who  were  compelled  by  law  to  find  several  bills  against  persons 
charged  with  complicity  in  the  slave-trade,  actually  protested  against  the  laws 
they  were  sworn  to  support.2  Southern  newspapers  openly  advocated  the 
traffic  ;3  and  a  prominent  Southern  clergyman  asserted  his  conviction  that  the 
horrible  African  slave-tra.de  was  "the  most  worthy  of  all  missionary  societies."4 
Southern  legislatures  and  conventions 
openly  discussed  the  subject  of  re-opening 
the  trade.5  John  Slidell,  of  Louisiana,  one  of 
the  arch-conspirators  against  the  life  of  the 
Republic,  urged  in  the  Senate  of  the  Lrnited 
States  the  propriety  of  withdrawing  Ameri 
can  cruisers  from  the  coast  of  Africa,  that 
the  traffickers  in  human  beings  might  not  be 
molested;  and  the  administration  of  Mr. 
Buchanan  was  made  to  favor  this  scheme 
of  the  great  cotton-planters,  by  protest 
ing  against  the  visitation  of  suspected 
slave-bearing  vessels,  carrying  the  American 
flag,  by  British  cruisers.6 

mi        T^  CM  A     A  i  JOHN   SLIDELL. 

I  he  fugitive  blave  Act  was  now  bear- 

1  The  President  of  that  association  was  the  late  Mr.  De  Bow,  editor  of  De  Bow's  Review,  pub 
lished  in  New  Orleans.      That  magazine  was  the  acknowledged  organ  of  the  oligarchy  of  slave 
holders,  and  was  one  of  the  chief  promoters  of  the  late  rebellion. 

2  ""We  feel  humbled,"  they  said,  "as  men.  in  the  consciousness  that  we  are  freemen  but  in 
name,  and  that  we  are  living,  during  the  existence  of  such  laws,  under  a  tyranny  as  supreme  as 
that  of  the  despotic  governments  of  the  Old  World.     Heretofore  the  people  of  the  South,  firm  in 
their  consciousness  of  right  and  strength,  have  failed  to  place  the  stamp  of  condemnation  upon 
such  laws  as  reflect  upon  the  institution  of  slavery,  but  have  permitted,  unrebuked,  the  influence 
of  foreign  opinion  to  prevail  in  their  support." 

3  The  True  Southron,  published  in  Mississippi,  suggested  the  "propriety  of  stimulating  the 
zeal  of  the  pulpit  by  founding  a  prize  for  the  best  sermon  in  favor  of  free-trade  in  negroes."     This 
proposition  was  widety  copied  with  approval,  and  in  many  pulpits  professed  ministers  of  the 
gospel  exhibited  "zoal"  in  the  service  of  the  slave  power,  without  the  stimulus  of  an  offered  prize. 

4  Doctor  James  IT.  Thorn  well,  President  of  the  Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary  at  Columbia, 
South  Carolina.     Dr.  Thornwell,  who  died  at  the  beginning  of  the  late  rebellion,  was  distinguished 
as  "the  Calhoun  of  the  Church"  in  the  South. 

5  The    "Southern   Commercial  Convention,"  held  at  Yicksburg,    Mississippi,  on  the  llth  of 
May,  1859,  resolved,  by  a  vote  of  47  to   16,  that   "all  laws,  State  or  Federal,  prohibiting  the 
African  slave-trade,  ought  to  be  abolished."     There  is  ample  evidence  on  record,  that  Jefferson 
Davis,  Alexander  II.  Stephens,  William  L.  Yancey,  and  other  leaders  in  the  late  rebellion,  were 
advocates  of  the  foreign  slave-trade. 

6  By  an  arrangement. between  the  governments  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  the 
cruisers  of  each  were  empowered  to  board  vessels  of  either  nation  suspected  of  being  engaged 
in   the   African   slave-trade.      When,   in   the    summer  of  1858,  it   was   known   that  the  trade 
was  about  to  be    carried  on  actively  by   men  of  the   Slave-labor  States,   the  British  cruisers 
in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  were  unusually  vigilant,  and  in  the   course  of  a  few  weeks  boarded 
about  forty  suspected  American  vessels.     Our  government,  inspired  by  men  like  Slidell,  protested 


536  TIIE     NATION  [1857. 

ing  the  fruit  desired  by  its  author.1  The  evident  intention  of  the  slave-holders, 
assisted  by  the  President  and  the  Chief  Justice,  to  nationalize  slavery,  increased 
the  sense  of  its  offensiveness ;  and  the  denial  of  the  obvious  meaning  of  the 
vital  doctrine  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  awakened  in  the  breast  of 
the  people,  especially  in  the  Free-labor  States,  strong  desires  for  removing 
from  the  national  escutcheon  the  horrid  stain  of  human  bondage.2  The  Legis 
latures  of  several  Free-labor  States  adopted  measures  to  prevent,  by  lawful 
means,  its  most  injurious  actions,  and  in  a  special  manner  to  prevent  the 
carrying  away  of  free  persons  of  color  into  slavery,  the  law  denying  the  right 
of  the  alleged  fugitive  to  trial  by  jury.  The  Legislature  of  New  York  re 
affirmed  the  determination  of  the  State  authorities  to  make  every  slave  free 
that  should  be  brought  involuntarily  within  its  borders,  and  denounced  the 
opinion  of  the  Chief  Justice,  which  denied  citizenship  to  men  of  color.  Ohio 
passed  a  bill  of  similar  character;  and  Maine,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 
Michigan,  and  Wisconsin  took  strong  ground  in  favor  of  the  freedom  of  the 
slave,  without  assuming  an  attitude  of  actual  resistance  to  the  obnoxious  Act, 
which  all  were  bound  to  obey  so  long  as  it  remained  unrepealed.  These  "  Per 
sonal  Liberty  Laws,"  as  they  were  called,  exasperated  the  slave-holders,  and 
they  were  used  by  the  politicians  as  a  pretext,  as  it  was  intended  they  should  be, 
for  kindling  the  flames  of  civil  war.  At  about  thp  same  time  a  "  National 
Emancipation  Society"  was  formed  at  Cleveland,  Ohio  [August  26,  1857]? 
having  for  its  object  the  maturing  of  a  plan  for  ending  slavery  by  the  purchase 
of  the  slaves  by  the  National  government. 

against  what  it  was  pleased  to  call  the  odious  British  doctrine  of  "the  right  of  search,"  and  the 
British  government,  for  "prudential  reasons,"  put  a  stop  to  it,  and  laid  the  blame  on  the  officers 
of  the  cruisers. 

1  See  page  521. 

2  When  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  promulgated,  its  precepts  struck  at  the  root  of 
human  bondage  in  every  form;  and  efforts  were  made,  in  several  States,  to  eradicate  the  institu 
tion,  sometimes  in  the  form  of  propositions  for  immediate,  and  at  others  for  gradual,  emancipation. 
It  had  been  expelled  from  England  by  the  decision  of  Lord  Mansfield,  just  before  the  kindling  of 
the  American  Revolution.     This  decision  was  in  the  case  of  James  Somerset,  a  native  of  Africa, 
who  was  carried  to  Virginia,  and  sold  as  a  slave,  taken  to  England  by  his  master,  and  there 
induced  to  assert  his  freedom.      The  first  case  of  a  similar  nature  on  record  in  England  was  in 
1697,  when  it  was  held  that  negroes  "being  usually  bought  and  sold  among  merchants,  as  mer 
chandise,  and  also  being  infidels,  there  might  be  a  property  in  them  sufficient  to  maintain  trover." 
This  position  was  overruled  by  Chief  Justice  Holt,  who  decided  that  "so  soon  as  a  negro  lands  in 
England,  he  is  free."     To  this  decision  Cowper  alludes,  when  he  says,  "  Slaves  cannot  breathe  in 
England."    In  1702,  Justice  Holt  also  decided  that  "there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  slave  by  the  law 
of  England."     In  1729,  an  opinion  was  obtained,  that  "negroes  legally  enslaved  elsewhere  might 
be  held  as  slaves  in  England,  and  that  baptism  was  no  bar  to  the  master's  claim."     This  was 
held  as  good  law  until  Mansfield's  decision  above  mentioned. 

In  the  P]nglish  colonies  in  America,  the  most  enlightened  men,  regarding  slavery  with  great 
disfavor,  made  attempts  from  time  to  time  to  limit  or  to  eradicate  it.  The  utterances  and  actions  of 
George  Washington,  Henry  Laurens,  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  other  slave-holders,  and  of  Dr. 
Franklin,  John  Jay,  and  many  other  leading  patriots,  directly  refute  the  assertion  of  Judge  Taney, 
that  in  their  time  Africans  by  descent  "  were  never  thought  or  spoken  of  except  as  property." 
Among  the  important  public  acts  of  those  men  so  misrepresented,  was  the  famous  Ordinance  of 
1787  [see  page  362],  adopted  before  the  National  Constitution  was  framed,  which  was  the  final 
result  of  an  effort  commenced  in  the  Continental  Congress  some  years  before  [1784]  to  restrict 
slavery.  That  action  was  in  relation  to  a  plan  for  the  government  of  the  Western  Territory,  then 
including  the  whole  region  west  of  the  old  thirteen  States,  as  far  south  as  the  thirty-first  degree 
of  north  latitude,  and  embracing  several  of  the  late  Slave-labor  States.  The  plan  was  submitted 
by  a  committee,  of  which  Thomas  Jefferson  was  chairman.  It  contemplated  the  ultimate  division 
of  that  territory  into  seventeen  States,  eight  of  them  below  the  latitude  of  the  present  city  of 


1859.]  BUCHANAN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  537 

The  attention  of  the  public  mind  was  somewhat  diverted  for  a  while  from 
the  absorbing  topic  of  slavery  by  the  movements  of  the  Mormons  in  Utah,1 
early  in  1857.  Incensed  because  their  Territory  was  not  admitted  as  a  State, 
they  commenced  revolutionary  proceedings.  They  destroyed  the  records  of 
the  United  States  Court  for  the  District ;  and  under  the  instructions  of  their 
Governor  and  spiritual  head,  Brigham  Young,2  they  looked  to  him  for  all  laws. 
The  President  determined  to  enforce  those  of  the  United  States.  He  appointed 
Colonel  Gumming  Governor  of  Utah,  and  sent  an  army  to  uphold  his  authority. 
Young  issued  a  proclamation,  declaring  his  intention  to  resist  the  troops ;  but 
when  Gumming  arrived  there,  in  April,  1858,  while  the  army  was  at  Fort 
Bridger,  Young  received  him  with  courtesy,  and  surrendered  to  him  the  Seal 
of  the  Territory ;  at  the  same  time  he  and  his  people  prepared  to  leave  the 
country,  declaring  that  they  would  emigrate  to  a  new  land  rather  than  submit 
to  military  and  Gentile  rule.  The  troops,  who  had  lost  a  provision  train, 
destroyed  by  the  Mormons,  were  recalled ;  the  "  Mormon  War "  ended,  and 
Young  and  his  people  were  soon  again  applying  for  the  admission  of  their 
Territory  as  a  State.3  They  are  yet  [1867]  unsuccessful.  Polygamy  is  the 
hindrance. 

The  autumn  of  1859  was  the  witness  of  a  most  extraordinary  excitement 
on  the  subject  of  slavery.  The  feverishness  in  the  public  mind,  produced  by 
the  discussions  of  that  topic,  had  somewhat  subsided,  and  there  was  unusual 
calmness  in  the  political  atmosphere.  Utah  was  quiet ;  difficulties  which  had 
arisen  between  our  government  and  that  of  Paraguay,  in  South  America,  had 
been  settled,  and  the  Indian  troubles  on  the  Pacific  coast  were  drawing  to  a 
close.4  "Walker's  filibustering  operations  against  Nicaragua  were  losing  much 
of  their  interest  in  consequence  of  his  failures,5  and  the  National  Legislature, 
during  its  short  session,  had  been  much  engaged  in  action  upon  the  Pacific 
Railway,  Homestead,  Soldiers'  Pension,  and  other  bills  of  national  interest. 
The  summer  had  passed  away  in  general  quietude  throughout  the  country, 
and  the  weary  in  the  political  field  were  hoping  for  rest,  when  the  whole  na 
tion  was  startled,  as  by  a  terrific  thunder-peal,  by  an  announcement  from  Balti- 


Louisville,  in  Kentucky.  Among  the  rules  for  the  government  of  that  region,  reported  by  Mr. 
Jefferson,  was  the  following:  "That  after  the  year  1800  of  the  Christian  era,  there  shall  be  neither 
slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  in  any  of  the  said  States,  otherwise  than  in  punishment  of  crimes, 
whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  convicted  to  be  personally  guilty."  This  clause  was  stricken 
out  [April  19,  1784],  on  motion  of  Mr.  Spaight,  of  North  Carolina,  seconded  by  Mr.  Read,  of  South 
Carolina.  A  majority  of  the  States  were  against  striking  it  out,  but  the  Articles  of  Confederation 
required  a  vote  of  nine  States  to  carry  a  proposition.  See  Journals  of  Congress.  In  the  Ordinance 
of  1787  [see  page  362],  this  rule,  omitting  the  words,  "after  the  year  1800  of  the  Christian  era," 
was  incorporated. 

1  See  page  504. 

a  The  successor  of  Joseph  Smith  [page  504],  who  was  duly  appointed  Governor  of  Utah  by 
President  Fillmoro  in  1;  50,  and  yet  (18G7)  holds  that  position. 

3  Early  in  18G2  they  formed  a  new  State  Constitution,  elected  senators  and  representatives 
under  it,  and  applied  for  admission  when  Congress  assembled,  near  the  close  of  the  year.  No 
action  was  had  on  the  application:  but  Congress  passed  a  law  ''to  punish  and  prevent  the  prac 
tice  of  polygamy  in  the  Territories  of  the  United  States,"  and  in  other  places,  and  disapproving 
and  annulling  certain  acts  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  the  Territory  of  Utah.  The  law 

mst  polygamy  is  a  dead  letter  in  our  statute-books. 

1   Page  525.  5  Page  525. 


538  THE     NATION.  [1859. 

more  [October  17,  1859]  that  "an  insurrection  had  broken  out  at  Harper's 
Ferry,1  where  an  armed  band  of  Abolitionists  have  full  possession  of  the  Gov 
ernment  Arsenal."  This  was  the  celebrated  "John  Brown's  Raid,"  which 
kindled  a  blaze  of  intense  excitement  throughout  the  Slave-labor  States,  and 
revived  the  "  slavery  agitation  "  with  fiercest  intensity. 

The  outline  of  the  story  of  "  John  Brown's  Raid  "  may  be  given  in  few 
words.  Brown2  had  acted  and  suffered  much  in  Kansas  during  the  civil  war 
there,  where  he  was  a  prominent  anti-slavery  man.  He  was  enthusiastic,  fanat 
ical,  and  brave,  and  believed  himself  to  be  the  destined  liberator  of  the  slaves 
in  our  land.  He  went  into  Canada  from  Kansas  by  way  of  Detroit,  with  a 
few  followers  and  twelve  slaves  from  Missouri,  whom  he  led  to  freedom  in  the 
dominions  of  the  British  Queen.  At  Chatham  he  held  a  convention  [May  8, 
1859],  whereat  a  "Provisional  Constitution  and  Ordinances  for  the  People  of 
the  United  States  "  was  adopted,  not,  as  the  instrument  itself  declared,  for  the 
overthrow  of  any  government,  "  but  simply  to  amend  and  repeal ;"  adding, 
"  and  our  flag  shall  be  the  same  that  our  fathers  fought  under  in  the  Revolu 
tion."  It  was  part  of  a  scheme  for  an  uprising  of  the  slaves  for  the  obtaining 
of  their  freedom. 

The  summer  of  1859  was  spent  in  preparations  for  a  decisive  movement, 
and  Brown  finally  hired  a  farm  a  few  miles  from  Harper's  Ferry,  where  he  was 
known  by  the  name  of  Smith.  There  a  few  followers  stealthily  congregated, 
and  pikes  and  other  weapons  were  gathered,  and  ammunition  was  provided, 
for  the  purpose  of  striking  the  first  blow  against  slavery  in  Virginia.  The 
appointed  time  for  delivering  that  blow  was  Sunday  evening,  the  16th  of 
October,  when  Brown,  moving  in  profound  darkness,  with  seventeen  white  and 
five  colored  men,  entered  the  little  village  of  Harper's  Ferry,  extinguished  the 
public  lights,  seized  the  armory  and  the  railway  bridge,  and  quietly  arrested 
and  imprisoned  in  the  government  buildings  citizens  as  they  appeared  in  the 
streets,  one  by  one,  in  the  morning,  ignorant  of  what  had  happened.  The 
news  soon  went  abroad.  Virginia  militia  flocked  to  the  rescue,  and  in  the 
course  of  twenty-four  hours  Colonel  Robert  E.  Lee  was  there  with  government 
troops  and  cannon.  Struggles  between  the  raiders  and  the  militia  and  citizens 
resulted  in  several  deaths.  Two  of  Brown's  sons  were  killed,  and  the  leader 
was  captured.  He  expected  a  general  uprising  of  the  negroes  in  that  region, 
but  was  disappointed.  He  was  indicted  for  exciting  slaves  to  insurrection, 

*  At  the  confluence  of  the  Potomac  and  Shenandoah  rivers,  in  Virginia,  where  the  united 
streams  burst  through  the  Blue  Ridge.  There  was  a  National  armory,  in  which  a'  large  quantity 
of  arms  were  stored  at  the  time  we  are  considering. 

2  John  Brown  was  born  in  Farmington,  Connecticut,  on  the  9th  of  May,  1800.  When  he 
was  five  years  of  age  his  family  settled  in  Hudson,  Ohio,  and,  as  a  cattle -driving  boy,  he  was  at 
the  surrender  of  Hull  at  Detroit,  in  1812.  His  school  education  was  meager,  and  he  learned  the 
trade  of  tanner  and  currier.  He  commenced  studying  for  the  ministry,  but  weak  eyes  compelled 
him  to  desist.  He  worked  at  his  trade  and  farming  in  both  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania.  He  engaged 
extensively  in  wool  dealing,  and  on  account  of  that  business  went  to  Europe,  incurring  heavy 
loss,  and  returning  a  bankrupt.  f  He  moved  from  place  to  place,  and  finally  went  to  Kansas  with 
sons  by  his  first  wife,  where  he  was  active  in  public  matters.  He  became  an  abolitionist  in  early 
life,  and  the  conviction  that  he  was  to  be  a  liberator  of  the  slaves  possessed  him  so  early  as  1 839. 
He  was  twice  married,  and  had  seven  children  by  his  first  wife  and  thirteen  by  his  last]  who  yet 
[1867]  survives  him. 


1859.]  BUCHANAN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  539 

and  for  treason  and  murder.  He  was  tried  and  found  guilty  [October  29],  and 
was  executed  on  the  2d  of  December,  under  the  laws  of  Virginia. 

The  most  exaggerated  reports  concerning  this  raid  went  abroad.  Terror 
spread  over  Virginia.  Its  Governor  (Henry  A.  AVise)  was  almost  crazy  with 
excitement,  and  incurred  the  pity  and  ridicule  of  the  whole  country.1  Through 
out  the  Slave-labor  States  there  was  a  wide-spread  apprehension  of  slave  insur 
rections,  and  every  man  there  from  the  Free-labor  States  was  suspected  of 
being  an  emissary  of  the  abolitionists.  Attempts  were  made  to  implicate 
leaders  of  the  Republican  party,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  Free-labor 
States  generally,  in  this  scheme  for  liberating  the  slaves.  The  author  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  law,  James  M.  Mason,2  was  chairman  of  a  committee  of  the 
United  States  Senate  appointed  to  investigate  the  matter;  and  Clement  L. 
Vallandigham,  of  Ohio,  then  a  member  of  the  Lower  House,  volunteered  to 
aid  in  proving  the  charge  against  the  people  of  the  North.  The  result  was 
positive  proof  that  Brown  had  no  accomplices,  and  only  about  twenty  follow 
ers.  Although  Brown's  mad  attempt  to  free  the  slaves  was  a  total  failure  in 
itself,  it  proved  to  be  one  of  the  important  events  which  speedily  brought 
about  the  result  he  so  much  desired. 

The  elections  in  1858  and  1859  indicated  a  remarkable  and  growing  strength 
in  the  Republican  party,  and  it  was  evident  to  the  slave-holders  that  their  dom 
ination  in  the  councils  of  the  nation  would  speedily  end.  They  saw  no  chance 
for  the  election  of  another  President  of  their  choice,  and  the  leaders  of  that 
powerful  oligarchy,  who  had  been  for  years  conspiring  for  the  overthrow  of 
the  Republic  by  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  so  as  to  establish  the  great  slave 
empire  of  their  dreams  within  the  Golden  Circle,3  perceived  that  they  must 
strike  the  blow  during  or  at  the  immediate  close  of  Mr.  Buchanan's  adminis 
tration,  or  perhaps  never.  They  must  have  a  pretext  for  the  crime,  and  they 
set  diligently  to  work  to  create  one  more  specious  than  the  opposition  to  the 
Fugitive  Slave  law  would  afford.  They  were  in  full  political  alliance  with  the 


1  The  excited  Governor  was  prepared,  according  to  his  own  words,  to  make  war  upon  all  the 
Free-labor  States,  for  the  honor  of  Virginia.     In  a  letter  to  the  President  [Nov.  25,  1859],  after 
saying  that  he  had  good  authority  for  the  belief  that  a  conspiracy  to  rescue  John  Brown  existed 
in  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,   New  York,   and  other  States,  he  said : — I  protest  that  my  purpose  is 
peaceful,  and  that  I  disclaim  all  threats  when  I  say,  with  all  the  might  of  meaning,  that  if  another 
invasion  assails  this  State  or  its  citizens  from  any  quarter,  I  will  pursue  the  invaders  wherever 
they  may  go,  into  any  territory,  and  punish  them  wherever  arms  can  reach  them.     I  shall  send  a 
copy  of  this  to  the  Governors  of  Maryland,  Ohio,  and  Pennsylvania. — Autograph  Letter.     Before 
the  close  of  the  late  civil  war,  of  which  Wise  was  one  of  the  fomenters,  a  daughter  of  John 
Brown  was  a  teacher  of  a  school  of  colored  children  in  the  ex-Governor's  house,  near  Norfolk, 
Virginia,  then  in  possession  of  the  government. 

Wise  was  willing  to  find  victims  to  "punish"  by  secret  and  dishonorable  means.  In  a  let 
ter  to  the  President,  written  twelve  days  before  [November  13]  the  one  above  cited,  he  asked 
the  Executive  and  the  Postmaster-General  to  aid  him  in  a  scheme  for  seizing  and  taking  to  Vir 
ginia  Frederick  Douglas,  an  eminent  and  widely-known  colored  citizen,  who  had  escaped  from 
slavery  many  years  before,  and  was  then  living  in  the  western  part  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
though  Wise,  as  appears  by  the  letter,  supposed  him  to  be  in  Michigan.  Douglas  was  an  elo 
quent  and  influential  pleader  for  the  emancipation  of  his  race,  and  was  feared  and  intensely  hated 
by  the  slave-holders.  He  was  guilty  of  no  crime — no  act  that  a  slave-holder  could  complain  of 
but  escape  from  bondage.  That  was  a  crime  quite  sufficient  for  the  crazy  Governor  of  Virginia 
to  have  justified  himself  in  hanging  Douglas  oa  the  same  gallows  with  John  Brown. 

2  Page  521.  8  Page  520. 


540 


THE     NATION. 


[18GO. 


Democratic  party  then  in  power,  and  might,  by  acting  with  it  in  good  faith, 
and  electing  a  President  of  its  choice  in  1860,  maintain  its  possession  of  the 
government  for  some  time  longer,  but  with  no  certainty  of  a  lasting  tenure, 
for  a  large  faction  of  that  party,  under  the  leadership  of  Senator  Douglas, 
showed  tangible  proclivities  toward  affiliation  with  the  opponents  of  slavery. 
So  the  leaders  of  the  oligarchy  resolved  to  destroy  the  supremacy  of  that 
party,  and  allow  the  Republicans  to  elect  their  candidate,  whoever  he  might 
be,  and  thus,  with  the  pretext  that  he  was  a  sectional  President,  and  an  enemy 
to  the  institution  of  slavery,  they  might,  with  plausible  appeals  to  the  domi 
nating  passions  of  their  class,  "fire  the  Southern  heart,"  and  make  a  success 
ful  revolution  possible.  This  was  a  plan  formed  by  conspirators  like  Jefferson 
Davis,  of  Mississippi ;  John  Slidell  and  Judah  P.  Benjamin,  of  Louisiana ; 
William  L.  Yancey,  of  Alabama ;  Robert  Toombs  and  Howell  Cobb,  of  Geor 
gia  ;  the  Rhetts,  W.  P.  Miles,  and  L.  M.  Keitt,  of  South  Carolina ;  T.  Cling- 
man,  of  North  Carolina ;  D.  L.  Yulee,  of  Florida;  Louis  T.  Wigfall,  of  Texas ; 
and  James  M.  Mason  and  R.  M.  T.  Hunter,  of  Virginia,  who  appeared  most 
prominently  as  actors  at  the  opening  of  the  late  rebellion.  These  men,  as  the 
ordeal  to  which  their  wickedness  soon  exposed  them  proved,  were  lacking  in 
the  true  elements  which  constitute  statesmen,  but  had  for  years  assumed  the 
character  of  such,  and  were  self-constituted  leaders  of  opinion  and  action  in 
the  more  southern  Slave-labor  States,  to  the  mortal  hurt  of  the  deceived 
people. 

Almost  six  hundred  chosen  representatives  of  the  Democratic  party  assem 
bled  in  convention  in  the  hall  of  the  South  Carolina  Institute,  in  Charleston, 

South  Carolina,  on  the 
23d  of  April,  1860,  for 
the  purpose  of  nomi 
nating  candidates  for  the 
Presidency  and  Vice- 
Presidency  of  the  Repub 
lic.  It  was  evident  from 
the  first  hour  of  the  ses 
sion  that  the  spirit  of  the 
slave  system  was  there, 
full  of  mischief,  and  as 
potential  as  Ariel  in  the 
creation  of  elementary 
strife.  For  months  there 
had  been  premonitions  of 
a  storm  which  might  topple  from  its  foundations  the  organization  known  as 
the  Democratic  party.  Violent  discordant  elements  were  now  in  close  con 
tact,  and  all  felt  that  a  fierce  tempest  was  impending. 

Caleb  Cushing,  of  Massachusetts,  was  chosen  the  Chairman  of  the  Conven 
tion.  The  choice  was  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the  slave-holders.  In 
his  inaugural  speech  Mr.  Cushing  declared  it  to  be  the  "  high  and  noble  part 
of  the  Democratic  party  of  the  Union  to  withstand — to  strike  down  and  con- 


SOUTH    CAROLINA    INSTITUTE. 


I860.]  BUCHANAN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  541 

quer"  the  "  banded  enemies  of  the  Constitution,"  as  he  styled  the  anti-slavery 
Republican  party.  But  those  in  the  Convention  most  clamorous  for  the  Con 
stitution  were  not  anxious,  at  that  time,  to  "  strike  down "  the  Republican 
party.  They  were  more  intent  upon  striking  down  their  own  great  party,  for 
the  moment,  by  dividing  it ;  and  a  greater  portion  of  the  delegates  from  the 
Slave-labor  States  came  instructed,  and  were  resolved  to  demand  from  the 
Convention  a  candidate  and  a  platform  which  should  promise  a  guaranty  for 
the  speedy  practical  recognition,  by  the  general  government  and  the  people, 
of  the  system  of  slavery  as  a  national  institution.  Senator  Stephen  A.  Doug 
las,1  of  Illinois,  was  the  most  prominent  candidate  of  the  party  for  a  nomina 
tion  before  the  Convention.  It  was  well  known  that  he  was  committed  to  a 
course  that  would  not  allow  him  or  his  friends  to  agree  to  such  a  platform  of 
principles.  His  rejection  by  the  representatives  of  the  slave-holders  would 
split  the  Democratic  party  asunder,  and  then  the  first  great  and  desired  act  in 
the  drama  of  rebellion  against  their  government  would  be  auspiciously  begun. 
They  resolved  to  employ  that  wedge. 

The  Democratic  party  throughout  the  Union  had  accepted  the  doctrine  of 
"  Popular  Sovereignty,"  of  which  Douglas  was  the  sponsor  and  exponent,  and 
which  was  put  forth  in  the  resolutions  of  the  Convention  at  Cincinnati  that 
nominated  Buchanan,2  as  the  true  solution  of  the  slavery  question ;  but  now  it 
was  rejected  by  the  slave-holders  as  too  dangerous  to  their  interests.  Their 
experience  in  Kansas  taught  them  that  positive  law,  and  not  public  opinion, 
must  thereafter  be  relied  on  for  the  support  of  slavery.  So  when  the  Conven 
tion,  by  a  handsome  majority,  reaffirmed  the  Cicinnati  platform  of  principles — 
adopted  the  "  Douglas  platform  "  of  Popular  Sovereignty — preconcerted  rebel 
lion  lifted  its  head  defiantly.  Le  Roy  P.  Walker,  *vho  was  Jefferson  Davis' s 
so-called  "  Secretary  of  War  "  at  the  beginning  of  the  late  rebellion,  declared 
that  he  and  his  associates  from  Alabama  were  instructed  not  to  acquiesce  in  or 
submit  to  any  such  platform,  and,  in  the  event  of  such  being  adopted,  to  with 
draw  from  the  Convention.  That  contingency  had  now  occurred,  and  the 
Alabama  delegates  formally  withdrew. 

This  action  of  the  Alabamians  was  imitated  by  delegates  from  other  States. 
They  were  followed  out  of  the  Convention  by  all  the  delegates  from  Missis 
sippi,  all  but  two  from  Louisiana,  all  from  Florida  and  Texas,  three  from 
Arkansas,  and  all  but  two  from  South  Carolina.  On  the  following  day  twenty- 
six  of  the  thirty-four  delegates  from  Georgia  withdrew.  Two  delegates  from 
Delaware  followed,  and  joined  the  seceders ;  and  all  met  that  night  in  St. 
Andrew's  Hall,  to  prepare  for  a  new  organization.  The  disruption  of  the 
Democratic  party  represented  in  the  Convention  was  now  complete,  and  the 
traitorous  intentions  of  the  seceders  were  foreshadowed  by  Glenn,  of  Missis 
sippi,  one  of  their  number,  who  said  to  the  Convention,  before  leaving  it  : 
"  I  tell  Southern  men  here,  and  for  them  I  tell  the  North,  that  in  less  than  sixty 
days  you  will  find  a  united  South  standing  side  by  side  with  us."  He  was 
vehemently  cheered,  especially  by  the  South  Carolinians,  and  Charleston  was 

1  Page  518.  2  Page  530. 


542  THE     NATION.  [1860. 

the  scene  of  great  delight  that  night,  because  of  this  auspicious  beginning  of  a 
rebellion  by  the  arrogant  oligarchy  of  slave-holders. 

The  seceders,  with  James  A.  Bayard,  of  Delaware,  as  their  chosen  head, 
assembled  the  next  day,  organized  what  they  called  a  "  Constitutional  Con 
vention,"  sneeringly  called  the  majority  they  had  deserted  a  "  Rump  Conven 
tion,"  and  prepared  for  vigorous  action.  On  the  evening  of  the  3d  of  May, 
they  adjourned  to  meet  in  Richmond,  Virginia,  in  June,  and  invited  the 
"Democracy"  who  sympathized  with  them  to  join  them  there.  The  original 
Convention  adjourned  to  meet  in  Baltimore,  Maryland,  in  June,  to  which  time 
the  nomination  of  a  candidate  was  postponed.  The  latter  reassembled  in  the 
Front  Street  Theater,  in  that  city  [June  18,  1860],  with  Mr.  Gushing  in  the 
chair.  There  was  a  stirring  time  again,  the  subject  of  slavery  being  the 
exciting  cause,  and  Cushing  and  most  of  the  Massachusetts  delegation  with 
drew.1  The  seceders,  who  had  met  at  Richmond,  were  now  in  Baltimore,  and 
these  and  the  Cushing  malcontents  organized  a  Convention  in  the  Maryland 
Institute.  The  regular  Convention  chose  David  Tod,  of  Ohio,  for  their  presi 
dent,  and  proceeded  to  nominate  Mr.  Douglas  for  the  Chief  Magistracy.2  The 
seceders,  calling  themselves  the  National  Democratic  Convention,  nominated 
John  C.  Breckenridge,  then  Vice-President  of  the  Republic,  for  President. 

On  the  9th  of  May  [1860],  representatives  of  a  party  then  about  six  months 
of  age  assembled  in  convention  in  Baltimore,  styled  themselves  the  National 
Constitutional  Union  Parti/,  and  was  presided  over  by  the  late  Washington 
Hunt.  They  nominated  for  President  John  Bell,  of  Tennessee,3  and  for  Vice- 
President,  Edward  Everett,  of  Massachusetts.  They  adopted  as  their  platform 
the  National  Constitution,  with  the  motto,  THE  UNION,  THE  CONSTITUTION, 
AND  THE  ENFORCEMENT  OP  THE  LAWS.  A  few  days  later,  chosen  representa 
tives  of  the  Republican  party,  and  a  vast  concourse  of  people,  assembled  [May 
16,  1860]  in  an  immense  building  in  Chicago,  erected  for  the  purpose,  and 
called  a  "  wigwam,"  to  nominate  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  George 
Ashmun,  of  Massachusetts,  presided.  The  Convention  adopted  a  platform  of 
principles  in  the  form  of  seventeen  resolutions,4  and  on  the  19th  nominated 

1  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  one  of  the  Massachusetts  seceders  from  the  Convention  in  Baltimore, 
said  before  leaving  it:   "We  put  our  withdrawal  before  you  upon  the  simple  ground,  among 
others,  that  there  had  been  a  withdrawal,  in  part,  of  a  majority  of  the  States;  and,  further  (and 
that,  perhaps,  more  personal  to  myself),  upon  the  ground  that  I  will  not  sit  in  a  convention  where 
the  African  slave-trade — which  is  piracy,  by  the  laws  of  my  country — is  approvingly  advocated." 

2  James   Fitzpatrick,    of  Alabama,    was   nominated   for  Vice-President.     He  declined,    and 
Herschel  Y.  Johnson,  of  Georgia,  was  substituted. 

3  When  the  Rebellion  broke  out,  in  the  spring  of  1861,  Mr.  Bell  was  one  of  the  earliest,  if  not 
the  very  first,  of  the  professed  Unionists  of  distinction  who  joined  the  enemies  of  his  country,  in 
their  attempt  to  overthrow  the  Constitution,  and  destroy  the  nationality  of  the  Republic.     Breck 
enridge,  the  candidate  of  the  pro-slavery  wing  of  the  Democratic  party,  became  a  major-general 
in  the  army  of  the  conspirators  against  the  life  of  the  Republic. 

4  After  affirming  that  the  maintenance  of  the  principles  promulgated  in  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  embodied  in  the  National  Constitution,  is  essential  to  the  preservation  of  our 
Republican  institutions  ;  congratulating  the  country  that  no  Republican  member  of  Congress  had 
uttered  or  countenanced  any  threats  of  disunion,  "  so  often  made  by  Democratic  members  without 
rebuke,  and  with  applause  from  their  political  associates,"  and  denouncing  such  threats  as  "  an 
avowal  of  contemplated  treason,"  the  resolutions  made  explicit  declarations  upon  the  topic  of 
slavery,  so  largely  occupying  public  attention.     In  a  few  paragraphs,  they  declared  that  each 
State  had  the  absolute  right  of  control  in  the  management  of  its  own  domestic  concerns ;  that  the 


1860]  BUCHANAN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  543 

Abraham  Lincoln,1  of  Illinois,  for  the  Presidency,  and  Hannibal  Hamlin,  of 
Maine,  for  the  Vice-Presidency  of  the  Republic.  There,  in  that  "  wigwam," 
war  was  openly  declared  against  the  principles  and  purposes  of  the  oligarchy 
of  the  Slave-labor  States,  and  the  standard  of  revolt  was  raised  against  the 
operations  of  a  tyranny  which  was  rapidly  enslaving  the  nation,  materially 


THE    "  WIGWAM  "   AT   CHICAGO. 

and  morally.  In  that  "  wigwam  "  Abraham  Lincoln  was  made  the  standard- 
bearer  in  that  revolt  which  resulted  in  the  overthrow  of  slavery,  and  the  puri 
fication  and  strengthening  of  the  nation. 

And  now,  in  the  early  summer-time  of  1860,  the  most  important  political 
campaign  known  in  this  country  was  opened  with  four  parties  in  the  field,  but 
only  two  of  them  (the  Republican,  and  the  pro-slavery  wing  of  the  Democratic 

new  dogma,  that  the  Constitution,  of  its  own  force,  carries  slavery  into  any  or  all  of  the  Terri 
tories  of  the  United  States,  was  a  dangerous  political  heresy,  revolutionary  in  its  tendency,  and 
subversive  of  the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  country ;  that  the  normal  condition  of  all  the  territory 
of  the  United  States  is  that  of  freedom,  and  that  neither  Congress  nor  a  Territorial  Legislature, 
nor  any  individuals,  have  authority  to  give  legal  existence  to  slavery  in  any  Territory  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  the  reopening  of  the  African  slave-trade,  then  recently  commenced  in  the 
Southern  States,  under  the  cover  of  our  national  flag,  aided  by  perversions  of  judicial  power,  was 
a  crime  against  humanity,  and  a  burning  shame  to  our  country  and  age. 

1  Abraham  Lincoln  was  born  in  Hardin  County,  Kentucky,  February  12,  1809.  His  ancestors 
were  Quakers  in  Pennsylvania,  When  he  was  seven  years  of  age,  his  father  settled,  with  his 
family,  in  Indiana.  He  received  but  little  education.  He  worked  hard  for  ten  years  on  a  farm, 
and,  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years,  went  to  New  Orleans  as  a  hired  hand  on  a  flat-boat.  In  1830 
he  settled  in  Illinois,  became  a  clerk  in  a  store,  and  was  a  captain  of  volunteers  in  the  Black 
Hawk  war,  in  18152.  He  was  elected  to  the  Illinois  Legislature  in  1834,  in  which  he  served 
four  years.  He  was  licensed  in  1836  to  practice  law,  and  commenced  the  profession  in  Spring 
field  in  1837.  He  rose  to  distinction.  lie  was  elected  to  Congress  in  1846.  He  was  named  for 
the  position  in  which  Fremont  was  placed  by  the  Republicans  in  1856  [page  530].  He  was 
always  an  anti-slavery  man,  but  did  not  rank  with  "Abolitionists."  In  November,  1860,  he  was 
elected  President  of  the  United  States,  and  performed  the  duties  of  his  office  with  singular  fidelity, 
zeal,  and  wisdom,  during  the  terrible  Civil  War  that  ensued.  He  was  re-elected  President  in 
1864,  and  was  inaugurated  for  his  second  term  on  the  4th  of  March.  1865.  On  the  evening  of  the 
14th  of  April  next  ensuing  he  was  shot  by  an  assassin,  and  expired  early  the  following  morning, 
at  the  age  of  little  more  than  fifty-six  years.  His  remains  repose  in  "a  vault  in  the  Oak  Ridge 
Cemetery,  at  Springfield,  Illinois. 


544  THE     NATION.  [I860 

party)  exhibiting  tangible  convictions,  as  units,  on  the  great  topic  which  had 
so  long  agitated  the  nation,1  and  these  took  issue,  squarely,  definitely,  and 
defiantly.  It  had  been  declared  by  the  former,  whose  standard-bearer  was 
Abraham  Lincoln,  that  there  was  "  an  irrepressible  conflict  between  Freedom 
and  Slavery," — "  that  the  Republic  cannot  exist  half  slave  and  half  free,"  and 
that  "  freedom  is  the  normal  condition  of  all  territory."  It  had  been  declared 
by  the  latter,  whose  standard-bearer  was  John  C.  Breckenridge,  that  no  power 
existed  that  might  lawfully  control  slavery  in  the  Territories  ;  that  it  existed 
in  any  Territory  in  full  force,  whenever  a  slave-holder  and  his  slaves  entered 
it ;  and  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  National  government  to  protect  them. 
This  was  the  issue.  The  conflict  during  the  canvass,  from  July  to  November, 
was  severe.  The  conspirators  against  the  life  of  the  Republic  were  with  the 
Breckenridge  faction,  and  they  and  their  followers  used  every  means  in  their 
power  to  excite  the  slave-holders,  and  the  masses  of  the  people  in  the  Slave- 
labor  States,  against  those  of  the  Free-labor  States.  During  the  summer  and 
autum  of  1860,  they  traversed  the  latter  States,  everywhere  vindicating  the 
claims  put  forth  by  the  extremists  of  the  pro-slavery  party.  Among  these 
orators,  in  the  interest  of  the  oligarchy,  William  L.  Yancey,  one  of  the  most 
daring  of  the  Conspirators,  w^as  the  most  conspicuous.  He  was  treated  kindly, 
and  listened  to  patiently,  and  then  he  went  back,  [with  treason  in  his  heart 
and  falsehood  upon  his  lips,  to  deceive  and  arouse  into  rebellion  the  confiding 
people  he  was  about  to  betray.  Like  an  incarnation  of  discord,  he  cried  sub 
stantially  as  he  had  written  two  years  before  r — "  Organize  committees  all  over 
the  Cotton  States ;  fire  the  Southern  heart ;  instruct  the  Southern  mind  ;  give 
courage  to  each  other  ;  and  at  the  proper  moment,  by  one  organized,  concerted 
action,  precipitate  the  Cotton  States  into  revolution." 

Yancey,  in  principles  and  action,  was  a  type  of  politicians  in  the  other 
Slave-labor  States  who  now  worked  in  co-operation  with  him  in  bringing  about 
a  rebellion  against  the  government,  by  the  slave-holders.  Their  pretext  was 
found  in  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  the  Republican  party,  as  revealed  in  their 
convention,  during  the  canvass,  and  at  the  election  [November  6,  1860],  which 
resulted  in  the  choice  of  Abraham  Lincoln  for  President.3  Although  Mr.  Lin 
coln  had  a  large  majority  over  each  candidate,  and  was  elected  in  accordance 
with  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  National  Constitution,  yet  the  fact  that  he 
received  979,163  votes  less  than  did  all  of  his  opponents,  gave  factitious  vigor  to 

1  The  wing  of  the  Democratic  party  led  by  Mr.  Douglas,  in  its  platform,  assumed  not  to  know 
positively  whether  slavery  might  or  might  not  have  a  lawful  existence  in  the  Territories,  without 
the  action  of  the  inhabitants  thereof,  but  expressed  a  willingness  to  abide  by  the  decisions  of  the 
Supreme  Court  in  all  cases.  The  National  Constitutional  Union  party,  led  by  John  Bell,  declined 
to  express  any  opinion  upon  any  subject. 

3  In  a  letter  to  James  Slaughter,  June  15,  1858. 

3  The  electoral  college  [see  Article  XII.  of  the  Amendments  to  the  Constitution]  then  chosen 
was  composed  of  303  members.  Mr.  Lincoln  received  180  votes,  or  57  more  than  all  of  his  oppo 
nents.  Bell  received  39;  Douglas,  12;  and  Breckenridge.  72.  Of  the  popular  vote,  Lincoln 
received  491.295  over  Douglas,  1,018,499  over  Breckenridge,  and  1,275.871  over  Bell.  The  votes 
for  the  four  candidates  were,  respectively:  For  Lincoln,  1,866,452  :  for  Bell,  590,631 ;  for  Douglas, 
1,375,141 ;  and  for  Breckenridge,  847.953.  A  fair  analysis  of  this  popular  vote  shows  that  of  the 
4,690,180  ballots  cast,  at  least  3,500,000,  or  three-fourths  of  the  whole,  were  given  by  men 
opposed  to  the  further  extension  of  the  institution  of  slavery. 


I860.]  BUCHANAN'S    ADMINISTRATION.  545 

the  plausible  cry,  which  was  immediately  raised  by  the  conspirators  and  their 
friends,  that  the  President-elect  would  be  a  usurper  when  in  office,  because  he 
had  not  received  a  majority  of  the  aggregate  vote  of  the  people ;  and  that  his 
antecedents,  the  principles  of  the  Republican  platform,  and  the  fanaticism  of 
his  supporters,  pledged  him  to  wage  relentless  war  upon  the  system  of  slavery, 
and  the  rights  of  the  Slave-labor  States.1 

When  it  was  known  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  chosen  for  the  Presidency,  there 
was  great  rejoicing  among  the  politicians  in  the  Slave-labor  States.  '  It  was 
the  pre-concerted  signal  for  open  rebellion.  Making  that  choice  and  its  alleged 
menaces  a  pretext,  the  conspirators  and  the  politicians  in  their  service  at  once 
adopted  measures  for  precipitating  "the  cotton  States  into  revolution."'2  A 
system  of  terrorism  was  organized  and  put  in  vigorous  operation,  to  crush 
out  all  active  loyalty  to  the  government.  In  it  the  hangman's  rope,  the  incen 
diary's  torch,  and  the  slave-hunter's  blood-hound,  were  prominent  features  in 
the  region  below  North  Carolina ;  and  the  promise  of  Senator  Clingmari,  of  the 
latter  State,  that  Union  men  should  be  hushed  by  "  the  swift  attention  of  vigi 
lance  committees,"  was  speedily  fulfilled.  In  this  unholy  work,  the  Press  and 
Pulpit  became  powerful  auxiliaries,  and  thousands  upon  thousands  of  men 
and  women,  regarding  these  as  oracles  of  truth  and  wisdom,  followed  them 
reverentially  in  the  broad  highway  of  open  treason.  "Perhaps  there  never 
was  a  people,"  wrote  a  resident  of  a  Slave-labor  State  in  the  third  year  of  the 
war,  "  more  bewitched,  beguiled,  and  befooled,  than  we  were  when  wTe  drifted 
into  this  rebellion." 

The  conspirators,  who  had  been  colleagues  or  were  disciples  of  John  C. 
Calhoun,3  and  had  been  for  years  plotting  treason  against  their  government, 
now  organized  rebellion.  They  were  of  one  mind  in  regard  to  the  overt  act ; 
they  differed  somewhat  as  to  time  and  manner.  Those  of  South  Carolina,  who, 
by  common  opinion,  were  expected  to  lead  in  the  great  movement,  were 
anxious  for  immediate  action,  and  when  they  found  those  of  sister  States  hesi 
tating,  they  resolved  not  to  wait  for  their  co-operation.  For  a  while  tliL 
question  divided  the  secessionists,  but  it  was  soon  settled  by  general  co-opera 
tion.  Every  thing  was  favorable  to  their  plans.  The  governors  of  all  the 
Slave-labor  States  had  been  elected  by  the  Democratic  party,  and  were  ready, 
with  the  exception  of  those  of  Maryland  and  Delaware,  to  act  in  sympathy,  if 
not  in  open  co-operation  with. the  conspirators.  Three,  if  not  four,  of  the 
leading  conspirators  were  then  members  of  President  Buchanan's  cabinet,4  and 
the  President  himself  and  his  Attorney-General  (Jeremiah  S.  Black,  of  Penn 
sylvania)  were  ready  to  declare  that  the  Constitution  gave  the  Executive  no 

1  The  fact  was  kept  out  of  sight,  that  in  nine  of  the  Slave-labor  States  the  politicians  had  not 
allowed  the  people  to  have  an  electoral  ticket,  and  thereby  prevented  an  expression  of  the  popular 
will.     These  States  were  North  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Tennessee,  Louisiana, 
Arkansas,  Florida,  and  Texas — the  States  which  the  politicians  of  each  attempted  to  sever  from 
the  Union.     The  electors  of  South  Carolina  were  chosen  by  the  Legislature,  and  not  by  the  people. 

2  Page  544.  3  Page  458. 

4  The  traitors  and  conspirators  in  the  cabinet  were  Howell  Cobb,  of  Georgia,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury;  John  B.  Floyd,  of  Virginia,  Secretary  of  War;  and  Jacob  Thompson,  of  Mississippi, 
Secretary  of  the  Interior.  '  Floyd  and  Cobb  became  general  officers  in  the  army  of  the  con 
spirators,  and  the  former  perished  miserably.  Thompson  was  charged  with  the  most  heinous 

35 


546 


THE     NATION.  [I860 


power  to  stay  the  arm  of  rebellion.  Of  the  President,  Jacob  Thompson,  of 
his  cabinet,  said :  "  Buchanan  is  the  truest  friend  of  the  South  I  have  ever 
known  in  the  North.  He  is  a  jewel  of  a  man."1  Cobb,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  wished  to  hold  back  the  blow  until  the  close  of  Buchanan's  term,  but 
he  was  overruled  by  the  other  conspirators,  who  counted  upon  the  President's 
passive,  if  not  active,  sympathy  with  them. 

According  to  agreement,  the  politicians  of  South  Carolina  took  the  first 

£5  £3  •» 

step  toward  open  rebellion.  For  that  purpose,  an  extraordinary  session  of  the 
Legislature  was  held  at  the  time  of  the  Presidential  election  [November  6, 
1860],  and  on  the  morning  after,  when  the  result  was  known,  the  Governor  of 
that  State  was  the  recipient  of  many  congratulatory  electographs  from  officials 
in  Slave-labor  States,  giving  assurance  of  co-operation.2  In  Charleston,  badges 
called  Palmetto  cockades3  were  everywhere  seen,  and  they 
were  freely  worn  even  in  Washington  City.  Members  of 
both  Houses  of  Congress,  from  South  Carolina,  made  trea 
sonable  speeches  at  the  capital  of  that  State,4  and  the  Legis 
lature  authorized  a  convention  of  delegates,  for  the  purpose 
of  declaring  the  State  separated  from  the  Union,  and  taking 
measures  for  maintaining  what  they  called  the  "  Sove 
reignty  of  South  Carolina."  The  members  of  that  Convention 
were  chosen  on  the  3d  of  December,  and  on  the  17th  of  that 
PALMETTO  COCKADE  month  they  assembled  at  Columbia,  when  the  prevalence  of 
the  small-pox  in  that  city  caused  them  to  adjourn  to  Charles 
ton.  There,  on  the  20th  [December,  18.60],  they  adopted  an  Ordinance  of 
Secession,5  and  that  evening,  in  the  presence  of  the  Governor  and  his  council, 

crimes  during  the  rebellion,  even  of  complicity  in  the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln.  William 
H.  Trescot,  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  State,  was  also  one  of  the  conspirators ;  and  of  Mr.  Bu 
chanan's  seven  cabinet  ministers,  only  two  (General  Cass,  Secretary  of  State,  and  Joseph  Holt, 
Postmaster-General)  seem  to  have  been  wholly  disconnected  with  the  plotters  against  the  Gov 
ernment. 

1  Autograph  letter,  November  20.  18GO. 

8  "The  people  are  much  excited.  North  Carolina  will  secede,"  said  one.  "Large  numbers 
of  Bell  men,"  said  another,  from  Montgomery,  Alabama,  "headed  by  T.  H.  "Watts,  have  declared 
for  secession  since  the  announcement  of  Lincoln's  election.  The  State  will  undoubtedly  secede." 
" The  State  is  ready  to  assert  her  rights  and  independence;  the  leading  men  are  eager  for  the 
business,"  said  a  dispatch  from  the  capital  of  Georgia.  "If  }rour  State  secedes,"  said  another, 
from  Richmond,  "we  will  send  you  troops  and  volunteers  to  aid  you,"  and  so  from  other  States 
came  greetings  and  offers  of  aid. 

8  Made  of  blue  silk  ribbon,  with  a  button  in  the  center  bearing  the  image  of  a  palmetto-tree. 

4  James  Chestnut,  Jr.,  member  of  the  United  States  Senate,  spoke  of.  the  undoubted  right  of 
South  Carolina  to  secede,  and  recommended  its  immediate  action  in  that  direction,  saying:  "The 
other  Southern  States  will  flock  to  our  standard."  W.  TV.  Boyce.  member  of  Congress,  said: 
"I  think  the  only  policy  for  us  is  to  arm  as  soon  as  we  receive  authentic  intelligence  of  the  elec 
tion  of  Lincoln.  It  is  for  South  Carolina,  in  the  quickest  manner,  and  by  the  most  direct  means, 
to  withdraw  from  the  Union.  Then  we  will  not  submit,  whether  the  other  States  will  act  with  us 
or  with  our  enemies." 

6  This  ordinance  was  drawn  by  John  A.  Inglis,  and  is  as  follows:  "We,  the  people  of  South 
Carolina,  in  convention  assembled,  do  declare  and  ordain,  and  it  is  hereby  declared  and  ordained, 
that  the  ordinance  adopted  by  us  in  convention,  on  the  twenty-third  day  of  May,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-eight,  whereby  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  ratified,  and  also  all  Acts  and  parts  of  Acts  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State, 
ratifying  Amendments  of  the  said  Constitution,  are  hereby  repealed,  and  the  Union  now  subsisting 
between  South  Carolina  and  other  States,  under  the  name  of  the  United  States  of  America,  is 
hereby  dissolved." 


1861.]  BUCHANAN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

the  Legislature,  and  a  vast  concourse  of  citizens,  it  was  signed  in  the  great 
Hall  of  the  South  Carolina  Institute,1  by  one  hundred  and  seventy  of  the  mem 
bers.  This  action  was  speedily  imitated  by  the  politicians  in  the  interest  of 
the  conspirators  in  the  States  of  Mississippi,  Florida,  Alabama,  Georgia, 
Louisiana,  Texas,  Virginia,  Arkansas,  North  Carolina,  and  Tennessee.2  On  the 
4th  of  February,  1861,  delegates  appointed  by  the  secession  conventions  in  six 
of  the  States  in  which  there  had  been  action  on  the  subject,  assembled  at 
Montgomery,  in  Alabama,  and  formed  a  league,  with  the  title  of  CONFEDERATE 
STATES  OF  AMERICA.3  A  provisional  constitution  was  adopted ;  Jefferson 
Davis,4  of  Mississippi,  was  chosen  "  Provisional  President,"  and  Alexander  H. 


1  See  page  540.  This  building,  and  others  identified  with  the  treasonable  movements  of  the 
conspirators  and  their  followers  in  Charleston,  were  in  ruins  early  in  the  Civil  War  that  ensued, 
and  yet  (1867)  stand  as  ghastly  illustrations  of  one  of  the  blackest  pages  in  the  history  of  our 
Eepublic.  On  the  occasion  of  the  signing  of  the  Ordinance  of  Secession,  a  significant  banner  was 
hung  back  of  the  chair  of  the  president  of  the  convention.  Upon  it  was  represented  an  arch 
composed  of  fifteen  stars  (each  indicating  a  Slave-labor  State)  rising  out  of  a  heap  of  broken  and 
disordered  stones,  representing  the  Free-labor  States.  The  key-stone  was  South  Carolina,  on  which 
stood  a  statue  of  Calhoun.  This  banner  was  a  declaration  of  the  intention  of  the  convention  to 
destroy  the  Republic,  and  to  erect  upon  its  ruins  an  empire  whose  corner-stone  should  be  slavery. 
Beneath  the  design  on  the  banner  were  the  words:  "  BUILT  FROM  THE  Ruixs." 

a  Secession  ordinances  were  passed  in  the  conventions  in  the  eleven  States  named,  in  the  fol- 
iowing  order:  South  Carolina,  December  20,  1SGO;  Mississippi,  January  9,  18CU;  Florida,  January 
10;  Alabama,  January  11.;  Georgia,  January  19;  Louisiana,  January  26;  Texas,  February  1;  Vir 
ginia,  April  17;  Arkansas,  May  G;  North  Carolina,  May  20;  Tennessee,  June  8. 

The  case  of  Arkansas  is  an  example  of  the  method  of  secession.  The  conspirators,  by  means 
of  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle  [see  page  520],  procured  the  election  of  a  disloyal  Legislature  and 
Governor,  who  called  a  convention  to  vote  on  secession.  That  convention  voted  for  Union  by  a 
majority  of  over  two-thirds.  The  foiled  conspirators,  by  false  promises,  gained  the  consent  of  the 
Unionists  to  an  adjournment,  subject  to  the  call  of  the  President,  who  pretended  to  be  a  loyal 
man,  but  was  really  one  of  the  traitors.  It  was  agreed  to  refer  the  question  back  to  the  people, 
and  that  the  convention  should  not  reassemble  before  the  vote  should  be  taken  in  August.  The 
President,  in  violation  of  that  pledge,  called  the  Convention  in  May,  soon  after  Fort  Sumter  was 
taken.  The  hall  in  which  the  members  met  was  filled  by  an  excited  crowd.  When  the  roll  had 
been  called,  a  conspirator  offered  an  Ordinance  of  Secession,  and  moved  that  the  "yeas"  and 
"  nays  "  on  the  question  should  be  taken  without  debate.  The  President  fraudulently  declared  the 
motion  carried ;  and  when  the  vote  on  the  Ordinance  was  taken,  and  it  was  found  that  there  was 
a  majority  against  it,  he  arose,  and  in  the  midst  of  cheers  and  threats  of  the  mob,  he  urged  the 
Unionists  to  change  their  votes  to  "  ay  "  immediate!}'.  It  was  evident  that  the  mob  was  prepared 
to  execute  their  threats,  and  the  terrified  Unionists  complied.  There  was  one  exception.  His 
name  was  Murphy.  He  was  compelled  to  fly  for  his  life.  He  was  the  Union  Governor  of  the  State 
in  1846.  Thus,  by  fraud  and  violence,  Arkansas  was  placed  in  the  position  of  a  rebellious  State. 
The  conspirators  at  once  commenced  a  system  of  terrorism.  Unionists  were  murdered,  imprisoned, 
and  exiled.  Confederate  troops  from  Texas  and  Louisiana  were  brought  into  the  State,  and  Arkansas 
troops,  raised  chiefly  by  fraud  and  violence,  were  sent  out  of  the  State.  The  voice  of  opposition 
was  silenced;  and  the  usurpers,  with  their  feet  on  the  necks  of  the  people,  proclaimed  the 
unanimity  of  the  inhabitants  of  Arkansas  in  favor  of  disunion! 

3  This  name  does  not  express  the  truth.     No  States,  as  States,  had  withdrawn  from  the  Union, 
for  the  people,  who  compose  a  State  in  our  Republic,  had  never  been  asked  to  sanction  such 
change.     Only  certain  persons  in  certain  States  were  in  rebellion  against  the  National  authority. 
They  usurped  the  power  and  suspended  the  constitutions  of  several  of  the  States ;  but  the  con 
federation  formed  at  Montgomery  was  only  a  league  of  confederated  rebels,  not  of  States.     With 
this  qualification,  the  name  of  "  Confederate  "  may  be  properly  applied  to  the  insurgents,  and  in 
the  sense  of  that  qualification  it  is  used  in  the  narrative  of  the  Civil  War  that  follows  this  intro 
duction. 

4  Jefferson  Davis  was  born  in  Kentucky,  on  the  3d  of  June,  1808.     He  was  educated  at  the 
National  Military  Academy  at  West  Point,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1824.     He  remained  in  the 
army  seven  years,  and  was  in  the  "Black  Hawk  War"  in  1832.     He  became  a  cotton-planter  in 
Mississippi  in  1835.     He  was  a  Democratic  Presidential  Elector  in  1844,  and  was  elected  to  a  seat 
in  Congress  in  1845.     He  was  a  colonel  of  a  Mississippi  regiment  in  the  war  with  Mexico.     He 
was  sent  to  the  National  Senate,  to  fill  a  vacancy,  in  1848,  and  was  regularly  elected  to  that  post 


548 


THE     NATION. 


[1861. 


JEFFERSON    DAVIS. 


Stephens,1  of  Georgia,  "  Vice-President. "  And  this  organization  of  conspira 
tors,  wholly  the  work  of  politicians  (for  no  ordinance  of  secession  was  ever 

submitted  to  the  people),  made  war  upon 
the  Republic,  by  seizing  forts,  arsenals, 
ships,  custom-houses,  and  other  public 
property,  and  raising  armies  for  the  over 
throw  of  the  government. 

In  the  mean  time  Congress  had  assem 
bled  [December  3,  1860]  at  the  National 
Capital,  and  the  conspirators  in  both 
Houses  were  out-spoken,  truculent,  and 
defiant.  The  President's  message  pleased 
nobody.  It  was  full  of  evidence  of  faint 
heartedness  arid  indecision,  on  points 
where  courage  and  positive  convictions 
should  have  been  apparent  in  its  treat 
ment  of  the  great  topic  then  filling  all 
hearts  and  minds ;  and  it  bore  painful  indications  that  its  author  was  involved 
in  some  perilous  dilemma,  from  which  he  was  anxiously  seeking  a  way  of 
escape.  It  contained  many  patriotic  sentiments,  Which  offended  the  conspira 
tors,  but  it  contained  more  that  was  calculated  to  alarm  the  loyal  people  of 
the  land.  It  declared  substantially,  under  the  advice  of  the  Attorney-General, 
that  the  Executive  possessed  no  constitutional  power  to  use  the  army  and 
navy  for  the  preservation  of  the  life  of  the  Republic ;  and  from  the  time  of  its 
promulgation  until  his  term  of  office  expired,  three  months  later,  the  President 
sat  with  folded  arms,  as  it  were,  while  the  conspirators  were  perfecting  their 
horrid  enginery  for  destroying  the  Nation.2  Encouraged  by  his  declaration 
of  the  weakness  of  the  government,  and  the  assurances  of  leaders  of  his  party 
in  the  Free-labor  States  that  they  need  not  fear  interference,3  they  worked  in 

in  1851.  President  Pierce  called  him  to  his  cabinet,  as  Secretary  of  War,  in  1853.  He  again 
entered  the  Senate,  on  his  retirement  from  the  War  Department,  in  1857,  and  was  there  con 
spicuous  as  one  of  the  conspirators  against  the  life  of  the  Republic.  In  February,  1861,  he  was 
elected  "  Provisional  President  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America,"  and  in  1862,  "  Permanent 
President."  At  the  close  of  the  Civil  War  he  was  captured,  and  confined  in  Fortress  Monroe, 
charged  with  high  crimes.  See  the  closing  chapter  of  this  work. 

1  Stephens,  with  an  avowed  false  pretense,  had  made  a  plea  for  the  Union,  at  the  capital  of 
Georgia,  in  November,  1860.  By  his  own  private  confession  it  was  only  a  political  trick.  Ho 
and  Robert  Toombs,  one  of  the  leading  conspirators  in  Georgia,  were  aspirants  for  the  supremacy 
as  political  leaders  in  that  State.  Toombs  was  an  open  rebel.  Stephens  expected  to  debase  him 
by  taking  a  stand  for  the  Union,  but  was  defeated ;  and  within  the  space  of  three  months  he  was 
the  second  officer  in  the  so-called  "  government "  of  the  conspirators,  and  working  with  them  in 
trying  to  destroy  what  he  had  declared  to  be  the  fairest  political  fabric  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

3  After  arguing  that  even  Congress  had  no  constitutional  right  to  do  more  than  defend  the 
public  property,  the  Attorney-General  intimated  that  if  it  should  attempt  to  do  more,  the  people 
of  the  Slave-labor  States  interested  in  the  matter  would  be  justified  in  rebelling — "would  be  com 
pelled  to  act  accordingly."  He  wished  to  know  whether,  under  such  circumstances,  all  the  States 
would  "  not  be  absolved  from  their  Federal  obligations."  He  virtually  counseled  the  President  to 
allow  the  Republic  to  be  destroyed  by  its  internal  foes,  rather  than  to  use  force  for  its  preserva 
tion  ;  and  the  Chief  Magistrate  followed  his  advice. 

3  At  a  large  political  meeting  in  Philadelphia,  on  the  16th  of  January.  1861,  one  of  the  resolu 
tions  declared:  "We  are  utterly  opposed  to  any  such  compulsion  as  is  demanded  by  a  portion  of 
the  Republican  party;  and  the  Democratic  party  of  the  North  will  by  all  constitutional  means, 


1861.]  BUCHANAN'S    ADMINISTRATION.  549 

open  sunshine  with  the  avowed  intention  of  overthrowing  the  government. 
They  seized  public  property,  and  fired  upon  the  National  flag,  even  before  they 
had  formed  their  league  at  Montgomery ;  and  when  their  plans  were  fairly 
matured,  the  conspirators  in  Congress,  after  rejecting  every  peaceful  proposi 
tion  that  might  be  made,  consistent  with  the  dignity  and  safety  of  the  govern 
ment,1  both  in  that  body  and  in  a  peace  convention  held  at  Washington  City5 
[February  4,  1860],  they  formally  withdrew  from  the  National  Legislature, 
with  the  avowal  that  treason  to  their  government  was  their  object.  And  yet 
there  sat  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Republic  in  passive  obedience  to  some 
malignant  will,  holding  in  his  hands  the  lightning  of  power  confided  to  him  by 
the  people,  by  which,  in  a  moment,  as  it  were,  he  might  have  consumed  those 
enemies  of  the  Constitution  and  violators  of  the  law. 

Charleston  harbor  had  now  become  the  seething  caldron  of  rebellion. 
Major  Robert  Anderson,  a  loyal  Kentuckian,  was  in  command  of  the  fortifica 
tions  there.  He  had  warned  his  government  of  the  evident  intention  of  the 
South  Carolina  conspirators  to  seize  their  strongholds,  and  had  urged  it  to 
employ  measures  for  their  protection.  Floyd,  a  Virginian  conspirator,  then 
Secretary  of  War,  and  who  had  stripped  the  arsenals  of  the  North  and  filled 
those  of  the  South,  preparatory  to  rebellion,  paid  no  attention  to  his  entreaties. 
Finally,  when  it  was  evident  to  Anderson  that  the  South  Carolinians  intended 
to  seize  the  forts,  and  capture  his  little  garrison  of  less  than  one  hundred  men, 
he  took  the  latter  from  the  weaker  fort,  Moultrie,  and  placed  them,  with  his 
supplies,  in  stronger  fort  Sumter,  where  he  might  defy  all  assailants.  This 
act  astounded  and  exasperated  the  conspirators.  The  traitorous  Secretary  of 
War  rebuked  the  loyal  commander,  but  the  patriotic  people  blessed  him  for 

and  with  its  moral  and  political  influence,  oppose  any  such  extreme  policy,  or  a  fratricidal  war 
thus  to  be  inaugurated."  On  the  22d  of  February,  a  political  State  convention  was  held  at  Harris- 
burg,  the  capital  of  Pennsylvania,  when  the  members  said,  in  a  resolution :  "  We  will,  by  all 
proper  and  legitimate  means,  oppose,  discountenance,  and  prevent  any  attempt  on  the  part  of  the 
Republicans  in  power  to  make  any  armed  aggressions  upon  the  Southern  States,  especially  so  long 
as  laws  contravening  their  rights  shall  remain  unrepealed  on  the  statute-books  of  Northern  States 
[Personal  Liberty  Laws,  see  page  536],  and  so  long  as  the  just  demands  of  the  South  shall  con 
tinue  to  be  unrecognized  by  the  Republican  majorities  in  these  States,  and  unsecured  by  proper 
amendatory  explanations  of  the  Constitution."  Such  utterances  in  the  great  State  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  and  similar  ones  elsewhere,  by  the  chosen  representatives  of  a  powerful  party  in  conven 
tions  assembled,  encouraged  the  conspirators  in  a  belief  that  there  would  be  no  war  made  upon 
them,  and  for  that  reason  they  were  defiant  everywhere  and  on  all  occasions. 

1  In  the  House  of  Representatives,  John  J.  Crittenden.  of  Kentucky,  offered  amendments  to 
the  Constitution  and  a  series  of  joint  resolutions,  known  as  the  "Crittenden  Compromise,"  which 
formed  as  perfect  a  guaranty  for  the  protection  and  perpetuation  of  the  slave  system  as  the  slave 
holders  had  ever,  hitherto,  asked  for.     Had  the  conspirators  not  been  determined  on  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  Republic,  this  would  have  been  satisfactory.     But  they  rejected  it ;   nor  did  it  meet 
with  any  favor  on  the  part  of  the  Republicans. 

2  For  the  purpose  of  gaining  time  to  perfect  their  treasonable  schemes,  the  conspirators  of 
Virginia  planned  a  conference  of  delegates  from  all  the  States,  to  consider  measures  for  averting 
Civil  War.     The  President  favored  the  movement.     Delegates  from  twenty-one  States  assembled 
in  Washington  City  on  the  4th  of  February,  1861.     John  Tyler,  of  Virginia  [see  page  476],  was 
chosen  president.     A  plan  was  adopted,  having  all  of  the  essential  features  of  the  "  Crittenden 
Compromise."     Tyler  and  his  associates  from  Virginia  pretended  to  acquiesce  in  this  result,  and 
in  his  closing  address,  after  solemn  asseverations  of  satisfaction,  he  said :   "So  far  as  in  me  lies,  I 
shall  recommend  its  adoption."     Thirty-six  hours  afterward,  in  a  speech  in  Richmond,  he  cast 
off  the  mask  of  hypocrisy,  and  denounced  the  Peace  Convention  and  its  doings.     He  thereafter 
labored  with  all  his  might  to  precipitate  Virginia  into  the  vortex  of  Revolution,  and  was  suc 
cessful. 


550 


THE     NATION. 


[1861. 


the  glorious  deed.  The  intelligence  of  it  increased  the  excitement  in  the  Na 
tional  capital,  caused  by  the  discovery  of  a  heavy  robbery  of  Indian  Trust 
Bonds,  held  in  the  Department  of  the  Interior — a  crime  in  which  the  Secretary 
of  War  was  involved — and  a  session  of  the  cabinet  on  the  27th  was  a  stormy 
one.  The  dismayed  conspirators  in  that  council  discovered  that  the  President 

was  not  disposed  to  follow  them  into  paths  of 
actual  treason.  Floyd,  fearing  the  consequences 
of  his  exposed  villainy,  resigned  the  seals  of  his 
office  and  fled  to  Virginia,  where  his  fellow- 
conspirators  gave  him  a  public  dinner.  He  was 
succeeded  in  office  by  Joseph  Holt.  A  recon 
struction  of  the  cabinet,  with  sounder  materials, 
immediately  followed,1  and  the  loyal  people  felt 
some  assurance  of  safety. 

The  first  two  months  of  the  year  1861  was  a 
period  of  great  anxiety  ,and  gloom.     Business 
was  prostrated.    Cobb,  the  conspirator,  had  used 
ROBERT  ANDERSON.  his  Power  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  injur 

ing,  as  far  as  possible,  the  public  credit.  Pre 
parations  for  rebellion  were  seen  on  every  side.  '  The  conspirators  in  Con 
gress  were  withdrawing  from  that  body,  and  the  conspirators  in  conventions 
were  declaring  the  secession  of  States.  The  President  remained  a  passive 
spectator  of  the  maturing  mischief.  The  General-in-Chief  of  the  Army  (Lieu- 
tenant-General  Scott)  Avas  feeble  in  mind  and  body,  and  as  the  time  approached 
for  the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  evidence  appeared  that  the  conspirators, 
in  their  desperation,  had  determined  to  assassinate  him.  Warned  of  this,  he 
succeeded  in  passing  through  Baltimore,  where  the  tragedy  was  to  be  per 
formed,  unnoticed,  and,  to  the  chagrin  and  even  consternation  of  the  traitors, 
he  suddenly  appeared  in  Washington  City  on  the  morning  of  the  23d  of  Feb 
ruary,  and  remained  there  until  his  inauguration. 


1  General  Cass,  the  Secretary  of  State,  who  had  discovered  the  treasonable  designs  of  some 
of  his  associates,  had  resigned  some  time  before,  and  his  place  was  filled  by  the  Attorney-General. 
Edwin  M.  Stanton  was  called  to  the  Attorne}r-Generalship,  and  John  A.  Dix  was  made  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  in  place  of  Cobb,  who  had  gone  to  Georgia  to  assist  in  plunging  the  people  of 
that  State  into  the  vortex  of  rebellion.  Holt,  Dix,  and  Stanton  were  loyal  men,  and  thwarted  by 
their  vigilance  and  energy  the  schemes  of  the  conspirators  to  seize  the  government  before  the 
President-elect  should  be  inaugurated.  "Wo  intend,"  said  one  of  the  disunionists,  "to  take  pos 
session  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  and  of  the  archives  of  the  government ;  not  allow  the  electoral 
votes  to  be  counted;  proclaim  Buchanan  Provisional  President,  if  he  will  do  as  we  wish,  and  if 
not,  choose  another;  seize  the  Harper's  Ferry  Arsenal  and  the  Norfolk  Navy  Yard  simultane 
ously,  and,  sending  armed  men  down  from  the'former,  and  armed  vessels  up  from  the  latter,  take 
possession  of  Washington,  and  establish  a  new  government." 


1861.]  LINCOLN'S    ADMINISTRATION. 

CHAPTER     XVI. 

LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.       [1861  —  1865.] 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN/  the  sixteenth  President  of  the  Republic,  was  inaugu 
rated  on  the  4th  day  of  March,  1861,  under  circumstances  of  peculiar  interest. 
In  expectation  of  open  violence  on  the  part  of  the  conspirators  and  their 
adherents,  General  Scott  had  made  ample  provision  for  the  preservation  of 
order  by  the  strong  arm  of  military  power,  if  it  should  be  necessary.  This 
fact  was  known,  and  no  disorder  occurred.  The  oath  of  office  was  adminis 
tered  by  Chief  Justice  Taney  as  quietly  as  on  former  occasions  ;  and  with  a  firm 
voice  the  new  President  read  from  the  eastern  portico  of  the  Capitol  to  the 
assembled  thousands  his  remarkable  Inaugural  Address.  In  it  he  expressed 
the  most  kindly  feelings  toward  the  people  of  every  portion  of  the  Republic, 
and  his  determination  to  administer  the  government  impartially  for  the  protec 
tion  of  every  citizen  and  every  interest.  At  the  same  time  he  announced  his 
resolution  to  enforce  the  laws,  protect  the  public  property,  and  repossess  that 
which  had  already  been  seized  by  the  insurgents.  The  vast  multitude  then 
dispersed,  and  in  the  evening  the  usual  pageant  of  an  Inauguration  Ball  was 
seen.  On  the  following  day  the  Senate,  relieved  of  most  of  the  conspirators, 
confirmed  the  President's  cabinet  nominations,2  and  the  new  administration 
began  its  memorable  career. 

The  first  business  of  the  new  cabinet  was  to  ascertain  the  condition  of  the 
nation,  especially  its  resources,  and  its  ability  to  meet  the  crisis  of  rebellion, 
evidently  at  hand.  Cobb  had  deeply  injured  the  public  credit,  but  the  loyal 
men  in  Congress  had  adopted  measures  for  restoring  it.  The  army  and  navy 
promised  very  little  aid.  The  former  was  composed  of  only  16,000  men,  and 
these  were  principally  on  the  frontiers  of  the  Indian  country,3  while  sixteen 
forts  had  already  been  seized  by  the  insurgents,  with  all  the  arsenals  in  the 
cotton-growing  States.4  The  little  navy,  like  the  army,  had  been  placed  far 

1  See  note  1,  page  543. 

2  He  nominated  William  H.  Seward,  of  New  York,  for  Secretary  of  State ;  Salmon  P.  Chase, 
of  Ohio,  for  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ;   Simon  Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania,  for  Secretary  of  War; 
Gideon  Wells,  of  Connecticut,  for  Secretary  of  the  Navy ;  Caleb  Smith,  of  Indiana,  for  Secretary 
of  the  Interior ;  Montgomery  Blair,  of  Maryland,  for  Postmaster-General ;  and  Edward  Bates,  of 
Missouri,  for  Attorney-General. 

3  Many  of  the  officers  of  the  army  were  natives  of  Slave-labor  States,  and  a  greater  portion 
of  these  not  only  abandoned  their  flag  and  joined  the  insurgents,  but  attempted  to  corrupt  the 
patriotism  of  the  common  soldiers.     Among  the  most  flagrant  acts  of  treason  was  the  conduct  of 
General  David  E.  Twiggs,  whom  Floyd  had  placed  in  command  of  the  troops  in  Texas,  to  assist 
in  the  work  of  rebellion.     He  first  tried  to  seduce  the  troops  from  their  allegiance.     Failing  in  this, 
he  betrayed  them  into  the  hands  of  the  enemies  of  their  country  in  February,  1861.    His  command 
included  nearly  one-half  of  the  military  force  of  the  United  States.     They  were  surrendered  to 
the  rebellious  "authorities  of  Texas,"  with  public  property  valued  at  $1,250.000. 

4  The  defensive  works  within  the  "seceding  States,"  as  they  were  called,  were  about  thirty 
in  number,  and  mounting  over  3,000  guns.     The  cost  of  these  works  and  their  equipment  was  at 
least  $'20, 000, 000.     It  is  estimated  that  the  value  of  National  property  which  the  insurgents 
seized  before  the  close  of  Buchanan's  administration  was  at  least  $30,000,000. 


552 


THE    NATION. 


[1861 


beyond  the  immediate  use  of  the  government.  Only  forty-two  vessels  were  in 
commission,  and  the  entire  force  immediately  available  for  the  defense  of  the 
whole  Atlantic  coast  of  the  Republic  was  the  Brooklyn,  of  twenty-five  guns, 
and  a  store-ship.  A  large  number  of  naval  officers,  born  in  Slave-labor  States, 
had  resigned ;  and  weakness  and  confusion  in  that  arm  of  the  public  service 
were  everywhere  visible.  The  public  offices  were  swarming  with  disloyal 
men.  It  was  difficult  to  decide  who  were  and  who  were  not  trustworthy,  and 
as  it  was  necessary  for  the  President  to  have  proper  implements  to  work  with, 
he  was  engaged  for  nearly  a  month  after  his  inauguration  in  exchanging  false 
for  true  men  in  the  employment  of  the  government.  He  knew  that  rising 
rebellion  could  not  be  suppressed  by  proclamations,  unless  the  insurgents  saw 
behind  them  the  invincible  power  of  the  State,  ready  to  be  wielded  by  the 
President,  with  trusty  instrumentalities.  These  he  endeavored  to  find. 


:-•-    ::':--° 


FORT   SUMTER  IN    1861. 

Meanwhile  rebellion  was  open  and  defiant,  especially  at  Charleston.  Soon 
after  Major  Anderson  transferred  his  garrison  to  Fort  Sumter,1  the  insurgents, 
who  at  once  nocked  to  Charleston,  began  the  erection  of  fortifications  for  the 
purpose  of  dislodging  him.  They  seized  the  other  forts  that  were  for  the 
defense  of  the  harbor,  and  when,  so  early  as  the  second  week  in  January,  a 
government  vessel  (Star  of  the  West)  attempted  to  enter  with  men  and  pro 
visions  for  Fort  Sumter,  and  with  the  National  flag  at  her  fore,  she  was  fired 

1  Page  549. 


1861.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  553 

upon  by  great  guns  and  driven  to  sea.1  When  the  Confederation  was  formed 
at  Montgomery,2  they  commissioned  Major  P.  G.  T.  Beauregard,  a  Louisiana 
Creole,  who  had  deserted  his  flag,  a  brigadier-general,  and  sent  him  to  com 
mand  the  insurgents  at  Charleston.  Under  his  direction  Fort  Sumter  was 
besieged ;  and  when,  early  in  April  [1 861],  the  government  informed  the  authori 
ties  of  South  Carolina  that  supplies  would  be  sent  to  Fort  Sumter  peaceably 
or  forcibly,  Beauregard  was  ordered  by  Davis  and  his  fellow-conspirators  to 
demand  its  immediate  surrender.  This  was  done  [April  11],  when  Anderson, 
whose  supplies  were  nearly  exhausted,  agreed  to  evacuate  the  fort  within  five 
days,  if  he  should  receive  no  relief  from  his  government.  Hoping  to  "  fire  the 
Southern  heart  "  by  bloodshed,  the  conspirators  would  not  wait  for  so  peace 
able  a  way  for  gaining  possession,  and  under  their  direction  Beauregard,  with 
thousands  of  armed  men  at  his  back,  opened  full  thirty  heavy  guns  and  mor 
tars  upon  the  fort  [April  12],  which  was  defended  by  only  about  seventy  men.3 
The  little  garrison  gallantly  responded,  and  fought  bravely,  with  a  hope  that 
a  naval  expedition,  which  they  knew  had  been  sent  for  their  relief,  might 
arrive  in  time  to  raise  the  siege.  A  heavy  storm  prevented  the  succor.  Pro 
visions  were  exhausted.  The  buildings  in  the  fort  were  set-  on  fire  by  the 
shells  of  the  insurgents,  and  a  greater  portion  of  the  gunpowder  had  to  be 
emptied  into  the  sea,  to  prevent  its  ignition  by  the  flames.  Finally,  hopeless 
of  aid,  and  almost  powerless,  Anderson  agreed  to  evacuate  the  fort.  This  he 
did  on  Sunday,  the  14th,  and  retired  with  the  garrison  to  the  government 
vessels  hovering  outside  the  harbor,  bearing  away  the  flag  of  Fort  Sumter. 
Precisely  four  years  afterward  [April  14,  1865]  he  took  it  back,  and  raised  it 
again  over  the  fortress,  then  an  almost  shapeless  mass  of  ruins.  He  evacuated^ 
but  did  not  surrender  Fort  Sumter,  and  he  and  its  flag,  the  emblem  of  the 
sovereignty  of  his  government,  were  borne  to  New  York.4  Thus  commenced 

CIVIL  WAR,  ix  1861. 

Twenty-four  hours  after  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter,  the  President  issued 
a  proclamation,  in  which  he  called  out  the  militia  of  the  country  for  three 

1  This  overt  act  of  treason  and  of  war  was  commended  by  the  Legislature  of  South  Carolina, 
which  resolved,  unanimously,  "  That  this  General  Assembly  learns  with  pride  and  pleasure  of  the 
successful  resistance  this  day  by  the  troops  of  this  State,  acting  under  the  orders  of  the  Governor, 
to  an  attempt  to  re-enforce  Fort  Sumter."     The  public  press  of  Charleston  said:  '•  We  are  proud 
that  our  harbor  has  been  so  honored,"  and  declared  that  "  if  the  red  seal  of  blood  was  yet  lacking 
to  the  parchment  of  their  liberties,"  there  should  be'  "  blood  enough  to  stamp  it  all  in  red!     For, 
by  the  God  of  our  fathers,"  shouted  the  exultant  journalist,  "  the  soil  of  South  Carolina  shall  be 
freeT — Charleston  Mercury,  January  9,  1861. 

2  Page  547. 

3  A  Virginia  Congressman,  named  Roger  A.  Pryor,  made  a  speech  in  the  streets  of  Charleston 
on  the  night  of  the  10th.     A  secession  convention  was  then  in  session  in  Virginia,  in  which  the 
Unionists  were  holding  the  conspirators  in  check.     Pryor,  in  defending  the  seeming  hesitancy  of 
his  State,  said  :    "  Do  not  distrust  Virginia.     Strike  a  blow  !     The  very  moment  that  blood  is  shed, 
Old  Virginia  will  make  common  cause  with  her  sisters  of  the  South."     This  cry  for  blood  was 
telegraphed  to  Montgomery  the  next  morning.     It  was  consonant  with  the  diabolical  spirit  of  the 
more  zealous  conspirators  everywhere.     Gilchrist,  a  member  of  the  Alabama  Legislature,  said  to 
Davis,  Walker,  Benjamin,  and  Memminger :   "  Gentlemen,  unless  you  sprinkle  blood  in  the  face 
of  the  people  of  Alabama,  they  will  be  back  in  the  old  Union  in  less  than  ten  days."     And  so 
Davis  and  his  "  Cabinet "  ordered  Beauregard  to  shed  blood,  and  "  fire  the  Southern  heart." 

4  F.  W.  Pickens,  then  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  made  the  evacuation  of  Sumter  the  occa- 


554  THE     NATION.  [1861. 

months'  service,  to  the  number  of  seventy-five  thousand  men,  to  suppress  the 
rising  rebellion.1  The  Secretary  of  War  simultaneously  issued  a  requisition 
upon  the  several  States  for  their  prescribed  quota."2  These  calls  were  received 
with  unbounded  favor  and  enthusiasm  throughout  the  Free-labor  States.  In 
the  six  Slave-labor  States  included  in  the  call,  they  were  treated  with  scorn 
and  defiance,  the  Governors  sending  insulting  responses  to  the  President,  while 
Davis  and  his  fellow-conspirators  at  Montgomery  received  the  Proclamation 
with  "  derisive  laughter."  In  the  Free-labor  States  there  was  a  wonderful 
uprising  of  the  people.  Nothing  like  it,  in  sublimity  of  aspect,  had  been 
seen  on  the  earth  since  Peter  the  Hermit  and  Pope  Urban  the  Second  filled  all 
Christian  Europe  with  religious  zeal,  and  sent  armed  hosts,  with  the  cry  of 
"  God  wills  it !  God  wills  it !"  to  rescue  the  Sepulcher  of  Jesus  from  the  hands 
of  the  infidel.  The  Republic  was  to  be  rescued  from  the  hands  of  the  assassin. 
Men,  women,  and  children  felt  the  enthusiasm  alike  ;  and,  as  if  by  preconcert 
ed  arrangement,  the  National  flag  was  everywhere  displayed,  even  from  the 
spires  of  churches  and  cathedrals.  In  cities,  in  villages,  at  way-side  inns,  all 
over  the  country,  it  was  unfurled  from  lofty  poles  in  the  presence  of  large 
assemblies  of  people,  who  were  addressed  frequently  by  some  of  the  most 
eminent  orators  in  the  land.  It  adorned  the  halls  of  justice  and  the  sanctua 
ries  of  religion ;  and  the  "  Red,  White,  and  Blue]"  the  colors  of  the  flag  in 
combination,  became  ornaments  of  women  and  tokens  of  the  loyalty  of  men. 

The  uprising  in  the  Slave-labor  States  at  the  same  time,  though  less  general 
and  enthusiastic,  was  nevertheless  marvelous.  The  heresy  of  State  supre 
macy,  which  Calhoun3  and  his  disciples  adroitly  called  State  rights,  because  a 
right  is  a  sacred  thing  cherished  by  all,  was  a  political  tenet  generally  accepted 
as  orthodox.4  It  had  been  inculcated  in  every  conceivable  form,  and  on  every 
conceivable  occasion ;  and  men  who  loved  the  Union  and  deprecated  secession 
were  in  agreement  with  the  conspirators  on  that  point.  Hence  it  was  that,  in 
the  tornado  of  passion  then  sweeping  over  the  South,  where  reason  was  dis- 

sion  for  an  exultant  speech  in  the  streets  of  Charleston,  on  that  Sunday.  "  Thank  God."  lie 
exclaimed,  "  the  war  is  open,  and  we  will  conquer  or  perish.  We  have  humbled  the  flag  of  the 
United  States."  Alluding  to  his  State  as  a  sovereignty,  he  said,  "  That  proud  flag  was  never 

lowered  before  to  any  nation  on  the  earth It  has  been  humbled  to-day  before  the  glorious 

little  State  of  South  Carolina."  The  churches  of  Charleston  that  day  were  filled  with  treasonable 
harangues.  In  old  St.  Philip's  the  venerable  and  blind  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  cried  out :  "  Your  boys  were  there,  and  mine  were  there,  and  it  was  right  that  they  should 
le  there."  And  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral  Bishop  Lynch  had  a  fit  Dewn  chanted  in  grati 
tude  to  God  for  the  beginning  of  the  most  horrid  civil  war  on  record  I 

1  The  President's  authority  for  this  act  may  be  found  in  the  second  and  third  sections  of  an 
act  of  Congress  approved  February  28,  1795.     That  law  would  not  allow  the  President  to  hold 
them  to  service  for  more  than  three  months. 

2  The  quota  of  each  State  was  as  follows,  the  figures  denoting  the  number  of  regiments : 
Maine,  1  ;  New  Hampshire,  1  ;  Vermont,  1 ;  Massachusetts,  2 ;  Rhode  Island.  1  ;  Connecticut,  1 ; 
New  York,  17;   New  Jersey,  6;  Pennsylvania,   16;   Delaware,  1;   Tennessee,  2;    Maryland,  4 : 
Virginia,  3;  North  Carolina,  2;  Kentucky,  4;   Arkansas,  1  ;  Missouri,  4;    Ohio.  13;   Indiana,  6; 
Illinois,  6 ;  Michigan,  1  ;  Iowa,  1 ;  Minnesota,  1 ;   Wisconsin,  1 ; 

3  See  note  3,  page  459. 

4  This  was  in  the  form  of  a  political  dogma,  which  declares  that  each  State  is  a  sovereign;  that 
the  Union  is  only  a  league  of  sovereign  States,  and  not  a  nationality ;  that  the  States  are  not  sub 
servient  to  the  National  government ;   were  not  created  by  it,  do  not  belong  to  it,  and  that  they 
created  that  government,  whose  powers  they  delegate  to  it,  and  that  to  them  it  is  responsible. 
Such  was  the  essential  substance  of  the  old  Confederation,  before  the  National  Constitution  was 


1861.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  555 

carded,  thousands  of  intelligent  men,  deceived  by  the  grossest  misrepresenta 
tions  respecting  the  temper,  character,  and  intentions  of  the  people  of  the 
Free-labor  States,  flew  to  arms,  well  satisfied  that  they  were  in  the  ri^ht, 
because  resisting  what  they  believed  to  be  usurpation,  arid  an  unconstitutional 
attempt  at  the  subjugation  of  a  free  people  on  the  part  of  the  National  gov 
ernment. 

Within  a  week  after  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter  the  insurrection  assumed 
the  huge  proportions  of  a  great  rebellion.  Its  forces  were  at  work  in  all  the 
Slave-labor  States,  and  the  most  extraordinary  exertions  were  immediately  put 
forth  by  the  conspirators  to  execute  the  first  and  most  important  part  of  their 
plan,  namely,  the  seizure  of  the  National  Capital.  Thousands  of  their  follow 
ers,  armed  with  weapons  stolen  from  their  government,  were  pressing  into  Vir 
ginia  for  that  purpose.  At  the  time  of  his  inauguration  at  Montgomery1  Jef 
ferson  Davis  had  said :  "  We  are  now  determined  to  maintain  our  position, 
and  make  all  who  oppose  us  smell  Southern  powder  and  feel  Southern  steel  y" 
and  he  now  began  to  carry  out  that  threat  with  a  high  hand,  while  his  lieuten 
ant,  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  who  a  few  months  before  had  declared  and  proven 
that  rebellion  against  the  government  would  be  a  monstrous  crime,2  now  hur 
ried  toward  Richmond,  making  Georgia,  the  Carolinas,  and  Virginia  ring  with 
his  cry  of  "  On  to  Washington  /"  Le  Roy  Pope  Walker,  Davis's  "  Secretary 
of  War,"3  had  prophesied  on  the  day  when  Fort  Sum 
ter  was  attacked  [April  12,  1861],  saying:  "The  flag 
that  now  flaunts  the  breeze  here  will  float  over  the 
dome  of  the  old  capitol  at  Washington  before  the 
first  of  May.  Let  .them  try  Southern  chivalry,  and 
test  the  extent  of  Southern  resources,  and  it  may 
float  eventually  over  Faneuil  Hall,  in  Boston."  The 
most  intense  desire  to  seize  Washington  City  pre 
vailed  among  the  insurgent  leaders,  and  the  people 

of  the  cotton-planting  States  soon  realized  the  promise  uttered  by  Governor 
Pickens:  "You  may  plant  your  seed  in  peace,  for  Old  Virginia  will  have  to 
bear  the  brunt  of  battle." 

Virginia  did,  indeed,  bear  much  of  the  brunt  of  battle.  It  was  now  in  an 
uproar,  and  its  people  was  soon  made  to  feel  the  terrible  effects  of  the  treason 
of  some  of  their  leading  politicians.  They  had  assembled  a  convention  to 
consider  the  subject  of  secession  from  the  Union.  The  Unionists  were  the 

framed.  That  Constitution  refutes  this  heresy  of  State  sovereignty  and  supremacy,  in  terms  and 
spirit:  "We,  the  People,"  says  its  preamble,  "do  ordain  and  establish,"  &c.  That  Constitution 
was  the  work  of  the  people,  not  of  State  organizations ;  and  it  is  the  political  creator  of  every  State 
since  admitted  into  the  Union,  first  as  a  Territory,  and  then  as  a  State,  solely  by  the  exercise  of 
the  potential  will  of  the  people,  expressed  through  Congress.  Without  the  consent  of  Congress, 
under  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  no  State  can  enter  the  Union.  The  National  govern 
ment  is  the  creator  of  the  States.  See  Section  3,  Article  IV.  of  the  National  Constitution. 

1  Page  547. 

2  See  Lossing's  Pictorial  History  of  the  Civil  War,  vol.  I.,  pa<?es  54  to  57,  inclusive. 

3  Page  541. 

4  This  is  a  picture  of  the  flag  of  the  "Southern  Confederacy"  adopted  by  the  conspirators, 
and  first  unfurled  over  the  State-House  at  Montgomery  on  the  4th  of  March,  2861. 


556  THE     CATION.  [1861. 

majority  in  that  body.  The  crisis  had  now  come.  The  blow  had  been  struck. 
The  bloodshed  evoked  by  the  wretched  Pryor  had  occurred.  Virginia,  within 
whose  ancient  embrace  was  the  capitol  of  the  nation  to  be  destroyed,  must  be 
actively  on  the  side  of  the  conspirators,  or  all  might  be  lost.  Maryland,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  was  a  doubtful  auxiliary,  for  her 
loyal  Governor  and  people  were  holding  treason  and  rebellion  in  check  in  that 
State.  The  violent  spirit  of  the  conspirators  everywhere  manifested  must  not 
be  backward  in  Virginia,  the  mother  of  Disunion ;  so  the  politicians,  perceiv 
ing  [April  16]  that  if  the  seats  of  ten  Unionists  in  the  Convention  could  be 
made  vacant  an  ordinance  of  secession  might  be  passed,  waited  upon  that 
number  of  such  men  and  gave  them  the  choice  of  voting  for  secession,  keeping 
away  from  the  Convention,  or  being  hanged.  They  kept  away.  The  secession 
ordinance  was  adopted  [April  17,  1861],  and,  in  defiance  of  an  order  of  the 
convention  that  it  should  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people,  a  committee 
appointed  by  that  body,  with  John  Tyler  at  its  head,1  concluded  a  treaty  with 
Alexander  H.  Stephens,  acting  in  behalf  of  Jefferson  Davis,  by  which  their 
commonwealth  was  placed  under  the  absolute  military  control  of  the  arch- 
conspirator.  This  was  done  within  a  week  [April  25,  1861]  after  the  Ordinance 
of  Secession  was  passed,  and  a  month  before  the  time  appointed  for  its  submis 
sion  to  the  people.  When  that  day  arrived,  fraud/  and  violence  deprived  the 
latter  of  their  right.2  Virginia  became  a  part  of  the  Confederacy,  and,  by 
invitation  of  its  politicians,  who  had  dragged  the  people  into  the  vortex  of 
revolution,  the  so-called  "  government "  of  the  conspirators  was  transferred 
from  Montgomery  to  Richmond,  and  there  it  remained  during  the  war  that 
ensued. 

While  troops  were  hurrying  toward  Washington  from  the  Slave-labor 
States,  to  seize  it,  others,  in  larger  numbers,  were  nocking  from  the  Free-labor 
States  to  defend  it.  The  secessionists  of  Maryland  were  active,  and  tried  to 
place  a  barrier  in  the  way  of  the  loyal  men  in  Baltimore,  through  which  city 
they  were  compelled  to  pass.  They  slightly  assailed  some  Pennsylvanians 
(five  unarmed  companies)  who  passed  through  on  the  18th  of  April,  and 
were  the  first  of  its  defenders  to  reach  the  National  capital  ;3  and  on  the 
following  day  a  mob  of  ten  thousand  men  assailed  a  single  Massachusetts  regi 
ment  (the  Sixth),  as  it  marched  from  one  railway  station  to  the  other.  A  fight 
ensued.  Lives  were  lost.4  The  loyal  people  of  the  nation  were  terribly  exas 
perated,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  the  city  in  which  the  tragedy  occurred 


1  The  commissioners  consisted  of  John  Tyler,  William  Ballard  Preston,  S.  M.  McD.  Moore, 
James  P.  Holcombe,  James  C.  Bruce,  and  Lewis  E.  Harvie. 

2  The  bayonet  was  ready  everywhere  to  control  the  elections.     That  Union  men  might  be 
kept  from  the  polls,  Mason,  the  author  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  [page  522J,  addressed  a  public 
letter  to  the  people,  telling  those  who  were  disposed  to  vote  against  the  Ordinance  that  they  must 
not  vote  at  all,  "and  if  they  retain  such  opinions  they  must  leave  the  State."     He  asserted  in 
another  form  Jefferson  Davis's  threat,  that  all  opposers  should  "  smell  Southern  powder  and  feel 
Southern  steel." 

3  There  were  the  Washington  Artillery  and  National  Light  Infantry  compares  of  Pottsville; 
the  Rwggold  Light  Artillery,  of  Reading ;  the  Logan  Guards,  of  Lewistown ;  and  the  Allen  Infantry, 
of  Allentown. 

4  The  mob,  encouraged  by  the  Chief  of  Police  (G.  P.  Kane)  and  well-known  citizens,  assailed 


1861.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


557 


was  preserved  from  destruction.  "  Turn  upon  it  the  guns  of  Fort  McHenry," 
said  one.  "  Lay  it  in  ashes  !"  cried  another.  "  Fifty  thousand  men  may  be 
raised  in  an  hour  to  march  through  Baltimore,"  exclaimed  a  third ;  and  one  of 
our  popular  poets  (Bayard  Taylor)  wrote : — 

"  Bow  down  in  haste  thy  guilty  head ! 

God's  wrath  is  swift  and  sure : 
The  sky  with  gathering  bolts  is  red — 
Cleanse  from  thy  skirts  the  slaughter-shed, 
Or  make  thyself  an  ashen  bed 
•  0  Baltimore!" 

The  defenders  of  the  capital  were  not  there  any  too  soon.  Already  the 
Virginians  had  begun  to  play  their  part  in  the  plan  for  seizing  Washington. 
On  the  passage  of  the  ordinance  of  secession  by  the  Virginian  convention,1 


HARPER'S  FERRY  IN  THE  SUMMER  OF  1861. 

Governor  Letcher  proclaimed  the  independence  of  the  State  and  his  recognition 
of  the  Confederacy ;  and,  less  than  twenty-four  hours  afterward,  troops  were  in 
motion  for  seizing  Harper's  Ferry  and  the  Navy  Yard  near  Norfolk.2  Warned 
of  their  approach,  and  his  force  too  small  to  make  successful  resistance,  Lieu 
tenant  Jones,  who  was  in  command  at  Harper's  Ferry,  set  fire  to  the  Armory 
and  Arsenal  buildings  there  [April  18],  and  withdrew  into  Pennsylvania.  The 

the  troops  with  every  sort  of  missile.  Two  of  the  troops  were  killed.  One  was  mortally  and 
several  were  slightly  wounded.  Nine  citizens  of  Baltimore  were  killed,  and  a  considerable  num 
ber  were  wounded. 

1  Page  556.  a  See  note  1,  page  550. 


558  THE     NATION.  [1861. 

insurgents  took  possession  of  the  post,  and  were  about  to  march  upon  Wash 
ington,  when  they  heard  of  its  armed  occupation  by  loyal  men.  At  the  same 
time,  Virginians  were  before  the  Navy  Yard  at  Gosport,  opposite  Norfolk, 
demanding  its  surrender.  The  commander  of  the  station  (Commodore  McAu- 
ley)  finding  treason  to  be  rife  among  his  officers,  and  apprehending  immediate 
danger  from  foes  without,  prepared  to  abandon  the  post  without  resistance,  and 
to  scuttle  the  vessels.  '  Commodore  Paulding  arrived  while  the  vessels  were 
sinking,  and  finding  it  to  be  too  late  to  save  them,  he  ordered  them  and  the 
buildings  of  the  navy  yard  to  be  fired.  An  immense  amount  of  property 
was  destroyed,  and  the  Virginians,  on  taking  possession,  acquired,  as  spoils, 
about  two  thousand  cannon.  These  armed  many  a  battery  throughout  the 
Confederacy  soon  afterward. 

The  National  capital  was  still  in  great  danger.  Thousands  of  insurgents 
from  below  the  Roanoke  were  pouring  into  Virginia  and  pressing  up  toward 
Washington,  while,  for  about  a  Aveek,  all  communication  between  the  capital 
and  the  loyal  States  was  cut  off.  Under  the  sanction  of  the  Mayor  and 
Chief  of  Police  of  Baltimore,  the  bridges  of  the  railways  extending  northward 
from  that  city  were  burned  on  the  night  after  the  massacre  in  its  streets,  and 
the  telegraph-wires  were  cut.  The  President  and  his  cabinet  and  the  General-in- 
chief  of  the  Army  were  virtual  prisoners  in  the  cabital  for  several  days,  and 
were  relieved  just  in  time  to  prevent  their  actual  capture,  by  the  energy  of  the 
veteran  General  John  E.  Wool,  and  the  Union  Defense  Committee  of  New  York 
City,  in  forwarding  troops  and  supplies  in  a  manner  to  avoid  the  blockade  of  the 
direct  highway  at  Baltimore,  and  to  secure  the  capital.  The  well-known  Seventh 
Regiment  of  New  York  and  some  Massachusetts  troops,  under  General  Ben 
jamin  F.  Butler,  proceeded  by  water  to  Annapolis  [April  21],  seized  the  railway 
between  that  city  and  its  junction  with  the  one  leading  from  Baltimore  to 
Washington  [April  25],  and  took  possession  a  few  days  later  at  the  Relay 
House,  nine  miles  from  the  former  city,  where  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railway 
turns  northward  toward  Harper's  Ferry.  From  that  point,  on  the  evening  of 
the  13th  of  May,  Butler,  with  a  little  more  than  one  thousand  men,  went  into 
Baltimore,  under  cover  of  intense  darkness  and  a  thunder-storm,  and  quietly 
took  post  on  Federal  Hill,  an  eminence  commanding  the  city.1  The  first  inti 
mation  the  citizens  received  of  his  presence  was  a  proclamation  from  him, 
published  in  a  newspaper  the  next  morning,  assuring  all  peaceable  persons  of 
full  protection,  and  intimating  that  a  greater  force  was  at  hand,  if  needed,  for 
the  purposes  of  the  outraged  government.  Troops  then  passed  quietly  through 
Baltimore  to  Washington  City,2  and  at  the  middle  of  May  the  capital  was 
safe.  Thus  rebellion  in  Maryland  was  throttled  at  the  beginning,  and  it  was 
kept  from  very  serious  mischief  during  the  war  that  ensued.3 

1  Butler's  troops  consisted  of  the  entire  Sixth  Massachusetts,  which  was  attacked  in  Baltimore 
on  the   19th  of  April   [page  556]  ;    a  part  of  the  New  York  Eighth ;   Boston  artillerymen,  and 
two  field-pieces.     They  were  placed  in  cars,  headed,  as  a  feint,  toward  Harper's  Ferry.     At 
evening  they  were  backed  into  Baltimore,  just  as  a  heavy  thunder-storm  was  about  to  break 
over  the  city,  and  the  troops,  well  piloted,  went  quietly  to  Federal  Hill. 

2  Three  days  earlier  [May  10]  Pennsylvanian  troops  passed  unmolested  through  Baltimore  to 
Washington,  under  Colonel  Patterson. 

3  General  Scott  had  planned  an  expedition  for  the  seizure  of  Baltimore,  to  consist  of  four 


1861.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  559 

At  the  beginning  of  May,  by  fraud,  violence,  and  treachery,  the  conspirators 
and  their  friends  had  robbed  the  government  to  the  amount  of  forty  million 
dollars ;  put  about  forty  thousand  armed  men  in  the  field,  more  than  half  of 
whom  were  then  concentrating  in  Virginia ;  sent  emissaries  abroad,  with  the 
name  of  "commissioners,"  to  seek  recognition  and  aid  from  foreign  powers;1 
commissioned  numerous  pirates  to  prey  upon  the  commerce  of  the  United 
States  ;2  extinguished  the  luminaries  of  light-houses  and  beacons  along  the  coasts 
of  the  Slave-labor  States,  from  Hampton  Roads  to  the  Rio  Grande,3  and  enlisted 
actively  in  their  revolutionary  schemes  the  governors  of  thirteen  States,  and  large 
numbers  of  leading  politicians  in  other  States.4  Encouraged  by  their  success 
in  Charleston  harbor,5  they  were  investing  Fort  Pickens,  which  had  been  saved 
from  seizure  by  the  vigilance  and  energy  of  Lieutenant  Slemmer,  its  commander.6 
INSURRECTION  had  become  REBELLION  ;  and  the  loyal  people  of  the  country 
and  the  National  government,  beginning  to  comprehend  the  magnitude,  po 
tency,  and  meaning  of  the  movement,  accepted  it  as  such,  and  addressed 
themselves  earnestly  to  the  task  of  its  suppression.  The  President  called  [May 

columns  of  three  thousand  men  each,  to  approach  it  simultaneously  from  different  points.  Butler, 
by  bold  and  energetic  action,  accomplished  the  desired  end  in  one  night,  with  a  thousand  men. 
Scott  could  not  forgive  him  for  this  independent  action.  He  demanded  his  removal  from  the 
command  of  that  department.  The  President  complied,  promoted  Butler  to  Mnjor-General,  and 
gave  him  a  more  important  command,  with  his  head-quarters  at  Fortress  Monroe. 

1  These  were  "William  .L.  Yancey  [see  page  544],  of  Alabama;    P.  A.  Host,  of  Louisiana;   A. 
Dudley  Mann,  of  Virginia,  and  T.  Butier  King,  of  Georgia.     Yancey  was  to  operate  in  England, 
Host  in  France,  and  Mann  in  Holland  and  Belgium.     King  seems  to  have  had  a  kind  of  roving 
commission.     These  men  so  fitly  represented  their  bad  cause  in  Europe,  that  confidence  in  its 
justice  and  ultimate  success  was  so  speedily  impaired,  that  they  went  wandering  about,  seeking 
in  vain  for  willing  listeners  among  men  of  character  in  diplomatic  circles,  and  they  finally  aban 
doned  their  missions  with  disgust,  to  the  relief  of  European  statesmen,  who  were  wearied  with 
their  importunities  and  offended  by  their  duplicity. 

2  Davis  summoned  his  so-called  "Congress"  to  meet  at  Montgomery  on  the  29th  of  April. 
He  had  already  announced,  by  proclamation  [April  17,  1861],  his  determination  to  employ  pirate 
vessels  against  the  commerce  of  the  United  States,  and  the  '•  Confederate  Congress  "  now  author 
ized  the  measure,  with  the  barbarous  offer,  by  the  terms  of  the  Act,  of  a  bounty  of  $20  for 
the  murder,  by  fire,  water,  or  otherwise,  on  the  high  seas,  of  every  man,  woman,  or  child — "  each 
person  " — that  might  be  found  by  the  pirates.     That  the  men  engaged  in  this  business,  under  the 
sanction  of  the  conspirators,  were  pirates,  is  shown  by  the  laws  of  nations.     Piracy  is  defined  as 
"robbery  on  the  high  seas  without  authority."      Davis,  Toombs,  and  their  fellow -conspirators 
had  no  more  authority  to  commission  privateers,  as  legalized  pirates  are  called,  than  had  Jack 
Cade,  Nat.  Turner,  or  John  Brown,  for  they  represented  no  acknowledged  government  on  the 
earth. 

8  Che  light-houses  and  beacons  darkened  by  them,  between  Cape  Henry,  in  Virginia,  and 
Point  Isabel,  in  Texas,  numbered  133. 

4  These  were  Letcher,  of  Virginia ;  Magoffin,  of  Kentucky  •  Ellis,  of  North  Carolina ;  Harris,  of 
Tennessee;  Jackson,  of  Missouri ;  Pickens,  of  South  Carolina-  Brown,  of  Georgia,  Moore,  of  Ala 
bama;  Pettus,  of  Mississippi;  Rector,  of  Arkansas ;  Moore,  of  Louisiana;  Perry,  of  Florida;  and 
Burton,  of  Delaware.     Only  Governor  Hicks,  of  Maryland,  and  Houston,  of .  Texas,  of  the  fifteen 
Slave-labor  States,  were  loyal  to  the  National  government.     The  former  remained  so  until  his 
death  ;  but  Houston  yielded  in  the  course  of  a  few  months,  and  became  a  reviler  of  the  President 
and  the  loyal  people. 

5  Page  553. 

6  Early  in  January  [1861],  Lieutenant  Slemmer  received  information  that  Fort  Pickens  and 
other  fortifications  on  Pensacola  Bay,  under  his  charge,  would  be  seized  by  the  Governor  of 
Florida.     He  took  measures  accordingly.     Observing  a  gathering  cloud  of  danger,  he  placed  all 
the  public  property  he  possibly  could,  and  his  garrison,  in  stronger  Fort  Pickens.     The  insurgents 
seized  the  Navy  Yard  on  the  Main  (Fort  Pickens  is  on  Santa  Rosa  Island),  and  tried  to  secure 
the  fort,  but  in  vain.     Slemmer  held  it  until  he  was  re-enforced,  at  about  the  time  when  Fort 
Sumter  was  abandoned,  when  a  large  number  of  troops,  under  General  Bragg  (who  had  aban 
doned  his  flag),  were  besieging  it. 


560  THE    NATION.  [1861. 

3,  1861]  for  sixty-four  thousand  more  troops  (volunteers)  to  serve  "during  the 
war,"  and  eighteen  thousand  men  for  the  navy.  Forts  Monroe  and  Pickens 
were  re-enforced,  and  the  blockade  of  the  Southern  ports,  out  of  which  the  con 
spirators  were  preparing  to  send  cruisers,  was  proclaimed. 

The  first  care  of  the  government  was  to  secure  the  safety  of  the  capital,  and 
for  this  purpose  Washington  City  and  its  vicinity  was  made  the  general  gath 
ering-place  of  all  the  troops  raised  eastward  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains. 
When,  on  the  4th  of  July,  Congress  met  in  extraordinary  session,  pursuant  to 
the  call  of  the  President,  in  his  proclamation  for  troops  on  the  15th  of  April,1 
there  were  about  230,000  volunteers  in  the  field,  independent  of  the  three 
months'  men,  a  larger  portion  of  whom  were  within  ten  miles  of  the  capital. 
Congress  approved  the  act  of  the  President  in  calling  them  out,  and  authorized 
[July  10,  1861]  the  raising  of  500,000  troops,  and  an  appropriation  of 
$500,000,000  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  kindling  Civil  War.2  Towns,  vil 
lages,  cities,  and  States  had  made  contributions  for  this  service  to  an  immense 
amount,  and  the  people  of  the  Free-labor  States,  of  every  political  and  religious 
creed,  were  united  in  efforts  to  save  the  life  of  the  Republic.  At  the  same 
time  Confederate  troops  in  Virginia,  estimated  at  more  than  100,000  in  num 
ber,  occupied  an  irregular  line,  from  Harper's  Ferry,  by  way  of  Richmond,  to 
Norfolk.  Their  heaviest  force  was  at  Manassas  Junction,  within  about  thirty 
miles  of  Washington  City,  and  there,  .very  soon,  the  first  heavy  shock  of  war 
was  felt. 

Congress  felt  the  necessity  of  bending  all  its  energies  to  a  speedy  ending 
of  the  rebellion.  From  the  beginning  of  the  trouble  it  was  evident  that  most 
of  the  foreign  governments  and  the  ruling  classes  of  Europe  would  view  with 
satisfaction  a  Civil  War  that  might  destroy  the  Republic,  give  a  stunning  blow 
to  Democracy,  and  thus  renew  their  lease  of  power  over  the  people  indefinitely. 
Most  of  the  foreign  ministers  at  Washington,  regarding  the  secession  move 
ments  in  several  States  as  the  beginning  of  a  permanent  separation,  had 
announced  [February,  1861]  to  their  respective  governments  the  practical 

1  Page  553. 

2  Secretary  Chase,  whose  management  of  the  finan 
cial  affairs  of  the  country  during  a  greater  portion  of  the 
period  of  the  war  was  considered  eminently  wise  and 
efficient,  asked  for  $240,000,000  for  war  purpose*,  and 
$80,000,000  to  meet  the  ordinary  demands  for  the  fiscal 
year  ending  on  the  30th  of  June,  1862.     He  proposed  to 
raise  the  $80,000,000  in  addition  to  $60,000,000  already 
appropriated,  by  levying  increased  duties,  and  by  excise, 
or  by  the  direct  taxation  of  real  and  personal  property. 
To  raise  the  amount  for  war  purposes,  he  proposed  loans, 
to  be  issued  in  the  form  of  Treasury  notes  and  bonds, 
or  certificates  of  debt,  to  be  made  redeemable  at  a  future 
day,  not  exceeding  thirty  years  distant. 

Salmon  P.  Chase  is  a  native  of  New  Hampshire, 
where  he  was  born  in  1808.  In  1830  he  commenced 
the  practice  of  the  law  in  Cincinnati,  and  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  "  Liberty  Party  "  in  Ohio,  in  1841.  In 
1849  he  was  chosen  a  Senator  of  the  United  States,  and 
in  1855  was  elected  Governor  of  Ohio.  Mr.  Lincoln 

SALMON  P.  CHASE.  appointed  him  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  1861,  and 

afterward  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States. 


1861]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  5(31 

dissolution  of  the  American  Union;  and  statesmen  and  publicists  abroad 
affected  amazement  because  of  the  folly  of  Congress  in  legislating  concerning 
tariff  and  other  National  measures,  when  the  nation  was  hopelessly  expiring  ! 
And  before  the  representative  of  the  new  administration  (Charles  Francis 
Adams)  could  reach  England,  the  British  ministry  (already  having  an  agree 
ment  with  the  Emperor  of  the  French  that  the  two  governments  should  act  in 
concert  concerning  American  affairs)  procured,  in  behalf  of  the  conspirators,  a 
Proclamation  of  Neutrality  by  the  Queen  [May  13],  by  which  a  Confederate 
government,  as  existing,  was  acknowledged,  and  belligerent  rights  were 
accorded  to  the  insurgents.1  Other  European  governments  hastened  to  give 
the  conspirators  similar  encouragement.  Only  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  of  all 
the  reigning  monarchs,  showed  sympathy  with  our  government  in  its  great 
trouble.  Considering  this,  and  the  possibility  that  they  might,  with  equal 
unseemly  haste,  recognize  the  independence  of  the  Confederates,  and  possibly 
lend  them  material  aid,  Congress  worked  diligently  in  preparations  to  confront 
the  rebellion  with  ample  force.  While  doing  so,  that  rebellion  assumed  the 
proportions  of  CIVIL  WAR  in  a  sanguinary  battle  fought  so  near  the  capital  that 
the  sounds  of  great  guns  engaged  in  it  were  heard  there. 

Blood  had  already  been  spilled  in  conflicts  on  battle-fields.  The  importance 
of  holding  possession  of  Western  Virginia,  and  so  the  control  of  the  Balti 
more  and  Ohio  Railway,  which  connected  Maryland  and  the  capital  with  the 
great  West,  was  apparent  to  the  conspirators.  Equally  important  was  it  for 
them  to  possess  Fortress  Monroe,  and  efforts  to  seize  and  hold  both  were  early 
made.  The  strife  for  Western  Virginia  began  first.  The  people  of  that  region 
were  mostly  loyal,  and  had  already  taken  steps  toward  a  separation  from  the 
Eastern  or  rebellious  portion  of  their  State.  Troops  were  accordingly  sent 
from  Richmond  to  restrain  their  patriotism.  The  people  rushed  to  arms,  and 
under  the  leadership  of  Colonel  B.  F.  Kelley,  a  considerable  force  was  organ 
ized  in  the  vicinity  of  Wheeling,  where,  early  in  May,  a  mass  convention  of 
citizens  had  resolved  to  sever  all  connection  with  the  conspirators  at  Rich 
mond.  A  delegate  convention  was  held  there  on  the  13th  of  May,  and  made 
provision  for  a  more  formal  and  effective  convention  on  the  llth  of  June.  In 
that  body  about  forty  counties  were  represented,  and  an  ordinance  of  seces 
sion  from  the  old  Virginia  government  was  adopted.  They  established  a 
provisional  government  [June  20,  1861],  and  elected  Francis  H.  Pierpont 
Chief  Magistrate.  The  people  ratified  their  acts  in  the  autumn,  and  in  con 
vention  formed  a  State  Constitution.  In  June,  1863,  WEST  VIRGINIA  was 
admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  new  State. 


1  British  sympathy  for  a  rebellion  avowedly  for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  and  perpetuating 
the  institution  of  slavery,  was  a  strange  spectacle.  Among  the  people  of  the  earth,  the  English 
appeared  pre-eminently  the  opposers  of  slavery.  And  so,  in  fact,  the  great  body  of  the  people 
of  England  were.  It  was  the  government  and  the  dominant  class  in  that  country — the  govern 
ing  few  as  against  the  governed  inany — who  were  thus  untrue  to  principle.  The  Queen  and  the 
Prince  Consort  did  not  share  in  the  unfriendly  feeling  toward  us.  As  parents  they  could  not 
forget  the  exceeding  kindness  bestowed  by  our  people  upon  their  son,  the  heir-apparent  of  the 
throne,  who  visited  this  country  in  I860  ;  and  it  is  known  that  her  Majesty  restrained  her  ministers 
from  recognizing  the  independence  of  the  Confederates,  as  they  were  anxious  to  do. 

36 


562  THE     NATION.  [1861. 

The  government  perceived  the  necessity  of  affording  aid  to  the  Western 
Virginia  loyalists,  and  General  George  B.  McClellan,  who  had  been  placed  in 
command  of  the  Department  of  the  Ohio,  was  ordered 
to  assist  Kelley  in  driving  out  the  Confederate  troops. 
Thus  encouraged,  the  Virginia  commander  moved  on 
Grafton,  when  the  Confederate  leader,  Porterfield,  fled 
to  Philippi.  Thither  he  was  followed  by  Kelley,  and 
also  by  Ohio  and  Indiana  troops,  under  Colonel  Du- 
mont.  They  drove  Porterfield  from  Philippi  [June 
3]  after  a  battle  (the  first  after  war  was  proclaimed), 
in  which  Kelley  was  wounded,  and  for  a  while  matters 
were  quiet  in  that  region.  Grafton  was  made  the 
head-quarters  of  the  National  troops  in  Western  Virginia. 

Meanwhile  Confederate  troops  under  Colonel  Magruder,  who  had  aban 
doned  his  flag,1  had  been  moving  down  the  peninsula  between  the  James  and 
York  Rivers,  for  the  purpose  of  attempting  to  seize  Fortress  Monroe.  General 
Butler,  in  command  at  the  latter  post,  informed  that  the  insurgents  were  in  a 
fortified  camp  at  Big  Bethel,  a  few  miles  up  the  peninsula,  resolved  to  dislodge 
them,  for  the  two-fold  purpose  of  making  Fortress  Monroe  more  secure,  and 
for  carrying  out  a  plan  he  had  conceived  of  seizing;  the  railway  between  Suffolk 
and  Petersburg,  and,  menacing  the  Weldon  road  which  connected  Virginia 
with  the  Carolinas,  draw  Confederate  troops  back  from  the  vicinity  of  Wash 
ington.  He  sent  a  force  under  General  E.  W.  Peirce  for  the  purpose,  one 
column  moving  from  Fortress  Monroe,  and  the  other  from  Newport-Newce,  on 
the  James  River.  Meeting  in  the  gloom  before  dawn,  they  fired  upon  each 
other,  alarmed  the  Confederate  outposts,  and  caused  a  concentration  of  all 
the  insurgent  forces  at  Big  Bethel.  There  a  conflict  occurred  [June  10,  1861], 
in  which  Lieutenant  J.  T.  Greble,  a  gallant  young  artillery  officer,  was  killed. 
He  was  the  first  officer  of  the  regular  army  who  perished  in  the  Civil  War. 
The  expedition  was  unsuccessful,  and  returned  to  Fortress  Monroe. 

The  misfortune  at  Bethel  was  atoned  for  the  next  day  [June  11],  when  Col 
onel  (afterward  Major-General)  Lewis  Wallace,  with  a  few  Indiana  troops,  dis 
persed  five  hundred  Confederates  at  Romney,  in  Hampshire  County,  Virginia. 
It  was  a  most  gallant  feat.  Its  boldness  and  success  so  alarmed  the  insurgents 
at  Harper's  Ferry,  that  they  fled  to  Winchester  [June  15],  eighteen  miles  up 
the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and  there,  under  the  direction  of  their  accomplished 
commander,  Joseph  E.  Johnston,2  they  made  preparations  for  resisting  the 
threatened  invasion  of  that  region.  The  evacuation  of  Harper's  Ferry  was 
followed  by  its  speedy  occupation  by  National  troops.  On  the  day  after 


1  "Mr.  Lincoln,"  said  Magruder  to  the  President,  at  the  middle  of  April,  "everyone  else 
may  desert  you,  but  /  never  will."  The  President  thanked  him.  Two  days  afterward,  having 
done  all  in  his  power  to  corrupt  the  troops  in  Washington,  he  fled  and  joined  the  insurgents. — See 
Greeley's  American  Conflict,  i.  506. 

3  Johnston  was  a  veteran  soldier,  and  had  been  a  meritorious  officer  in  the  National  army.  He 
had  taken  command  of  the  Confederates  at  or  near  the  confluence  of  the  Potomac  and  Shenan 
doah  Eivers,  late  in  May,  and  had  about  12,000  men  under  his  command. 


1861.]  LINCOLN'S    ADMINISTRATION. 

Johnston's  flight,  General  Robert  Patterson  threw  9,000  men,  from  the  Penn 
sylvania  militia,  across  the  Potomac  at  Williamsport,  but  was  compelled  to 
recall  them  in  consequence  of  a  requisition  from  the  General-in-Chief  to  send 
his  most  efficient  troops  to  Washington,  then  in  peril.  "On  the  2d  of  July 
Patterson  crossed  with  about  11,000  troops,  and  took  post  at  Martin sburg. 
His  advance,  under  General  Abercrombie,  met,  fought,  and  conquered  at  Falling 
Waters  a  considerable  force  under  the  afterward  famous  "  Stonewall "  Jackson. 

In  the  mean  time  stirring  events  were  occurring  in  Western  Virginia.  For 
a  time  it  seemed  as  if  Wallace,  near  Cumberland,  must  be  cut  off,  and  the  Bal 
timore  and  Ohio  Railway  pass  into  the  possession  of  the  insurgents.  But  that 
vigilant  officer  gallantly  maintained  his  position  against  great  odds,  while 
General  McClellan,  advancing  southward  from  Grafton,  was  striking  the  Con 
federates  in  the  Tygart  River  region  severe  blows.  Porterfield  had1  been  suc 
ceeded  by  General  Garnett,  whose  head-quarters  were  at  Beverly,  in  Randolph 
County ;  and  the  notorious  Henry  A.  Wise,2  bearing  the  commission  of  a 
Brigadier-General,  was  with  a  force  in  the  Valley  of  the  Great  Kanawha 
River,  where  he  was  confronted  by  General  J.  D.  Cox. 

McClellan's  entire  command  was  composed  of  about  20,000  troops.  A 
portion  of  these,  under  General  W.  S.  Rosecrans,  fought  and  conquered  a  force 
under  Colonel  Pegram  on  Rich  Mountain,  not  far  from  Beverly,  on  the  llth 
of  July.  This  alarmed  Garnett,  who,  with  a  portion  of  his  force,  fled  into  the 
wild  mountain  region  of  the  Cheat  River,  pursued  by  General  T.  A.  Morris,  of 
McClellan's  command.  Morris  overtook  Garnett  at  Carricksford,  on  a  tribu 
tary  of  the  Cheat  River,  where  a  sharp  conflict  ensued.  Garnett  was  killed 
and  his  troops  were  dispersed.  Another  portion  of  his  followers,  who  fled  from 
Beverly  toward  Staunton,  had  been  pursued  to  the  summit  of  the  Cheat  Moun 
tain  range,  where  an  outpost  was  established  under  the  care  of  an  Indiana 
regiment.  General  Cox,  in  the  mean  time,  had  driven  Wise  out  of  the 
Kanawha  Valley,  and  the  war  in  Western  Virginia  seemed  to  be  at  an  end. 
McClellan  was  called  to  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  [July  22], 
as  the  forces  around  Washington  were  designated,  and  his  own  troops  were 
left  in  charge  of  General  Rosecrans. 

While  these  events  were  occurring  beyond  the  Blue  Ridge  and  the  Alle- 
ghany  Mountains,3  others  of  great  moment  were  attracting  public  attention 
to  the  National  capital  and  its  vicinity.  Toward  the  close  of  May,  it  was 
evident  that  the  Confederates  were  preparing  to  plant  batteries  on  Arlington 
Heights,  which  would  command  Washington  City.  Robert  E.  Lee,  of  Arling 
ton  House,4  an  accomplished  engineer  officer  in  the  army,  had  lately  abandoned 
his  flag  and  joined  the  insurgents  under  circumstances  of  peculiar  perfidy.5  He 

1  Page  562.  2  page  539. 

8  These  are  nearly  parallel  ranges  of  mountains  which  divide  Virginia  between  the  Ohio  and 
the  Atlantic  slopes. 

4  This  was  for  more  than  fifty  years  the  residence  of  the  late  George  Washington  Parke 
Custis  [see  note  1,  page  532],  who  was  the  father-in-law  of  Colonel  Lee.  It  overlooked  the 
Potomac,  Washington  City,  and  Georgetown,  and  batteries  on  the  range  of  hills  on  which  it  stood, 
called  Arlington  Heights,  would  command  the  National  capital  completely. 

6  Lee  was  then  a  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  cavalry  service,  stationed  "in  Texas,  and,  after  the 


5(54  THE    NATION.  [1861. 

was  now  chief  of  the  Virginia  forces,  knew  the  value  of  batteries  on  Arling 
ton  Heights,  and  had,  it  is  believed,  been  there  with  engineers  from  Rich 
mond.  To  prevent  that  perilous  move 
ment,  troops  were  sent  over  from 
Washington  City  [May  24,  1861]  to 
take  possession  of  Arlington  Heights 
and  the  city  of  Alexandria,  on  the  river 
below.  The  troops  for  the  occupation 
of  the  Heights  crossed  the  bridges 
from  Washington  and  Georgetown, 
while  ^liose  sent  from  Alexandria  Avent 
by  water.  The  New  York  Fire  Zouaves1 
were  the  first  to  enter  Alexandria, 
where  their  gallant  young  commander, 
Colonel  Ellsworth,  was  speedily  killed.2 
At  the  same  time,  fortifications  were 
ROBERT  E.  LEE  commencedon  Arlington  Heights,  where 

Fort  Corcoran  was    speedily  built  by 

an  Irish  regiment  [Sixty-ninth],  and  named  in,  honor  of  their  commander, 
Colonel  Corcoran.  This  and  Fort  Runyon,  near  the  Long  Bridge,  built  by 
New  Jersey  troops,  were  the  first  regular  works  erected  by  the  Nationals  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War,  and  the  first  over  which  the  flag  of  the  Re- 
pubfic  was  unfurled.  A  ,few  days  later  a  flotilla  of  armed  vessels,  under 
Captain  Ward,  after  encountering  a  battery  erected  by  the  insurgents  on 
Sewell's  Point,  not  far  from  Norfolk,  moved  up  the  Potomac,  and  at  Aquia 
Creek,  sixty  miles  below  Washington,  had  a  sharp  but  unsuccessful  engage 
ment  [May  31  and  June  1]  with  Confederate  batteries  constructed  there. 


election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  he  was  permitted  to  leave  his  regiment  and  return  home,  when  he  was 
cordially  greeted  by  General  Scott,  who  loved  him  as  a  son,  and  gave  him  his  entire  confidence. 
In  this  relation  Lee  remained,  making  himself  conversant  with  all  the  plans  and  resources  of  the 
government  for  the. suppression  of  the  rebellion,  and  at  the  sarno  time  keeping  up  a  continual 
communication  with  its  enemies,  until  more  than  a  week  after  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  and 
six  days  after  the  conspirators  at  Richmond  had  promised  him  the  position  of  commander-in-chief 
of  the  Virginia  forces.  Then  [April  20]  he  resigned  his  command,  hastened  to  Richmond  with 
his  important  knowledge  of  affairs  at  the  National  capital,  joined  the  conspirators  against  his 
government,  and  speedily  rose  to  the  position  of  general-in-chief  of  the  Rebel  army. 

1  These  composed  a  regiment  under  the  command  of  Colonel  E.  E.  Ellsworth,  who  were  uni 
formed  in  the  picturesque  costume  of  a  French  corps,  first  organized' in  Algiers,  and  bearing  the 
name  of  Zouave.     These  were  famous  in  the  war  on  thet  Crimea  [page  526],  and  their  drill, 
adopted  by  Ellsworth,  was  exceedingly  active.     The  first  Zouave  organization  in  this  country  was 
that  of  a  company  at  Crawfordsville,  Indiana,  under  Captain  (afterwards  Major-General)  Lewis 
Wallace,  in   1860.     A  few  weeks  later,  Captain   Ellsworth  organized  a   company  at  Chicago. 
There  were  many  Zouave  regiments  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  but  the  gay  colors  of  their  cos 
tume  made  them  too  conspicuous,  and  that  uniform  soon  fell  into  disuse.     See  next  page. 

2  Ellsworth's  death,  and  the  circumstances  attending  it,  produced  a  profound  impression.    Over 
an  inn  in  Alexandria,  called  the  Marshall  House,  the  Confederate  flag  [page  555]  had  been  flying 
for  several  days,  and,  immediately  after  landing  at  the  city,  Ellsworth  proceeded  to  remove  it. 
He  went  to  the  roof,  took  it  down.  and.  while  descending  a  flight  of  stairs,  the  proprietor  of  the 
inn,  waiting  for  him  in  a  dark  passage,  shot  him  dead.     The  murderer  was  instantly  killed  by  one 
of  Ellsworth's  companions.     On  the  day  previous  to  the  invasion  of  Virginia  [May  23],  William 
McSpeddon,  of  New  York  City,  and  Samuel  Smith,  of  Queen's  County,  New  York,  went  over  from 
Wa&hmgton  and  captured  a  Confederate  flag.     This  was  the  first  flay  taken  from  the  insurgents. 


1861.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

About  a  month  later  [June  27]  Captain  Ward  attacked  the  Confederates  at 
Matthias  Point,  farther  down  the  Potomac,  where  his  force  was  repulsed  and 
he  was  killed.  At  this  place,  and  in  its  vicinity,  the  Confederates  established 
batteries  that  defied  the  National  vessels,  and  for  many  months  that  river,  a 
great  highway  for  supplies  for  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  was  effectually  blockaded  by  them. 

While  these  stirring  events  were  occurring  east 
ward  of  the  Alleghanies,  others  equally  important 
were  observed  in  the  Mississippi  valley.  In  May 
and  June,  1861,  Civil  War  was  kindling  furiously 
wherever  the  slave-system  prevailed,  for  it  was_ 
waged  in  the  interest  of  that  institution.  In  the 
border  Slave-labor  States  of  Kentucky  and  Mis 
souri,  the  contest  began  early.  The  governor  of 
each  (Beriah  Magoffin,  of  Kentucky,  and  Claiborne 
F.  Jackson,  of  Missouri)  was  in  complicity  with 
the  conspirators;  and  in  Kentucky,  Simon  B.  Buck- 
ner,  a  captain  of  the  National  army,  who  had  been 
placed  at  the  head  of  a  military  organization 
known  as  the  Kentucky  State  Guard,  was  em 
ployed  by  them,  through  its  potential  means, 
for  corrupting  the  patriotism  of  the  young  men  ELLSWORTH  ZOUAVE. 

of  that  commonwealth.     His  work  was  facilitated 

by  the  leading  politicians  of  that  State,  who  claimed  to  be  Union  men,  but 
who,  at  the  outset,  resolved  to  withhold  all  aid  to  their  government  in  sup 
pressing  the  rising  rebellion.1  They  succeeded  in  placing  their  State  in  a 
position  of  neutrality  in  the  conflict,  and  the  consequence  was  that  it  suffered 
terribly  from  the  ravages  of  war,  which  might  have  been  averted  had  the  great 
majority  of  the  citizens,  who  were  loyal,  been  allowed  to  act  in  accordance  with 
their  feelfngs  and  judgments. 

In  Missouri  the  loyalists  were  the  majority,  but  the  disloyal  governor  and 
leading  politicians,  in  their  endeavors  to  unite  its  destinies  with  the  slave 
holders'  Confederation,  caused  that  State,  too,  to  be  desolated  by  war.  So 
early  as  at  the  close  of  February  [1861],  a  State  convention  was  held  at  the 
capital,  in  which  not  an  openly  avowed  disunionist  appeared.  It  reassembled 
at  St.  Louis  [March  4],  when  Sterling  Price,  a  secret  enemy  to  the  government, 
but  pretending  to  be  its  friend,  presided.  The  loyal  men  gave  a  loyal  tone  to 
the  proceedings,  and  the  Governor,  despairing  of  using  that  body  for  his  trea- 

1  The  Louisville  Journal,  the  organ  of  the  so-called  Unionists  of  Kentucky,  said  of  the  Presi 
dent's  proclamation  calling  for  troops  to  put  down  rebellion:  "We  are  struck  with  mingled 
amazement  and  indignation.  The  policy  announced  in  the  proclamation  deserves  the  unqualified 
condemnation  of  every  American  citizen.  It  is  unworthy,  not  merely  of  a  statesman,  but  of  a 
man.  It  is  a  policy  utterly  harebrained  and  ruinous.  If  Mr.  Lincoln  contemplated  this 
policy  in  his  inaugural  address,  he  is  a  guilty  dissembler;  if  he  conceived  it  under  the  excite 
ment  aroused  by  the  seizure  of  Fort  Sumter,  he  is  a  guilt}*-  Hotspur.  In  either  case  he  is 
miserably  unfit  for  the  exalted  position  in  which  the  enemies  of  the  country  have  placed  him. 
Let  the  people  instantly  take  him  and  his  administration  into  their  own  hands  if  they  would 
rescue  the  land  from  bloodshed,  and  the  Union  from  sudden  and  irretrievable  destruction." 


560 


THE     NATION. 


[1861. 


ARSENAL  AT   ST.    LOUIS. 


sonable  purposes,  turned  to  the  more  disloyal  Legislature  for  aid.  The  latter 
yielded  to  his  wishes,  and,  under  the  inspiration  of  Daniel  M.  Frost,  a  native 
of  New  York,  and  a  graduate  of  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point,  they 
made  arrangements  for  enrolling  the  militia  of  the  State,  and  placing  in  the 
hands  of  the  governor  a  strong  military  force,  to  be  used  against  the  power 
of  the  National  government.  Arrangements  were  also  made  for  seizing  the 

National  Arsenal  at  St. 
Louis,  and  holding  pos 
session  of  that  chief  city 
of  the  Mississippi  valley. 
For  this  purpose,  and 
with  the  pretext  of  dis 
ciplining  the  militia  of 
that  district,  Frost,  com 
missioned  a  brigadier- 
general  by  the  Gover 
nor,  formed  a  camp  near 
the  city.  But  the  plan  was  frustrated  by  the  vigilant  loyalists  of  St.  Louis 
and  Captain  Nathaniel  Lyon,  commanding  the  military  post  there.  When  it 
became  evident  that  Frost  was  about  to  seize  ttye  arsenal,  Lyon,  with  a  large 
number  of  volunteers,  surrounded  the  traitor's  camp,  and  made  him  and  his 
followers  prisoners. 

The  government  and  the  authorities  of  Missouri  now  took  open  issue.  Sat 
isfied  that  the  conspirators  had  resolved  to  secure  to  their  interest  that  State 
and  Kentucky,  the  National  authorities  took  possession  of  and  fortified  Cairo, 
at  the  junction  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers,  and  of  Bird's  Point,  a  low 
bluif  opposite,  on  the  Missouri  side  of  the  "  Father  of  Waters."  It  was  a 
timely  movement,  for  Governor  Jackson 
speedily  called  [June  12,  1861]  into  the 
service  of  the  State  of  Missouri  fifty  thou 
sand  of  the  militia,  "for  the  purpose  of 
repelling  invasion,"  et  cetera,  and  at  Jeffer 
son  City,  the  capital  of  the  common 
wealth,  he  raised  the  standard  of  revolt, 
with  Sterling  Price1  as  military  commander. 
At  the  same  time  the  authorities  of  Tennes 
see,  who,  led  by  the  disloyal  Governor, 
Isham  G.  Harris,  had  placed  that  State  in 
a  military  relation  to  the  Confederacy  simi 
lar  to  that  of  Virginia,2  were  working  in 
harmony  with  Jackson,  their  troops  being 
under  the  command  of  General  Gideon  J. 
Pillow.  That  officer  was  making  earnest  efforts  for  the  seizure  of  Cairo,  when, 
early  in  July,  Leonidas  Polk,  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of 


STERLING    PRICE. 


Page  565. 


2  Page  556 


1861.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

the  Diocese  of  Louisiana,  and  a  graduate  of  West  Point  Academy,  succeeded 
him  in  command.  Meanwhile,  Lyon,  who  had  been  promoted  to  Major-General, 
and  placed  in  command  of  the  Department  of  Missouri,  moved  a  strong  force 
against  the  insurgents  at  the  State  capital/  With  2,000  men  he  went  up  the 
Missouri  River  in  two  steamers.  When  he  approached  Jefferson  City  the 
insurgents  fled.  He  hotly  pursued,  and  overtook,  fought,  and  dispersed  them 
near  Booneville.  The  vanquished  Missourians  again  fled,  and  halted  not  until 
they  had  reached  the  southwestern  borders  of  the  State.  Lyon  now  held 
military  control  of  the  most  important  portions  of  it.1 

There  was  now  great  commotion  all  over  the  land.  War  had  begun  in 
earnest.  Confederate  pirate-ships  were  depredating  upon  the  ocean.  The 
fife  and  drum  were  heard  in  every  hamlet,  village,  and  city,,  from  the  St. 
Croix  to  the  Rio  Grande.  Compromises  and  concessions  seemed  iia  longer 
possible.  The  soothing  lullaby  of  the  last  "Peace  Convention"2  was  lost  in 
the  din  of  warlike  preparations,  and  it  was  evident  that  the  great  question 
before  the  people,  whether  the  retrogressive  barbarism  of  slave  institutions  or 
the  progressive  civilization  of  free  institutions  should  prevail  in  the  Republic, 
could  only  be  settled  by  the  arbitrament  of  the  sword,  ta  which  the  friends  of 
the  former  and  the  enemies  of  the  Union  had  appealed.  A  mighty  army  of 
defenders  of  the  Republic  was  rapidly  gathering  and  earnestly  drilling  at  its 
capital,  and  was  animated  by  an  intense  desire  (shared  by  the  loyal  people)-  to 
go  forward,  disperse  the  army  of  the  conspirators,  and  drive  their  chief  and 
his  counselors  from  Richmond,  where,  with  great  energy,  they  were  devising 
and  putting  into  execution  plans  for  the  overthrow  of  their  government.  The 
gratification  of  that  desire  was  promised  when,  at  the  middle  of  July,  the 
General-in-Chief  gave  orders  for  the  movement  of  the  army  upon  the  foe  at 
Manassas,  then  commanded  by  Beauregard.3 

Lieutenant-General  Scott  was  too  feeble  to  take  command  of  the  army  in 
the  field,4  and  that  duty  was  assigned  to  General  Irwin  McDowell,  then  at  the 
head  of  the  Department  of  Virginia.  Already  Ohio  and  South  Carolina  troops 


1  He  so  held  the  whole  region  north  of  the  Missouri  RiverT  and  east  of  a  line  running  south 
from  Booneville  on  that  stream  to  the  Arkansas  border,  thus  giving  the  government  the  control 
of  the  important  points  of  St.  Louis,  Hannibal,  St.  Joseph,  and  Bird's  Point,  as-  bases  of  opera 
tions,  with  railways  and  rivers  for  transportation. 

2  The  Virginia  conspirators  repeated  the  trick  of  a  "Peace  Convention"  [see  page  549]  on  a 
more  limited  scale  after  they  had  dragged  their  State  into  the  Confederation.     They  proposed  a 
convention  of  delegates  from  the  border  Slave-labor  States,  to  be  held  in  Frankfort,  Kentucky. 
The  27th  of  May  was  appointed  as  the  day  for  their  assembling.     There  were  present  no  dele 
gates  from  Virginia,  and  only  five  beside  those  appointed  in  Kentucky.     Those  present  professed 
to  be  eminently  "neutral,"  and  talked  of  "wrongs  endured  by  the  South,"  and  the  "sectional 
ism  of  the  North,"  and  regarded  the  preservation  and  National  protection  of  the  slave-system  as 
"essential  to  the  best  hopes  of  our  country."     The  trick  was  too  apparent  to- deceive  anybody, 
and  had  no  effect.     It  was  the  last  -'peace  conference  "  of  its  kind. 

3  Page  553.     On  taking  command  of  that  army,  at  the  beginning  of  June,  Beauregard,  who 
was  noted  throughout  the  war  for  his  official  misrepresentations,  ludicrous  boastings,,  and  signal 
failures  as  a  military  leader,  issued  a  proclamation  so  infamous  and  shameless,  considering  the 
conduct  of  himself  and  his  superiors  at  Richmond,  that  honorable  Confederate  leaders  like  John 
ston,  Ewell,  and  Longstreet  blushed  for  shame. 

4  He  was  afflicted  with  dropsy  and  vertigo,  and  for  four  months  previously  he  had  not  baea 
able  to  mount  a  horse. 


568  THE     NATION.  [1861. 

had    measured    strength  at    Vienna,    a    few    miles  from    Washington,    in  an 
encounter   [June   17th]    concerning    the    possession    of  the   railway   between 

Alexandria  and  Leesburg ;!  and  now  the 
\National  army  was  eager  to  repeat  the 
contest  on  a  larger  scale.  The  opportunity 
speedily  offered.  A  little  more  than 
00,000  troops  moved  from  Arlington 
Heights  and  vicinity2  toward  Manassas 
at  the  middle  of  July,  and  on  the  18th 
a  portion  of  these,  under  General  Tyler, 
had  a  severe  battle  at  Blackburn's  Ford,  on 
Bull's  Run,  not  far  from  Centreville,  in 
Fairfax  County.  The  Nationals  were  re 
pulsed  and  saddened,  and  the  Confederates 
Avere  highly  elated.  The  loss  of  men 

WINFIELD  SCOTT  IN  18C5.3  was    about   equally   divided    between  the 

combatants,  being  about  sixty  on  each  side. 

McDowell's  plan  was  to  turn  the  right  flank  of  the  Confederates,  and  com 
pel  both  Beauregard  and  Johnston  to  fall  back ;  and  Tyler's  movement  near 
Blackburn's  Ford  was  intended  as  a  feint,  but  end^d  in  a  battle.  The  result 
of  that  engagement,  and  his  observations  during  a-  reconnoissance  on  the  fol 
lowing  day  [July  20],  satisfied  McDowell  that  his  plan  was  not  feasible.  He 
therefore  resolved  to  make  a  direct  attack  on  the  foe.  It  was  important  that 
it  should  be  done  speedily,  because  the  terms  of  enlistment  of  his  "  three 
months  men  "4  were  about  to  expire,  and  Patterson,  yet  at  Martinsburg,  was 
in  a  position  to  give  him  instant  assistance,  if  necessary.  The  latter  had  been 
ordered  to  so  menace  Johnston  as  to  keep  him  at  Winchester  and  prevent  his 
re-enforcing  Beauregard,  or  to  go  to  the  support  of  McDowell,  if  necessary. 
Such  being  the  situation,  the  commander  of  the  Nationals  felt  confident  of 
success,  and  at  two  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning,  the  21st  of  July  [1861],  he  set 
his  army  in  motion  in  three  columns — one  under  General  Tyler,  marching  to 
menace  the  Confederate  left  at  the  Stone  Bridge  over  Bull's  Run,  on  the  War- 

!3 

renton  road,  while  two  others,  under  Generals  Hunter  and  Heintzelman,  taking 
a  wide  circuit  more  to  the  left,  were  to  cross  the  stream  at  different  points,  and 

1  The  National  troops  were  commanded  by  Colonel  A.  McD.  McCook,  who  had  been  sent  out 
to  picket  and  guard  the  road.     They  were  accompanied  on  this  occasion'  by  General  Robert  C. 
Schenck.     The  Confederates  were  in  charge  of  Colonel  Maxcy  Gregg,  who  had  been  a  leading 
member  of  the  South  Carolina  Secession  Convention. 

2  At  this  time  the  main  body  of  McDowell's  troops,  about  45.000  strong,  occupied  a  line,  with 
the  Potomac  at  its  back,  extending  from  Alexandria,  nine  miles  below  Washington,  almost  to  the 
Chain  Bridge,  six  miles  above  the  capital.     The  remainder  of  the  National  army,  about  18,000 
strong,  was  at  or  near  Martinsburg,  under  General  Patterson.     Both  armies  were  liable  to  a  sud 
den  decrease,  for  the  terms  of  enlistment  of  the  '; three  months  men"  were  about  expiring. 
The  main  Confederate  army,  under  Beauregard,  was  at  and  near  Manassas  Junction,  in  a  very 
strong  defensive  position,  about  half  way  between  the  more  eastern  range  of  the  Blue  Ridge  and 
the  Potomac  at  Alexandria.     Johnston's  force  at  Winchester  was  larger  than  Patterson's,   and 
was  in  a  position  to  re-enforce  Beauregard  without  much  difficulty.     lie  made  his  position  quite 
strong,  by  casting  up  earthworks  for  defense. 

3  See  page  485.  4  Pago  551. 


1861.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


569 


make  the  real  attack  on  Beauregard's  left  wing,  menaced  by  Tyler.  At  the  same 
time  troops  under  Colonels  Richardson  and  Davies  were  to  march  from  near 
Centreville,  and  threaten  the  Confederate  right.1  These  movements  were  duly 
executed,  but  with  some  mischievous  delay,  and  it  was  well  toward  noon 
before  the  battle  was 
fairly  begun. 

Beau  regard  had 
planned  an  attack  on 
McDowell  at  Centre 
ville,  the  same  morn 
ing.  The  authori 
ties  at  Richmond, 
informed  of  the  lat- 
ter's  movements,  had 
ordered  Johnston  to 
hasten  to  the  aid  of 
Beauregard,  who  was 
now  compelled  to  act 
on  the  defensive.  Af 
ter  several  hours' 
hard  fighting,  with 
varying  fortunes  on 
both  sides,  and  the 
mutual  losses  dread- 

„   ,  ,  ^.-r       •  i  RUINS    OF   THE    STONE   BRIDGE 

ml,     the     JNationals, 

with  superior  numbers,  were  on  the  point  of  gaining  a  complete  victory,  when 
from  the  Shenandoah  Valley  came  six  thousand  of  Johnston's  fresh  troops,  and 
turned  the  tide  of  battle.  Johnston  had  managed  to  elude  Patterson,  and  had 
hastened  to  Manassas,  followed  by  his  troops,  and  there,  as  senior  in  rank,  he 
took  the  chief  command.  Patterson,  awaiting  promised  information  and 
orders  from  the  General-in-Chief  (which  he  did  not  receive),  failed  to  re-enforce 
McDowell,  and  when,  at  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  Johnston's  troops 
swelled  the  ranks  of  Beauregard  to  a  volume  greater  than  those  of  his  foes, 
the  Nationals  were  thrown  back  in  confusion,  and  fled  in  disastrous  rout 
toward  Washington  City.2  Jefferson  Davis  had  just  arrived  on  the  battle 
field  when  the  flight  began.  He  sent  an  exultant  shout  by  telegraph  to  his 


1  The  Confederate  army  lay  along  a  line  nearly  parallel  to  the  general  course  of  Bull's  Run, 
from  Union  Mills,  where  the  Orange  and  Alexandria  railway  crosses  that  stream,  to  the  passage 
of  the  Warrenton  turnpike,  at  the  Stone  Bridge  several  miles  above. 

2  A  large  number  of  civilians  saw  the  smoke  of  battle  from  Centreville  and  its  vicinity.     Sev 
eral  members  of  Congress,  and  many  others,  went  out  from  Washington  to  see  the  fight,  as  they 
would  a  holiday  spectacle,  not  doubting  the  success  of  the  National  troops.    These  were  seen  flying 
back  in  the  greatest  terror,  while  Congressman  Alfred  Ely,  and  one  or  two  other  civilians,  were 
captured,  and  held  as  prisoners  in  Richmond  for  several  months.     Among  the  fugitives  was  W. 
H.  Russell,  correspondent  of  the  London  Times,  who,  notwithstanding  he  had  not  seen  the  battle, 
wrote  an  account  of  it  the  same  night,  while  in  an  unfit  condition,  as  he  acknowledged,  to  write 
any  thing  truthfully.     It  was  very  disparaging  to   the  Nationals,  and  filled  the  enemies  of  the 
Republic  in  Europe  with  joy,  because  of  the  assurance  it  gave  of  the  success  of  the  conspirators. 


570  THE     NATION.  [1861. 

fellow-conspirators  at  Richmond,1  and  the  whole  Confederacy  speedily  rang 
with  its  echoes  ;  while  the  remnant  of  the  vanquished  army  hastened  back  in 
fragments  to  the  defenses  of  Washington,  and  the  gloom  of  deepest  despond 
ency  overshadowed  the  loyal  heart  of  the  nation  for  a  moment.  While  one 
section  of  the  Republic  was  resonant  with  sounds  of  exultation,  the  other  was 
silent  and  cast  down  for  a  moment. 

The  extraordinary  session  of  Congress2  had  not  yet  closed,  when  the  disas 
ter  at  Bull's  Run  occurred.  That  event  did  not  disturb  the  composure  or  the 
faith  of  that  body.  Friends  of  the  Confederates  who  yet  lingered  in  the 
National  Legislature  were  using  every  means  in  their  power  to  thwart  legisla 
tion  that  looked  to  the  crushing  of  the  rebellion  ;3  but  the  patriotic  majority 
went  steadily  forward  in  their  efforts  to  save  the  Republic.  When  the  battle 
occurred,  they  had  under  consideration  a  declaratory  resolution  concerning  the 
object  of  the  war  on  the  part  of  the  government,  and  while  the  capital  was 
filled  with  fugitives  from  the  shattered  National  army,  and  it  was  believed  by 
many  that  the  seat  of  government  was  at  the  mercy  of  its  enemies,  Congress 
deliberated  as  calmly  as  if  assured  of  perfect  safety,  adopted  the  Declaratory 
Resolution,4  and  made  thorough  provisions  for  prosecuting  the  war  vigorously. 
The  same  faith  and  patriotic  action  were  soon  visible  among  the  loyal  people. 
Their  despondency  was  momentary.  Almost  immediately  they  recovered  from 
the  stunning  blow  to  their  hopes  and  desires.  They  awakened  from  the 
delusive  and  dangerous  dream  that  their  armies  were  absolutely  invincible. 
There  was  at  once  another  wonderful  uprising  of  the  Unionists,  and  while  the 
Confederates  were  wasting  golden  moments  of  opportunity  in  celebrating  their 
victory,  thousands  of  young  men  were  seen  flocking  toward  the  National  capi 
tal  to  join  the  great  Army  of  Defense.  Within  a  fortnight  after  the  battle 
just  recorded,  when  the  terms  of  service  of  the  "  three  months  men  "  had 


1  From  Manassas  Junction  lie  telegraphed,  saying: — "Night  has  closed  upon  a  hard-fought 
field.     Our  forces  were  victorious.     The  enemy  was  routed,  and  rled  precipitately,  abandoning  a 
large  amount  of  arms,  ammunition,  knapsacks,  and  baggage.     The  ground  was  strewn  for  miles 
with  those  killed,  and  the  farm-houses  and  the  grounds  around  were  filled  with  the  wounded." 
"Our  force,"  he  said,   li  was  15.000  ;  that  of  the  enemy  estimated  at  30,000."     This  was  not  only 
an  exaggeration,  but  a  misrepresentation.     From  the  most  reliable  authorities  on  both  sides,  it 
appears  that,  in  the  final  struggle,  the  Nationals  had  about  13.000  men,  and  the  Confederates 
about  27,000.     The  latter  had  been   receiving  re-enforcements  all  day,  while  not  a  man  crossed 
Bull's  Run  after  twelve  o'clock  at  noon  to  re-enforce  the  Nationals. 

2  Page  560. 

3  Page  549.     Slidell,  Yulee,  and  other  Senators,  remained  for  some  time,  for  the  avowed  pur 
pose  of  preventing  legislation  that  might  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  government. 

4  J.  J.  Crittenden  offered  the  following  joint  resolution  : — "  That  the  present  deplorable  Civil 
"War  has  been  forced  upon  the  country  by  the  disunionists  of  the  Southern  States  now  in  revolt 
against   the  constitutional  government,  and  in  arms  around  the   capital;  that  in  this  National 
emergency  Congress,  banishing  all  feeling  of  mere  passion  or  resentment,  will  recollect  only  its 
duty  to  its  country ;  that  this  war  is  not  waged  on  our  part  in  any  spirit  of  oppression,  not  for 
any  purpose  of  conquest  or  subjugation,  nor  purpose   of  overthrowing  or  interfering  with  the 
rights  or  established  usages  of  those  States ;  but  to  defend  and  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the 
Constitution,  and  to  preserve  the  Union,  with  all  the -dignity,  equality,  and  rights  of  the  several 
States  unimpaired;  and  as  soon  as  these  objects  are  accomplished,  the  war  ought  to  cease." 

This  resolution  was  adopted  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote  in  both  Houses  of  Congress.  It 
alarmed  the  conspirators,  for  it  positively  denied  those  false  allegations  with  which  they  had 
deceived  the  people.  They  were  so  fearful  that  their  dupes  might  see  it  and  abandon  their  bad 
cause,  that  no  newspaper  in  the  Confederacy,  it  is  said,  was  allowed  to  publish  the  fact. 


1861.]  ..      LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  571 

expired,  more  than  an  equal  number  of  volunteers  were  in  the  camp  or  in  the 
field,  engaged  for  "three  years  or  the  war."  Nine-tenths  of  the  non-com 
batants  shared  in  the  faith  and  fervor  of  those  who  took  up  arms,  and  the 
people  of  the  Free-labor  States  presented  a  spectacle  difficult  to  comprehend. 
That  terrible  crisis  in  the  life  of  the  nation  was  promptly  met,  and  the  salva 
tion  of  the  Republic  was  assured.  At  the  same  time  that  "  United  South  " 
against  the  government,  which  the  conspirators  had  falsely  proclaimed  months 
before,  now  became  a  reality.  The  prestige  of  victory,  the  pressure  of  a  ter 
rible  despotism,  and  the  menaces  of  banishment  arid  confiscation  acts,  passed 
by  the  Confederate  "  Congress,"  together  with  the  prospect  of  the  establish 
ment  of  a  new  nation,  suddenly  carved  by  the  sword  out  of  the  Republic,  with 
whose  fortunes  it  seemed  their  duty  and  interest  to  link  themselves,  so  affected 
the  great  body  of  the  Unionists  at  the  South,  that  they  yielded  to  necessity, 
and  the  voice  of  opposition  was  speedily  hushed  into  silence.1 

On  the  day  after  the  Battle  of  Bull's  Run  [July  22,  1861],  General  McClel- 
lan,  whose  troops  had  been  successful  in  Western  Virginia,2  was  called  to  the 
command  of  the  army  at  Washington.  He  at  once  set  about  the  reorganiza 
tion  of  that  broken  force  with  skill  and  industry.  It  was  perfected  by  the 
middle  of  October,  when  seventy-five  thousand  well-armed3  and  fairly  disci 
plined  troops  were  in  a  condition  to  be  placed  in  active  service  in  the  field. 
McClellan's  moral  power  was  then  tremendous.  He  had  the  confidence  of  the 
army  and  the  whole  country,  and  he  was  called  a  "  Young  Napoleon."  And 
when,  on  the  1st  of  November,  General  Scott  resigned  his  position,  and  on  his 
recommendation  his  place  as  General-in-Chief  was  filled  by  the  appointment 
of  McClellan,4  that  act  was  hailed  as  a  promise  of  a  speedy  termination  of  the 
rebellion,  for  he  had  said  that  the  war  should  be  "  short,  sharp,  and  decisive." 
He  spent  the  remainder  of  the  autumn,  and  the  whole  winter,  in  making 
preparations  for  a  campaign  for  the  capture  of  Richmond ;  and  when,  at  the 
beginning  of  March,  his  force,  which  was  called  the  GRAND  ARMY  or  THE 
POTOMAC,  was  put  in  motion,  it  numbered  220,000  men.5  In  the  mean  time, 

1  The  pressure  brought  to  bear  on  the  Union  men  was  terrible,  and  the  youth  of  that  class 
were  driven  into  the  army  by  thousands,  because  of  the  social  proscription  to  which  they  were 
subjected.     The  zeal  of  the  women  in  the  cause  of  rebellion  was  unbounded,  and  their  influence 
was  extremely  potential.     Young  men  who  hesitated  when  asked  to  enlist,  or  even  waited  to  be 
asked,  were  shunned  and  sneered  at  by  the  young  women ;  and  many  were  the  articles  of  women's 
apparel  which  were  sent,  as  significant  gifts,  to  these  laggards  at  liome.     Men  who  still  dared  to 
stand  firm  in  their  true  allegiance  were  denounced  as  "traitors  to  their  country,"  and  treated  as 
such. 

2  Page  563. 

3  We  have  observed  [page  549]   that  Secretary  Floyd,  in  preparation  for  the  rebellion,  had 
stripped  the  arsenals  and  armories  of  the  Free-labor  States,  and  filled  those  of  the  Slave-labor 
States.     It  was  necessary  for  the  government  to  send  to  Europe  for  arms.     For  that  purpose 
Colonel  George  L.  Schuyler,  of  General  Wool's   staff,  was  dispatched   [July,  1861],  and  he  pur 
chased  116,000   rifles,   10,000   revolvers,    10,000   cavalry   carbines,    and    21,000    sabers,    at  an 
aggregate  cost  of  little  over  $2,000,000.     Impediments  were  at  first  cast  in  the  way  of  his 
purchase  of  arms  in  England  and  France,  the  sympathy  of  those  governments  being  with  the 
conspirators.     He  purchased  the  greater  portion  of  them 'in  Vienna  and  Dresden. 

4  See  General  Orders,  Xo.  94,  November  1.  1SG1. 

6  Of  this  number,  about  thirty  thousand  were  sick  or  absent.  Among  the  latter  class  were 
several  hundred  prisoners  captured  at  Bull's  Run  and  Ball's  Bluff,  on  the  Upper  Potomac.  The 
prison-life  of  ciptives  among  the  Confederates  was  often  very  terrible. 


572 


THE     NATION. 


[1861. 


the  Confederate  army,  under  Johnston,  lying  between  Washington  City  and 
Richmond,  not  more  than  40,000  strong  at  any  time,  had  remained  undisturbed, 
and  Washington  City  had  been  made  impregnable  by  the  erection  around  it 
of  no  less  than  fifty-two  forts  and  redoubts. 

While  the  process  of  reorganizing  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  going  on, 
the  war  was  making  rapid  progress  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  and  especially  in 
Missouri  We  left  General  Lyon,  victorious,  at  Booneville,1  and  the  fugitive 


insurgents,  under 
Price  and  Jack 
son,  in  the  south 
western  part  of  the  State. 
While  Lyon  was  pursu 
ing  the  main  body  of 
the  insurgents,  another 
Union  force,  under  Colo 
nel  Franz  Sigel,  an  ac 
complished  German  sol 
dier,  was  pushing  for 
ward  from  St.  Louis, 

by  way  of  Holla.  When  he  heard  of  the  flight  of  the  insurgents  toward 
the  borders  of  Arkansas,  he  pressed  on  in  that  direction,  passing  through 
Springfield  and  Sarcoxie,  and  near  Carthage  he  fell  in  with  the  main 
body  of  the  Confederates,  much  superior  to  him  in  numbers,  and  espe 
cially  in  horsemen.  Sigel  had  more  cannon  than  his  foe,  but,  in  a  sharp 
engagement  that  ensued  [July  5,  1861],  the  overwhelming  force  of  the  insur 
gents  pushed  him  back,  and  he  retreated  in  good  order  to  Springfield.  To 


FORTIFICATIONS    IN   AND    AROUND    WASHINGTON    CITY. 


1  Page  567. 


18C>1.]     '  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  573 

that  point  Lyon  hastened  when  he  heard  of  the  apparent  peril  that  threatened 
Sio-el,  and  on  the  13th  he  took  command  of  the  united  forces.  Meanwhile  the 
insurgent  Missourians  had  been  largely  re-enforced  by  troops  from  Texas  and 
Arkansas,  and  at  the  close  of  July  the  combined  force,  about  20,000  strong  (a 
large  proportion  cavalry),  under  Generals  Price,  Ben  McCulloch,  Pearce,  Rains, 
and  McBride,  were  marching  on  Springfield.  Lyon's  force  did  not  exceed 
6,000  men  (400  cavalry)  and  eighteen  cannon. 

Feeble  as  he  was,  JLyon  went  out  to  meet  the  advancing  foe.  In  a  beauti 
ful  valley,  at  a  place  called  Dug  Springs,  nineteen  miles  from  Springfield,  he 
met,  fought,  and  vanquished  his  enemies,  under  McCulloch  and  Rains.  So 
desperate  were  the  charges  of  a  few  of  Lyon's  cavalry,  under  Stanley,  that 
Confederate  prisoners  inquired :  "  Are  they  men  or  devils  ?"  Lyon  returned 
to  Springfield  [August  4],  and  a  few  days  later  [August  9]  the  Confederate 
army,  under  the  general  command  of  McCulloch,  wearied  and  half-starved, 
encamped  at  Wilson's  Creek,  about  ten  miles  south  of  the  town.  Lyon  .again 
went  out  to  meet  them,  marching  his  little  force  in  two  columns,  before  dawn 
the  next  morning  [August  10]  ;  one  led  by  himself,  to  attack  their  front,  and 
the  other  by  Sigel,  to  fall  upon  their  rear.  A  battle  opened  at  an  early  hour. 
The  brunt  of  it  fell  upon  Lyon's  column,  for  Sigel's,  deceived  by  a  trick,1  was 
early  dispersed  or  captured.  Lyon's  troops,  inspired  by  their  leader,  fought 
great  odds  with  vigor  and  gallantry.  The  commander  was  everywhere  seen, 
encouraging  his  men,  until  at  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  he  fell  mor 
tally  wounded,  and  was  succeeded  in  command  by  Major  Sturgis.  The  battle 
ceased  at  eleven  o'clock,  when  the  Nationals  were  victorious.  It  was  not  safe 
for  them  to  remain  on  the  field  of  victory,  nor  to  risk  another  encounter,  so,  on 
the  following  morning  [Julv  11],  the  whole  Union  force,  led  by  Sigel,  retreated 
in  good  order  toward  Rolla,  safely  conducting  to  that  place  a  government 
train  valued  at  a  million  and  a  half  dollars. 

The  loyal  civil  authorities  of  Missouri  were  now  striving  against  powerful 
influences  to  keep  the  State  from  the  vortex  of  secession.  The  popular  conven 
tion,'2  wrhich  reassembled  at  Jefferson  City  on  the  22d  of  July,  declared  the 
government  of  which  the  traitor  Jackson  was  the  head  to  be  illegal,  and 
organized  a  provisional  government  for  service  until  a  permanent  one  should 
be  formed  by  the  people.  Meanwhile,  Reynolds,  Jackson's  lieutenant-governor, 
issued  a  proclamation  at  New  Madrid,  as  acting  chief  magistrate,  in  which  he 
declared  the  State  to  be  separated  from  the  Union,  and  that,  by  "  invitation  of 
Governor  Jackson,"  General  Pillow  had  entered  Missouri  at  the  head  of  Ten 
nessee  troops,  to  act  in  conjunction  with  M.  JefF.  Thompson,  a  native  leader, 
in  upholding  the  secession  movement.  Jackson  was  then  in  Richmond,  nego- 

1  Sigel's  forco  was  composed  of  twelve  hundred  men  and  six  guns.  He  marched  so  stealthily 
that  the  first  intimation  the  Confederates  had  of  his  presence  was  the  bursting  of  the  shells 
from  his  guns  over  Rains's  camp.  The  Confederates  fled,  and  Sigel  took  possession  of  their 
position,  when  it  was  reported  that  some  of  Lyon's  column. were  approaching.  When  these, 
dressed  like  Sigel's  men  (they  were  Confederates  in  disguise),  were  within  less  than  musket-shot 
distance  of  the  latter,  they  opened  a  destructive  fire  upon  the  Unionists  with  cannon  and  small 
arms,  spreading  consternation  in  his  ranks.  He  lost  all  but  about  three  hundred  men  and  one 
field-piece.  -  Page  565. 


574  THE     NATION.  [1861. 

tiating  with  the  conspirators  for  the  annexation  of  Missouri  to  the  Confederacy ; 
and  the  vain  and  shallow  Pillow1  assumed  the  pompous  title  of  "  Liberator  of 
Missouri"  dating  his  orders  and  dispatches,  " Head-Quarters  Army  of  Libera 
tion."  Although  the  conditions  of  annexation  were  not  complied  with,  men 
claiming  to  represent  Missouri  performed  the  farce  of  occupying  seats  in  the 
so-called  "  Congress "  of  the  conspirators  at  Richmond  during  a  greater 
portion  of  the  war. 

At  this  critical  juncture,  John  C.  Fremont,2  who  had  lately  returned  from 
Europe  with  some  arms  for  his  government,  and  bearing  the  commission  of 
Major-General,  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  Western  Department, 
with  his  head-quarters  at  St.  Louis.  He  found  every  thing  in  confusion,  and 
much  that  was  needed  for  the  public  service.  He  went  vigorously  at  work  in 
the  important  duty  assigned  him.  He  fortified  St.  Louis,  and  took  measures 
for  making  the  important  posts  of  Cairo  and  Bird's  Point3  absolutely  secure, 
for  tl^ese  were  menaced  by  Pillow  and  his  associates.  These  measures  alarmed 
the  disloyal  inhabitants  and  the  invading  troops,  but  when  the  retreat  of  the 
Nationals  from  Springfield  and  the  death  of  Lyon4  became  known,  the  seces 
sionists  assumed  a  bold  and  defiant  attitude.  They  gathered  in  armed  bands 
throughout  the  State.  The  civil  authority  was  helpless ;  so  Fremont,  seeing 
no  other  way  to  secure  the  supremacy  of  the  National  government  than  by 
taking  the  Avhole  power  in  his  department  into  his  own  hands,  declared  mar 
tial  law  [August  31,  1861],  and  warned  the  disaffected  that  it  would  be 
rigorously  executed.  He  acted  promptly  in  accordance  with  his  declaration, 
and  the  insurgents  began  to  quail,  when  his  vigor  was  checked  by  his  govern 
ment.5 

Soon  after  the  battle  at  Wilson's  Creek,  Price  was  abandoned  by  McCul- 
loch,  with  whom  he  could  not  agree,  when  he  called  upon  the  Missouri  seces 
sionists  to  fill  his  ranks,  and  early  in  September  he  was  moving  with  a  con 
siderable  force  northward  toward  the  Missouri  River,  in  the  direction  of 
Lexington,  where  nearly  three  thousand  National  troops  were  collected,  under 
Colonel  J.  A.  Mulligan.  Colonel  Jefferson  C.  Davis  was  then  at  Jefferson  City 
with  a  larger  force,  and  General  John  Pope  was  hastening  in  the  direction  of 
Lexington  from  the  region  northward  of  the  Missouri,  with  about  five  thousand 
men.  Price,  aware  of  danger  near,  pressed  forward  and  laid  siege  to  Lexington 
on  the  llth  of  September.  Mulligan  had  cast  up  some  intrenchments  there,  but 
his  men  had  only  about  forty  rounds  of  ammunition  each,  and  his  heavy  arma 
ment  consisted  of  six  small  cannon  and  two  howitzers — the  latter  useless, 
because  he  had  no  shells.  Price  had  an  overwhelming  force,  and  opened  fire 
on  the  12th.  Re-enforcements  came  to  him,  and  the  insurgents  finally  numbered 


1  Page  566.  a  Pages  488  and  530.  3  Page  5G6.  4  Page  573. 

6  In  his  proclamation  of  martial  law,  Fremont  declared  that  whoever  should  be  found  guilty 
of  thereafter  taking  an  active  part  with  the  enemies  of  the  government  in  the  field,  should  suffer 
the  penalty  of  confiscation  of  their  property  to  the  public  use,  and  have  their  slaves,  if  they  pos 
sessed  any,  made  forever  freemen.  This  raised  a  storm  of  indignation  among  the  so-called 
Unionists  of  the  Border  Slave-labor  States,  whose  good-will  the  government  was  then  trying  to 
secure,  and  that  efficient  measure  against  the  rebellion,  which,  two  years  later,  the  government 
itself  used,  Fremont  was  then  forbidden  to  employ. 


1861.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

about  twenty-five  thousand  men.  Mulligan  and  his  little  band  made  a  gallant 
defense  until  the  morning  of  the  20th  [September,  1861],  when  he  was  compelled 
to  surrender.1  He  had  held  out  with  hopes  of  success,  but  when  re-enforce 
ments  approached  it  was  too  late  for  them  to  penetrate  to  his  lines.  This 
disaster  was  severely  felt,  and  on  the  27th  of  September  Fremont  put  in  motion 
an  army  of  more  than  twenty  thousand  men  for  the  purpose  of  retrieving  it, 
and  driving  Price  and  his  insurgents  out  of  the  State. 

While  these  events  were  occurring  in  the  heart  of  Missouri,  important  ones 
were  taking  place  in  Kentucky.  Governor  Magoffin2  encouraged  the  seces 
sionists  as  much  as  he  dared.  He  allowed  them  to  establish  recruiting  camps 
for  the  Confederate  army ;  and  when  the  loyal  Legislature  of  the  State  assem 
bled  [September  2]  he  and  his  political  associates,  fearing  the  adverse  action 
of  that  body,  looked  with  complacency  upon  the  invasion  of  the  State,  and  the 
seizure  of  the  strong  position  of  Columbus  [September  6],  on  the  Mississippi, 
by  Confederate  troops  under  General  (Bishop)  Polk.  In  defiance  of  their 
avowed  respect  for  the  neutrality  of  Kentucky,  the  conspirators  at  Richmond 
sanctioned  the  movement,3  and  thus  opened  the  way  for  the  horrors  of  war, 
which  filled  Kentucky  with  distress.  Columbus  w^as  held  by  the  Confederates. 
The  Legislature  requested  the  Governor  to  call  out  the  militia  of  the  State  "  to 
expel  and  drive  out  the  invaders,"  and  asked  the  General  Government  to  aid  in 
the  work.  The  Governor  resisted,  but  was  compelled  to  yield.  General  An 
derson,4  in  command  there,  at  once  prepared  to  act  vigorously,  and  General 
Ulysses  S.  Grant,  then  in  command  in  the  district  around  Cairo,  took  military 
possession  of  Paducah,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tennessee  River.  Thus  ended  the 
"  neutrality  "  of  Kentucky,  which  proved  so  disastrous  to  that  State.  Too  late 
to  avoid  the  consequences  of  that  folly,  the  State  now  took  a  positive  stand  for 
the  Union,  and  avoided  many  evils. 

Felix  K.  ZollicoiFer,  formerly  a  member  of  Congress,  invaded  Kentucky 
from  East  Tennessee  (where  the  Unionists  were  horribly  persecuted)5  on  the 

1  The  private  soldiers  were  paroled  and  the  officers  were  held  as  prisoners  of  war.  Mulligan 
lost  40  killed  and  120  wounded.  Price's  loss  was  25  killed  and  75  wounded.  The  spoils  were  6 
cannon,  2  howitzers,  3,000  stand  of  small  arms,  750  horses,  a  large  quantity  of  equipage,  and 
commissary  stores  valued  at  $100,000.  2  Page  505. 

3  Some  of  the  partisans  of  Davis,  South  and  North,  denied  that  he  ever  sanctioned  this  viola 
tion  of  the  pledged  faith  of  the  Confederates  to  respect  the  neutrality  of  Kentucky.     The  proof 
that  he  did  so  is  undeniable.     His  so-called  Secretary  of  War,  as  a  cover  to  the  iniquity,  tele 
graphed  publicly  to  Polk,  directing  him  to  withdraw  his  troops  from  Kentucky  soil.     At  the  same 
time,  Davis  himself,  with  supreme  power,  telegraphed  privately  to  Polk,  saying:   "The  necessity 
must  justify  the  act."     For  the  proof,  see  Lossing's  Pictorial  History  of  the  Civil  War,  II.  75 

4  The  defender  of  Fort  Sumter  [page  550]  had  been  promoted  to  brigadier,  and  was  then  in 
command  in  Kentucky. 

6  Jefferson  Davis  was  quick  to  act  upon  the  authority  given  him  by  the  confiscation  and  ban 
ishment  acts  of  his  "  Congress  "  In  districts  such  as  East  Tennessee,  and  other  mountain  regions, 
where  the  blight  of  slavery  was  little  known,  the  people  were  generally  loyal  to  their  government. 
When  the  Confederates  held  sway  in  such  districts,  the  keenest  cruelties  were  practiced  upon  the 
Union  inhabitants.  East  Tennesseans  were  peculiar  sufferers  on  that  account  through  a  greater 
portion  of  the  war.  Loyalists  were  hunted,  not  only  by  armed  men,  but  by  bloodhounds,  with 
which  fugitive  slaves  were  pursued.*  They  were  taken  to  military  camps,  abused  by  mobs, 

*  In  the  Mempltis  Appeal  appeared  an  advertisement,  in  the  autumn  of  1S61,  for  "fifty  well-bred''  and  "one 
pair  of  thoroughbred  bloodhounds,  that  will  take  the  track  of  a  man.  The  purpose,"  said  the  advertisement,  "for 
which  these  dosrs  are  wanted,  is  to  chase  the  infernal,  cowardly  Lincoln  bushwhackers  [Unionists]  of  East  Ten 
nessee  and  Kentucky  to  their  haunts,  and  capture  them."  This  was  signed  by  F.  N.  McNairy  and  II.  II.  Harris, 
Confederate  officers  in  camp. 


THE     NATION  [1861 

day  after  Polk  seized  Columbus,1  and  Buckner,  already  mentioned  as  the  cor- 
ruptcr  of  the  patriotism  of  the  young  men  of  that  State,'2  who  had  established 
a  camp  in  Tennessee  just  below  the  Kentucky  border,  acting  in  co-operation 
with  the  two  invaders,  attempted  to  seize  Louisville,  but  was  foiled  by  the 
vigilance  of  Anderson  and  the  troops  under  him.  Buckner  advanced  as  far  as 
Elizabethtown,  but  was  compelled  to  fall  back  to  Bowling  Green,  on  the  Nash 
ville  and  Louisville  railway,  where  he  established  an  intrenched  camp,  and 
made  it  the  nucleus  of  a  powerful  force  gathered  there  soon  afterward. 

Let  us  turn  again  for  a  moment  to  the  consideration  of  affairs  in  Missouri. 

We  have  observed  that  Fremont  set  a  heavy  force  in  motion  to  drive  the 
Confederates  out  of  Missouri.  He  had  formed  a  general  plan  for  driving  them 
out  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  re-opening  the  navigation  of  the  great 
stream  which  the  insurgents  had  obstructed  by  batteries.3  It  was  to  capture 
or  disperse  the  forces  under  Price,  and  seize  Little  Rock,  the  capital  of  Arkansas, 
and  so  completely  turn  the  position  of  the  forces  under  Pillow  and  others,  as 
to  cut  off  their  supplies  from  that  region  and  compel  them  to  retreat,  when  a 
flotilla  of  gun-boats,  then  in  preparation  near  St.  Louis,  could  easily  descend 
the  river  and  assist  in  military  operations  against  Memphis.  If  the  latter 
should  be  successful,  the  army  and  navy  might  push  on  and  take  possession  of 
New  Orleans.  Fremont  accompanied  his  army  in  the  initial  movement  of  his 
plan,  namely,  against  Price,  and  on  the  llth  of  October,  when  well  on  his  way 
toward  Arkansas,  his  forces  marching  in  five  columns,4  he  wrote  : — "  My  plan 
is  New  Orleans  straight.  I  would  precipitate  the  war  forward,  and  end  it 
soon  and  victorious^."  But  he  was  not  allowed  to  carry  out  his  plan,  and  at 
Springfield,  where  his  body-guard,  under  Zagonyi,  had  made  one  of  the  most 
memorable  charges  on  record  upon  the  strong  foe,5  he  was  superseded  in  com 
mand  by  General  David  Hunter,  and  the  army,  instead  of  going  forward, 
marched  sadly  back  toward  St.  Louis  at  the  middle  of  November.  Meanwhile 
detachments  of  Fremont's  army,  under  various  leaders,  had  been  doing  gallant 
service  against  bands  of  insurgents  in  various  parts  of  Missouri,  the  most  nota 
ble  of  which  were  contests  with  M.  Jeff.  Thompson  and  his  guerrillas,  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  State,  who  were  defeated  and  dispersed  in  October,  chiefly 
by  Missouri,  Illinois,  and  Indiana  troops. 

thrust  into  prisons,  and  some  were  hanged  for  no  other  crime  than  active  loyalty  to  their  govern 
ment.  Among  the  most  notable  of  these  sufferers  in  East  Tennessee  was  Rev.  Dr.  Brownlow,  a 
leading  citizen,  who  had  been  a  political  editor  at  Knoxville  for  many  years,  was  very  influential 
as  a  citizen,  and  was  feared  and  hated  by  the  Confederates.  His  sufferings,  and  those  of  his 
fellow-patriots,  form  the  subject  of  a  volume  from  his  pen,  of  great  interest.  At  the  close  of  the 
war  he  was  elected  Governor  of  the  State  (having  been  appointed  Provisional  Governor),  and  in 
1867  he  was  re-elected  by  an  immense  majority  of  the  legal  voters  of  Tennessee. 

1  Page  575.  2  Page  565. 

3  So  early  as  the  12th  of  January,  1861,  three  days  after  a  convention  of  politicians  in  Missis 
sippi  had  declared  that  State  severed  from  the  Union.  Governor  Pettus  directed  a  battery  to  be 
planted  at  Vicksburg,  with  orders  to  hail  and  examine  every  vessel  that  should  attempt  to  pass. 
Other  batteries  were  soon  planted  there  and  upon  other  bluffs  in  the  river,  and  for  more  than  two 
years  the  commerce  of  the  Mississippi  was  suspended. 

4  Commanded  respectively  by  Generals  David  Hunter,  John  Pope,  Franz  Sigel,  J,  McKinstry, 
and  A.  Ashboth. 

5  Zagonyi  charged  upon  nearly  two  thousand  infantry  and  cavalry  with  one  hundred  and  fifty 
of  his  men,  routed  the  foe,  and  came  out  of  the  conflict  with  eighty-four  of  his  little  band  dead 
or  wounded. 


1861.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  5f^ 

Before  being,  deprived  of  his  command,  Fremont,  in  pursuance  of  his  plan, 
directed  General  Grant  to  make  a  co-operative  movement  on  the  line  of  the 
Mississippi  River.  Grant  determined  to  threaten  Columbus1  by  attacking 
Belmont,  on  the  Missouri  shore  opposite,  to  prevent  Polk  assisting  Thompson. 
With  about  3,000  troops  (mostly  Illinois  volunteers,  under  General  John  A.  Mc- 
Clernand),  in  transports,  accompanied  by  the  wooden  gun-boats  Tyler  and  Lex 
ington^  he  went  down  the  Mississippi  from  Cairo,  while  another  force  was  march- 
<ing  from  Paducah2  toward  the  rear  of  Columbus,  under  General  Charles  F.  Smith, 
to  divert  Folk's  attention  from  the  river  expedition.  That  expedition  suddenly 
and  unexpectedly  appeared  just  above  Columbus  on  the  morning  of  the  7th 
of  November,  when  the  gun-boats  opened 
fire  on  Folk's  batteries.  The  troops  were 
landed  on  the  Missouri  shore,  three  miles 
above  Belmont,  and  immediately  marched 
upon  that  place.  Polk  sent  over  troops 
under  General  Pillow  to  re-enforce  the 
garrison  there.  A  sharp  engagement  en 
sued,  and  the  Nationals  were  victorious, 
but  the  ground  being  commanded  by  the 
batteries  on  the  bluffs  at  Columbus,  it 
was  untenable,  and  Grant  withdrew. 
Polk  determined  not  to  allow  him  to 
escape.  He  opened  upon  the  retiring 
troops  some  of  his  heaviest  guns,  sent  LEONIDAS  POLK. 

Cheatham  to  re-enforce  Pillow,  and  then 

led  over  two  regiments  himself  to  swell  the  ranks  of  the  pursuers.  Grant 
fought  his  way  back  to  his  transports  after  suffering  severely,3  and  re-embarked 
under  cover  of  the  gun-boats  and  escaped.  The  battle  was  gallantly  fought 
on  both  sides,  and  many  deeds  of  daring  are  recorded. 

Zollicoffer's  invasion4  aroused  the  Unionists  of  Eastern  Kentucky,  and  they 
flew  to  arms  under  various  leaders.  In  a  picturesque  region  of  the  Cumber 
land  Mountains,  known  as  the  Rock  Castle  Hills,  they  fought  and  repulsed 
him.  Still  farther  eastward  in  Kentucky,  loyalists  under  General  William 
Nelson  fought  and  dispersed  a  Confederate  force  under  Colonel  J.  S.  Williams, 
near  Piketon.  The  latter  fled  to  the  mountains  at  Pound  Gap,  carrying  away 
a  large  number  of  cattle.  These  successes  inspired  the  East  Tennessee  loyal 
ists  with  hopes  of  a  speedy  deliverance,  but  they  were  compelled  to  wait  long 
for  that  consummation.  The  Confederates,  toward  the  close  of  1861,  had 
obtained  a  firm  foothold  in  Tennessee,  and  occupied  a  considerable  portion  of 
Southern  Kentucky,  from  the  mountains  to  the  Mississippi  River,  along  a  line 
about  four  hundred  miles  in  length.  At  the  same  time  the  Nationals  were 
preparing  to  drive  them  southward.  Let  us  now  consider  events  in  the 
vicinity  and  eastward  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  and  along  the  sea-coast. 

1  Page  575.  2  Page  575. 

9  Grant  lost  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  485  men,  and  Polk  632.  4  Page  575. 

37 


578  THE     CATION.  [1861. 

In  the  autumn  of  1861  the  Confederates  struggled  severely  for  the  posses 
sion  of  Western  Virginia.  General  Robert  E.  Lee  had  been  sent  to  take  com 
mand  of  the  troops  left  by  Garnett  and  Pegram  in  Northern  Virginia.1  He 
made  his  head-quarters  at  Huntersville,  in  Pocahontas  County,  and  early  in 
August  [1861]  he  found  himself  at  the  head  of  about  16,000  troops.  Floyd, 
the  late  Secretary  of  War,2  had  been  commissioned  a  brigadier-general,  and 
sent  to  the  region  of  the  Gauley  River,  with  troops  to  re-enforce  the  incompe 
tent  Wise,  and  to  take  chief  command.  Floyd  was  expected  to  sweep  down* 
the  Kanawha  Valley,  and  drive  General  Cox  across  the  Ohio,  while  Lee  should 
scatter  or  capture  the  National  forces  under  General  Rosecrans  in  Northern 
Virginia,  and  open  a  way  into  Ohio,  Maryland,  and  Pennsylvania.  Prepara 
tory  to  these  decisive  movements,  Floyd  took  position  between  Cox  and  Rose 
crans  at  Carnifex  Ferry,  on  the  Gauley  River,  a  few  miles  from  Summersville, 
the  capital  of  Nicholas  County,  leaving  Wise  to  watch  the  region  nearer  the 
junction  of  the  Gauley  and  New  River,  which  form  the  Kanawha. 

Rosecrans  had  organized  an  army  of  nearly  10,000  men  at  Clarksburg,  on 
the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railway,  and  early  in  September  he  marched  south 
ward  to  attack  Floyd,  wherever  he  might  be,  leaving  a  force  under  General  J. 
J.  Reynolds  to  confront  Lee  in  the  Cheat  Mountain  region.  With  great  labor 
Rosecrans's  troops  climbed  over  the  Gauley  Mountains,  and  on  the  10th 
[Sept.],  passing  through  Summersville,  they  fell  up^n  the  Confederates  at  Car 
nifex  Ferry.  A  severe  battle  for  three  or  four  hours  ensued.  It  ceased  at 
dusk.  Rosecrans  intended  to  renew  it  in  the  morning,  but  his  foes  fled  under 
cover  of  the  darkness,  and  did  not  halt  until  they  reached  the  summit  of  Big 
Sewell  Mountain,  thirty  miles  distant. 

The  battle  at  Carnifex  Ferry  Avas  soon  followed  by  stirring  movements 
between  Reynolds  and  Lee.  The  former  was  holding  the  roads  and  passes  of 
the  more  westerly  ranges  of  the  great  Alleghany  chain,  from  Webster,  on  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  railway,  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Gauley,  crossing  the 
spurs  of  the  Greenbrier  Mountains.  When  Rosecrans  moved  against  Floyd, 
Reynolds  was  at  the  western  foot  of  the  mountains,  not  far  from  Huttonsville. 
Lee  was  farther  south.  His  scouts  were  everywhere  active,  and  it  was  evi 
dent,  early  in  September,  that  he  contemplated  an  attack  either  upon  Reynolds 
or  Rosecrans.  He  was  watched  with  sleepless  vigilance,  and  on  the  day  after 
the  battle  at  Carnifex  Ferry  it  was  perceived  that  he  was  about  to  strike  the 
Nationals  at  Elkwater  and  on  the  Summit,3  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the 
great  Cheat  Mountain  Pass,  through  which  lay  the  road  to  Staunton,  and  so 
obtain  free  communication  with  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  His  troops  attacked 
the  two  posts  just  named  [Sept.  12,  1861],  and  were  repulsed.  Lee  then  with 
drew  from  the  Cheat  Mountain  region  and  joined  Floyd,  between  the  Gauley 
and  New  River,  where  the  combined  forces  under  his  command  amounted 


1  Page  563.  2  Page  549. 

3  Here,  as  we  have  seen  [page  563],  General  McClellan  established  a  post,  and  left  there  an 
Indiana  regiment,  under  Colonel  Kimball.  It  was  an  important  point  on  the  great  highway  from 
Huttonsville,  over  the  lofty  ranges  of  mountains  to  Staunton. 


1861.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

to  about  20,000  men.  There  he  was  confronted  by  Rosecrans  with  about 
10,000  men,  composed  of  the  brigades  of  Cox,  Benham,  and  Schenck. 

Lee,  whose  campaign  had  been  thus  far  a  failure,  was  soon  recalled  and 
sent  to  Georgia.  The  wretched  Wise  was  ordered  to  Richmond,  and  Floyd 
and  Rosecrans  again  became  competitors  for  victory.  Floyd  took  post  on  the 
left  or  western  bank  of  the  New  River  late  in  October,  from  which  he  was 
driven  [Nov.  12]  by  the  forces  under  Rosecrans,  and  pursued  about  fifty  miles 
southward.  There  Floyd  took  leave  of  his  army,  and  a  few  months  later  he 
was  seen  in  a  disgraceful  position  at  Fort  Donelson,  in  Tennessee.  Meanwhile 
General  Kelley,  who  had  recovered  from  his  wounds,1  was  performing  gallant 
service  in  defense  of  the  line  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railway ;  and  on  the 
26th  of  October  he  struck  the  insurgents  a  blow  at  Romney  that  paralyzed 
the  rebellion  in  that  region.  General  Robert  H.  Milroy,  who  had  succeeded 
Reynolds,  was  also  active  in  the  Cheat  Mountain  region,  with  his  head 
quarters,  at  first,  at  the  Summit.  In  that  vicinity  he  fought  the  Confederates 
under  Colonel  E.  Johnston,  of  Georgia,  and  was  repulsed.  He  was  more  suc 
cessful  in  an  expedition  against  the  Confederates  at  Huntersville,  Lee's  old 
nead-quarters.2  He  dispersed  the  insurgents  there  late  in  December,  destroyed 
their  stores,  and  released  some  Union  prisoners.  This  event  closed  the  cam 
paign  in  Western  Virginia  in  1861. 

While  the  events  we  have  just  considered  were  occurring  in  Western 
Virginia  and  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  others  even  more  important  in  their 
relations  to  the  great  contest  were  occurring  on  the  sea-coast.  We  have 
already  considered  some  hostile  movements  in  the  vicinity  of  Fortress  Monroe.3 
In  Hampton  Roads  (the  harbor  in  front  of  that  fortress)  and  the  then  smoking 
ruins  of  Hampton  Village,4  a  large  land  and  naval  armament  was  seen  in 
August,  1861.  It  was  designed  for  an  expedition  down  the  Atlantic  coast,  the 
land  forces  under  General  B.  F.  Butler5  and  the  naval  forces  under  Commodore 
Silas  H.  Stringham.  Its  destination  was  Hatteras  Inlet,  eighteen  miles  from 
Cape  Hatteras,  where  the  Confederates  had  erected  two  forts  (Hatteras  and 
Clarke)  on  the  western  end  of  Hatteras  Island.  The  fleet,  composed  of  trans 
ports  for  the  troops  and  war  vessels,  gathered  off  the  Inlet  toward  the  even 
ing  of  the  27th  of  August,  and  on  the  following  morning  the  navy  opened  fire 
on  the  forts  and  some  of  the  land  troops  were  put  ashore.  The  assault  was  con 
tinued  at  intervals  by  both  arms  of  the  service  until  the  29th,  when  the  forts 
were  formally  surrendered  to  Stringham  and  Butler  by  S.  Barron,  who  com- 

1  Page  562.  3  Page  578.  3  Page  562. 

4  After  the  battle  at  Big  Bethel  [page  562],  General  Butler  abandoned  the  village  of  Hamp 
ton,  which  he  had  previously  occupied,  and  confined  his  troops  to  Fortress  Monroe  and  Newport- 
Newce.  The  whole  country  between  Old  Point  Comfort,  on  which  Fortress  Monroe  lies,  and 
Yorktown,  was  thus  left  open  to  Confederate  rule.  Magruder,  with  about  5,000  men,  moved 
down  the  peninsula  and  took  post  near  the  village  of  Hampton,  for  the  purpose  of  closely  invest 
ing  the  Fortress.  Skirmishes  ensued  at  Hampton  bridge,  and  on  the  night  of  the  7th  of  August, 
Magruder,  while  drunken  with  liquor,  ordered  the  village  to  be  burnt.  The  act  was  performed  by 
Virginians.  So  wanton  was  it  that  the  venerable  parish  church,  standing  out  of  danger  from  the 
flames  of  the  town,  was  fired  and  destroyed. 

6  General  Butler  was  succeeded  in  the  command  at  Fortress  Monroe  by  the  veteran  General 
John  E.  Wool. 


580 


T  HE     NATION 


[1861. 


FORT   HATTERAS. 


manded  a  little  squadron  in  Pamlico  Sound,  and  Colonel  Martin  and  Major 
Andrews,  in  command  of  the  Confederate  troops.1  The  post  was  then  gar 
risoned  by  a  portion  of  Colonel  Hawkins's  New  York  Zouave  regiment,  and 
the  expedition  returned  to  Hampton  Roads.  General  Butler  was  then  com 
missioned  to  go  to  New 
England  to  "raise,  arm, 
uniform,  and  equip  a  vol 
unteer  force  for  the  war." 
It  was  done.  Their  im 
mediate  services  will  be 
observed  hereafter. 

Hawkins  was  re-en 
forced  in  September  by- 
some  Indiana  troops,  and 
early  in  October  the  lat 
ter,  then  a  few  miles  up 
the  Island,  were  attacked 
and  driven  back  to  the  forts  by  some  Confederates,  who  came  over  in  steamers 
from  Roanoke  Island.  Meanwhile  Hawkins  had  issued  a  conciliatory  address  to 
the  neighboring  inhabitants  of  North  Carolina.  A  convention  of  loyal  citizens 
was  held  [Oct.  12],  who  called  another,  when  a  statement  of  grievances  and  a 
declaration  of  their  independence  of  the  Confederate  government  of  North 
Carolina  was  adopted  [Nov.  18,  1831].  There  was  so  much  promise  of  good 
in  this  movement,  that  the  President  ordered  an  election  there  for  a  member 
of  Congress.  One  was  chosen  [Nov.  27],  but  this  germ  of  active  loyalty 
was  soon  crushed  by  the  heel  of  Confederate  power."  But  the  substantial 
victory  gained  by  the  National  forces  was  a  severe  blow  to  the  cause  of  the 
conspirators,  for  it  opened  the  way  to  most  important  results  in  favor  of  the 
National  authorities,  as  we  shall  observe  hereafter. 

During  the  summer  of  1861,  Fort  Pickens  and  its  vicinity  were  witnesses 
of  stirring  scenes.  We  have  observed  that  the  fort  was  saved  from  capture 
early  in  the  year  through  the  vigilance  and  bravery  of  Lieutenant  Slemmer 
and  his  little  garrison,  and  that  it  was  re-enforced.3  The  troops  that  first  went 
to  the  relief  of  Slemmer  [April  12,  1861]  were  marines  from  the  government  ves- 


1  Barren  was  a  naval  officer  who  had  abandoned  his  flag  and  joined  the  insurgents.     The  cap 
tives  received  the  treatment  of  prisoners  of  war.     They  were  taken  to  New  York,  and  afterward 
exchanged.     Not  one  of  the  soldiers  of  the  attacking  fleet  or  army  was  injured  in  the  fray.     The 
loss  of  the  Confederates  was  twelve  or  fifteen  killed  and  thirty-live  wounded. 

2  This  movement  was  brought  prominently  before  the  citizens  of  New  York  by  Rev.  M.  N. 
Taylor,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  at  a  meeting  over  which  Mr.  Ban 
croft,  the  historian,  presided.     Taylor  said  that  "some  4.000  of  the  inhabitants  living  on  the 
narrow  strip  of  land  on  the  coast  had,  on  the  first  arrival  of  the  troops,  flocked  to  take  the  oath 
of  allegiance,  and  this  had  cut  them  off  from  their  scanty  reso-urces  of  traffic  with  the  interior. 
They  were   a  poor  race,"  he  said,   '-living  principally  by  fishing  and  gathering  of  yoakum,  an 
evergreen  of  spontaneous  growth,  which  they  dried  and  exchanged  for  corn."     The  yoakum  is  a 
plant  which  is  extensively  used  in  that  region  as  a  substitute  for  tea. 

The  appeal  of  Mr.  Taylor  in  behalf  of  these  people  was  nobly  responded  to  by  generous  gifts 
of  money,  food,  and  clothing. 

3  See  note  6,  page  559. 


1861.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


581 


sels  Sabine  and  St.  Louis,  lying  off  the  fort,  and  artillerymen  under  Captain 
Vogdes,  from  the  Brooklyn.1  They  were  there  just  in  time  to  co-operate  with 
a  loyal  man  at  the  Navy  Yard  in  saving  the  fort  from  capture.2  The  garrison 
was  again  re-enforced,  a  few  days  later,  by  several  hundred  troops  under  Colo 
nel  Harvey  Brown,  who  took  the  command,  and  Slemmer  was  ftirloughed  for 
rest.  Still  later,  while  Bragg  was  gathering  a  large  force  in  the  vicinity,  more 
troops  were  sent  to  defend  the  post.  These  were  the  New  York  Sixth  regi 
ment  (Zouaves),  Colonel  William  Wilson,  who  were  encamped  [June]  on 
Santa  Rosa  Island,  on  which  Fort  Pickens  stands.  Early  in  October  the  Con 
federates  on  the  main  attempted  to  surprise  and  capture  them.  It  was  done 
in  the  dark,  with  the  cry  of  "Death  to  Wilson!  No  quarter  !"J  The  assailed 


FORT  PICKENS. 

Zouaves  fought  desperately  in  the  gloom,  and  with  the  aid  of  help  from  the 
fort,  under  Majors  Vogdes  and  Arnold,  the  invaders,  after  burning  Wilson's 
camp,  were  driven  to  their  boats  with  a  loss  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  men, 
including  some  who  were  drowned.  The  Nationals  lost  in  killed,  wounded, 
and  prisoners,  sixty-four  men. 

1  Lieutenant  Worden,  of  the  Navy,  was  sent  by  the  government  overland  with  a  message  to 
the  commander  of  the  fleet  off  Pensacola,  directing  the  re-enforcement  of  Pickens.  On  his 
return  he  was  treacherously  used  by  Bragg,  and  suffered  a  long  captivity,  as  a  prisoner  of  war. 
in  the  jail  at  Montgomery. 

3  This  was  Richard  Wilcox.  The  Confederates  were  in  possession  of  the  Navy  Yard  at  War- 
rington,  opposite  Fort  Pickens,  where  Wilcox,  unsuspected  of  loyalty,  was  employed  as  a  watch 
man.  He  discovered  that  one  of  Slemmer's  sergeants  was  in  complicity  with  the  Confederate 
commander  in  a  plan  for  capturing  the  fort.  Wilcox  found  means  to  apprise  Slemmer  of  the 
fact.  It  was  to  have  been  executed  on  the  night  after  Worden's  arrival. 

3  It  was  the  general  impression  that  Wilson's  Zouaves  were  composed  of  New  York  "  roughs," 
and  the  Southern  people  were  taught  to  believe  that  they  were  sent  for  the  purposes  of  plunder 
and  rapine. 


582 


THE     NATION. 


[1861. 


Fort  Pickens  had  been  silent  since  the  spring-time.  Late  in  November  its 
utterances  were  heard  for  miles  along  the  Gulf  coast,  mingled  with  the  thun 
der  of  cannon  on  war-vessels,  co-operating  in  an  attack  upon  the  forts  and 
batteries  of  the  Confederates  on  the  Florida  main,  then  manned  by  about  seven 
thousand  troops  under  Bragg.  The  fort,  and  the  steamers  Niagara  and  Rich 
mond,  opened  on  the  Confederate  works  on  the  morning  of  the  22d  of  Novem 
ber.  In  the  course  of  forty-eight  hours,  the  heavy  guns  of  the  foe  were 
silenced,  and  most  of  the  Navy  Yard,  and  the  villages  of  Wolcott  and  War- 
rington,  adjoining,  were  laid  in  ashes  by  shells  from  the  fort.  After  that  there 
was  quiet  in  Pensacola  Bay  until  the  first  of  January  [1862],  when  another 
artillery  duel  occurred,  lasting  about  twelve  hours,  but  with  little  effect. 

Farther  westward  along  the  Gulf  coast  little  sparks  of  war  were  seen  at 
this  time.  The  most  notable  of  these  was  occasioned  by  a  collision  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi  River  [October  12],  between  the  National  blockading 
squadron,  at  the  Southwest  Pass,  and  a  flotilla  under  Captain  Hollins,  of  Grey- 
town  notoriety.1  By  a  telegraphic  dispatch  to  the  conspirators  at  Richmond, 
that  startled  the  whole  country,  Hollins  claimed  a  great  victory,  when  the  fact 
was  that  the  only  damage  he  had  inflicted  on  his  foe  was  slight  bruises  on  a 
coal-barge,  while  he  was  driven  up  the  river  to  jFort  Jackson  in  great  terror, 
because  of  the  danger  of  his  being  caught  and  hanged  as  a  traitor.2  He  was 
in  command  of  a  rams  called  Manassas,  which  promised  to  be  formidable  in 

competent  hands,  and  this  fact  hastened 
preparations  for  sending  an  expedition 
to  the  Lower  Mississippi. 

There  was  another  land  and  naval 
armament  in  Hampton  Road  sin  October, 
more  formidable  and  imposing  than  the 
one  seen  there  in  August.4  There  were 
fifty  war-vessels  and  transports,  and  on 
the  latter  were  15,000  troops,  under 
General  T.  W.  Sherman.  The  fleet  was 
commanded  by  Commodore  S.  F.  Du- 
pont,  and  all  went  to  ?ea  on  a  beautiful 
autumnal  day  (October  29,  1861),  the 
flag-ship  Wabash  leading.  Their  des 
tination  was  unknown  to  all  but  the 
chief  commander,  but  each  ship  carried 


S.     F.     DUPONT. 


1  See  note  3,  page  522. 

'  2  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  dispatch,  dated  at  Fort  Jackson,  below  New  Orleans,  Octo 
ber  12.  1861: — "Last  night  I  attacked  the  blockaders  with  my  little  fleet.  I  succeeded,  after  a 
very  short  struggle,  in  driving  them  all  aground  on  the  Southwest  Pass  bar.  except  the  Preblc, 
which  I  sunk.  I  captured  a  prize  from  them,  and  after  they  were  fast  in  sand,  I  peppered  them 
well.  There  were  no  casualties  on  our  side.  It  was  a  complete  success. — HOLLINS."  This  dis 
patch  and  the  facts  caused  the  silly  Hollins  to  be  "  peppered  "  well  with  ridicule. 

3  A  "ram"  was  an   iron-clad  vessel  with  a  long,  strong,  sharp-pointed  iron  beak  extending 
from  its  bow.  by  which,  when  the  vessel,  impelled  by  steam,  was  in  full  motion,  another  might  be 
pushed,  penetrated,  and  sunk.     These  were  very  formidable  weapons  of  war  on  the  rivers. 

4  See  page  579. 


1861.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  533 

sealed  orders,  to  be  opened  in  the  event  of  a  dispersion.  That  contingency 
occurred.  The  expedition  had  just  passed  Cape  Hatteras,  when  a  terrible  storm 
arose,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  2d  of  November  only  one  of  the  other  ves 
sels  might  be  seen  from  the  deck  of  the  flag-ship.1  The  sealed  orders  were 
opened.  These  directed  a  general  rendezvous  off  Port  Royal  entrance,  on 
the  coast  of  South  Carolina,  and  there  all  of  the  vessels,  excepting  four  trans 
ports,  were  gathered  around  their  leader  by  the  evening  of  the  4th.  The  four 
transports  had  been  lost,  but  no  life  wras  sacrificed,  in  the  great  storm. 

Port  Royal  entrance  is  between  Hilton  Head  and  Phillip's  Island,  and  on 
each  was  a  fort  that  commanded  the  channel.  In  Port  Royal  Sound  was  a 
small  flotilla  under  Commodore  Tattnall,  and  this,  with  the  land  troops  who 
garrisoned  the  forts,  comprised  the  obstacles  to  the  entrance  of  the  expedition. 
These  were  soon  removed.  On  the  morning  of  the  7th  [Nov.  1861]  every  thing 
was  in  readiness.  Dupont's  war-vessels  moved  in,  and,  making  an  elliptical 
course,  poured  upon  the  forts2  a  storm  of  shell  that  soon  silenced  them.  Tatt- 
nall's  little  fleet  fled  to  the  shelter  of  narrower  waters ;  the  land  troops  under 
Generals  Wright  and  Stevens  went  on  shore  and  took  possession,  and  the  Con 
federates  abandoned  the  region  and  hastened  to  the  main.  The  National  forces 
took  possession  of  Beaufort  and  the  surrounding  islands  wyhich  the  white  peo 
ple  had  abandoned,3  and  the  last  effort  of  the  Confederates  to  defend  them  was 
at  Port  Royal  Ferry,  where,  after  a  severe  engagement  [January  1,  1862], 
they  were  defeated  and  dispersed.  Du- 
pont,  meanwhile,  had  taken  possession  of 
Tybee  Island,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Savan 
nah  River,  without  opposition ;  and  at 
the  close  of  1861  the  National  authority 
was  supreme  over  the  coast  islands,  from 
Wassaw  Sound  to  the  North  Edisto 
River,  well  up  toward  Charleston.  At 
about  the  same  time  an  ineffectual 
attempt  was  made  to  temporarily  close 
the  harbor  of  Charleston,  as  a  part  of  the 
method  of  blockade,  by  sinking  vessels 
laden  with  stones  in  its  channels  of  ap-  PORT  ROYAL  FERRY- 

1  This  storm  gave  great  hope  of  disaster  to  the  National  cause,  among  the  -Confederates,  to 
whom  the  departure  of  the  expedition  was  known.     They  declared  that  the  elements  were  assist 
ing  them.     "The  stars  in  their  courses  fought  against  Sisera,"  said  a  jubilant  Richmond  journal, 
and  added,    "  So  the  winds  of  heaven  fight  for  the  good  cause  of  Southern  Independence.    Let 
the  Deborahs  of  the  South  sing  a  song  of  deliverance." 

2  The  work  on  Hilton  Head  was  named  Fort  Walker,  in  honor  of  the  Confederate  "  Secretary 
of  War;"  and  that  on  Bay  Point  of  Phillip's  Island,  Fort  Beauregard,  in  honor  of  an  insurgent 
leader. 

3  The  negroes,  generally,  remained,  excepting  those  whose  masters  had  compelled  them  to 
accompany  them  in  their  night.     Those  who  remained  were  soon  organized  into  industrial  com 
munities,  and  a  large  quantity  of  the  valuable  "  Sea-Island  Cotton,"  which  the  owners  had  not 
burnt  on  leaving,  was  secured.     The  faith  of  the  slaves  in  the  National  government,  and  their 
belief  that  the  invaders  were  their  friends,  and  were  to  be  their  deliverers  from  bondage,  were 
here  first  exhibited  in  a  remarkable  degree.     They  had  been  assured  that  the  "  Yankees,"  as  all 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Free-labor  States  were  called,  were  coming  to  steal  them  and  sell  them  into 


THE     NATION.  [1861. 

proach.1  While  the  "  stone  fleet,"  as  these  vessels  were  called,  was  approach 
ing,  a  fearful  conflagration  laid  a  large  portion  of  the  city  of  Charleston  in 
ruins. 

Let  us  now  turn  from  the  sea-coast,  and  observe  the  current  of  events  at 
and  near  the  National  capital. 

The  new  organization  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  as  we  have  observed,2 
was  perfected  at  the  middle  of  October.  The  Confederates,  under  Johnston, 
were  yet  lying  in  comparative  inactivity  near  the  field  of  their  victory  at 
Bull's  Run,  in  July,3  with  the  head-quarters  of  their  leader  at  Centreville. 
Because  of  a  lack  of  cavalry  and  adequate  subsistence,  Johnston  had  been 
compelled  to  lie  idle,  and  see  the  army  of  his  opponent  grow  immensely  in  the 
space  of  a  few  weeks.  Pie  knew  it  would  be  simple  rashness  to  do  as  the  shal 
low  Beauregard  desired,  and  attack  the  intrenched  Nationals  at  Washington  ; 
and  because  of  the  interference  of  Davis,  as  Confederate  experts  say,  he  had 
not  the  means  for  executing  his  favorite  scheme  of  crossing  the  Potomac  into 
Maryland,  and  taking  the  National  capital  in  reverse.  So  for  several  months 
these  principal  armies  of  the  combatants  lay  within  thirty  miles  of  each  other, 
without  coming  into  a  general  collision.  The  people  on  both  sides  became 
impatient  of  delay.  In  the  hearts  of  the  loyalists/still  burned  the  desire  which 
had  given  to  their  lips  the  cry'  of  "  On  to  Richmond !"  but  the  memory  of  the 
disasters  at  Bull's  Run4  made  them  circumspect  and  quiet.  From  time  to  time 
they  were  cheered  by  rumors  and  movements  which  promised  an  immediate 
advance.  There  were  grand  reviews,  active  drills,  and  sometimes  skirmishes 
with  the  Confederates,  whose  audacity  became  amazing  as  the  autumn 
advanced  and  the  Nationals  remained  quiet.  Their  pickets  approached  within 
cannon-shot  of  Washington  City,  and  for  weeks  they  held  Munson's  Hill, 
where  their  flag  might  be  seen  from  the  dome  of  the  Capitol. 

We  have  observed5  that  the  Confederate  batteries  blockaded  the  Potomac. 
So  early  as  June  [1861]  the  Navy  Department  had  called  the  attention  of  the 
military  authorities  to  the  possibility  and  danger  of  such  an  event,  but  noth 
ing  was  done  to  prevent  it  until  the  close  of  September,  when  Confederate  bat 
teries  were  planted  along  the  Virginia  shore  of  the  stream.  Preparations 
were  then  made  by  McClellan  to  act  in  conjunction  with  the  gun-boats  on  the 
Potomac  in  removing  these  perilous  obstructions,  but  his  delays,  and  his  failure 
to  co-operate  with  the  naval  force  at  the  proper  moment,  paralyzed  all  efforts, 
and  that  blockade,  so  disgraceful  to  the  government,  and  especially  to  the 
great  army  near  the  capital,  was  continued  until  the  Confederates  voluntarily 
evacuated  their  position  in  front  of  Washington,  in  March  following. 

worse  bondage  in  Cuba;  and  horrible  tales  were  told  to  them  of  the  ''Northerners,"  who  were 
described  as  monsters  intent  upon  killing  them  and  burying  them  in  the  sand.  But  that  simple 
people  did  not  believe  a  word  of  these  tales.  They  universally  believed  that  the  Lord  had  sent 
the  •"  Yankees  "  to  take  them  out  of  bondage ;  and  when  our  ships  appeared,  they  were  seen 
with  little  bundles  of  clothing  on  the  shores,  desiring  to  go  o'n  board. 

1  The  "stone  fleet"  was  composed  of  twenty-five  old  vessels,  chiefly  whalers,  which  sailed 
from  New  England  heavily  laden  with  granite.  These  were  sunken  in  the  four  channels,  but 
were  soon  removed  by  the  currents  or  lost  in  quicksands,  for  their  presence  was  scarcely  percep 
tible  after  a  few  days. 

8  Page  571.  8  Page  569.  4  Page  570.  5  Page  5G5. 


1861.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION  5g5 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  judiciously  posted  for  offensive  or  defensive 
measures  from  Budd's  Ferry,  on  the  Lower  Potomac,  to  Poolesville,  near  the 
Upper  Potomac.  As  it  increased  in  numbers,  it  needed  more  space  on  the  Vir 
ginia  side  of  the  river  than  the  narrow  strip  between  the  Potomac  and  the 
Confederate  outposts.  Measures  were  accordingly  taken  for  pushing  back  the 
foe,  and  these  resulted  in  skirmishes.  One  occurred  near  Lewinsville  [Sept.  12, 
1861]  between  the  National  troops,  under  General  W.  F.  Smith,  and  Confede 
rates,  under  Colonel  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  afterward  the  famous  cavalry  leader,  in 
which  the  Nationals  were  victors.  A  little  later  [September  15]  some  Confed 
erates  crossed  the  Potomac  and  attacked  troops  under  Colonel  J.  W.  Geary, 
not  far  from  Darnestown,  in  Maryland,  and  were  repulsed.  Emboldened  by 
successes,  the  Nationals  advanced,  and  at  the  middle  of  October  they  per 
manently  occupied  a  line  from  Fairfax  Court  House  well  up  toward  Lees- 
burg.  The  Confederates  retired  from  Munson's  Hill  [Sept.  28]  and  other 
advanced  posts,1  and  fell  back  to  Centreville  without  firing  a  shot. 

Early  in  October  some  National  troops  crossed  the  Potomac  at  Harper's 
Ferry,2  to  seize  some  wrheat  at  mills  near  there  belonging  to  the  Confederates. 
Menaced  by  approaching  foes,  they  called  for  help.  Colonel  Geary  led  six  hun 
dred  men  to  their  aid,  and  on  the  hills  back  of  the  village  of  Harper's  Ferry, 
he  had  a  severe  contest  [Oct.  16,  1861]  with  a  superior  force  on  his  front  and 
the  heights  near.  He  finally  repulsed  his  foe,  and  the  whole  invading  force 
recrossed  the  river  into  Maryland.  This  movement  was  speedily  followed  by 
a  more  important  one.  For  some  time  the  left  Aving  of  the  Confederate  army 
under  General  Evans  had  been  lying  at  Leesburg,  confronted  by  a  considera 
ble  National  force  under  General  Charles  P.  Stone,  encamped  between  Conrad's 
and  Edward's  ferries,  on  the  Upper  Potomac.  On  being  informed  (errone 
ously)  that  the  Confederates  had  left  the  vicinity  of  Leesburg,  McClellan 
ordered  General  McCall  to  make  a  reconnoissance  from  Drainsville  in  that 
direction,  and  telegraphed  to  Stone  to  aid  the  movement  by  a  feint  indicative 
of  an  intention  to  cross  with  his  whole  force.  This  was  done  at  both  ferries, 
and  a  part  of  a  Massachusetts  regiment,  under  Colonel  Devens,  was  ordered  to 
Harrison's  Island,  in  the  Potomac,  abreast  of  Ball's  Bluff.  A  reserve  of  three 
thousand  men,  under  Colonel  E.  D.  Baker,  a  member  of  the  National  Senate, 
acting  as  brigadier,  was  held  in  readiness  to  cross  promptly,  if  necessary. 

Misinformed  concerning  the  position  of  the  Confederates,  and  supposing 
McCall  to  be  near  to  assist,  if  necessary,  Stone  ordered  some  Massachusetts 
troops,  under  Colonels  Devens  and  Lee,  to  cross  to  the  Virginia  main  from  Har 
rison's  Island.  They  found  no  foe  between  Ball's  Bluff  and  Leesburg.  But 
Evans  was  near  in  strong  force,  watching  them,  and  at  little  past  noon  [Oct. 

1  For  several  weeks  the  Confederate  works  on  Munson's  Hill  had  been  looked  upon  with  much 
respect,  because  of  their  apparently  formidable  character.  They  were  really  slight  earth- 
structures,  inclosing,  by  an  irregular  line  around  the  brow  of  the  hill,  about  four  acres  of  ground, 
and  the  principal  armament,  which  had  inspired  the  greatest  awe,  consisted  of  one  stove-pipe  and 
two  logs,  the  latter  with  a  black  disc  painted  on  the  middle  of  the  sawed  end  of  each,  giving  them 
the  appearance,  at  a  short  distance,  of  the  muzzles  of  100-pounder  Parrott  guns!  These  "Quaker 
guns,"  like  similar  ones  at  Manassas,  had  for  six  weeks  defied  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

3  Page  557. 


586 


THE     NATION. 


[1861. 


21,  1861]  he  assailed  the  invading  troops,  who  had  fallen  back  to  the  vicinity 
of  Ball's  Bluff.  Baker  had  already  been  sent  with  reserves  to  Harrison's 
Island,  clothed  with  discretionary  power  to  withdraw  the  other  troops,  or 
re-enforce  them.  Supposing  the  force  under  McCall  and  others  to  be  near,  he 
concluded  to  go  forward.  On  reaching  the  field,  he  took  the  chief  command 
by  virtue  of  his  rank,  and  was  soon  afterward  instantly  killed.1  His  troops, 
unsupported,2  were  overwhelmed  by  a  superior  force,  and  pushed  back  in  great 
disorder  toward  the  bluff.  They  were  driven  down  the  declivity  at  twilight, 
where,  unable  to  cross  the  swollen  flood  for  want  of  transportation,  they  fought 
desperately  a  short  time,  when  they  were  overpowered,  and  a  large  number 
were  made  prisoners.  Many  perished  in  trying  to  escape.3  The  entire 
National  loss  was  full  a  thousand  men,  and  two  pieces  of  cannon.  It  was  a 
disaster  inexplicable  to  the  public  mind.  An  explanation  was  loudly  called 
for,  but  the  General-in-Chief  declared  that  an  inquiry  "  at  that  time  would  be 
injurious  to  the  public  service."  It  was  stifled,  and  General  Stone,  whom 
McClellan  at  the  time  acquitted  of  all  blame,4  was  afterward  made  a  victim  to 
appease  the  popular  indignation.5 


1  Eye-witness  said  that  a  tall,  red-haired  man  suddenly  emeijged  from  the  smoke,  and  when 
within  five  feet  of  Baker  discharged  into  his  body  the  contents  of  a  self-cocking  revolving  pistol, 
and  at  the  same  moment  a  bullet  pierced  his  skull  just  behind  his  ear.     His  death  produced  a 
profound  sensation,  and  public  honors  were  paid  to  his  memory  afterward.     He  was   one  of  the 
most  eloquent  men  in  the  National  Senate. 

2  McClellan  had  ordered  McCall,  the  previous  evening,  to  fall  back  to  Drainsville.      He  neg 
lected  to  inform  Stone  of  this  order.     Had  he  done  so.  Baker  would  have  recalled  the  troops  on 
the  Virginia  side,  and  the  disaster  at  Ball's  Bluff  would  have  been  prevented. 

3  Only  one  large  flat-boat  was  there,  and  that,  with  an  overload  of  wounded  and  others,  at 
the  beginning  of  its  first  voyage,  was  riddled  by  bullets  and  sunk.     The  smaller  vessels  had  dis 
appeared  in  the  gloom,  and  there  was  no  means  of  escape  for  the  Unionists  but  by  swimming. 
Some,  attempting  this,  were  shot  in  the  water,  others  were  drowned,  and  a  few  escaped. 

4  On  the  evening  of  October   22,  1861,  McClellan,  who  had  gone  to  the  head-quarters  of 
Stone,  telegraphed  to  the  President,  saying,    "  I  have  investigated  this  matter,  and  General  Stone 
is  without  blame." 

6  A  hundred  days  after  the  battle,  when  General  Stone,  in  command  of  about  12,000  men, 
was  preparing  to   strike  the  Confederates  under  D.  H.  Hill,  lying  opposite  his   camp,  he  was 

arrested  at  midnight  in  Wash 
ington  City,  by  order  of  General 
McClellan,  who  directed  him  to 
be  conveyed  immediately  to 
Fort  Lafayette,  near  New  York, 
then  used  as  a  prison  for  persons 
charged  with  treasonable  acts. 
There  he  was  kept  in  close 
confinement  fifty-four  days, 
when  he  was  transferred  to 
Fort  Hamilton,  near.  He  was 
released  on  the  16th  of  August, 
1862,  but  for  nearly  a  year 
afterward  he  was  denied  em 
ployment  in  the  field.  General 
Stone  was  never  informed  why 
he  was  arrested,  and  no  charge 
FORT  LAFAYETTE.  of  misconduct  of  any  kind  was 

ever  officially  made  against  him. 

He  appears  to  have  been  made  a  scape-goat  for  the  sins  of  his  superiors.  Without  any  apparent 
cause,  that  faithful  officer  and  zealous  friend  of  the  country  was  made  to  suffer,  unjustly,  the  cruel 
suspicion  of  being  a  traitor  For  a  full  vindication  of  his  loyalty,  made  upon  evidence,  see  Los- 
sing's  Pictorial  History  of  the  Civil  War,  ii.  146. 


1861.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION  587 

For  the  space  of  nearly  two  months  after  the  disaster  at  Ball's  Bluff,  the 
public  ear  was  daily  teased  with  the  unsatisfactory  report :  "  All  is  quiet  on 
the  Potomac  !"  The  roads  leading  toward  the  Confederate  camps  near  Bull's 
Run  were  never  in  better  condition.  The  entire  autumn  had  been  a  magnifi 
cent  one  in  Virginia;  Regiment  after  regiment  was  rapidly  swelling  the 
ranks  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  to  the  number  of  two  hundred  thousand 
men,  thoroughly  equipped  and  fairly  disciplined,  while  at  no  time  did  any 
reliable  report  make  the  number  of  the  Confederate  army  over  sixty  thousand. 
Plain  people  wondered  why  so  few,  whom  politicians  called  "ragamuffins"  and 
a  "  mob,"  could  so  tightly  hold  the  National  capital  in  a  state  of  siege,  while 
so  large  a  number  of  "  the  bravest  and  best  men  of  the  North  "  were  in  and 
around  it.  But  what  did  plain  people  know  about  war?  Therefore  it  was 
that  when,  late  in  December,  the  "  quiet  on  the  Potomac "  was  slightly  dis 
turbed  by  General  E.  O.  C.  Ord,  who,  with  his  brigade,  fought  a  smaller 
number  of  Confederate  foragers  [Dec.  20,  1861],  under  J.  E.  B.  Stewart,  near 
Drainsville,  and  whipped  them  soundly,  after  a  severe  contest,  the  loyal  people 
were  delighted,  for  it  gave  them  assurance  that  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was 
ready  to  fight  bravely,  whenever  permitted  to  encounter  the  foe. 

While  the  friends  of  the  government  were  anxiously  waiting  for  the  almost 
daily  promised  movement  of  the  Grand  Army  toward  Richmond  as  the  year 
[1861]  was  drawing  to  a  close,  and  hearts  were  growing  sick  with  hope 
deferred,  two  events,  each  having  an  important  bearing  on  the  Avar,  were  in 
progress  •  one  directly  affecting  the  issue,  and  the  other  affecting  it  incidentally, 
but  powerfully.  One  was  an  expedition  that  made  a  permanent  lodgment  of 
the  National  power  on  the  coast  of  North  Carolina,  and  the  other  was  inti 
mately  connected  with  the  foreign  relations  of  the  government.  Let  us  first 
consider  the  last-mentioned  event. 

We  have  already  observed  that  the  conspirators,  at  an  early  period  of  their 
operations,  sent  commissioners  to  Europe  to  seek  recognition  and  aid  from 
foreign  governments.1  Their  employers  soon  perceived  the  incompetency  of 
these  men  to  serve  their  bad  cause  acceptably,  and  they  commissioned  James 
M.  Mason2  and  John  Slidell,3  two  of  their  ablest  and  most  unscrupulous  com 
peers,  full  "  embassadors,"  the  former  accredited  to  the  British  government 
and  the  latter  to  the  French  government.  These  conspirators,  each  accom 
panied  by  a  secretary,  left  Charleston  in  a  blockade-runner  on  a  stormy  night 
[October  12,  1861]  and  proceeded  to  Cuba,  where  they  took  passage  in  the 
English  steamer  Trent  for  St.  Thomas,  intending  to  go  from  there  in  the 
regular  packet  to  England.  Off  the  northern  coast  of  Cuba  the  Trent  was 
intercepted  [November  8]  by  the  National  war-steamer  San  Jacinto,  Captain 
Charles  Wilkes,4  who  took  from  the  British  vessel  the  two  "  embassadors " 
and  their  secretaries,  and  conveyed  them  in  the  San  Jacinto  to  Boston  harbor, 
where  they  were  placed  in  Fort  Warren,  then  used,  like  Fort  Lafayette,5  as 
a  prison  for  political  offenders. 

1  Page  559.  2  Page  522.  3  Page  335. 

4  The  commander  of  the  South  Sea  Exploring  Expedition,  mentioned  on  page  476. 
6  Page  586. 


588 


THE     NATION. 


1861. 


CHARLES   WILKES. 


The  act  of  Captain   Wilkes    was  applauded  by    all   loyal  men,  and    was 
justified  and  commended  by  the   Secretary  of  the  Navy,  who   assured   him 

that  it  had  the  "  emphatic  approval  of 
the  Department."  It  was  in  strict  con 
formity  to  the  British  interpretation, 
theoretically  and  practically,  of  inter 
national  law,  but  it  was  in  violation  of 
often  uttered  American  principles  in  rela 
tion  to  the  rights  of  neutrals — princi 
ples  for  the  maintenance  of  which  the 
United  States  declared  war  against 
Great  Britain  in  1812.1  With  great 
inconsistency,  the  British  government 
regarded  it  as  a  national  insult,  and, 
before  any  communication  could  be 
had  with  our  government,  made  exten 
sive  preparations  for  war,  with  the 
same  unseemly  haste  which  characterized  it  in  procuring  the  Queen's 
proclamation  of  neutrality.2  A  peremptory  demahd  was  made  for  the 
delivery  of  Mason  and  Slidell,  and,  when  the  matter  became  a  subject  for 
cairn  discussion,  that  demand  was  complied  with,  not  because  it  was  made 
in  a  truculent  spirit,  but  because  fidelity  to  American  principles  required 
it.3  The  conspirators  were  delivered  [January  1,  1862]  on  board  the 
British  gun-boat  Rinaldo,  in  which  they  were  conveyed  to  St.  Thomas,  where 

1  Page  409. 

2  Page  561.     The  British  press  and  British  speakers  in 
the  interest  of  the  government,  led  by  the  London  Times, 
indulged  in  the  coarsest  abuse   of  the   government  and 
loyal  people  of  the  United  States.     So  urgent  seemed  the 
necessity  for  preparations   for  war,  that  on  Sunday,   the 
day  after  the  arrival  of  the  news  of  the  "Trent  outrage," 
as  it  was  called,  reached  England,  men  were  engaged  in 
the  Tower  of  London  in  packing  2,500  muskets  to  be  sent 
to  Canada,     Orders  were  issued  for  a  large  increase  in  the 
naval  squadrons  on  the  North  American  and  West  India 
stations,  and  the  great  steam-packet  Persia  was  taken  from 
the   mail   service   to  be  employed   in   carrying  troops   to 
Canada.  .  American  securities  were  depressed,  and  fortunes 
were  thereby  made  by  wise  persons,  under  the  shadow  of 
high  places,  who  purchased  and  held  them  for  a  rise.     The 
whole  warlike  movement  was  made  to  appear  still  more 
ridiculous,  when  our  Secretary  of  State  (Wilh'am  H.  Seward), 
with  inimitable  irony,  offered  [January  12,  1862]  the  use 
of  the  railway  that  extends  through  the  United  States  ter 
ritory  from  Portland,    Maine,  into  Canada,  for  the  trans 
portation  of  British  troops  to  be  sent  to  light  us,  the  St. 
Lawrence  at  that  winter  season  being  frozen,  and  therefore 
useless  as  a  channel  for  British  transports. 

3  The  calm  thoughtfulness  of  President  Lincoln,  in  the  midst  of  the  storm  of  passion  that  pre 
vailed   on   the  reception   of    the   news  of    the   capture  of  Mason  and  Slidell,  was   a   salutary 
power.     To  the  writer,  who  had  an  interview  with  him  a  few  hours  after  the  news  reached 
Washington,  he  said:  "I  fear  the  traitors  will  prove  to  be  white  elephants.     We  must  stick  to 
American  principles  concerning  the  rights  of  neutrals.     We  fought  Great  Britain  for  insisting,  by 
theory  and   practice,  on  the  right  to  do  precisely  what  Captain   Wilkes  has  done.     If  Great 
Britain  shall  now  protest  against  the  act,  and  demands  their  release,  we  must  give  them  up, 


WILLIAM   H.    SEWARD. 


1861.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


589 


they  embarked  for  England.  They  were  treated  with  merited  contempt  in 
Great  Britain,  and  soon  passed  into  obscurity.1  This  act  of  our  government 
disappointed  the  hopes  of  the  conspirators,  for  they  expected  great  advantages 
to  accrue  to  their  cause  by  a  war  between  Great  Britain  and  bur  Republic. 
It  silenced  the  arrogant  pretensions  of  Great  Britain  concerning  its  right  of 
search  and  of  impressment,  and  made  its  hasty  and  belligerent  actions  in  the 
premises  appear  like  an  extremely  ridiculous  farce. 


CHAPTER     XVII 

THE     CIVIL     WAR.       [1861—1865.] 

THE  public  mind  was  just  becoming  tranquil  after  the  excitement  caused 
by  the  "  Trent  affair,"  when  its  attention  was  keenly  fixed  on  another  expedi 
tion  to  the  coast  of  North  Carolina,  already  alluded  to.  The  land  and  naval 
armaments  of  which  it  was  composed  were  assembled  in  Hampton  Roads  early 
in  January,  1862.  It  comprised  over  one  hundred  steam  and  sailing  vessels 
(warriors  and  transports),  and  about  sixteen  thousand  troops,  mostly  recruited 
in  New  England.  Of  this  expedition  General  Ambrose  E.  Burnside  was  co'm- 
mander-in-chief,  and  the  naval  opera 
tions  were  intrusted  to  flag-officer  Louis 
M.  Goldsborough,  then  the  commander 
of  the  North  Atlantic  Naval  Squadron. 
Burnside's  lieutenants  were  Generals 
Foster,  Reno,  and  Parke,  each  in  com 
mand  of  a  brigade.  The  fleet  was  in 
two  sections,  in  charge  respectively  of 
Commanders  Rowan  and  Hazard.  The 
expedition  went  to  sea  on  the  llth  of 
January  [1862].  Its  destination  had 
been  kept  a  profound  secret. 

This,  like  the  other  expeditions, 
encountered  gales  in  the  vicinity  of 
stormy  Cape  Hatteras.  Pamlico  Sound 
and  Roanoke  Island  was  its  destination,  and  it  was  several  days  before  the 


A.    E.    BURNSIDE. 


apologize  for  the  act  as  a  violation  of  our  doctrines,  and  thus  forever  bind  her  over  to  keep  the 
peace  in  relation  to  neutrals,  and  so  acknowledge  that  she  has  been  wrong  for  at  least  sixty  years.'- 
This  was  the  key  to  the  admirable  action  of  our  government  by  the  able  Secretary  of  State. 

1  "  Already,"  said  a  leading  Liverpool  journal"  on  their  arrival,  "the  seven  weeks'  heroes  have 
shrunk  to  their  natural  dimensions;"  and  the  London  Times,  speaking  of  the  demand  made  by  the 
government,  and  of  their  release,  spoke  of  them  as  "worthless  booty,"  and  said,  "  England  would 
have  done  just  as  much  for  two  negroes." 


590  THE     NATION.  [1862. 

vessels,  dispersed  by  the  wind,  had  entered  Hatteras  Inlet.  It  was  February 
before  the  expedition  moved  to  an  attack  upon  Roanoke  Island,  which  the 
Confederates  had  fortified.  They  had  also  obstructed  the  channels  near  it, 
and  within  these  was  a  little  flotilla  of  armed  vessels,  under  the  command  of 
Lieutenant  W.  F.  Lynch,  who  had  abandoned  his  flag.  The  batteries  planted 
at  different  points  numbered  about  forty  heavy  guns,  which  had  been  taken 
from  the  Navy  Yard  at  Gosport,1  and  were  manned  by  North  Carolina  troops, 
under  the  chief  command  of  Colonel  H.  M.  Shaw.2  Upon  the  principal  one  of 
these  (Fort  Bartow),  Goldsborough  opened  fire  toward  noon  of  the  6th  of 
February,  and  that  night,  in  the  midst  of  a  cold  storm  of  rain,  about  eleven 
thousand  troops  were  landed.  These  moved  early  the  next  morning  to  attack 
intrenchments  that  stretched  across  the  narrower  part  of  the  island,  General 
Foster  leading.  The  Confederates  made  a  gallant  defense,  but  were  driven 
before  the  Nationals,  who  outnumbered  them.3  One  after  another  of  the  other 
works  yielded,  the  Confederate  flotilla  fled  up  Albemarle  Sound,  and  Roanoke 
Island  passed  into  the  possession  of  the  National  forces.4  This  was  the  severest 
blow  the  Confederates  had  yet  experienced.  It  exposed  the  entire  main  of 
North  Carolina  bordering  on  Pamlico  and  Albemarle  Sounds  to  the  National 
power,  and  opened  a  door  of  entrance  to  Norfolk  in  the  rear.5 

The  Confederate  flotilla  was  followed  [February  9]  by  Rowan,  and  in  the 
Pasquotank  River,  near  Elizabeth  City,  not  far  from  the  Dismal  Swamp,  it 
and  land  batteries  were  attacked  by  the  National  gun-boats.  The  vessels 
were  abandoned,  the  batteries  were  silenced,  and  Lynch,  with  his  men  and  the 
land  troops,  retired  into  the  interior.  The  National  flag  was  then  planted  on 
one  of  the  shore  batteries,  and  this  was  the  portion  of  the  main  of  North 
Carolina  first  "  re-possessed  "  by  the  government.  The  conquest  was  followed 
by  others  for  securing  the  control  of  the  Sounds  and  the  adjacent  country;  and 
Burnside  and  Goldsborough  jointly  issued  a  proclamation  [February  18,  1861] 
to  the  peaceable  inhabitants,  assuring  them  that  the  government  forces  were 
there  as  their  friends  and  not  as  enemies,  and  inviting  them  to  separate  them 
selves  from  the  rule  of  the  conspirators  and  return  to  their  allegiance.  This 
was  met  by  a  savage  counter-proclamation  by  the  Governor  of  North  Carolina, 
and  the  poor,  oppressed  people,  who  longed  for  deliverance,  were  held  firmly 
under  the  yoke  of  the  Confederate  despotism.  Here  we  will  leave  the  National 
forces  in  the  waters  of  North  Carolina,  preparing  for  other  victories  soon,  and 

1  Page  558. 

2  General  Henry  A.  Wise  had  been  the  chief  commander,  but  at  this  time  he  was  on  Nag's 
Head,  a  sand-spit  outside  of  Roanoke  Island,  and  reported  ill. 

8  In  this  attack  a  part  of  the  Ninth  New  York  (Hawkins's  Zouaves),  led  by  Major  E.  A.  Kim- 
ball,  made  a  gallant  charge  across  a  narrow  causeway  and  drove  the  garrison  from  the  redoubt. 
These,  and  portions  of  the  Fifty-first  New  York  and  Twenty-first  Massachusetts,  entered  the 
works  at  about  the  same  time,  and  the  colors  of  the  Fifty-first  were  first  planted  on  the  battery. 

4  The  National  loss  incurred  in  the  capture  of  Roanoke  Island  was  about  50  killed  and  222 
wounded.     That  of  the  Confederates  was  143  killed,  wounded,  and  missing.     The  spoils  of  vic 
tory  were  forty-two  heavy  guns,  three  being  ]  00-pounders. 

5  The  disaster  spread  consternation  throughout  the  Confederacy.     Davis,  in  a  communication 
to  his  "congress,"  casts  reflections  upon  the  Confederate  troops  engaged  in  the  fight,  but  a  com 
mittee  of  that  body  charged  the  loss  of  the  island  to  the  remissness  of  Benjamin,  the  "Secretary 
of  War." 


1862.] 


LINCOLN'S    ADMINISTRATION. 


591 


observe  the  course  of  military  events  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi.  There 
we  left  Fremont's  dispirited  army  marching  toward  St.  Louis,1  Southern  and 
Western  Kentucky  in  the  hands  of  the  Confederates,2  and  all  Tennessee  under 
the  heel  of  their  military  power. 

Late  in  1861,  the  Department  of  Missouri  was  enlarged,3  and  General  H. 
W.  Halleck,  who  had  been  called  from  California,  was  placed  in  command  of 
it,  and  General  Hunter  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  Department  of 
Kansas.4  General  Don  Carlos  Buell  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  Department  of 
the  Ohio,5  and  the  Department  of  New  Mexico  was  intrusted  to  Colonel  E.  R.  S. 
Canby.  Such  were  the  military  divisions  of  the  territory  west  of  the  Alleghany 
Mountains  at  the  close  of  1861,  when  Halleck,  with  his  head-quarters  at  St. 
Louis,  was  holding  the  secessionists  and  insurgents  in  check  with  a  vigorous 
hand.  General  Pope  was  assigned  to  all  the  National  troops  between  the 
Missouri  and  Osage  Rivers,  in  which  region  Price  had  been  gathering  recruits, 
after  Hunter's  retrograde  movement.6  Detachments  from  Pope's  army  smote 
these  banded  recruits  here  and  there ;  and  finally,  at  a  bridge  on  the  Black- 
water  Creek,  near  Milford,  Colonel  Jefferson  C.  Davis  fought  and  captured 
about  a  thousand  insurgents,7  and  secured  as  spoils  nearly  as  many  horses  and 
mules,  and  a  large  quantity  of  munitions  of  war.  By  vigorous  movements, 
Pope  swept  over  the  State  west  of  Sedalia,  toward  Kansas,  far  enough  to  foil 
the  attempt  of  organized  recruits  to  join  Price,  and  to  compel  that  leader  to 
withdraw,  in  search  of  subsistence  and  safety,  to  the  borders  of  Arkansas. 

Late  in  December,  Price,  encouraged  by  promises  of  re-enforcements  from 
Arkansas,  concentrated  about  twelve 
thousand  men  at  Springfield.  Against 
these  a  strong  force  under  General  S.  R. 
Curtis,  assisted  by  Generals  Asboth, 
Sigel,  Davis,  and  Prentiss,  moved  in 
three  columns  early  in  February.  Price 
fled  with  his  army  on  the  night  of  the 
12th  and  13th  of  that  month,  and  did 
not  halt  until  he  reached  a  good  position 
at  Cross  Hollows,  in  Northern  Arkansas. 
He  was  driven  a  little  farther  south  by 
the  advance  of  the  pursuing  Curtis,  and 
from  near  Pea  Ridge,  in  Arkansas,  he 
reported  to  Governor  Jackson  that  he 
was  "  confident  of  the  future."  With  s.  R.  CURTIS. 


Page  576.  2  Pageg  5^5  an(j  577. 

3  It  now  included  Missouri,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  Illinois,  Arkansas,  and  that  portion 
of  Kentucky  lying  west  of  the  Cumberland  River. 

4  This   included  the  State  of  Kansas,  the  Indian  Territory  west  of  Arkansas,  and  the  Terri 
tories  of  Nebraska,  Colorado,  and  Dakota. 

5  This  included  the  State  of  Ohio  and  the  portion  of  Kentucky  lying  eastward  of  the  Cumber 
land  River. 

6  Page  576. 

7  Among  the  captives  was  Colonel  Magoffin,  brother  of  the  Governor  of  Kentucky. 


592  THE     NATION.  [1862. 

equal  confidence  of  the  future,  Halleck  reported  that  he  had  purged  Mis 
souri  of  armed  insurgents,  and  that  the  flag  of  the  Republic  was  waving  in 
triumph  over  the  soil  of  Arkansas.  Curtis  had  crossed  the  line  on  the  18th  of 
February,  his  soldiers  cheering  with  delight  as  they  saw  the  old  banner  waving 
in  another  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States. 

Curtis  pushed  on  after  Price,  capturing  squads  of  Missouri  recruits,  skir 
mishing  with  the  rear-guard  of  the  fugitives  at  several  places,  and  finally  driv 
ing  the  whole  Confederate  force  over  the  range  of  hills  known  as  the  Boston 
Mountains.  Then  he  fell  back  to  Sugar  Creek,  not  far  from  Bentonville,  and 
encamped  in  a  strong  position.  Price,  meanwhile,  had  been  joined  by  McCul- 
loch  ;  and  early  in  March  Earl  Van  Dorn,  the  Confederate  commander  of  the 
Trans-Mississippi  Department,  and  one  of  the  most  dashing  and  energetic  offi 
cers  in  that  region,  arrived  at  his  camp  and  took  chief  command.  There,  too, 
he  was  joined  by  the  notorious  Albert  Pike  with  a  band  of  Indians,  trained  by 
him  for  savage  warfare,1  and  these  forces  combined,  almost  twenty-five  thousand 
strong,  prepared  to  fall  upon  Curtis  and  drive  him  out  of  Arkansas.  The  force 
of  the  latter  did  not  exceed  eleven  thousand  men,  with  forty-nine  pieces  of 
artillery. 

Van  Dorn  advanced  so  cautiously  that  Curtis  was  not  aware  of  his  approach 
until  he  was  very  near  [March  5],  when  the  latter  (Concentrated  his  forces  near 
Mottsville,  a  short  distance  from  Pea  Ridge,  a  spur  of  the  Ozark  Mountains. 
There,  on  the  morning  of  the  7th  of  March,  Van  Dorn,  who  was  assisted  by 
Generals  Price,  McCulloch,  Mclntosh,  and  Pike,  having  accomplished  a  flank 
movement,  in  which  a  part  of  his  force  had  a  sharp  contest  with  some  troops 
under  Sigel,  proceeded  to  attack  Curtis's  main  body  in  the  rear.  The  latter 
promptly  changed  front  to  meet  him,  and  took  the  initiative  of  battle.  The 
struggle  that  ensued  was  very  severe,  and  resulted  in  the  loss  to  the  Confede 
rates  of  Generals  McCulloch  and  Mclntosh,  who  were  mortally  wounded,  and 
many  brave  soldiers  on  both  sides.  The  battle  was  renewed  the  next  morning, 
when  the  Confederates  were  soon  routed,  and  Van  Dorn's  army  was  so  suddenly 
broken  into  fragments,  and  so  scattered  in  its  flight,  that  Curtis  was  puzzled  to 
know  which  way  to  pursue.  The  victory  for  the  Nationals  was  complete,  but 
the  spoils  were  few.2  Curtis  held  the  battle-field.  Van  Dorn  retired  behind 
the  mountains,  and  disappeared  on  the  borders  of  the  Indian  country.  At 
length  the  victor,  perceiving  no  formidable  foe  in  that  region,  moved  leisurely 
toward  the  Mississippi  River,  in  the  direction  of  Helena. 

1  Pike  was  a  native  of  Boston,  but  long  a  resident  in  the  Slave-labor  States.     He  was  com 
missioned  by  Governor  Rector  to  organize  the  most  savage  of  the  Indian  tribes  (Choctaws  and 
Chickasaws)  on  the  borders  of  Arkansas.     lie  raised  two  regiments,  was  commissioned  a  briga 
dier,  and  with  them  he  joined  the  army  of  the  conspirators.     He  dressed  himself  in  gaudy  cos 
tume,  and  wore  a  large  plume  on  his  head  to  please  the  Indians ;  and  before  the  battle  at  Pea 
Ridge,  it  is  said,  he  maddened  them  with  liquor,  that  they  might  allow  the  savage  nature  of  their 
race  to  have  unchecked  development.     In  their  fury  they  respected  none  of  the  usages  of  civi 
lized  warfare,  but  scalped  the  helpless  wounded,  and  committed  atrocities  too  horrible  to  men 
tion.     After  the  war  this  man  was  among  the  earliest  of  the  most  conspicuous  rebels,  who  was 
"pardoned  "  (as  relief  from  amenability  to  law  was  called)  without  trial  by  President  Johnston. 

2  Curtis  lost  1,351  killed,  wounded,  and  missing.     Van  Dorn  never  reported  his  loss  officially, 
but  estimated  it  at  about  600.     The  brunt  of  the  strife  fell  upon  the  division  of  Colonel  Carr, 
composed  chiefly  of  Iowa  and  Missouri  troops.     He  lost  701  men. 


1862.] 


LINCOLN'S    ADMINISTRATION. 


593 


While  these  events  were  occurring  in  Missouri  and  Arkansas,  Hunter  was 
busily  engaged  in  suppressing  rebellion  on  the  borders  of  Kansas,  and  war  was 
kindling  in  Canby's  Department  of  Texas.1  We  have  seen  how  Twiggs 
betrayed  his  army  in  the  latter  State  ;2  now  the  instruments  of  the  conspira 
tors  attempted  similar  measures  for  attaching  New  Mexico  to  the  Confederacy. 
Colonel  Loring,  a  North  Carolinian,  had  been  sent  there  for  the  purpose,  in 
1860,  by  Floyd,  the  traitorous  Secretary  of  War.3  He  was  made  commander 
of  the  Department  of  New  Mexico,  and  he  employed  Colonel  George  B.  Crit- 
tenden,  an  unworthy  son  of  Senator  Crittenden,  of  Kentucky,4  to  corrupt  the 
troops  in  that  region.  He  failed,  and  Loring  and  Crittenden  were  compelled 
to  flee  from  the  country  to  avoid  the  wrath  of  the  loyal  soldiery.  The  fugi 
tive  officers  found  those  of  a  garrison  on  the  frontiers  of  Texas  ready  to  aid 
them  in  their  treasonable  designs.  By  these  the  troops  were  led  out  from  the 
fort  and  betrayed  into  the  hands  of  Texas  insurgents,  when  it  was  believed 
New  Mexico  would  fall  an  easy  prey  to  the  Confederate  power.  Otero,  the 
delegate  of  that  Territory  in  Congress,  was  in  practical  complicity  with  the 
conspirators,  and  all  seemed  working  well  for  their  cause,  when  Canby5  arrived 
and  changed  the  aspect  of  affairs.  The  loyal  people  gathered  around  him. 
His  regular  troops,  New  Mexican  levies,  and  volunteers,  soon  made  a  respecta 
ble  force,  and  these  were  speedily  called  to  action,  for  Major  H.  H.  Sibley,  a 
Louisianian,  who  had  abandoned  his  flag,  invaded  the  Territory  at  the  middle 
of  February  with  2,300  Texans,  most  of  them  rough  "Rangers,"  when  Canby 
was  at  Fort  Craig,  on  the  Rio  Grande.  Near 
that  post  (at  Yalverde),  on  the  21st  of  Febru 
ary  [1862],  Canby  and  Sibley  had  a  battle. 
The  former,  defeated,  fled  to  Fort  Craig,  but 
the  latter,  alarmed  at  Canby's  developed 
strength,  instead  of  following,  hurried  toward 
Santa  Fe,  the  capital  of  the  Territory.  Can- 
by  followed.  Sibley  captured  but  could  not 
hold  Santa  Fe,  and  he  was  soon  driven  over 
the  mountains  into  Texas.  The  area  of  the 
active  rebellion  now  extended  from  Maryland 
to  New  Mexico,  and  was  everywhere  marked 
by  vigor  and  terrible  malevolence. 

Let  us  now  see  what  was  further  done  to 
ward  the  execution  of  Fremont's  plan  for 
crushing  the  rebellion  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.6 

We  have  observed  how  the  Confederates  obtained  a  foothold  in  Southern 
and  Western  Kentucky.7  Under  the  shadow  of  military  power  there,  a  con 
vention  of  secessionists  was  held  [November  18,  1861],  at  which,  with  ludicrous 
gravity,  a  declaration  of  independence  and  an  ordinance  of  secession  were 
adopted,  a  provisional  government  was  organized,  and  delegates  were  chosen 


TEXAS   RANGER. 


1   Page  591. 
6  Page  591. 


2  Note  3,  page  551. 


6  Page  576. 
38 


Page  549. 


4  Note  1,  page  549. 
7  Pages  575  and  576. 


594  THE     NATION.  [1862. 

to  the  "Congress"  of  conspirators1  at  Richmond  [Nov.  20,  1861].  Bowling 
Green,  where  Buckner  had  made  his  head-quarters,2  and  where  Albert  Sidney 
Johnston,  an  able  officer,  who  had  abandoned  his  flag,  was  now  in  chief  com 
mand,  was  made  the  capital  of  the  new  State.  Meanwhile  Johnston  was  con 
centrating  troops  there,  and  General  Hardee  was  called  from  Southwestern 
Missouri  to  supersede  Buckner.  The  position  of  Polk,  at  Columbus,3  was 
strengthened.  Zollicoffer4  was  firmly  planted  at  the  important  Pass  of  Cum 
berland  Gap — a  passage-way  between  Kentucky  and  East  Tennessee — and  for 
tified  posts  were  established  between  the  extremes  of  the  army,  the  most 
important  of  which  were  Fort  Donelson,  on  the  Cumberland  River,  and  Fort 
Henry,  on  the  Tennessee  River. 

In  the  mean  time  General  Buell  had  organized  a  large  force  at  Louisville.5 
These  were  thrown  forward  along  the  line  of  railway  toward  Bowling  Green, 
40,000  strong,  under  General  A.  McD.  McCook,  and  pushed  the  Confederate 
outposts  beyond  the  Green  River.  -In  the  mean  time  stirring  events  had 
occurred  in  Eastern  Kentucky,  where,  near  Prestonburg,  on  the  Big  Sandy, 
General  Garfield  fought  [January  7,  1862]  insurgents  under  Humphrey  Mar 
shall,  and  scattering  them  put  an  end  to  the  military  career  of  the  latter  leader. 
Farther  westward  a  severe  battle  was  fought  [January  19],  near  Mill  Spring, 
on  the  Cumberland  River,  between  the  Nationals,  under  General  George  H. 
Thomas,  and  Confederates  led  by  Generals  Zollicoffer  and  Crittenden.6  In  this 
engagement  Thomas  was  victorious.  Zollicoffer  was  killed,7  and  the  Confede 
rates  fled  into  Northeastern  Tennessee  through  a  country  almost  barren  of  sub 
sistence.  The  battle  was  fought  desperately  by  both  parties,  for  victory  was 
specially  desirable  to  both.  It  proved  to  be  a  great  advantage  to  the  winner, 
and  disastrous  to  the  cause  of  the  loser,  for  it  broke  the  Confederate  line  in 
Kentucky,8  opened  a  door  of  deliverance  for  the  East  Tennesseeans,  and  pre 
pared  the  way  for  a  series  of  successful  operations  by  which,  very  soon  after 
ward,  the  invaders  were  driven  from  both  States.  By  order  of  the  President, 
the  Secretary  of  War  said,  in  a  public  thanksgiving  to  the  oificers,  "  In  the 
prompt  and  spirited  movements  and  daring  at  Mill  Spring,  the  nation  will 
realize  its  hopes." 

1  George  W.  Johnson  was  chosen  provisional  governor,  with  a  legislative  council  of  ten,  a 
treasurer,  and  an  auditor.     The  farce  of  representing  Kentucky  in  the  Confederate  Congress,  now 
commenced,  was  kept  up  during  the  entire  war.     The  people  had  no  voice  in  their  appointment, 
and  of  such  usurpers  a  greater  portion  of  the  so-called  "  Confederate  Congress  "  was  continually 
composed. 

2  Page  576.  3  Page  575.  4  Page  577. 

5  General  Buell  had  under  his  command,  early  in  January,  1862,  about  114,000  men,  chiefly 
citizens  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  Pennsylvania,  and  loyalists  of 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  with  about  126  pieces  of  artillery.  This  force  was  arranged  in  four 
grand  divisions,  commanded  respectively  by  Brigadier-Generals  Alexander  McDowell  McCook, 
Ormsby  M.  Mitchel,  George  II.  Thomas,  and  Thomas  L.  Crittenden,  acting  as  major-generals, 
aided  by  twenty  brigade  commanders.  These  divisions  occupied  an  irregular  line  across  the  State, 
nearly  parallel  to  that  held  by  the  Confederates. 

c  This  was  the  Crittenden  employed  to  corrupt  the  army  in  New  Mexico.     See  page  593. 

7  Thomas  lost  247  men  killed  and  wounded.     The  Confederate  loss  was  349,  of  whom  89 
were  prisoners.     The  spoils  of  victory  for  Thomas  were  considerable,  including  twelve  pieces  of 
artillery,  many  small  arms,  and  more  than  a  thousand  horses  and  mules. 

8  Page  577.. 


1862.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  595 

It  was  now  determined  to  concentrate  the  forces  of  Halleck  and  Buell  in  a 
grand  forward  movement  against  the  main  bodies  and  fortifications  of  the  Con 
federates.  Thomas's  victory  at  Mill 
Spring  had  so  paralyzed  that  line  east 
ward  of  Bowling  Green,  that  it  was 
practically  shortened  at  least  one-half, 
and  the  bulk  of  the  Confederates  and 
their  chief  fortifications  were  between 
Nashville  and  Bowling  Green,  and  the 
Mississippi  River.  During  the  autumn 
and  early  winter  a  naval  armament,  pro 
jected  by  Fremont  for  service  on  that 
river,  had  been  in  preparation  at  St. 
Louis  and  Cairo,  for  co-operation  with 
the  western  armies,  and  at  the  close 
of  January  [18621  it  consisted  of  twelve 

,  .  H.    W.    HALLECK. 

gun-boats,    carrying    one   hundred    and 

twenty-six  heavy  cannon,  and  some  lighter  guns,  the  whole  commanded  by 
flag-officer  A.  H.  Foote,  of  the  National  navy.  Seven  of  these  were  covered 
with  plates  of  iron,  and  were  built  wide,  so  that,  on  the  still  waters  of  the 
rivers,  when  attacking  fortifications,  their  guns  might  have  almost  the  steadi 
ness  of  those  in  land  batteries. 

Some  movements  preliminary  to  the  grand  advance  puzzled  the  Confede 
rates  and  perplexed  loyal  spectators.  There  were  reconnoissances  down  both 
sides  of  the  Mississippi  River  from  Cairo,  and  Thomas  feigned  a  march  in  force 
into  East  Tennessee.  Meanwhile  an  expedition  against  Forts  Henry  and  Don- 
elson1  had  been  arranged.  Halleck's  troops,  destined  for  the  enterprise,  were 
placed  under  the  chief  command  of  General  U.  S.  Grant.  Foote  was  sum 
moned  to  the  Tennessee  River  with  his  flotilla  of  gun-boats,  and  at  dawn  on 
the  3d  of  February,  1862,  he  was  up  that  stream  a  few  miles  below  Fort 
Henry,  and  Grant's  army  was  landing  from  transports  near.  At  noon  on  the 
6th  the  flotilla  opened  its  guns  on  the  fort.  The  army  was  then  in  motion  to 
co-operate,  but  before  it  could  reach  the  scene  of  action  the  post  was  in  pos 
session  of  Foote,  by  surrender.  The  Confederate  troops  outside  of  the  fort, 
panic-stricken,  fled  without  firing  a  gun.  The  Commander  (General  Tilghman), 
and  less  than  one  hundred  artillerists,  had  made  a  gallant  defense,  but  were 
compelled  to  yield.  This,  and  Fort  Hieman,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river, 
with  all  their  armament,  became  spoils  of  victory2 — a  victory  most  important 
in  its  immediate  and  more  remote  effects.  It  not  only  gave  a  formidable  post 
into  the  possession  of  the  Nationals,  but  it  proved  the  efficiency  of  gun-boats 
on  the  narrow  rivers  of  the  West.  The  National  troops  were  now  firmly 
planted  in  the  rear  of  Columbus,  and  there  was  nothing  left  to  obstruct  the 

1  Page  594. 

9  The  National  loss  was  2  killed  and  38  wounded.  Of  the  latter,  29  of  them  were  wounded 
and  scalded  on  board  the  gun-boat  Essex.  Captain  W.  D.  Porter,  whose  boiler  was  exploded  by  a 
shot  that  entered  it.  The  Confederate  loss  was  five  killed  and  ten  wounded. 


59G 


THE     NATION. 


[1862. 


passage  of  gun-boats  up  the  Tennessee  to  the  fertile  regions  of  Northern  Ala 
bama,  and  carrying  the  flag  of  the  Republic  far  toward  the  heart  of  the  Con 
federacy. 

The  fall  of  Fort  Henry  was  followed  by  immediate  preparations  for  an 
attack  on  Fort  Donelson,  a  formidable  work  among  the  hills  near  the  village 
of  Dover,  the  capital  of  Stewart  County,  on  the  Cumberland  River.  The  object 
was  to  reduce  that  stronghold,  and  then  sweep  over  Tennessee  with  a  large 
force  into  Northern  Alabama.  Foote  had  hurried  back  to  Cairo  to  bring  up 
his  mortar-boats  for  the  new  enterprise,  and  Grant  was  equally  active  in  pre- 


VIEW    AT    FORT   DONELSON.1 


paring  soldiers  for  the  work.  He  reorganized  his  army  into  three  divisions, 
commanded  respectively  by  Generals  John  A.  McClernand,  C.  F.  Smith,  and 
Lewis  Wallace,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  12th  [February,  1862]  the  divisions 
of  the  first  two,  which  had  moved  from  Fort  Henry  that  morning,  invested 
Fort  Donelson,  which  was  then  in  command  of  ex-Secretary  Floyd,2  assisted 
by  Generals  Pillow3  and  Buckner.4  Early  the  next  morning  picket-skirmishing 
speedily  developed  into  a  general  battle  between  the  investing  troops  and  the 


1  This  is  a  view  sketched  by  the  author  in  May,  1866,  from  the  river-bank  within  the  fort, 
overlooking  the  mounds  of  the  water-batteries  below,  and  down  the  river  to  the  place  where 
Foote's  gun-boats  lay,  here  indicated  by  the  little  steamboat  in  the  distance. 

2  Pages  649  and  574.  3  Page  566.  *  Page  565. 


1862.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  597 

garrison,1  in  which  the  former  were  beaten  and  fell  back,*  determined  to  wait 
for  the  arrival  of  Foote's  flotilla,  with  which  was  coming  a  portion  of  Wallace's 
division.  Wallace  (who  had  been  left  at  Fort  Henry)  was  summoned  to  Fort 
Donelson  by  Grant,  and  at  noon  the  next  day  he  reported  his  whole  division  as 
on  the  field  and  ready  for  action.  Meanwhile  Foote's  flotilla  had  arrived,  but 
without  the  mortar-boats,  and  during  the  afternoon  of  the  14th  it  fought  the 
water-batteries  and  guns  from  others  bearing  on  the  river  with  great  gallantry, 
until  the  vessels  were  so  much  injured  that  they  were  withdrawn.3 

The  night  of  the  14th  was  one  of  anxiety  in  both  camps.  Foote  hastened 
back  to  Cairo  to  have  damages  repaired  and  to  bring  up  his  mortar-boats,  and 
Grant  determined  to  wait  for  his  return.  The  Confederates  in  the  fort  held  a 
council  of  war,  and  resolved  to  make  a  sortie  the  next  morning  to  rout  or 
destroy  the  investing  army,  or  to  cut  through  it  and  escape  to  the  open  coun 
try  in  the  direction  of  Nashville.  The  troops  selected  for  this  desperate 
measure,  about  ten  thousand  in  number,  were  placed  under  Pillow  and  Buckner. 
Those  led  by  the  former  were  to  strike  McClernand  on  the  right  of  the  Na 
tional  line,  while  Buckner  should  fall  upon  Wallace's  division  in  the  center. 
The  movement  was  attempted.  McClernand,  sore 
pressed,  called  upon  Wallace  for  aid.  It  was 
promptly  given,  and,  after  a  desperate  and  gallant 
fight  by  all,  the  Confederates  were  driven  back  to 
their  trenches.  "  I  speak  advisedly,"  wrote  Hill- 
yer,  Grant's  aid-de-camp,  to  Wallace,  the  next 
day,  with  a  pencil  on  a  slip  of  paper,  "  God  bless 
you!  You  did  save  the  day  on  the  right." 
Meanwhile,  Smith  had  been  vigorously  and  suc 
cessfully  striking  the  right  of  the  Confederates, 
and  when  darkness  fell  at  evening  the  National 
troops  were  victorious,  the  vanquished  garrison 
were  imprisoned  within  the  lines,  and  their  leaders 

'  IjEWIS    TV^ALLACE. 

were  busied  with  endeavors  to  solve  the  important 

question,  How  shall  we  escape  ?  In  a  midnight  conference,  when  it  was  found 
that  they  must  surrender,  Floyd  and  Pillow  exhibited  the  greatest  cowardice. 
Only  Buckner  acted  like  a  man.  The  other  two  fled  from  the  fort,4  and  left 
the  latter  to  surrender  it  the  next  morning  [February  16,  1862]. 

1  The  Caronddet,  Captain  "Walke,  of  Foote's  flotilla,  had  gallantly  contended  with  the  water- 
ba^tteries  of  the  Fort. 

2  There  had  been  a  great  change  in  the  weather,  and  the  troops,  not  prepared  for  it,  suffered 
terribly  from  intense  cold,  and  a  lack  of  clothing  and  tents.     A  little  suow  had  fallen,  and  insuf 
ficient  food  and  shelter  made  their  sufferings  most  severe. 

3  Never  was  a  little  squadron  exposed  to  a  more  severe  fire.     Twenty  heavy  guns  were 
trained  upon  it,  those  from  the  hillsides,  on  which  the  mam  works  of  the  fort  lay,  hurling  plung 
ing  shot  with  awful  precision  and  effect,  when  only  twelve  guns  could  reply.     The  four  armored 
vessels  in  the   fight  (St.  Louis,  the  flag-ship,  Carondelet,  Pittsburg,  and  Louisville)  received  in  the 
aggregate  no  less  than  141  wounds  from  the  Confederate  shot  and  shell,  and  lost  54  men  killed 
and  maimed. 

4  The  council  of  war  was  held  at  Pillow's  head-quarters,  in  Dover.     Between  Floyd  and  Pillow 
there  were  criminations  and  recriminations,  and  each,  fearing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Na 
tionals,  seemed  to  think  of  little  else  than  his  personal  safety.     AVhen  it  was  decided  that  they 


598  THE     NATION.  [1862. 

That  was  a  happy  Sabbath  for  the  Union  troops.  They  had  won  a  most 
important  victory  for  the  National  cause.1  Intelligence  of  it  filled  the  con 
spirators  with  despair,  and  from  that  time  no  European  court  entertained 
serious  thoughts  of  acknowledging  the  independence  of  the  Confederate  States, 
or  recognizing  them  as  a  nation.2  The  victory  produced  great  joy  among  the 
loyal  people  of  the  Republic.  They  and  the  government  were  satisfied  that  a 
withering  blow  had  been  given  to  the  rebellion,  and  that  henceforth  its  propor 
tions  would  be  less,  and  its  malignity  not  so  dangerous  to  the  life  of  the 
Republic.3  When  Fort  Donelson  fell,  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  and  all  of 
Northern  and*  Mid  die  Tennessee,  were  lost  to  the  Confederates,  and  the  more 
southern  States,  whose  inhabitants  expected  to  have  the  battles  for  their 
defense  fought  in  the  border  Slave-labor  States,  were  exposed  to  the  inroads 
of  the  National  armies. 

Johnston  now  clearly  perceived  that  Bowling  Green4  and  Columbus5  were 
both  untenable,  and  that  the  salvation  of  the  Confederate  troops  at  those 
places  required  their  immediate  evacuation.  He  issued  orders  accordingly. 
The  troops  at  Bowling  Green  marched  in  haste  to  Nashville,  followed  by 
Buell,  and  at  the  same  time  National  gun-boats  moved  up  the  Cumberland  to 
Clarksville,  to  co-operate  with  the  land  troops  from  Fort  Donelson,  under 


would  be  compelled  to  surrender,  Floyd  quickly  said;  "Gentlemen,  I  cannot  surrender;  you 
know  my  position  with  the  Federals  [his  treasonable  acts  while  in  Buchanan's  cabinet] :  it 
wouldn't  do,  it  wouldn't  do."  Pillow,  whose  vanity  made  him  over-estimate  his  importance,  took 
a  similar  stand,  and  when  Floyd  offered  to  resign  the  command  to  him,  he  quickly  replied:  "I 
will  not  accept  it — T  will  never  surrender  myself  or  my  command."  While  speaking,  he  turned 
toward  Buckner,  who  said:  "I  will  accept,  and  share  the  fate  of  my  command."  Floyd  and 
Pillow  both  stole  away  from  the  fort  during  the  night,  and  saved  themselves ;  and  an  epigram 
matist  of  the  day  wrote  concerning  the  former's  infamous  desertion  of  his  troops,  saying: — 

"The  thief  is  a  coward  by  Nature's  law  ; 

Who  betrays  the  State,  to  no  one  is  true  ; 
And  the  brave  foe  at  Fort  Donelson  saw 
Their  light-fingered  Floyd  was  light-footed  too." 

1  Buckner  sent  a  flag  of  truce  to  ask  upon  what  terms  Grant  would  accept  the  surrender  of 
the  troops  and  post.     Regarding  them  simply  as  rebels,  Grant  replied :   "  No  terms  other  than  an 
unconditional  surrender  can  be  accepted.     I  propose  to  move  immediately  upon  your  works." 
Buckner  made  a  foolish  reply,  saying  that  he  should  feel  impelled,  notwithstanding  "the  brilliant 
success  of  the  Confederate  arms  "  the  day  before,  "to  accept  the  ungenerous  and  unchivalrous 
terms"   proposed.     This  was  followed  by  the  speedy  surrender  of  the  fort,  with  13,500  men 
(including  the  sick  and  wounded)  as  prisoners  of  war,  with  3,000  horses,  48  field  pieces,  17  heavy 
guns,  20,000  muskets,  and  a  great  quantity  of  military  stores.     The  National  loss  was  estimated 
at  446  killed,  1,745  wounded,  and  150  prisoners. 

2  The  rfiief  conspirators  at  Richmond  received  the  intelligence  with  emotions  of  mingled 
dismay  and  anger.     Following  so  close  upon  the  fall  of  Roanoke   Island  (page   590),  it  greatly 
perplexed  them.       Notwithstanding  Johnston    tried  to  excuse  the  cowardice   and  perfidy    of 
Pillow  and  Floyd,  Davis  ordered  them  to  be  suspended  from  command. 

3  At  Fort  Donelson  was  successfully  begun  that  system  of  army  mail  service  devised  by  Colonel 
(afterward  General)  A.  II.  Markland,  which  was  one  of  the  wonders  and  among  the  most  salutary 
measures  of  the  war.     "Within  one  hour  after  the  troops  began  to  march  into  Fort  Donelson," 
General  Grant  wrote  to  the  author,  in  July,  1866,  "the  mail  was  being  distributed  to  them  from 
the  mail-wagons."     Under  the  direction  of  Colonel  Markland,  this  service  was  continued  through 
out  the  war.  linking  the  army  with  home,  and  keeping  off  that  terrible  home-sickness  which  so 
often  prostrates  the  volunteer  soldier,  physically  and  morally.     For  months  an  average  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  military  letters  were  received  at  and  sent  from  the  post-office  at  the 
National  capital,  daily. 

4  Page  576.  5  Page  575. 


1862.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


599 


General  Smith,  in  movements  against  Nashville.  Meanwhile,  the  panic  in  the 
latter  place  became  fearful.  The  terrified  Governor  (Harris)  fled,  Johnston's 
army  passed  farther  southward,  and  on  the  26th  of  February  Nashville  was 
formally  surrendered  by  the  civil  authorities  and  the  National  troops  took 
possession.1  Provision  was  at  once  made  at  Washington  City  for  civil  gov 
ernment  in  Tennessee,  and  Andrew  Johnson  was  appointed  Provisional 
Governor,  with  the  military  rank  of  Brigadier-General.  He  entered  upon  the 
duties  of  his  office  on  the  4th  of  March,  1862,  with  the  avowal  that  he  should 
see  to  it  that  "intelligent  and  conscious  treason  in  high  places"  should  be 
punished. 

Another  bloodless  victory  soon  followed  the  evacuation  of  Nashville.  It 
was  the  taking  possession  by  National  troops,  without  opposition,  of  Colum 
bus.  Beauregard  was  then  in  command  of  the  Department  of  Mississippi,  and 
out-ranked  Polk.  The  former,  obedient  to  instructions  from  Richmond, 
ordered  the  latter  to  transfer  his  command,  and  as  much  of  the  munitions  of 
war  as  possible,  from  Columbus  to  a  safer  place,  when  Polk  went  to  New 
Madrid,  Madrid  Bend,  and  Island  Number  Ten,  there  to  prepare  for  defense. 


ISLAND   NUMBER   TEN. 

Meanwhile  Foote  had  moved  down  the  Mississippi  with  a  flotilla  of  gun-boats 
and  transports,  the  latter  bearing  about  two  thousand  men  under  General 
W.  T.  Sherman,  and  when  they  approached  Columbus  [March  4,  1862]  they 
saw  the  National  flag  waving  over  its  fortifications,  having  been  planted  there 
the  evening  before  by  a  scouting  party  of  Illinois  troops,  from  Paducah.  A 
garrison  was  left  to  hold  the  post,  and  Foote  returned  to  Cairo  to  prepare  for 
a  siege  of  the  new  position  of  the  Confederates,  which  the  latter  hoped  to 
make  impregnable. 

New  Madrid,  at  a  great  bend  in  the  river,  with  Island  Number  Ten,  a  few 

1  Floyd  and  Pillow,  who  fled  from  Fort  Donelson,  were  in  command  at  Nashville,  the  order 
for  their  suspension  not  having  yet  reached  head-quarters.  As  the  Nationals  approached  they 
were  again  overcome  with  terror,  when  they  fired  the  bridges  over  the  Cumberland  at  Nashville, 
in  defiance  of  the  protests  of  the  citizens,  and  scampered  away  southward  by  the  light  of  the 
conflagration,  leaving  the  more  courageous  Forrest  with  his  cavalry  to  cover  their  inglorious 
flight.  Floyd  died  miserably  not  long  afterward,  and  Pillow  sunk  into  merited  obscurity. 


£00  THE     NATION.  [1862. 

miles  above,  was  a  thousand  miles,  by  the  current,  from  New  Orleans,  yet  it 
was  now  regarded  as  the  key  to  the  Lower  Mississippi.  Its  importance  was  per 
ceived  by  both  parties.  General  McCown  was  placed  in  command  there,  and 
General  Beauregard  commanded  in  person  at  first  on  Island  Number  Ten.1 
They  were  there  just  in  time  to  prevent  the  occupation  of  these  places  by  the 
Nationals,  for  while  Johnston  was  flying  southward  from  Bowling  Green,  Gene 
ral  Pope,  dispatched  from  St.  Louis  [February  22]  by  General  Halleck,  was  press 
ing  toward  New  Madrid  with  Ohio  and  Illinois  troops.  He  appeared  before  that 
post  on  the  3d  of  March,  and  found  it  occupied  by  McCown,  supported  by  a 
Confederate  flotilla  of  gun-boats  under  Captain  Hollins.2  He  sent  to  Bird's 
Point3  for  siege-guns,  and  on  the  13th  [March,  1862]  he  opened  a  heavy  fire  on  the 
Confederate  works  and  Hollins's  gun-boats.  That  night,  during  a  violent 
thunder-storm,  the  Confederates  evacuated  New  Madrid  and  retired  to  Island 
Number  Ten,  with  a  loss  unknown.  Pope  lost  fifty-one  killed  and  wounded. 

Island  Number  Ten  now  became  the  chief  objective  of  attack  and  defense. 
Beauregard  had  thoroughly  fortified  it.  Pope  desired  to  cross  the  Mississippi 
at  New  Madrid  with  his  troops,  and  to  march  over  Madrid  Bend  and  attack 
the  post,  while  Foote  should  assail  it  from  the  river.  He  begged  the  latter  to 
allow  gun-boats  to  run  by  and  come  to  his  aid,  but  Foote  thought  it  too  peri 
lous  to  do  so,  and  while  the  navy  was  pounding  jaway  at  the  defenses  of  the 
Island,4  Pope  was  chafing  with  impatience  to  do  something  to  help  the 
besiegers.  At  length  he  caused  the  execution  of  a  plan  suggested  by  General 
Schuyler  Hamilton  for  flanking  the  Island.  This  was  the  cutting  of  a  canal 
through  a  swamp,  from  the  river  above  the  Island  to  a  bayou  that  flows  into 
the  Mississippi  at  New  Madrid,  below  ,the  Island.5  Through  this  transports 
and  gun-boats  might  pass.  Perceiving  this,  and  the  peril  threatened  by  it, 
the  Confederates  sunk  steamers  in  the  river  to  prevent  the  passage  of  vessels, 
and  endeavored  to  flee  from  the  Island.  They  were  intercepted  and  captured 
by  Pope's  troops  under  Stanly,  Hamilton,  and  Paine ;  and  Island  Number  Ten, 
with  its  batteries  and  supports,  and  over  7,000  prisoners,  became  the  spoils  of 
victory  for  Pope  and  Foote.6  This  was  another  severe  blow  to  the  Confede- 

1  At  about  tins  time  Beauregard  sent  out  a  proclamation  to  the  planters  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  calling  upon  them  to  consecrate  to  the  use  of  the   Confederacy  their  church,  plantation, 
and  other  bells,  to  be  converted  into  cannon.     There  was  a  liberal  response  to  the  appeal,  and  the 
contributions  were  all  sent  to  New  Orleans.     There  they  were  found  by  General  Butler,  who 
sent  them  to  Boston,  where  they  were  sold  by  auction  and  devoted  to  peaceful  uses. 

2  Page  582.  3  Page  560. 

4  Foote  began  the  siege  on  Sunday  morning,  the  16th  of  March,  and  opened  upon  the  Confede 
rate  works  heavy  shells  from  rifled  guns  and  thirteen-inch  mortars.  "Island  Number  Ten," 
wrote  Foote  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  on  the  19th  of  March,  "  is  harder  to  conquer  than  Colum 
bus,  as  the  island  shores  are  lined  with  forts,  each  fort  commanding  the  one  about  it." 

6  This  canal  was  twelve  miles  in  length,  and  was  cut  in  the  space  of  nineteen  daj^s,  half  the 
distance  through  a  growth  of  heavy  timber.  The  width  of  the  canal  through  this  timber  was 
fifty  feet,  and  in  some  places  the  trees  were  sawed  off  four  feet  under  water.  It  was  a  wonderful 
monument  to  the  engineering  skill  and  indomitable  perseverance  of  the  Americans.  On  the  night 
before  its  completion  [April  3j,  Pope's  wishes  concerning  the  aid  of  gun-boats  were  partially 
gratified.  The  gallant  Commander  Walke  performed  the  perilous  feat  of  running  by  the  batteries 
with  the  Carondelet,  at  midnight,  during  a  heavy  thunder-storm.  This,  with  steamers  that  came 
through  the  canal,  enabled  Pope  to  operate  on  the  river  below  New  Madrid,  in  connection  with 
Foote. 

8  The  number  of  prisoners  taken  by  Foote  and  Pope  together   was  7.273,  including-  three 


1862.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION 


601 


rates,  from  which  they  never  recovered.  They  almost  despaired.  It  seemed 
probable  that  Memphis,  one  of  their  strongholds  on  the  Mississippi,  where 
they  had  immense  workshops  and  armories,  would  soon  share  the  fate  of  Co 
lumbus,  and  that  the  great  river  would  be  patroled  by  National  gun-boats 
from  Cairo  to  New  Orleans,  and  the  rich  trans-Mississippi  country  be  separated 
from  the  rest  of  the  Confederacy.  Panic  prevailed  all  the  way  down  to  the 
Gulf,  for  already,  as  we  have  seen,  Curtis  had  broken  the  power  of  the  Con 
federates  in  Arkansas,1  and  a  heavy  force  was  making  its  way  up  the  Tennes 
see  River,  in  the  direction  of  Alabama. 

Grant  newly  organized  his  forces  after  the  capture  of  Fort  Donelson,  and 
made  vigorous  preparations  for  ascending  the  Tennessee  from  Fort  Henry, 
where  General  Wallace  was  in  command,  and  where  head-quarters  were  tem 
porarily  established.  Immediately 
after  the  fall  of  Fort  Henry2  Grant 
had  sent  three  gun-boats  up  the  Ten 
nessee,  under  Lieutenant-Commander 
Phelps,  who  penetrated  the  country 
as  far  as  Florence,  in  Alabama. 
Phelps  reported  the  existence  of  much 
loyal  feeling  in  that  region,  and  this 
made  the  Unionists  anxious  to  push 
on  and  occupy  the  country.  That 
movement  was  now  attempted. 
Corinth,  on  the' Memphis  and  Charles 
ton  railway,  was  the  grand  objective, 
the  possession  of  which,  Avith  the  rail 
ways  running  east  and  west,  and 
north  and  south,  and  intersecting 
there,  would  give  immense  power  to  the  army.  Troops  in  large  number  were 
sent  up  the  Tennessee  in  transports  to  Savannah  and  its  vicinity,  and  some, 
under  General  Sherman,  went  much  farther  up  the  river.  Finally,  at  the 
beginning  of  April  [1862],  the  main  body  of  Grant's  army  was  encamped 
between  Pittsburg  Landing  and  Shiloh  Meeting-House*  eighteen  or  twenty 
miles  from  Corinth.  At  the  latter  place  Beauregard  had  been  for  some  time 
gathering  an  opposing  force,  and  at  the  period  in  question  General  A.  S.  John 
ston  was  there,  and  in  chief  command. 

While  this  movement  up  the  Tennessee  was  occurring,  General  Buell's  army 
was  slowly  making  preparations  to  march  southward,  overland,  and  join  Grant's 
at  Savannah.  He  left  Nashville  late  in  March,  leaving  General  Negley  in  com 
mand  there.  A  part  of  his  force,  under  the  energetic  General  Mitchel,  pushed 
rapidly  southward,  captured  Huntsville  [April  11],  on  the  Memphis  and 
Charleston  railway,  and  secured  control  of  that  road  for  a  hundred  miles, 

generals  and  273  field  and  company  officers.     The  spoils  of  victory  were  nearly  20  batteries,  with 
123  cannon  and  mortars,  the  former  ranging  from  32  to  100-pounders;  7,000  small  arms;   many 
hundred  horses  and  mules;  an  immense  amount  of  ammunition,  and  four  steamers  afloat. 
1  Page  592.  2  Page  595. 


U.    S.    GRANT. 


OT  THS 

[TTFIVBRSITT] 


- 


THE     NATION  [1862. 

between  Tuscumbia  on  the  west  and  Stevenson  on  the  east.  Mitchel  had  thus 
placed  his  little  army  midway  between  Corinth  and  Nashville,  opened  commu 
nication  with  Buell,  and  controlled  the  navigation  of  the  Tennessee  for  more 
than  one  hundred  miles.  His  swift  marches  and  his  conquests  had  been  accom 
plished  without  the  loss  of  a  single  life.1 

Meanwhile  very  important  events  had  occurred  on  the  Tennessee  River.  The 
bulk  of  the  National  army,  under  Grant,  was  encamped,  as  we  have  observed, 
between  Pittsburg  Landing  and  Shiloh  Meeting-House.2  The  division  of  Gen 
eral  Lewis  Wallace  was  stationed  at  Crump's  Landing,  below,  to  watch  the 
movements  of  the  Confederates  west  of  the  Tennessee  in  that  region.  On 
the  memorable  Sunday  morning,  the  6th  of  April  [1862],  the  main  army,  lying 
near  the  river,  stretched  across  the  roads  leading  from  Corinth  to  Pittsburg 
and  Hamburg  Landings,  from  the  Snake  Creek  to  the  Lick  Creek.  It  was  com 
manded  by  Generals  Sherman,  McClernand,  Prentiss,  W.  H.  L.  Wallace,  and 
Hurlbut.  At  that  time  the  Confederate  forces  under  General  A.  S.  Johnston, 
led  by  Generals  Beauregard,  Polk,  Bragg,  Hardee,  and  Breckenridge,  as  prin 
cipal  commanders,  had  advanced  from  Corinth  to  a  point  within  four  miles  of 
the  National  camp,  without  being  discovered.  Almost  the  first  intimation 
given  of  their  near  approach  was  their  vigorous  attack,  early  on.  that  beautiful 
spring  morning,  first  upon  Sherman,  and  then  upon)  Prentiss,  on  his  left.  The 
columns  of  the  latter  were  broken  up,  and  the  general  and  a  larger  portion  of 
his  men  were  captured.  All  day  long  the  battle  raged.  Grant  had  come 
upon  the  field  early  from  his  head-quarters  below,  and  directed  the  storm  of 
conflict  on  the  part  of  the  Nationals  as  well  as  he  could,  but  night  found  his 
army  terribly  smitten  and  pushed  back  to  the  verge  of  the  Tennessee  River, 
then  full  to  the  brim  with  a  spring  flood,  and  Beauregard,  who  had  succeeded 
Johnston,  slain  on  the  field  that  day,  telegraphing  a  shout  of  victory  to 
his  employers  at  Richmond.3  One  more  blow,. vigorously  given,  might  have 
driven  the  Nationals  into  the  turbulent  waters,  or  caused  their  captivity.  A 
blow  was  given,  but  so  feebly,  on  account  of  prompt  and  effective  responses  by 
two  gun-boats  (Tyler  and  Lexingtoyi),  and  some  heavy  guns  hastily  placed  in 
battery,  that  the  Nationals  stood  firm.4 

1  In  a  stirring  address  to  his  troops,  Mitchel  said:   "You  have  struck  blow  after  blow  with 
a  rapidity  unparalleled.     Stevenson  fell,  sixty  miles  to  the  east  of  Huntsville.     Decatur  and  Tus 
cumbia  have  been  in  like  manner  seized,  and  are  now  occupied.     In  three  days  you  have  extended 
your  front  of  operations  more  than  one  hundred  miles,  and  your  morning  guns  at  Tuscumbia  may 
now  be  heard  by  your  comrades  on  the  battle-field  made  glorious  by  their  victory  before  Corinth." 
This  address  was  on  the  16th  of  April,  when  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  recorded  in  the  text  on  the 
next  page,  had  been  fought  and  won  by  the  Nationals. 

2  Page  601. 

3  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  dispatch,  dated  "Battle-field  of  Shiloh,  April  6,  1862:     We 
have  this  morning  attacked  the  enemy  in  a  strong  position  in  front  of  Pittsburg,  and  after  a  severe 
battle  of  ten  hours,  thanks  to  Almighty  God,  gained  a  complete  victory,  driving  the  enemy  from 
every  position.     The  loss  on  both  sides  is  heavy,   including  our  commander-in-chief,   General 
Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  who  fell  gallantly  leading  his  troops  into  the  thickest  of  the  fight." 

4  During  a  lull  in  the  battle,  .toward  evening,  three   light  earthworks  were  thrown  up,  in 
semicircular  form,  half  a  mile  back  from  the  river-bluff,  and  twenty-two  heavy  guns  were  mounted 
on  them.     The  gun-boats  had  been  brought  up  to  the  mouth  of  a  little  creek  that  traverses  a 
ravine  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  and  up  that  hollow  they  hurled  7 -inch  shells  and  64-pound  shot  in 
curves  that  caused  them  to  drop  into  the  midst  of  the  Confederates.     At  nine  o'clock  in  the 
evening  the  battle  ceased. 


1862.] 


LINCOLN'S    ADMINISTRATION. 


603 


Buell  had  been  'slowly  advancing  to  join  Grant.  His  vanguard  appeared 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Tennessee  toward  the  evening  of  the  day  of  battle. 
These  crossed ;  and  all  night  long  other  battalions  of  Buell's  army  were  com 
ing  up  the  river.  At  midnight  General  Lewis  Wallace,  who  had  been  ordered 
up  from  Crump's  Landing,  arrived  with  his  division.  Grant's  army  was  now 
safe.  The  fruits  of  victory  were  snatched  from  Beauregard.  Before  sunrise  next 
morning  Wallace  opened  the  contest  anew  on  the  Confederate  left,  where  Beau- 
regard  commanded  in  person.  Others  speedily  co-operated,  and  again  the  bat 
tle  became  general  along  the  whole  line.  The  Confederates  were  steadily 
pressed  back  by  a  superior  force,  all  the  while  fighting  most  gallantly.  They 
were  pushed  through  and  beyond  the  National  camps  seized  by  them  on  Sun 
day  morning.  Perceiving  that  all  was  lost,  they  fled,  in  the  midst  of  a  cold 
storm  of  rain  and  sleet,  to  the  heights  of  Monterey,  in  the  direction  of  Corinth, 
covered  by  a  strong  rear-guard  under  Breckenridge,1  and  there  encamped. 
They  had  lost  over  10,000 
men  in  battle,  and  full 
300  of  the  wounded  died 
during  that  terrible  re 
treat  of  nine  miles.2  Fif 
teen  thousand  of  the 
Nationals  were  killed, 
wounded,  and  prisoners, 
and  the  hospital  steamers 
that  went  down  the  Ten 
nessee  were  crowded  with 
the  sick  and  maimed. 
The  slain  troops  were 
speedily  buried,  the  dead 
horses  were  burned,  and 
every  sanitary  precaution  was  observed.  The  Confederates  were  not  pursued 
far  in  their  flight ;  and  both  parties,  one  on  the  battle-field  and  the  other  at 
Corinth,  prepared  for  a  renewal  of  the  struggle. 

Beauregard's  army  was  so  shattered,  that  he  sent  an  imploring  cry  from 
Corinth  to  Richmond  for  help.3  The  way  seemed  opened  for  his  immediate 
destruction,  and  Grant  was  anxious  to  walk  vigorously  in  it.  But  his  superior, 
General  Halleck,  who  now  came  from  St.  Louis  [April  12]  and  took  command 


BURNING   HORSES   ON   SHILOH   BATTLE-GROUND. 


1  His  force  was  about  12,000  men.     Beauregard  said  to  him,   "This  retreat  must  not  be  a 
rout.     You  must  hold  the  enemy  back,  if  it  requires  the  loss  of  your  last  man." 

2  An  eye-witness  wrote: — UI  passed  long  wagon-trains  tilled  with  wounded  and  dying  sol 
diers,   without  even  a  blanket  to  shield  them  from  the  driving  sleet  and  hail."     Beauregard 
reported  his  loss  at  1,728  killed,  8,012  wounded,  and  957  missing — total,  10.697      Grant  reported 
his  loss  1,735  killed,  7,882  wounded,  and  3, 956 'prisoners — total,"l3,573.     Subsequent  statements 
show  that  the  loss  on  each  side  was  about  15,000. 

3  He  said  he  could  not  then  muster  more  than  35,000  effective  men,  but  that  Earl  Van  Dorn 
[see  page  592]  might  join  him  in  a  few  days  with  15,000.     He  asked  for  re-enforcements,  and 
said; — "If  defeated  here  we  lose  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  probably  our  cause."     This  dis 
patch,  written  in  cipher,  General  Mitchel  intercepted  at  Huntsville,  when  he  seized  the  telegraph 
office  there. 


604 


THE     NATION.  [1362. 


of  the  victorious  army,  thought  otherwise,  and  the  impatient  troops  loitered 
near  Corinth  until  their  foe  had  fully  prepared  for  another  contest.  Twenty 
days  after  the  battle,  the  Grand  Army  of  Tennessee,  as  it  was  now  called, 
moved  [April  27]  nine  miles,  and  a  week  later  [May  3d]  it  moved  near  to 
Corinth,  making  vigorous  use  all  the  while  of  pick-ax  and  spade.  On  that 
day  troops  under  Generals  Paine  and  Palmer  pushed  on  to  Farmington,  east 
of  Corinth,  and  fought  and  conquered  Confederates  at  an  out-post  there,  but 
they  in  turn  were  driven  back  to  their  lines.  For  twenty-seven  days  longer 
the  Nationals  kept  digging  and  piling  the  earth,  in  a  siege  of  the  Confederates, 
who  were  every  day  growing  stronger,  and  continually  annoying  the  besiegers 
by  sorties.  Finally,  on  the  29th  of  May,  the  Confederates  were  expelled  from 
their  advanced  batteries,  and  Halleck  prepared  for  a  sanguinary  battle  the 
next  morning.  All  that  night  the  vigilant  ears  of  his  sentinels  heard  the  con 
tinuous  roar  of  moving  cars  at  Corinth,  and  their  lips  reported  to  their  chief. 

At  dawn  [May  30]  skirmishers  were  sent 
out,  but  no  foe  confronted  them.  Then 
the  earth  was  shaken  by  a  series  of  ex 
plosions,  and  dense  smoke  arose  from  the 
bosom  of  Corinth.  "  I  cannot  explain 
it,"  said  Halleck  to  an  inquiry  made  by 
Sherman,  when  told  to  "  advance  and 
feel  the  enemy."  There  was  no  enemy 
there  to  feel.  Beauregard  had  evacuated 
Corinth  during  the  night,  burned  and 
blew  up  what  he  could  not  carry  away, 
and  after  an  exciting  flight  before  pur 
suers  for  a  short  distance,  the  ridiculous 
boaster1  gathered  his  scattered  troops  at 

P.    G.    T.    BEAUBEOABD.  TuPel°»        """^         ^^       ^OUthwai'd        of 

Corinth,  and  there  left  them  (as  he  sup 
posed  temporarily)  in  charge  of  Bragg,  while  he  retired  to  Bladen  Springs,  in 
Alabama,  to  find  repose  and  health.'J  Halleck  took  possession  of  Corinth,  and 
shortly  afterward  he  was  called  to  Washington  City,  to  perform  the  duties  of 
General-in-Chief  of  all  the  armies  of  the  Republic. 

Meanwhile  there  had  been  stirring  events  on  the  shores  of  the  Mississippi. 
Soon  after  the  capture  of  New  Madrid  and  Island  Number  Ten,3  Commodore 
Foote  went  down  the  river  with  his  flotilla,  and  General  Pope's  army  on 


1  On  the  8th  of  May  Beauregard  issued  a  pompous  address  to  his  army,  then  composed  of  his 
own  and  the  forces  of  Yan  Dorn.  ''Shall  we  not  drive  back  to  Tennessee,"  he  said,  "the  pre 
sumptuous  mercenaries  collected  for  our  subjugation?  One  more  manly  effort,  and,  trusting  in 
God  and  the  justness  of  onr  cause,  we  shall  recover  more  than  we  lately  lost.  Let  the  sound  of 
our  victorious  guns  be  re-echoed  by  those  of  Yrrginia  on  the  historic  battle-field  at  Yorktown." 
On  that  day  the  Confederates  fled  from  Yorktown  before  McClellan's  troops. 

2  Jefferson  Davis,  whose  will  was  now  law,  took  this  occasion  to  get  rid  of  Beauregard,  and 
put  Bragg  in  permanent  command  of  the  army.  He  "passionately  declared."  said  the  Confede 
rate  General  Jordan,  that  Beauregard  should  not  be  reinstated,  "  though  all  the  world  should  urge 
him  to  the  measure." 

3  Page  599. 


1862.]  LINCOLN'S    ADMINISTRATION. 

transports,  to  attempt  the  capture  of  Memphis.  At  Fort  Pillow,  on  the  first 
Chickasaw  bluffs,  eighty  miles  above  Memphis  by  the  river,  the  expedition 
was  confronted  by  a  Confederate  flotilla  under  Hollins,1  and  three  thou 
sand  troops  under  M.  Jeff.  Thompson.2  The  post  was  besieged  by  Foote 
on  the  14th  of  April,  with  gun-boats  and  mortar-boats,  while  Pope's  troops 
obeyed  Halleck's  call  to  Shiloh.  The 
navy  was  left  to  do  the  work ;  but  there 
was  no  serious  fighting  until  the  10th  of 
May,  when  Hollins  attacked  the  flotilla.  A 
sharp  fight  ensued  between  the  armored 
vessels,  while  the  heavy  guns  of  the  fort 
assisted  Hollins,  but  he  was  repulsed; 
and  for  more  than  a  fortnight  afterward 
the  two  flotillas  lay  watching  each  other. 
Then  a  "  ram"  squadron  under  Colonel 
Charles  Ellet,  Jr.3  joined  the  National 
flotilla,  and  preparations  were  made  for 
another  battle,  when,  on  the  night  of  the 

A    MORTAR-BOAT. 

4th   of  June,   the    Confederates,  having 

heard  of  the  retreat  of  Beauregard  from  Corinth,  fled  from  Fort  Pillow,  fleet 
and  army,  as  fast  as  steam  could  carry  them,  and  took  position  for  the  defense 
of  Memphis.  Commodore  Davis  (Foote's  successor4)  followed,  and  in  a  very 
severe  engagement  with  the  Confederate  flotilla  in  front  of  Memphis  [June  6, 
1862]  was  victorious.  Thompson  and  his  troops  fled,  and  the  National  stand 
ard  was  soon  seen  floating  in  the  air  over  the  affrighted  town.  This  event 
was  soon  followed  by  the  entrance  and  occupation  of  the  city  by  troops  under 
General  Wallace,  fresh  from  the  successful  siege  of  Corinth. 

All  Kentucky,  Western  Tennessee,  and  Northern  Mississippi  and  Alabama, 
were  now  in  the  possession  of  the  National  authorities,  and  it  was  confidently 
expected  that  East  Tennessee  would  almost  immediately  be  in  the  same  posi 
tion.  When  Buell  joined  Mitchel,  after  the  close  of  the  siege  of  Corinth,  the 
latter  urged  his  superior  to  march  directly  into  and  occupy  that  region.  But 
Buell  would  not  consent,  and  various  efforts  which  Mitchel  had  made,  pre 
paratory  to  such  an  expedition,  were  rendered  ^almost  fruitless.  His  com 
manders  had  been  keeping  danger  from  his  rear  and  making  the  foe  on  his 
front  exceedingly  circumspect.  Negley,  Turchin,  Lytle,  and  others  had  been 
operating  in  the  region  of  the  railway  between  Decatur  and  Columbia ;  and  the 
first-named  had  climbed  over  the  mountains  northeast  of  Stevensen,  drove  the 


1  Page  600.  2  Page  573. 

3  This  squadron  had  been  suggested  by  Colonel  Ellet,  who  was  the  eminent  civil  engineer 
who  constructed    the  Niagara    Suspension    Bridge,   and   under  his   superintendence  the  rams 
had    been    built.      They   were   river    boats,   some   with    stern     wheels    and    some  with  side 
wheels,  whose  bows  were  strengthened  by  additions  of  heavy  timber,  and  covered  with  plates 
of  iron. 

4  At  the  siege  of  Fort  Donelson  Commodore  Foote's  ankle  had  received  a  severe  contusion 
from  a  piece  of  falling  timber.     It  became  so  painful,  that  on  the  9th  of  May  he  was  compelled  to 
withdraw  from  active  service.     On  retiring,  he  left  the  command  of  the  flotilla  with  Captain  C.  H. 
Davis. 


606 


THE     NATION.  [1862. 


Confederates  before  him  near  Jasper,  and  on  the  7th  of  June  [1862]  appeared 
on  the  Tennessee  River,  opposite  Chattanooga.  With  a  little  help,  that  key 
to  East  Tennessee  and  Northern  Georgia  might  have  been  captured  and  held, 
but  it  was  refused ;  and  ten  days  afterward,  when  the  Confederates,  without  a 
struggle,  evacuated  Cumberland  Gap,  the  "  Gibraltar  of  the  Mountains,"  and 
allowed  General  George  W.  Morgan,  with  a  few  Ohio  and  Kentucky  troops, 
to  occupy  it,  Buell  refused  to  march  in  at  the  open  door,  to  the  relief  of  East 
Tennessee,  and  the  persecuted  inhabitants  of  that  loyal  region  were  compelled 
to  wait  much  longer  for  deliverance.  The  cautious  Buell  and  the  fiery  MitcheF 

did  not  work  well  together,  and  the 
latter  was  transferred  to  another  field 
of  duty.  For  a  short  time  now  there 
was  a  lull  in  the  storm  of  war  westward 
of  the  Alleghanies,  but  it  was  only  the 
calm  before  a  more  furious  tempest. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  a  consideration 
of  events  on  the  coast  of  North  Caro 
lina,  where  we  left  Burnside  and  the 
accompanying  naval  force,2  preparing 
for  more  ccjnquests.  That  expedition 
appeared  in  the  Neuse  River,  below 
New  Berne,  on  the  evening  of  the  12th 
of  March  [1862],  and  early  the  next 
morning  about  fifteen  thousand  land 

ORMSBY    M.    MITCHEL. 

troops  w^ent  ashore,  and  marched  toward 

the  defenses  of  that  city,  which  were  in  charge  of  a  force  under  General 
Branch.  At  daylight  on  the  14th  the  Nationals  moved  to  the  attack  in  three 
columns,  commanded  respectively  by  Generals  Foster,  Reno,  and  Parke,  the 
gun-boats  in  the  river,  under  Commodore  Rowan,  co-operating.  A  very  severe 
battle  ensued,  in  which  the  Nationals  were  conquerors.  Pressed  on  all  sides 
by  a  superior  force,  the  Confederates  fled  from  the  field  across  the  Trent, 
burning  the  bridges  behind  them,  and  escaped,  with  the  exception  of  the  killed 
and  wounded  and  two  hundred  made  prisoners.3  The  Nationals  took  posses- 

1  With  the  sanction  of  General  Buell,  Mitchel  sent  out  an  important  expedition  toward  the 
middle  of  April.  It  was  composed  of  twenty-two  picked  men,  led  by  J.  J.  Andrews,  and  their 
duty  was  to  destroy  the  railway  between  Chattanooga  and  Atlanta.  They  went  in  detach 
ments  to  Marietta,  in  Georgia,  where  they  joined,  and  at  a  station  a  few  miles  northward  of  that 
town  they  seized  the  train  in  which  they  were  traveling,  while  the  conductor  and  passengers 
were  at  breakfast,  and  started  for  Chattanooga,  doing  what  damage  they  could  to  the  road.  They 
were  pursued,  and  were  finally  so  closely  pressed  that  they  abandoned  the  train  and  fled  to  the 
woods.  Some  escaped,  some  were  captured,  and  nine  of  them,  including  Andrews,  the  leader, 
were  hung. 

a  Page  590. 

3  The  National  loss  was  about  one  hundred  killed  and  four  hundred  wounded.  The  loss  of 
the  Confederates,  in  killed  and  wounded,  was  less.  The  spoils  of  victory  were  important,  con 
sisting  of  the  town  and  harbor  of  New  Berne ;  eight  batteries,  mounting  forty-six  heavy  guns ; 
three  batteries  of  light  artillery,  of  six  guns  each ;  a  number  of  sailing  vessels ;  wagons,  horses, 
and  mules ;  a  large  quantity  of  ammunition  and  army  supplies ;  the  entire  camp  equipage  of  the 
Confederates,  and  much  turpentine,  rosin,  and  cotton.  Most  of  the  white  inhabitants  fled  to 
Goldsboro',  on  the  Weldon  Kailway. 


1862.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

sion  of  the  city  of  New  Berne,  and  then  proceeded  to  attempt  the  capture  of 
Fort  Macon,  at  the  entrance  to  the  harbor  of  Beaufort.  The  expedition  was 
intrusted  to  the  command  of  General  Foster,  who  effected  a  lodgment  on 
Bogue  Island,  a  long  sand-spit  on  which  Fort  Macon  stands,  and  from  bat 
teries  which  he  planted  there  he  began  a  bombardment  of  the  fort  on  the 
morning  of  the  25th  of  April.  Some  gun-boats,  under  Commander  Lockwood, 
participated  in  the  attack.  At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  garrison  gave 
tokens  of  submission,  and  early  the  next  day  the  fort  and  its  occupants  were 
surrendered  to  the  Nationals.2  At  the  same  time  troops  under  General  Reno 
were  quietly  taking  possession  of  important  places  along  the  waters  of  Albe- 
marle  Sound  and  threatening  Norfolk  in  the  rear.  At  a  place  called  South 
Mills,  near  Camden  Court  House,  Reno's  troops  encountered  the  Confederates 
in  a  sharp  engagement,  and  defeated  them.  Winton,  at  the  head  of  the 
Chowan;  Plymouth,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Roanoke,  and  Washington,  at  the 
head  of  the  Pamlico  River,  were  all  seized  and  occupied  by  the  National 
troops.  Burnside  now  held  almost  undisputed  sway  over  the  coast  region,  from 
the  Dismal  Swamp  nearly  to  the  Cape  Fear  River,  until  called  to  the  Virginia 
Peninsula,  in  July,  to  assist  McClellan. 

AVhile  Burnside  and  Rowan  were  operating  on  the  coast  of  North  Carolina, 
Sherman  and  Dupont3  were  engaged  in  important  movements  on  the  coasts  of 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  having  for  their  first  object  the  capture  of  Fort 
Pulaski,  on  Cockspur  Island,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Savannah  River.  Bat 
teries  were  planted  on  Big  Tybee  Island,  under  the  skillful  direction  of  General 
Q.  A.  Gillmore,  so  as  to  command  the  fort;4  and  on  the  10th  of  April  [1862] 

1  Burnside  made  his  head-quarters  at  the  fine  old  Stanley  mansion  in  the  suburbs  of  New 
Berne.     Almost  before  the  smoke  of  battle  was  dissipated,  the  Christian  spirit  of  the  friends  of 
the  government  was  made  conspicuous  in  acts  of 

benevolence.  Vincent  Colyer,  a  citizen  of  New 
Yorlc,  and  originator  of  the  Christian  Commission 
of  the  army,  was  with  the  expedition  on  an  errand 
of  mercy.  Under  the  sanction  of  Burnside,  he  dis 
tributed  to  the  sick  and  wounded  the  generous 
contributions  of  the  loyal  citizens  of  the  North,  and 
assumed  a  fostering  care  of  the  poor  and  ignorant 
colored  people,  from  whose  limbs  the  hand  of  the 
victor  had  just  unloosed  the  shackles  of  hopeless 
slavery.  He  opened  evening  schools,  and  had  over 
eight  hundred  eager  pupils,  when  Edward  Stanley,  a 
North  Carolinian,  who  had  been  appointed  Military 
Governor  of  the  State,  making  use  of  one  of  the 
barbarous  slave-laws  of  that  commonwealth,  which 
made  it  "  a  criminal  offense  to  teach  the  blacks  to 
read,"  closqd  them.  Stanley  also  made  zealous  ef 
forts  to  return  fugitive  slaves  to  their  masters ;  and 
the  hopes  of  that  down-trodden  race  in  that  region,  COLTER'S  HEAD-QUARTERS. 

which  were  so  delightfully  given  in  promises,  were 
suddenly  extinguished.  Stanley's  administration  was  happily  a  short  one. 

2  The  fruits  of  the  victory  were  the  fort  and  five  hundred  prisoners,  the  command  of  the 
important  harbor  of  Beaufort,  twenty  thousand  pounds  of  gunpowder,  and  a  large  amount  of  aiher 
ordnance  stores. 

3  Page  582. 

_  4  The  planting  of  these  batteries,  all  things  considered,  was  a  wonderful  feat  of  engineering 
skill.  The  island  is  a  marsh,  and  the  armament  had  to  be  carried  over  it  on  causeways  built  with 
great  labor.  "No  one,"  said  Gillmore,  in  his  report,  "can  form  any  but  a  faint  conception  of  the 


008 


THE    NATION. 


[1862 


General  Hunter,  then  in  command  of  the  Department,  summoned  the  garri 
son   to  surrender.      It  was  refused,  and  thirty-six  heavy  rifled  cannon  and 

mortars,  constituting 
eleven  batteries,  opened 
fire  upon  it.  The  bom 
bardment  continued  un 
til  late  the  next  day, 
when  the  fort  was  so 
shattered  and  its  maga 
zines  so  exposed  to  fiery 
missiles,  that  it  was  un 
tenable.1  On  the  morn 
ing  of  the  12th,  the 
fort,  with  its  garrison 
of  three  hundred  men 
and  considerable  spoil, 
was  surrendered  to  the 
Nationals.  The  battle 
had  been  a  hard-fought 
but  almost  bloodless 
one.2  The  victory  was 

important,  for  it  enabled  the  Nationals  to  close  the  port  of  Savannah  against 
blockade-runners.3 

While  Gillmore  and  Viele  were  besieging  Fort  Pulaski,  Commodore  Dupont 
and  General  Wright  were  making  easy  conquests  on  the  coast  of  Florida. 
They  captured  Fort  Clinch,  on  the  northern  end  of  Amelia  Island,  early  in 
February  [1862],  and  this  was  the  first  of  the  old  National  fortifications 
"  repossessed"  by  the  government.  The  Confederates  fled  from  the  fort,  and 
from  the  town  of  Fernandina  near.  They  abandoned  other  forts  along  the 
coast  in  the  same  way,  and  the  Nationals  took  possession  of  them.  A  flotilla 
of  gun-boats  and  transports,  with  troops,  under  Lieutenant  Thomas  Holdup 
Stevens,  was  sent  up  the  St.  John's  River  to  capture  Jacksonville  (March  11), 
and  was  successful.  At  about  the  same  time  Commander  C.  R.  P.  Rogers 


FORT   PULASKI   BREACHED. 


herculean  labor  by  which  mortars  of  eight  and  a  half  tons  weight,  arid  columbiads  but  a  trifle 
lighter,  were  moved  in  the  dead  of  night  over  a  narrow  causeway  bordered  by  swamps  on  each 
side,  and  liable  at  any  moment  to  be  overturned  and  buried  in  the  mud  beyond  reach/'  The 
causeways  were  built  of  poles  and  planks,  and  the  guns  were  placed  in' battery  on  heavy  plank 
platforms. 

1  Ten  of  the  guns  of  the  fort  were  dismounted;  and  so  destructive  of  masonry  had  been  the 
Parrott  projectiles,  that  there  was  imminent  danger  of  their  penetrating  the  magazine.     Some  of 
these  projectiles  went  through  six  or  seven  feet  of  solid  brick  wall ! 

2  The  assailing  troops  were  under  the  immediate  command  of  General  Viele.     He  had  but  one 
man  killed.     The  spoils  were,  the  fort,  forty-seven  heavy  guns,  forty  thousand  pounds  of  gun 
powder,  and  a  large  supply  of  fixed  ammunition  and  commissary  stores. 

I  We  have  seen  [page  561]  how  the  British  government  proclaimed  its  neutrality  at  the 
begmning.  British  subjects  at  once  entered  into  the  dishonorable  business  of  violating  the 
blockade,  not  only  declared  [page  560],  but  well  sustained  by  force,  arid  supplying  the  insurgents 
with  arms,  ammunition,  and  necessaries  of  every  kind.  Fast-sailing  steamers  were  built  for  the  dur- 
pose,  and  painted  a  gray  color,  so  as  not  to  be  distinguished  in  even  a  light  fog.  They  frequently 
eluded  the  blockaders,  and  rendered  great  service  to  the  enemies  of  our  government. 


1862.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

took  possession  of  St.  Augustine ;  and  the  Confederates  abandoned  Pensacola 
and  the  fortifications  on  the  main  opposite  Fort  Pickens.  Dupont  returned  to 
Port  Royal  at  the  close  of  March,  and  found  Sherman  in  possession  of  Edisto 
Island,  well  up  toward  Charleston.  And  so  it  was,  that  before  the  first  anni 
versary  of  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  the  whole  Atlantic  coast,  from  Cape  Hat- 
teras  to  Perdido  Bay,  excepting  the  harbor  of  Charleston  and  its  immediate 
surroundings,  had  been  abandoned  by  the  insurgents. 

Turning  again  to  Hampton  Roads,  we  see  General  Butler  there  at  the  head 
of  another  expedition.1  He  had  completed  his  recruiting  in  New  England,2 
and  on  the  23d  of  February  [1862]  he  received  orders,  as  commander  of  the 
Department  of  the  Gulf,  to  co-operate  with  the  navy,  first  in  the  capture  of 
New  Orleans  and  its  approaches,  and  then  in  the  reduction  of  Mobile,  Galves- 
ton,  and  Baton  Rouge,  with  the  ultimate  design  of  occupying  Texas.  On  the 
25th  of  February  he  sailed  from  Hampton  Roads  with  nearly  14,000  men; 
and  thirty  days  later  he  re-embarked  on  Ship  Island,  off  the  coast  of  Missis 
sippi,  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  It  was  already  in  possession  of  National  troops, 
under  General  Phelps,  and  a  naval  force  was  there  under  Commodores  Farragut 
and  Bailey.  With  these  officers  Butler  arranged  a  plan  of  operations  against 
New  Orleans.  A  fleet  of  bomb-vessels 
under  Commander  David  D.  Porter  had 
been  prepared  to  co-operate  with  the 
forces  which  rendezvoused  at  Ship 
Island,  and  early  in  April  an  extensive 
armament  was  in  the  Mississippi  River,3 
prepared  to  attack  Forts  Jackson  and 
St.  Philip,  on  the  banks  of  that  stream, 
at  a  sharp  bend,  seventy-five  miles  above 
the  passes  of  the  river  into  the  Gulf. 

General  Mansfield  Lovell,  formerly  a 
New  York  politician,  was  in  command       *k 
at    New    Orleans    and   of  its    defenses, 
among  which  were  the  forts  just  named.4 
He  and  the  people  of  that  region  sup-  D  D   PORTE3> 

posed  these  defenses  to  be  impregnable,5 

and  they  rested  in  fancied  security  until  late  in  April,  when  startling  events 
undeceived  them. 

All  things  were  in  readiness  for  an  assault  on  the  forts  on  the  17th  [April, 
1862],  and  a  battle  with  these  fortifications  began  on  the  morning  of  the  18th, 

1  Page  579.  2  Pa?e  580. 

3  The  fleets  of  Farragut  and  Porter  comprised  forty-seven  armed  vessels,  eight  of  which  were 
large  and  powerful  steam  sloops  of  war.     Butler's  troops,  composed  of  Massachusetts,  Connecti 
cut,  Indiana,  Wisconsin,  and  Michigan  men,  were  borne  on  five  transports. 

4  Fort  Jackson  was  built  by  the  government.     Fort  St.  Philip  was  an  old   Spanish  work, 
which  figured  somewhat  in  the  war  of  1812.     They  were  near  each  other,  on  opposite  sides  of 
the  river.     The  general  command  of  these,  and  other  river  defenses  below  New  Orleans,  was 
intrusted  to  General  J.  B.  Duncan,  formerly  an  office-holder  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

5  A  leading  newspaper  said: — "Our  only  fear  is  that  the  Northern  invaders  may  not  appear. 
We  have  made  such  extensive  preparations  to  receive  them,  that  it  were  vexatious  if  their  invin- 

39 


610  THE     NATION.  [1862. 

Farragut  commanding  the  squadron  of  gun-boats,  and  Porter  the  mortar  fleet, 
the  former  being  the  chief  officer.  Soon  perceiving  but  little  chance  for  redu 
cing  the  forts,  Farragut  made  arrangements  to  run  by  them  with  his  gun-boats. 
This  was  attempted  on  the  night  of  the  23d,  the  mortar-boats  keeping  their 
position  and  covering  the  advance  with  their  lire.  It  Avas  a  most  perilous 
undertaking.  Obstructions  below  the  fort  were  first  removed,  and  then,  under 
the  heavy  fire  of  the  Confederates,  the  squadron  moved  up  the  swift  current 
(the  Mississippi  was  full  to  the  brim),  and  soon  encountered  a  formidable  fleet 
of  rams  and  gun-boats  lying  just  above  the  forts.  One  of  the  most  terrific 
naval  fights  on  record  ensued,1  in  which  Farragut  and  commanders  Bailey  and 
Boggs  were  most  conspicuous.  It  resulted  in  victory  for  the  Nationals. 
AVithin  the  space  of  an  hour  and  a  half  after  the  National  vessels  left  their 
anchorage,  the  forts  were  passed,  the  struggle  had  occurred,  and  eleven  of  the 
Confederate  vessels,  or  nearly  the  whole  of  their  fleet,  were  destroyed.2  The 
National  loss  was  thirty  men  killed,  and  not  more  than  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  wounded.  All  of  Farragut's  vessels  which  had  passed  the  forts, 
thirteen  in  number,  rendezvoused  at  the  Quarantine,  which  was  the  first  gov 
ernment  property  in  Louisiana  "  repossessed  "  by  the  National  forces. 

While  this  desperate  battle  was  raging,  the  land  troops  under  Butler 
were  preparing  to  perform  their  part  in  the  d;rama.  They  were  landed  in 
the  rear  of  Fort  St.  Philip,  and  in  small  boats  they  made  their  way  to  the 
Quarantine  on  the  Mississippi  [April  27]  through  narrow  and  shallow  bayous. 
Their  appearance  alarmed  the  Confederates,  and  a  mutiny  in  the  garrison  of 
Fort  Jackson,  caused  by  their  menace,  compelled  the  surrender  of  the  forts.3 
Meanwhile  Farragut  had  gone  up  to  New  Orleans  with  his  fleet.  He  had  been 
preceded  by  intelligence  of  disasters  below,  and  there  was  a  fearful  panic  in 
the  city.  Four  millions  of  specie  was  sent  away  by  the  banks,  and  a  vast 
amount  of  private  property,  with  many  citizens,  w^as  soon  on  the  wing. 

cible  armada  escapes  the  fate  we  have  in  store  for  it."     In  and  around  New  Orleans  was  a  force 

of  about  10,000  armed  men.     In  order  to  deceive  the  people,  it  was  given  out  by  the  authorities 

that  there  were  more  than  30,000  troops  ready  for  the  defense  of  the  city;  and  the  redoubtable 

Hollins  was  spoken  of  as  "a  Nelson  in  his  way  !" 

"Combine,"  said  Major  Cell,  of  Butler's  staff,  who  was  present,  "all  that  you  have  ever 

heard  of  thunder,  and  add  to  it  all  you 
have  ever  seen  of  lightning,  and  you 
have,  perhaps,  a  conception  of  the 
scene."  Arid  all  this  noise  and  destruc 
tive  energy — blazing  lire-rafts  sent 
down  upon  the  current  to  destroy  the 
National  vessels  ;  the  floating  volcanoes 
sending  forth  fire,  and  smoke,  and  bolts 
of  death,  and  the  thundering  forts-and 
ponderous  rams — were  all  crowded,  in 
the  gloom  of  night,  within  the  space  of 
a  narrow  river, 

2  Among  the  vessels  destroyed  w;;s 
the  ram  Manassas,  which  was  set  on 
RAM  "  MANASSAS  "  ON  FIRE.  &rci  ar>d  went  roaring  down  the  stream. 

Finally,  like  a  huge  amphibious    n:on- 

ster,  it  gave  a  plunge,  and  disappeared  in  the  turbulent  waters. 

3  The  number  of  prisoners,  including  some  taken  at  the  Quarantine,  was  about  1.000.     The 

entire  loss  of  the  Nationals,  from  the  beginning  of  this  contest  until  the  capture  of  New  Orleans, 

was  40  killed  and  177  wounded. 


1862 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


611 


THE   LEVEE   AT    NEW   ORLEANS. 


Women  were   seen  in  the  streets  crying,  "  Burn  the  city !  burn  the  city !" 

Vehicles    were    everywhere    observed    carrying   cotton    to   the   levee   to   be 

destroyed;  and  when,  on  the  25th,  Farragut,  with  nine  vessels,  approached 

the   town,  a  sheet 

of  flame    and  pall       _^ 

of   smoke,    caused 

by  the  burning  of 

cotton,  sugar,  and 

other        property, 

was  seen  along  the 

levee  a.  distance  of 

five    miles.1      The 

city    was    utterly 

defenseless.       The 

troops  had  mostly 

fled,  and  Farragut 

held  the  rebellious 

citizens  in  check  by  the  fear  of  his  shells,2  until  the  arrival  of  General  Butler 

with  his  troops  on  the  first  of  May.     These  were  landed.     The  General  made 

his  head-quarters  at  the  St.  Charles  Hotel,  and  there,  in  conference  with  the 

city  authorities  and  some  leading  citizens,  he  foreshadowed  a  policy  that  proved 

effectual  in  maintaining  order.     By  the  most  vigorous  action  the   rebellious 

spirit  of  leading  politicians  was    subdued,  the  refractory  were  punished,  the 

poor  were  relieved,  and  the  peaceful  were  protected.3     The  capture  of  Xew 

1  More  than  a  dozen  large  ships,  some  of  them  laden  with  cotton,  and  as  many  magnificent 
steam-boats,  with  unfinished  gun-boats  and  other  vessels,  were  seen  in  flames.     In  this  confla 
gration  no  less  than  15,000  bales  of  cotton,  valued  at  $1,500,000,  were  consumed. 

2  Captain  Bailey  was  sent  ashore  with  a  flag  to  demand  the  surrender  of  the  city,  and  the 
taking  down  of  the  Confederate  flag  from  the  government  custom-house  and  mint.     This  was 
refused,  when  a  force  landed,  and  unfurled  the  National  flag  over  the  mint.     As  soon  as  the  force 
retired,  some  young  men,  led  by  a  notorious  gambler  named  Mumford,  pulled  it  down  and  dragged 
it  in  derision  through  the  streets.     When  Butler,  who  arrived  soon  afterward  and  took  command, 
heard  of  this,  he  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  saying: — <:This  outrage  will  be  punished  in 
such  manner  as  in  my  judgment  will  caution  both  the  perpetrators  and  abettors  of  the  act,  so 
that  they  shall  fear  tho  stripes  if  they  do  not  reverence  the  stars  of  our  banner."     Mumford  was 
afterward  active  in  inciting  a  mob  to  violence,  when  he  was  arrested,  tried  for  and  convicted  of 
treason  by  a  court-martial,  and  hung. 

3  The  Mayor  of  the  city,  John  T.  Monroe,  one  of  the  most  unworthy  men  of  our  time,  was 
very  refractory  for  a  while,  but,  with  all  others  like  him,  he  was  soon  compelled  to  be  quiet. 
Butler  discovered  a  list  of  subscribers,  composed  of  bankers,  merchants,  and  other  wealthy  citi 
zens,  to  a  fund  for  carrying  on  the  rebellion.  These  he  assessed  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor,  to 
the  amount  of  twenty-five  per  cent,  on  their  subscription.  Foolish  women,  of  the  wealthy  and 
rebellious  class,  defied  the  military  authority ;  and  one  of  these,  with  the  low  manners  of  the 
degraded  of  her  sex,  deliberately  spat  in  the  faces  of  two  officers  in  the  street.  Forbearance  was 
no  longer  a  virtue,  and  Butler  issued  an  order  which  effectually  cured  the  growing  evil.  It  pub 
licly  directed  the  treatment  of  women,  so  acting,  to  be  such  as  would  be  given  to  the  abandoned 
of  their  sex.*  This  order,  which  was  perverted  and  misrepresented,  produced  the  most  intense 


*  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  document  called  the  "  Woman  Order"  dated  New  Orleans,  May  15,  1802:— 
"  General  Order  No.  2S: 

•t  As  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  United  States  have  been  subject  to  repeated  insults  from  the  women  (call 
ing  themselves  ladies)  of  New  Orleans,  in  return  for  the  most  scrupulous  non-interference  !>nd  courtesy  on  our 
part,  it  is  ordered  that  hereafter,  when  any  female  shall,  by  word,  gesture,  or  movement,  insult  or  show  contempt 
for  any  officer  or  soldier  of  the  United  States,  she  shall  be  regarded  a"d  held  liable  to  be  treated  a*  a  worn  n  of 
the  town  plying  her  avocation. 

"By  command  of 

Major-General  CUTLER. 

"GEORGE  C.  STIIONG,  Assistant  Adjutant-General,  -C It  iff  of  Stuff." 


THE     CATION.  [1862. 

Orleans  was  the  heaviest  blow  the   Confederacy  had   yet  received,  and  for 
a  while  it  staggered  under  its  infliction.1 

Let  us  now  return  to  a  consideration  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  which 
we  left  in  a  quiet  condition  after  the  little  flurry  at  Drainsville. 

At  the  beginning  of  1 862,  when  the  Grand  Army  numbered  full  200,000 
men,  the  prospect  of  its  advance  seemed  more  remote  than  ever,  for  the  flne 

autumn  weather  had  been  succeeded  by 
storms  and  frost,  and  the  roads  were 
becoming  wretched  in  Virginia.  The 
people  were  impatient  and  the  Presi 
dent  was  dissatisfied.  He  could  get  no 
satisfaction  from  the  General-in-Chief 
(McClellan)  when  he  inquired  why  that 
army  did  not  move.  He  therefore 
summoned  [January  10,  1862]  Generals' 
McDowell  and  Franklin  to  a  conference 
with  himself  and  cabinet,  for  he  had 
resolved  that  something  must  be  done 
by  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  either 
with  or  without  {he  General-in-Chief. 

M'CLELUN  Other  conferences  were  held,  in  which 

McClellan  participated ;  and  in  a  gene 
ral  order  on  the  27th  of  January,  the  President  directed  a  simultaneous  for 
ward  movement  of  all  the  "  land  and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States  against 
the  insurgent  forces."  This  order  sent  a  thrill  of  joy  through  every  loyal 
heart.  It  was  heightened  by  another  order,  directing  McClellan  to  form  all 
of  the  disposable  forces  of  the  army,  after  providing  for  the  safety  of  Wash 
ington,  into  an  expedition  for  operating  against  the  Confederates  at  Manassas. 
But  the  General-in-Chief  had  other  plans,  and,  instead  of  obeying,  he  remo^- 
strated.  He  proposed  to  take  his  army  to  Richmond,  by  way  of  the  Chesa 
peake  Bay  and  the  peninsula  between  the  York  and  James  Rivers,  instead  of 
falling  upon  the  Confederates  at  Manassas.  Discussion  followed.  A  council 
of  officers  decided  in  favor  of  McClellan's  plan.  The  President  dissented  from 
their  views,  but  acquiesced  in  their  decision.  Orders  Avere  issued  for  the  move 
ment.  Still  there  was  delay,  and  finally,  on  the  8th  of  March,  the  (Executive 
issued  an  order  for  the  army  to  advance  by  the  Chesapeake  as  early  as  the  18th 
of  that  month. 

At  that  moment  events  were  occurring  which  caused  a  material  modifica 
tion  of  the  plans  of  the  General-in-Chief.  The  Confederates  suddenly  evacuated 
Manassas  [March  8  and  9]  and  hastened  toward  Richmond.  The  Army  of  the 

excitement  throughout  the  Confederacy,  and  Davis  issued  a  proclamation  of  outlawry  against 
Butler. 

1  "  It  annihilated  us  in  Louisiana,"  said  a  Confederate  historian  of  the  war,  "  diminished  our 
resources  and  supplies  by  the  loss  of  one  of  the  greatest  grain  and  cattle  countries  within  the 
limits  of  the  Confederacy,  gave  to  the  enemy  the  Mississippi  River,  with  all  its  means  of  naviga 
tion,  for  a  base  of  operations,  and  finally  led,  by  plain  and  irresistible  conclusion,  to  our  virtual 
abandonment  of  the  great  and  fruitful  Valley  of.the  Mississippi." 


1862.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

Potomac  followed  as  far  as  the  deserted  post,  and  some  cavalry  a  little  beyond  ; 
and  the  loyal  people  rejoiced  because  the  march  on  Richmond  had  begun. 
They  were  instantly  disappointed.  The  whole  Grand  Army  of  the  Potomac 
was  ordered  back,  and  the  few  Confederates  who  had  been  keeping  it  in  check 
for  months1  were  allowed  to  make  their  way  peacefully  to  Richmond,  and  there 
prepare  to  hold  that  grand  army  in  check  for  many  months  at  another  point. 
The  government  was  now  satisfied  that  the  burden  of  care  which  had  been 
laid  upon  the  General-in-Chief  was  greater  than  he  was  able  to  bear,  and  the 
President  kindly  relieved  him  [March  11,  1862]  of  much  of  it,  by  dividing  the 
great  labor  of  command,  and  leaving  in  McClellan's  charge  only  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac.2 

The  evacuation  of  Manassas  was  simultaneous  with  the  sudden  appearance 
of  a  new  naval  power  in  Hampton  Roads,  the  operations  of  which  formed 
one  of  the  causes  for  a  modification  of  McClellan's  plans  for  moving  against 
Richmond.  It  was  the  notable  iron  gun-boat  called  the  Monitor,  constructed 
on  a  novel  plan  for  offensive  and  defensive  war.3  It  was  then  known  that 
the  Merrimack,  sunk  at  Norfolk,4  had  been  raised  and  converted  into  a 
formidable  iron-clad  warrior.  Its  speedy  appearance  in  Hampton  Roads 
was  expected,  and  dreaded,  because  it  would  greatly  imperil  the  wooden 
vessels  of  the  government  there.  On  the  8th  of  March  it  suddenly  made  its 
appearance.  It  moved  directly  upon  the.  sailing  frigates  Congress  and  Cum 
berland^  at  the  mouth  of  the  James  River,  and  destroyed  them.  It  also 
attacked  other  armed  vessels,  and  then  seemed  to  take  a  little  rest  for  the  task 
of  utterly  destroying  the  warriors  and  transports  in  Hampton  Roads  on  the 
following  morning.  The  intervening  night  was  consequently  passed  in  great 
anxiety  by  the  National  commanders  on  land  and  water  in  that  region.  There 
seemed  to  be  no  competent  human  agency  to  avert  the  threatened  disasters, 

1  Johnston,  informed  of  the  strength  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  was  satisfied  that  he^ould 
not  withstand  its  advance,  and  had  been  preparing  for  the  evacuation  for  several  weeks,  but  with 
suth  skill  that  McClellan  was  not  aware  of  it.     This  was  necessary,  for  his  troops  were  so  few 
that  he  could  not  form  a  respectable  rear-guard  to  cover  his  retreat,  with  his  supplies.     Wooden 
guns  took  the  place  of  some  of  his  heavy  ones  at  Manassas,  when  his  ordnance  was  sent  away. 
So  well  had  Johnston  managed  to  deceive   McClellan  as  to  his  force,  that  on  the  day  when  he 
evacuated  Manassas,    the  chief  of  McClellan's  secret    service   corps    reported  98,000  Confede 
rate   soldiers  "within  twenty  miles  of  Manassas,"  and  a  total  of  115,000  in  Virginia,  with  300 
field-pieces,  and  twenty-six  to  thirty  siege-guns  ';  before  Washington."     At  the  same  time  Gen 
eral  Wool,  at  Fortress  Monroe,  and  General  Wadsworth,  back  of  Arlington  Heights,  gave  the 
government  (what  were  subsequently  proven  to  be  truthful)  statements,  from  reliable  information, 
that  riot  over  50,000  troops  were  then  in  front  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.     The  actual  number 
seems  to  have  been  but  40,000. 

2  By  the  President's  order,  dated  March  11,  1862,  General  McClellan  was  relieved  of  the  com 
mand  of  other  military  departments.     To  General  Halleck  was  given  the  command  of  the  troops 
in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  and  westward  of  the  longitude  of  Knoxville,  in  Tennessee ;  and  a 
Mountain  Department,  consisting  of  the  region  between  Halleck  and  McClellan,  was  created,  and 
placed  in  charge  of  General  Fremont.     The  commanders  of  departments  were  ordered  to  report 
directly  to  the  Secretary  of  War. 

3  This  vessel  presented  the  appearance  on  the  water  of  a  simple  platform,  sharp  at  each  end, 
lying  just  above  the  surface,  on  which  was  a  round  revolving  iron  Martello  tower,  twenty  feet  in 
diameter  and  ten  feet  in  height  above  the  deck,  and  pierced  for  two  guns.     This  turret,  or  tower, 
was  made  to  revolve,  so  that  the  guns  could  be  brought  to  bear  independent  of  the  position  of 
the  hull  of  the  vessel.     The  hull  and  turret  were  of  heavy  iron,  and  impervious  to  shot  and 
shell.     This  vessel  was  the  invention  of  Captain  John  Ericsson,  a  scientific  Swede,  who  had  then 
been  a  resident  of  this  country  full  twenty  years. 

*  Page  558. 


THE     NATION.  [1862. 

when,  at  a  little  past  midnight  [March  9,  1802],  a  mysterious  thing  came  in 
from  the  sea  between  the  capes  of  Virginia,  lighted  on  its  way  by  the  blazing 
Congress}  It  was  the  Monitor  on  its  trial  trip,  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
John  L.  Worden.2  That  gallant  officer  was  soon  made  acquainted  with  the 
situation,  and  prepared  to  meet  the  devouring  monster  in  the  morning.  Before 
sunrise,  on  that  beautiful  Sabbath  day,  it  came  sweeping  down  the  Elizabeth 
River.  The  Monitor,  like  a  little  David,  hastened  to  meet  the  Confederate 
Goliath.  As  it  drew  near,  its  invulnerable  citadel  began  to  move,  and  from 
it  were  hurled  ponderous  shot  in  quick  succession.  These  were  answered  by 
broadsides  from  the  Merrimack.  The  combat  was  terrible.  From  the  turret 


COMBAT   BETWEEN   THE   MONITOR   AND   MERRIMACK. 

and  deck  of  the  Monitor  heavy  round  shot  and  conical  bolts  glanced  off  as 
pebbles  would  fly  from  contact  with  solid  granite.  The  Merrimack  was  finally 
disabled  by  its  mysterious  antagonist,  and  fled  up  to  Norfolk.3  The  safe  navi 
gation  of  Hampton  Roads,  and,  to  some  extent,  that  of  the  James  River,  was 
secured  to  the  National  vessels.  The  event  produced  joy  in  every  loyal  heart, 
and  Ericsson,  the  inventor,  and  Worden,  the  commander,  shared  in  the  public 
gratitude.4 

Impressed  with  the  belief  that  the  navigation  of  the  James  River  was  now 

1  The  Cumberland  was  sunk  and  the  Congress  was  set  on  fire  by  the  Merrimack.     The  maga 
zine  of  the  latter  exploded,  and  destroyed  what  was  left  of  her  by  the  flames.     Nearly  one-half 
of  the  officers  and  crews  of  both  vessels  were  killed  or  wounded.     Of  the  484  men  of  the  Congress, 
only  one-half  responded  to  their  names  the  next  morning  at  Newport-Newce.     The  dead  were 
buried  at  that  place,  and  their  remains  are  among  those  of  scores  of  Union  soldiers.     On  a  board, 
in  the  form  of  a  cross,  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  latter,  whose  name  and  history  are  unknown, 
might  have  been  read  in  186G  one  of  the  most  touching  and  poetical  epitaphs  ever  inscribed.     It 
read:   "A  SOLDIER  OF  THE  UNION  MUSTERED  OUT." 

2  Note  1,  page  581. 

3  Franklin  Buchanan,  a  veteran  officer  of  the  National  navy,  who  had  abandoned  his  flag,  was 
the  commander  of  the  Merrimack  (which  the  Confederates  named  Virginia),  and  was  so  badly 
wounded  in  the  engagement  that  he  was  unfitted  for  service  for  some  time. 

4  Worden  was  severely  injured  during  the  engagement.     In  the  turret  of  the  Monitor  was  a 
small  peep-hole,  out  of  which  the  commander  might  see  how  to  direct  the  turning  of  it,  so  as  to  bring 
the  guns  properly  to  bear.    While  Worden  was  looking  through  this,  a  heavy  shot  struck  squarely 
in  front  of  the  peep-hole,  shivering  some  cement  there  and  casting  it  violently  into  the  face  and 


1862.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  (^5 

free  for  the  National  gun-boats,  McClellan,  in  accordance  with  the  decision  of 
a  council  of  officers  [March  13],  proceeded  to  transfer  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
to  Fortress  Monroe,  from  which,  as  a  base,  it  might  march  on  Richmond.  It 
was  important  for  the  security  of  Washington  City,  at  the  same  time,  to  hold 
the  Confederates  in  check  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley.  Already  the  dashing 
General  Lander,  by  a  successful  attack  on  "  Stonewall  Jackson  "!  at  Blooming 
Gap  [February  14,  1862],  had  made  that  leader  circumspect.  Now  General 
N.  P.  Banks  was  in  command  in  the  .Valley.  When  Johnston  evacuated 
Manassas,  Jackson,  who  had  taken  post  at  Winchester,  moved  farther  up  the 
Valley,  followed  by  some  of  Banks's  troops.  The  latter  fell  back,  and  a  con 
siderable  force  under  General  Shields  took  post  at  Winchester.  Jackson 
returned,  and  at  Kernstown,  near  Winchester,  he  and  Shields  had  a  severe 
engagement  on  the  22d  of  March,2  at  the  close  of  which  the  defeated  Confede 
rates  went  in  swift  retreat  up  the  Valley,  followed  far  by  Banks,  who  remained 
in  that  region  to  watch  the  foe,  while  McClellan  should  move  on  Richmond 
by  way  of  the  Virginia  Peninsula. 

At  the  beginning  of  April  McClellan  was  at  Fortress  Monroe,  and  began 
his  march  [April  5]  up  the  Peninsula,  with  fifty  thousand  men,  in  two  columns, 
led  respectively  by  Generals  Heintzelman3  and  Keyes,  one  in  the  direction  of 
Yorktown  and  the  other  toward  Warwick  Court  House,  nearer  the  James 
River.  The  Confederates,  under  Magruder,4  about  eleven  thousand  strong, 
were  stretched  across  McClellan's  path,  from  the  York  to  the  James,  and  by  a 
skillful  and  deceptive  display  of  strength  in  numbers,  kept  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  before  them  (which  speedily  numbered  one  hundred  thousand  men) 
at  bay  for  a  month,5  its  leader  calling  earnestly  for  re-enforcements  to  enable 
him  to  move  forward.  He  closely  besieged  his  foes  at  Yorktown,  and  when 
the  latter  perceived  that  it  was  no  longer  prudent  to  remain,  they  fled  up  the 
Peninsula  [May  3,  1862]  and  made  a  stand  behind  a  strong  line  of  works  in 
front  of  Williamsburg.  The  bulk  of  the  National  army  pursued,  under  the 
directions  of  General  Sumner,  while  McClellan  remained  at  Yorktown,  to 
superintend  the  forwarding  of  an  expedition  up  the  York  River,  under  General 
Franklin,  to  flank  the  Confederates. 

eyes  of  the  commander.  The  shock  was  so  great  that  the  persons  in  the  turret  were  prostrated. 
Only  Worden  was  seriously  hurt.  For  several  days  afterward  his  life  was  in  great  peril.  He 
recovered,  and  did  gallant  service  afterward  on  the  Southern  coast. 

1  Thomas  J.  Jackson,  who  became  one  of  the  most  renowned  of  the  Confederate  leaders,  was 
in  command  of  a  brigade  at  the  battle  of  Bull's   Run,  where  his  men  gallantly  withstood  all 
assaults.     "See!"  exclaimed  another  leader  (General  Bee),  when  trying  to  rally  panic-stricken 
troops,  "there  stands  Jackson  like  a  stone  wall!"     The  latter  was  ever  afterward  called  "Stone 
wall  Jackson,"  and  his  troops  the  "Stonewall  Brigade." 

2  Shields  reported  his  loss  at  nearly  600  men,  of  whom  103  were  killed.     Jackson's  loss  was 
over  1,000.     It  was  estimated  at  1,500  by  Shields. 

3  In  Heintzelman's  column  were  the  divisions  of  Fits-John  Porter,  Hamilton,  and  Sedgwick; 
and  with  Keyes  were  the  divisions  of  Generals  Couch  and  W.  F.  Smith. 

4  Page  562. 

6  The  tedious  operations  of  a  regular  siege,  by  casting  up  intrenchments,  were  under  the 
direction  of  General  Porter.  Frequent  skirmishes  occurred  during  the  siege,  but  only  one  that 
had  the  semblance  of  a  battle.  That  was  on  the  IGth  of  April,  when  General  Smith  attacked  the 
Confederates  on  the  Warwick  River,  between  the  mills  of  Lee  and  Winn.  He  was  repulsed,  with 
the  loss  of  one  hundred  men  on  his  part  and  of  seventy-five  on  the  part  of  his  foe.  McClel 
lan's  army  suffered  much  from  sickness  during  the  month's  detention  in  that  swampy  region. 


THE     NATION.  [J8G2. 

The  works  in  front  of  Williamsburg  were  strong,  extending  across  that 
narrowest  part  of  the  Peninsula  from  estuaries  of  the  York  and  James  Rivers. 
There  the  Confederate  leader  left  a  strong  rear-guard  to  check  the  pursuers, 
while  the  main  body  (a  greater  portion  of  which  had  not  been  below  Williams- 
burg),  then  under  the  command  of  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  who  had  come 

down  from  Richmond,  should  retreat  up 
the  Peninsula.  Johnston's  intention  was 
to  concentrate  all  his  troops  neaf  Rich 
mond,  and  then  give  battle.  The  pur 
suing  force,  after  their  advance  under 
General  Stoneman  had  been  checked  in 
front  of  the  Confederate  works,  pushed 
boldly  up  to  attack  them  under  such 
leaders  as  Hooker,  Kearney,  and  Han 
cock,  who  were  conspicuous  on  that  occa 
sion.  Hooker  began  the  assault  early  on 
the  morning  of  the  6th  [May,  1862],  and 
bore  the  brunt  of  battle  almost  nine 
consecutive  hours,  when  Kearney  came 

JOSEPH   E.    JOHNSTON.  J 

to  his  assistance,  and  Hancock  turned  the 

left  of  the  Confederates.  The  latter,  overpowered,  retreated,  and  such  was 
their  haste,  that  they  left  nearly  eight  hundred  of  their  wounded  behind.1 
McClellan  came  upon  the  battle-field  toward  the  close  of  the  engagement,  and 
the  next  morning  he  sent  tidings  of  the  victory  to  the  government  from  the 
ancient  capital  of  Virginia.  Johnston  was  then  pressing  on  toward  the  Chick- 
ahominy,  with  fearful  anticipation  of  disaster  if  again  struck  in  his  retreat  by 
the  Nationals  ;  but  the  pursuit  there  ended,  and  McClellan's  army,  during  the 
succeeding  ten  or  fifteen  days,  made  its  way  leisurely  to  the  Chickahominy, 
behind  which  Johnston  was  then  safely  encamped.2  In  the  mean  time  Frank 
lin's  expedition,  too  long  held  at  Yorktown  by  the  Commander-in-Chief  to  win 
the  advantages  of  a  flank  movement,  had  secured  a  strong  footing  near  the 
head  of  the  York  River,  and  there,  on  the  bank  of  the  Pamunkey  River,  Gene 
ral  McClellan  established  his  base  of  supplies  for  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

On  the  20th  of  May  [1862],  McClellan's  army  was  on  the  borders  of  the 
Chickahominy  River,  and  a  portion  of  it,  under  General  Casey,  occupied  the 
heights  on  the  Richmond  side  of  the  stream,  on  the  New  Kent  road.  In  the 
mean  time  important  events  had  occurred  in  the  rear  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 


1  So  vigorous  was  the  assault  of  Hooker,  that  Johnston  sent  back  a  greater  part  of  his  force 
to  the  assistance  of  his  rear-guard.  The  final  retreat  was  made  under  the  lead  of  General  Long- 
street,  one  of  the  best  of  the  Confederate  generals. 

3  On  the  evening  after  the  battle,  McClellan  telegraphed  to  the  Secretary  of  War  that  the  Con 
federates  were  before  him  in  force  probably  greater  than  his  own,  and  strongly  intrenched,  and 
assured  the  Secretary  that  he  should  "run  the  risk  of  holding  them  in  check  there."  At 
that  time  Johnston's  30,000  men  were  fleeing  as  rapidly  as  possible  toward  the  Chickahominy 
before  McClellan's  victorious  100,000  men.  Experts  on  both  sides  declared  that  had  the  pursuit 
been  continued,  in  the  morning  after  the  battle  at  Williamsburg,  the  National  army  might  have 
crushed  that  of  the  Confederates,  or  followed  them  directly  into  Richmond. 


1862.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  (^ 

mac.  General  Wool,1  in  command  at  Fortress  Monroe,  had  long  desired  to 
attempt  the  capture  of  Norfolk.  Permission  was  at  length  given  him  by  the 
President  and  Secretary  of  War.2  With  a  few  regiments  he  landed  [May  10, 
1862]  in  the  rear  of  the  Confederate  works  below  Norfolk,  and  marched  tri 
umphantly  toward  the  city.  The  Confederate  forces  there,  under  General 
Huger,  destroyed  the  Merrimackf  and  fled  toward  Petersburg  and  Richmond. 
Norfolk  was  surrendered  to  Wool  by  the  civil  authorities.  The  Confederate 
vessels  of  war  in  the  James  River  fled  up,  to  ward  Richmond,  and  were  followed 
by  National  gun-boats,  under  Commodore  Rogers,  to  Drewry's  Bluff,  eight 
miles  below  the  capital  of  the  Confederates,  where  they  were  checked  [May 
15]  by  a  strong  fort. 

Important  events  had  also  been  occurring  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley  and 
the  adjacent  region.  At  about  the  time  of  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  General 
Fremont  was  at  Franklin,  among  the  mountains  of  Western  Virginia.  Gene- 
nil  Banks  was  at  Strasburg,  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and  General  McDowell 
was  at  Fredericksburg,  on  the  Rappahannock,  for  the  double  purpose  of  cover 
ing  Washington  and  co-operating  with  McClellan.  Jackson  had  been  joined 
by  the  skillful  Ewell,  in  the  vicinity  of  Harrisonburg.  Other  troops  were  near, 
and  he  was  watching  Banks  closely.  At  McDowell  [May  8],  west  of  Staunton, 
he  struck  one  of  Fremont's  brigades,  under  General  Milroy,  a  severe  blow, 
while  Ewell  pressed  Banks  back  to  Strasburg.  Jackson  and  Ewell  soon  after 
ward-captured  and  dispersed  [May  23]  a  National  force  under  Colonel  Kenly, 
at  Front  Royal,  and  sent  Banks  flying  down  the  Shenandoah  Valley  from 
Strasburg,  hotly  pursued  to  Winchester.  There  Ewell  attacked  him  [May  25], 
and  after  a  severe  contest  he  continued  his 
flight  to  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  near  Wil- 
liamsport.  The  National  capital  was  now  in 
peril,  and  McDowell  was  ordered  to  send  a 
large  force  over  the  Blue  Ridge,  to  intercept 
the  Confederates,  if  they  should  retreat,  while 
Fremont  should  march  on  Strasburg  from  the 
west,  for  the  same  purpose.  Jackson  perceived 
his  peril,  and  his  whole  force  fled  up  the  valley 
in  time  to  elude  the  troops  on  their  flank. 
Fremont  pursued  them  up  the  main  valley,  and 
Shields,  with  a  considerable  force,  marched 
rapidly  up  the  parallel  Luray  Valley.  At  a 
place  called  Cross  Keys,  near  Harrisonburg,  T  j  JACKSON. 

Fremont   overtook  Ewell,  when  a  severe  but 

undecisive  battle  ensued  [June  7].  Jackson  was  then  at  Port  Republic,  a  few 
miles  distant,  sorely  pressed  by  Generals  Carroll  and  Tyler.  He  called  Ewell 
to  his  aid.  The  latter  moved  oiF  in  the  night.  Fremont  followed ;  but  Ewell 

1  Page  413,  and  note  5,  page  5*79. 

3  Wool's  command  was  not  under  the  direction  of  McClellan.     It  remained  an  independent 
one  so  long  as  that  veteran  was  at  the  head  of  that  department. 
•  ~        614. 


THE     NATION.  [1862. 

managed  to  cross  the  Shenandoah  and  burn  the  bridge  behind  him  before  Fre 
mont  could  reach  that  stream.  Meanwhile  Jackson's  assailants  had  been 
repulsed,  and  on  the  9th  of  June  the  whole  National  army  on  the  Shenandoah 
retraced  their  steps.  So  ended  the  second  great  race  of  the  National  and  Con 
federate  troops  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley. 

When  Rogers  went  up  to  Drewry's  Bluff,1  the  James  and  York  Rivers 
were  both  opened  as  highways  for  supplies  for  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
McClellan  determined  to  continue  his  base  at  the  head  of  York,  until  he 
should  form  a  junction  with  McDowell.  That  event  was  postponed  by  others 
in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  just  recorded,  and  the  two  great  armies  stood  face 
to  face  near  Richmond  toward  the  close  of  May,  with  little  expectation  of  aid 
from  their  respective  comrades  in  that  Valley.  Their  first  collision  was  on 
the  23d,  near  Mechanicsville,  when  the  Confederates  were  driven,  and  the  army 
and  loyal  people  were  thrilled  by  a  general  order  issued  by  McClellan  the  next 
day,  which  indicated  an  immediate  advance  upon  Richmond.  Every  thing 
was  in  readiness  for  the  movement,  and  the  Confederates  were  trembling  in 
anticipation  of  it.2  McClellan  hesitated,  and  the  golden  moments  of  opportu 
nity  were  spent  in  flank  movements,  which  resulted  in  severe  struggles,  that 
were  fruitless  of  good  to  the  National  army.3 

The  skillful  and  vigilant  Johnston,  soon  perceiving  the  perilous  position  of 
the  National  forces,  divided  by  the  fickle  Chickahominy,4  and  the  timidity  of 
their  chief,  marched  boldly  out  from  his  strong  intrenchments  before  Rich 
mond  to  attack  them.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  31st  [May,  1862],  a  heavy 
force  of  the  Confederates  fell  furiously  upon  the  most  advanced  National 
troops,  under  General  Casey,  and  a  sanguinary  battle  ensued.  Casey  fought 
his  foe  most  gallantly,  until  one-third  of  his  division  was  disabled,  and  he  was 


1  Page  GIT. 

2  The  appearance  of  Rogers's  flotilla  before  Drewry's  Bluff  simultaneously  with  McClellan's 
advance  toward  the  Chickahominy  produced  the  greatest  consternation  in  Richmond,  especially 
among   the  conspirators.       Davis,    their  chief,   almost  despaired,   and  the  general    expectation 
that   the  National  forces  would  speedily  march  into  Richmond,  caused  the  chief  leaders  to  make 
preparations  for  flight.     The  "archives  of  the  government,"  so  called,  were  sent  to  Columbia, 
South   Carolina,  and  to  Lynchburg.     The  railway  tracks  over  the  bridges  at  Richmond  were 
covered  with  planks,  so  as  to  facilitate  the  passage  of  artillery,  and  every  man  who  was  active  in 
the'  rebellion  trembled  with  fear.     The  Legislature  of  Virginia,  then  in  session,  disgusted  with 
the  cowardice  and  perfidy  of  Davis  and  his  chief  associates  in  crime,  passed  resolutions  calling 
upon  them  to  act  with  manliness  and  honor,  and  to  stay  and  protect  at  all  hazards  the  people  they 
had  betrayed.     This  action,  it  is  believed,  was  inspired  by  the  manly  Johnston,  then  at  the  head 
of  the  army,  whose  virtues  were  a  standing  rebuke  to  the  cold  selfishness  of  the   chief  con 
spirator. 

3  The  troops  engaged  were  regular  cavalry  under  General  Emory ;  Benson's  horse-battery ; 
Morrell's  division,  composed  of  the  brigades  of  Martindale,  Butterfield,  and  McQuade,  and  Ber- 
dan's  sharp-shooters;  three  batteries  under  Captain  Griffin,  and  a  "provisional  brigade,"  under 
Colonel  G.  K.  Warren,  in  support.     Their  first  encounter  was  near  Hanover  Court  House  [May 
27],  when  a  charge  by  Butterfield's  brigade  dispersed  the  Confederates.     At  the  same  time  Gen 
eral  Martindale  was  contending  with  fresh  troops  that  crime  up  from  Richmond,  and  attacked  him 
while  moving  between  Peake's  Station  and  Hanover  Court  House.     Porter  sent  assistance  to 
Martindale,  when  the  Confederates,  outnumbered,  fell  back,  with  a  loss  of  200  men  dead  on  the 
field,  and  700  made  prisoners.     The  National  loss  was  350. 

4  The  Chickahominy  River  is  a  narrow  stream,  and  liable  to  a  sudden  and  great  increase  of 
volume  and  overflow  of  its  banks  by  rains.     For  this  reason  it  might,  in  a  few  hours,  become  an 
impassable  barrier  between  bodies  of  troops  where  bridges  did  not  exist.     In  this  instance  the 
Confederates  had  destroyed  the  bridges. 


1862.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

driven  back  by  an  overwhelming  force.  Troops  sent  to  his  aid  by  Keyes 
could  not  withstand  the  pressure,  and  all  were  driven  back  to  Fair  Oaks  Sta 
tion,  on  the  Richmond  and  York  River  Railway,  where  the  struggle  continued. 
Heintzelman  and  Kearney  pressed  forward  with  re-enforcements,  but  fresh 
Confederates  were  there  to  meet  them,  and  it  seemed  at  one  time  as  if  the 
whole  of  the  National  forces  on  the  Richmond  side  of  the  Chickahominy  were 
doomed  to  destruction.  At  that  critical  moment  the  veteran  General  Sumner 
appeared,  with  the  divisions  of  Sedgwick  and  Richardson,  and  checked  the 
Confederate  advance  by  a  storm  of  canister-shot  from  twenty-four  guns.  But 
they  soon  pressed  forward  again  and  fought  gallantly,  notwithstanding  John 
ston,  their  chief,  who  was  directing  the  battle,  was  severely  wounded  and 
borne  away.  Finally,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  a  bayonet  charge  by 
five  regiments  broke  the  Confederate  line  into  dire  confusion.  The  contest 
was  renewed  in  the  morning  [June  1],  and  after  a  struggle  for  several  hours, 
in  which  Hooker's  command  also  was  engaged,  the  Confederates  withdrew, 
and  retired  to  Richmond  that  night.  So  ended  the  battle  of  Fair  Oaks,  or 
Seven  Pines. 

For  nearly  a  month  after  this  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  lay  along  the 
Chickahominy,  a  few  miles  from  Richmond,  in  a  very  unhealthful  situation, 
quietly  besieging  the  Confederate  capital.  Robert  E.  Lee1  succeeded  John 
ston,  and  he  was  joined  by  Jackson  and  Ewell,  with  a  force  so  considerable 
that  he  prepared  to  strike  McClellan  a  deadly  blow.  Fifteen  hundred  of  his 
cavalry,  under  J.  E.  B.  Stewart,2  made  a  complete  circuit  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  at  the  middle  of  June,  threatening  its  supplies  at  the  White  House,3 
near  the  head  of  York  River,  and  gaining  valuable  information.  Meantime 
the  public  expectation  was  kept  on  the  alert  by  frequent  assurances  that  the 
decisive  battle  would  be  fought  "to-morrow."  For  that  purpose  re-enforce 
ments  were  called  for,  and  sent ;  yet  the  cautious  commander  hesitated  until 
Lee  made  a  movement  which  compelled  him  to  take  a  defensive  position,  and 
prepare  to  abandon  the  siege  and  retreat  to  the  James  River.  That  movement 
was  made  on  the  26th  of  June.  Jackson,  with  a  considerable  force,  marched 
from  Hanover  Court  House  to  turn  McClellan's  right,  and  fall  upon  his  com 
munications  with  his  supplies  at  the  White  House ;  and  at  the  same  time  a 
heavier  force,  under  Generals  Longstreet  and  D.  II.  and  A.  P.  Hill,  crossed  the 
Chickahominy  near  Mechanicsville,  and  assailed  the  National  right  wing,  com 
manded  by  General  Fitz  John  Porter.  A  terrific  battle  ensued  near  Ellison's 


1  Page  564.  2  Page  585. 

3  The  White  House  was  the  name  of  an  estate  on  the  Pamunkey  River,  that  belonged  to  the 
Custis  family  by  inheritance  from  Mrs.  Washington,  whose  first  husband  owned  it.  Her  great- 
grand-daughter  was  the  wife  of  Robert  E.  Lee,  and  this  property  was  in  the  possession  of  the 
latter's  eldest  son  when  the  Civil  War  broke  out.  The  name  was  derived  from  the  color  of  the 
mansion  on  the  estate  at  the  time  Washington  was  married  to  Mrs.  Custis.  It  was  white,  and 
thus  distinguished  from  others.  That  mansion  was  demolished  between  thirty  and  forty  years 
ago,  and  near  its  site  was  another,  of  modest  form  and  dimensions,  which  was  called  the  "  White 
House."  This  was  held -sacred,  for  some  time,  by  the  Union  troops,  in  consequence  of  a  false 
impression  given  by  the  family  that  it  was  the  original  "  White  House."  When  McClellan 
changed  his  base  to  the  James  River,  and  his  stores  were  fired,  the  modern  "  White  House  " 
was  consumed. 


620 


THE     NATION. 


[1862. 


Mill,  which  resulted  in  the  defeat  of  the  Confederates,  who  suffered  a  fearful 

loss.'1 

Notwithstanding  this  victory,  McClellan  decided  that  the  time  had  come 
for  him  to  fly  toward  the  James  River,  if  he  would  save  his  army.     He  was 

__  _.          _       ...  left  to  choose  between 

a  concentration  of  his 
whole  force  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Chick- 
ahominy,  and  give 
general  battle  to  Lee's 
army ;  to  concentrate 
it  on  the  right  bank, 
and  march  directly  on 
Richmond,  or  to  trans 
fer  his  right  wing  to 
that  side  of  the  stream, 
and  with  his  supplies 
retreat  to  the  James 
River.  He  chose  the 
latter  course,  and  made 
preparations  accord 
ingly.2  He  ordered 
the  stores  at  the  White 
House  to  be  destroyed  if  they  could  not  be  removed,  and  held  Porter's 
corps  in  a  strong  position  near  Gaines's  Mills,  a  short  distance  from 
Ellison's  Mill,  to  give  protection  as  far  as  possible  to  the  supplies,  and 
to  the  remainder  of  the  troops  in  the  removal  of  the  siege-guns,  their  pas 
sage  of  the  river,  and  their  march  toward  the  James.  There,  between  Cool 
Arbor3  and  the  Chickahominy,  in  line  of  battle  on  the  arc  of  a  circle,  Porter 
stood  when  attacked  by  the  Hills  and  Longstreet,4  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
7th  of  June.  Very  severe  was  the  battle  that  ensued.  Porter,  hard  pressed, 
sent  to  McClellan,  then  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Chickahominy,  for  aid,  but 
the  commander,  believing  Magruder's  25,000  men  at  Richmond  to  be  60,000 
in  number,  could  spare  only  Slocum's  division  of  Franklin's  corps.  Later,  the 
brigades  of  Richardson  and  Meagher  were  sent,  and  these  arrived  just  in  time 
to  save  Porter  from  annihilation,  for  his  shattered  and  disheartened  army  wras 


VIEW    ON   THE    CHICKAIIOMIXY    NEAR    MECIlANICSVILLE. 


1  It  was  between  3,000  and  4,000  men.  The  National  loss  was  about  400.  The  latter  were 
well  posted  on  an  eminence ;  the  former  were  much  exposed  in  approaching  over  lower  and  open 
ground. 

a  According  to  official  and  other  statements  by  the  Confederates,  Richmond  was  at  that  time 
entirely  at  the  mercy  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  it  being  defended  by  only  25,000  men  under 
Magruder,  who  in  his  report  declared  that  if  McCleltan  had  massed  his  force  and  moved  on  Rich 
mond  while  Lee  was  beyond  the  Chickahominy,  he  might  easily  have  captured  it.  "His  failure 
to  do  so,"  said  Magruder  in  his  report,  "is  the  best  evidence  that  our  wise  commander  fully 
understood  the  character  of  his  opponent/' 

B  The  place  of  an  arfcient  tavern  and  summer  resort  for  the  inhabitants  of  Richmond  two 
generations  before. 

4  Page  619. 


1862.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

falling  back  to  the  river  in  disorder,  closely  pressed  by  the  foe.  The  appear 
ance  and  cheers  of  the  fresh  troops  encouraged  the  fugitives,  who  re-formed, 
checked  the  alarmed  pursuers,  and  drove  them  back  to  the  field  they  had  won. 
So  ended  the  battle  of  Gaines's  Mills.1  During  that  night  Porter's  corps  with 
drew  to  the  right  bank  of  the  Chickahominy,  destroying  the  bridges  behind 
them. 

McClellan  now  turned  his  back  upon  Richmond,  with  his  face  toward  the 
James,  and  gave  orders  for  his  army  to  move  through  the  White  Oak  Swamp 
in  the  direction  of  Turkey  Bend,  on  that  river.  Keyes  led  the  way  [June  28]. 
Porter  followed ;  and  after  these  moved  a  train  of  5,000  wagons,  laden  with 
ammunition,  provisions,  and  baggage,  and  a  drove  of  2,500  beef  cattle.2  So 
well  was  this  movement  masked  from  Lee,  that  he  had  no  suspicion  of  it  until 
more  than  twenty-four  hours  after  it  began.3  He  had  observed,  in  the  morning, 
some  singular  movements  of  the  divisions  which  remained  behind,  and  some 
skirmishes  had  taken  place,  but  he  supposed  McClellan  might  be  preparing  to 
move  his  forces  and  give  battle  in  defense  o£  his  stores  at  the  White  House, 
or,  if  he  retreated,  would  take  the  route  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Chickahominy, 
by  which  Johnston  came  up  from  Williamsburg.4  But  on  the  night  of  the  28th 
the  amazing  fact  was  disclosed  to  Lee  that  a  greater  portion  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  had  departed,  not  to  give  battle  on  the  north  side  of  the  Chicka 
hominy,  nor  to  retreat  down  the  Peninsula,  but  to  take  a  new  position  on  the 
James  River.  Scouts  had  already  informed  him  that  a  large  portion  of  the 
supplies  at  the  White  House  had  been  removed,  and  that  the  remainder,  and 
the  mansion  itself,  were  then  in  flames. 

McClellan  had  full  twenty-four  hours  the  start  of  Lee,  yet  he  found  himself 
compelled  to  struggle  for  life  in  that  retreat.  His  rear-guard,  under  Sumner, 
was  struck  at  Savage's  Station,  where  a  severe  battle  was  fought  [June  29].  It 
continued  until,  late  in  the  evening,  when  the  Confederates  recoiled-  and 
before  morning  [July  1],  the  whole  of  McClellan's  army  was  well  on  its  way 
toward  the  James.  Franklin,  with  a  rear-guard,  had  been  left  to  hold  the 
main  bridge  over  White  Oak  Swamp  Creek,  and  so  to  cover  the  withdrawal 
of  the  army  to  the  high  open  country  of  the  Malvern  Hills ;  and  at  that  point 
and  at  Glendale,5  a  short  distance  to  the  right,  severe  engagements  ensued. 
The  battle  at  the  latter  place  was  very  sanguinary,  in  Avhich  the  Pennsyl- 
vanians  under  McCall  suffered  much.  That  leader  w^as  captured,  and  General 
Meade  was  severely  wounded.  By  the  timely  arrival  of  fresh  troops  under 

1  The  National  loss  was  about  8,000  men,  of  whom  about  6,000  were  killed  and  wounded. 
The  Confederate  loss  was  about  5,000.    Porter  lost  twenty-two  siege-guns. 

2  The  sick  and  wounded  men,  who  could  not  march,  were  left  behind,  with  surgeons,  rations, 
and  medical  stores.     These  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Confederates,  and  the  men  suffered  terribly. 
The  reason  given  for  this  abandonment  of  the  helpless,  and  the  sending  away  of  the  ambulances 
empty,  was,  that  so  large  a  number  (about  2,500)  of  wounded  and  sick  men  would  embarrass 
the  army  in  its  flight,  and  its  escape  might  be  impossible. 

3  All  day  long  Magruder  and  linger  had  reported  to  Lee  that  the  National  fortifications  on  their 
front  were  as  fully  manned  as  usual,  and  Lee  supposed  his  foe  was  preparing  for  an  offensive 
movement. 

4  Page  616. 

6  The  name  of  an  estate.  The  battle  occurred  on  the  property  of  several  owners.  It  is  some 
times  called  the  Battle  t)f  Frazier's  Farm. 


£22  THE     NATION.  [18G2 

Hooker,  Meagher,  and  Taylor,  victory  was  given  to  the  Nationals ;  and  early 
the  next  day  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  united  for  the  first  time  since  the 
Chickahominy  first  divided  it,1  was  in  a  strong  position  on  Malvern  Hills,2  in 
sight  of  the  James  River.  It  was  not  considered  a  safe  place  for  the  army  to 
halt,  for  it  was  too  far  separated  from  its  supplies  ;  so,  on  the  morning  of  the 
1st  [July,  1862],  McClellan  went  on  board  the  gun-boat  Galena,  and  pro 
ceeded  down  the  river  to  "  select  the  final  location  for  the  army  and  its  depots." 
This  was  fixed  at  Harrison's  Bar,  a  short  distance  from  Malvern  Hills. 

Preparations  were  made  on  Malvern  Hills  for  a  battle.  Lee  concentrated 
his  troops  at  Glendale  for  that  purpose  on  the  morning  of  the  1st  [July,  1862], 
and  resolved,  with  a  heavy  line  under  Jackson,  Ewell,  Whiting,  the  Hills, 
Longstreet,  Magruder,  and  Huger,  to  carry  the  intrenched  camp  of  the  Nationals 
by  storm,  and  "drive  the  invaders,"  he  said,  "into  the  James."  This  was 
attempted.  A  furious  battle  ensued,  in  which  Porter,  Couch,  and  Kearney 
were  the  chief  leaders  of  fighting  troops  on  the  part  of  the  Nationals,  and  these 
were  assisted  by  gun-boats  in  the  river.  The  struggle  was  intense  and  destruc 
tive,  and  did  not  cease  until  almost  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  the  Con 
federates  were  driven  to  the  shelter  of  the  ravines  and  swamps,  utterly  broken 
and  despairing.  The  victory  for  the  Nationals  was  decisive,  and  the  Union 
leaders  expected  to  follow  it  up,  pursue  Lee's  shattered  columns,  and  enter 
Richmond  within  twenty-four  hours,  when  they  were  overwhelmed  with 
disappointment  by  an  order  from  the  Commander-in-Chief  (who  had  been 
on  the  Galena  most  of  the  day)  for  the  victorious  army  to  "fall  back 

still  farther"  to  Harrison's  Landing.3 
This  seemed  like  snatching  the  palm  of 
victory  from  the  hand  just  opened  to 
receive  it,  but  it  was  obeyed,  and  on  the 
evening  of  the  3d  of  July  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  broken  and  disheartened, 
was  resting  on  the  James  River,  and  on 
the  8th  what  was  left  of  Lee's  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia  was  behind  the  de 
fenses  of  Richmond.4 

Very   grievous   was    the    disappoint 
ment  of  the  loyal  people  when  they  heard 
TIII;  HARRISON  MANSION.  of  this  disastrous  result  of  the  campaign 

against  Richmond,  and  most  astounding  to  the  government  was  the  assurance  of 


1  Page  GIG. 

2  These  form  a  high  rolling  plateau,  sloping  toward  Richmond  from  bold  banks  toward  the 
river,  and  bounded  by  deep  ravines,  making  an  excellent  defensive  position. 

3  McClellan's  order  produced  consternation  and  great  dissatisfaction  among  the  officers  and  men. 
The  veteran  General  Kearney  was  very  indignant,  and  in  the  presence  of  several  officers  said : 
"I,  Philip  Kearney,  an  old  soldier,  enter  my  solemn  protest  against  this  order  for  a  retreat.     We 
ought,  instead  of  retreating,  to  follow  up  the  enemy  and  take  Richmond;   and,  in  full  view  of  all 
the  responsibilities  of  such  a  declaration,  I  say  to  you  all,  such  an  order  can  only  be  prompted  by 
cowardice  or  treason." 

4  The  aggregate  loss  of  the  National  army  during  the  seven  days'  contest  before  Richmond,  or 
from  the  battle  near  Mechanicsville  [May  23]  until  the  posting  of  the  army  at  Harrison's  Bar,  was 


1862.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  £23 

the  commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  three  days  after  the  battle  on 
Malvern  Hills,  that  he  had  not  "  over  50,000  men  left,  with  their  colors  !" 
Within  the  space  of  a  hundred  days  160,000  men  had  gone  to  the  Peninsula. 
What  had  become  of  the  vast  remainder  ?  The  anxious  President  hastened  to 
the  head-quarters  of  McClellan  for  an  answer  to  that  question,  for  the  latter 
was  now  calling  for  more  troops,  to  enable  him  to  "  capture  Richmond  and  put 
an  end  to  the  Rebellion."  The  President  found  nearly  40,000  more  men  there 
than  the  general  had  reported,  and  yet  75,000  were  missing.  He  could  get  no 
satisfactory  statement  from  McClellan,1  and  he  found  that  several  of  the  corps 
commanders  had  lost  confidence  in  the  chief.  In  view  of  this  fact,  the  con 
centration  of  Confederate  troops  in  the  direction  of  Washington,  and  the 
assurance  of  McClellan  that  his  army  was  not  strong  enough  to  capture  Rich 
mond  by  "  one  hundred  thousand  men,  more  rather  than  less,"  it  was  thought 
advisable  by  the  President  to  withdraw  that  army  from  the  Peninsula  and 
concentrate  it  in  front  of  the  National  capital.  Orders  were  given  accord 
ingly.  McClellan  was  opposed  to  the  measure,  and  at  once  took  steps  to 
defeat  it. 

Here  we  will  leave  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  for  a  little  while,  and  observe 
events  nearer  the  National  capital,  with  which  its  movements  were  intimately 
connected.  To  give  more  efficiency  to  the  troops  covering  Washington,  they 
were  formed  into  an  organization  called  the  Army  of  Virginia,  and  placed 
under  the  command  of  Major-General  John  Pope,  who  was  called  from  the 
West2  for  that  purpose.  The  new  army  was  arranged  in  three  corps,  com 
manded  respectively  by  Major-Generals  McDowell,  Banks,  and  Sigel.3  In 
addition  to  these,  a  force  under  General  S.  D.  Sturgis  was  in  process  of  forma 
tion  at  Alexandria ;  and  the  troops  in  and  around  Washington  were  placed 
under  Pope's  command.  He  also  had  about  five  thousand  cavalry.  His  army 
for  field-service,  at  the  close  of  June,  numbered  between  forty  and  fifty 
thousand  effective  men.  He  wrote  to  McClellan,  cordially  offering  his  co-opera 
tion  with  him,  and  asking  for  suggestions.  The  cold  and  vague  answer 
assured  Pope  that  he  need  not  expect  any  useful  co- working  with  the  com 
mander  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

Immediately  after  the  retreat  of  McClellan  to  Harrison's  Landing,4  the  con 
spirators  formed  plans  for  the  capture  of  Washington  City  ;  and  when,  at  the 
close  of  July,  Ilalleck5  ordered  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  to  prepare  to  move 


reported  by  McClellan  at  1,582  killed,  7,709  wounded,  and  5.598  missing,  making  a  total  of  15,249. 
Lee's  loss  was  never  reported.  He  declared  that  he  captured  10,000  prisoners,  and  took  52  pieces 
of  cannon  and  35.000  small  arms. 

1  After  his  return  to  Washington,  the  President  wrote  to  McClellan  [July  13],  asking  him  for 
an  account  of  the  missing  numbers.     He  reported  88,665  "present  and  fit  for  duty;"  absent  by 
authority,  34,472  ;  absent  without  authority,  3.778  ;  sick,  16,665,  making  a  total  of  143,580.     The 
government  was  much  disturbed  by  one   item  in  this  report,  namely,  that  over  34,000  men,  or 
more  than  three-fifths  of  the  entire  number  of  the  army  which  he  had  reported  on  the  3d,  were 
absent  on  furloughs  granted  by  permission  of  the  commanding  general,  when  he  was  continually 
calling  for  re-enforcements  and  holding  the  government  responsible  for  the  weakness  of  his  army. 
The  President  said  to  him:    "If  you  had  these  men  with  you.  you  could  go  into  Richmond  in  the 
next  three  days." 

2  Page  600.  3  Page  C72.  4  Page  622. 
6  Ilalleck  was  now  acting  General-in-Chief.     See  page  604. 


624 


THE     NATION.  [1862. 


to  the  front  of  the  National  capital,  and  join  Pope  in  its  defense,  Lee  moved 
with  energy  to  execute  the  orders  of  his  masters,  before  the  junction  of  the 
two  Union  armies  could  be  effected.  Satisfied  that  no  further  movements 
against  Richmond  were  then  contemplated,  he  was  left  free  to  act  in  full  force. 
In  the  plan  of  the  conspirators  was  the  expulsion  of  the  National  troops  from 
the  soil  of  Slave-labor  States,  the  invasion  and  plunder  of  Ohio  and  Pennsyl 
vania,  and  the  dictation  of  terms  of  peace  at  Cincinnati  and  Philadelphia ;  and 
the  people  of  the  "  Confederate  States  "  were  made  to  expect  a  speedy  vision 
of  Davis  in  the  chair  of  Dictatorship  at  Washington  City.  These  dreams 
were  almost  realized  before  the  heats  of  summer  had  departed. 

Pope  moved  vigorously  toward  the  advancing  Confederates,  in  the  direc 
tion  of  Richmond,  at  the  middle  of  July,  and  some  of  his  cavalry  destroyed 
railway-tracks  and  bridges  within  thirty-five  miles  of  the  Confederate  capital. 
Meanwhile  a  heavy  force  under  "  Stonewall "  Jackson  had  gathered  at  Gor 
don  sville,  and  Pope's  main  army  was  near  Culpepper  Court-House,  between 
the  Rappahannock  and  Rapid  Anna1  Rivers.  They  each'  advanced  in  force, 
and  at  the  foot  of  Cedar,  or  Slaughter  Mountain,  a  few  miles  west  of  Culpep 
per  Court-House,  they  had  a  severe  battle  on  the  9th  of  August.  The  Nation 
als  were  under  the  general  command  of  Banks,  ably  assisted  by  Generals 
Crawford,  Geary,  Auger,  and  others.  They  welre  finally  pressed  back  by 
overwhelming  numbers  and  pursued,  when  the  Confederates  were  checked  by 
the  timely  arrival  of  Ricketts'  division  of  McDowell's  corps.  The  strife  had 
been  one  of  the  most  desperate  of  the  war,  a  part  of  it  hand  to  hand  in  the 
darkness,  and  under  a  pall  of  smoke  that  obscured  the  moon.2  Two  days 
afterward  Jackson  retreated  precipitately  to  Gordonsville,  leaving  some  of  his 
dead  unburied.  He  was  chased,  but  a  sudden  rise  of  the  Rapid  Anna  placed  a 
barrier  between  the  pursuers  and  the  pursued:  Both  parties  claimed  the  palm 
of  victory  in  the  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain. 

Soon  after  this  conflict  Pope  and  Jackson  were  both  re-enforced.  The 
former  was  joined  by  troops  under  Burnside,  from  North  Carolina,3  and  others 
under  Stevens,  from  the  coast  of  South  Carolina ;  and  the  latter  was  strength 
ened  by  divisions  under  Longstreet,  some  troops  under  Hood,  and  Stuart's 
cavalry.  Pope  moved  to  the  Rapid  Anna,  with  the  intention  of  holding  that 
position  until  the  arrival  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in  his  rear ;  but  before 
that  event  occurred,  he  was  compelled  to  fall  back  by  the  advance  of  Lee  i.i 
crushing  force.  He  retired  behind  the  forks  of  the  Rappahannock,  closely  pi;:-- 


1  The  name  of  this  river  has  generally  been  spelled  Rapidan.  It  is  one  of  three  rivers  in  that 
portion  of  Virginia  bearing  the  name  of  Anna — namely,  the  Rapid  Anna,  North  Anna,  and  South 
Anna.  The  first  is  the  chief  tributary  of  the  Rappahannock,  and  the  two  latter  form  the  Pamun- 
key  River. 

a  General  Crawford's  brigade  came  out  of  that  terrible  fight  a  mere  remnant.  Some  regiments 
lost  half  their  number.  General  Geary,  with  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  troops,  made  desperate 
charges,  and  was  severely  wounded.  General  Auger  was  also  wounded,  and  General  Price  was 
made  prisoner.  The  National  loss  was  about  two  thousand  in  killed  and  wounded,  and  that  of 
the  Confederates  about  the  same. 

8  Page  500.  These  had  first  gone  to  the  Peninsula  to  aid  McClellan,  and  were  the  first  of  the 
troops  there  who  promptly  obeyed  the  summons  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  to  the  defense  of 
Washington  City. 


1862.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


625 


sued  by  Lee's  cavalry,  and  along  the  line  of  that  river,  above  Fredericksburg, 
there  was  an  artillery  duel  for  two  days  [August  20  and  21,  1862].  Lee  found 
that  he  could  not  force  a  passage  of  that  stream,  so  he  moved  toward  the 
mountains,  for  the  purpose  of  flanking  the  Nationals.  Pope  made  skillful  and 
energetic  efforts  to  thwart  the  design  of  his  enemy,  but  the  danger  became 
greater  every  hour.  Pope's  force  had  been  greatly  weakened  by  fighting  and 
marching,  and  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  coming  to  his  relief  so  tardilv, 
that  he  almost  despaired  of  its  arrival  in  time  to  be  useful.1 

The  National  capital  was  now,  late  in  August,  in  great  peril.  Pope, 
encouraged  by  the  belief  that  McClellan's  fresh  troops,  which  had  been  resting 
for  a  month,  would  almost  immediately  re-enforce  him,  massed  his  army  near 
Rappahannock  Station  [Aug.  23,  1862],  for  the  purpose  of  falling  upon  a  heavy 
flanking  force.  Movements  to  this  end  were  made.  Franklin,  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  had  lately  arrived  with  troops,  and  Ileintzelman  and  Porter,  of 
the  same  army,  were  also  near,  so  that,  on  the  25th,  Pope's  army,  and  its  re-en 
forcements  at  hand,  with  their  backs  on  Washington  and  their  faces  to  the  foe, 
were  about  sixty  thousand  strong,  but  still  somewhat  scattered.  On  that  day 
"  Stonewall  Jackson,"  leading  the  great  flank  movement,  crossed  the  Rappa 
hannock,  and  with  his  ac 


customed  celerity  made 
his  way  over  the  Bull's 
Run  Mountains  at  Tho 
roughfare  Gap.  At  twi- 
li^-ht  on  the  26th  he  was 

O 

on  the  railway  in  Pope's 

rear,     and    between    his 

army     and     Washington 

City.     The     Confederate 

cavalry    swept    over  the 

country   in   the   direction 

of  Washington,  as  far  as 

Fairfax  Court-House  and 

Centreville,  and  Jackson, 

taking  possession  in  strong  force  of  Ma:iassas  Junction,2  awaited  the  arrival  of 

an  approaching  heavy  column  under  Longstreet. 

Both  armies  were  now  in  a  critical  situation.     Pope  took  vigorous  measures 


THOROUGHFARE  GAP. 


1  At  the  close  of  July,  Halleck  ordered  preparations  for  the  removal  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac  from  the  Peninsula,  and  on  the  3d  of  August  lie  issued  a  positive  order  for  it  to  move  at  once. 
McGlellan  protested.     He  told  his  government  that  the  force  under  Pope  was  '•  not  necessary  10 
maintain   a   strict    defensive   in    front    of    Washington   and    Harper's    Ferry;''    instructed  his 
superiors  that  the  "  true  defense  of  Washington  was  on  the  banks  of  the  James,  where  the  fate 
of  the  Union  was  to  be  decided ;"  and  then  awaited  further  orders.     Halleck  repeated  his  com 
mand,  and  urged  McClellan  to  use  all  possible  diligence  in  effecting  the  departure  of  his  troops. 
After  the  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain  he  told  him  there  "must  be  no  further  delay"  in  his  move 
ments,  for  Washington  was  m  danger.     It  was  twenty  days  after  McClellan  received  orders  to 
transfer  his  army  to  Aquia  Creek,  on  the  Potomac,  before  they  were  executed,  and  that  army 
failed  to  give  Pope  timely  and  sufficient  aid. 

2  Pages  5G7  and  572. 


626 


THE     NATION. 


[1862. 


for  capturing  Jackson,  or  at  the  least  preventing  the  junction  of  his  and  Long- 
street's  forces.  His  plans,  experts  say,  were  well  chosen,  and,  had  they  been 
as  well  executed  by  all  of  his  subordinates,  success  must  have  crowned  his 
efforts.  But  they  were  not,  and  disaster  was  the  consequence.  Longstreet, 
with  the  van  of  Lee's  army,  joined  Jackson  [August  29]  near  Groveton,  not 
far  from  the  Bull's  Run  battle-ground,  and  there  the  combined  forces  fought 
the  whole  of  Pope's  army,  excepting  Banks's  command,  then  at  Bristow's  Sta 
tion.  The  battle  was  very  severe,  but  not  decisive.  The  loss  was  about  seven 


MONUMENT    AND  BATTLE-GROUND  NEAR  GROVETON.1 

thousand  on  each  side.  Prudence  counseled  a  retreat  for  Pope,  but,  still 
expecting  immediate  re-enforcements,  he  prepared  for  a  renewal  of  the  strug 
gle  in  the  morning.  When  morning  came  he  was  assured  of  no  further  aid 
from  McClellan,2  and  he  had  then  no  alternative.  He  must  fight.  He  prepared 
for  battle.  A  movement  of  the  enemy  deceived  him,  and  supposing  Lee  to  be 
retreating,  he  ordered  a  pursuit.  On  a  portion  of  the  Bull's  Run  battle-ground, 
near  Groveton,  his  advance  was  assailed  [August  30]  by  a  heavy  force  in 
ambush.  A  sanguinary  conflict  ensued,  in  which  the  Nationals  were  defeated 
and  driven  across  Bull's  Run  by  way  of  the  Stone  Bridge.3  At  Centreville 
they  were  joined  by  the  corps  of  Franklin  and  Sumner.  Lee  was  not  disposed 
to  attack  them  there,  so  he  sent  Jackson  [August  31],  with  his  own  and  Ewell's 
divisions,  to  make  another  flank  movement.  This  brought  on  another  battle  on 


1  After  the  war,  Union  soldiers,  stationed  near  this  battle-ground,  erected  a  monument  of  the 
sand-stone  of  the  vicinity,  on  the   field  of  strife,  to  the  memory  of  their  comrades.     The  above 
picture  shows  the  monument  and  the  battle-field,  looking  toward  Manassas  Junction. 

2  Pope  had  received  no  re-enforcements  or  supplies  since  the  2Gth.     He  confidently  expected 
rations  and  forage  from  McClellan,  who  was  at  Alexandria,  and  had  been  ordered  to  supply  them, 
but  on  the  morning  of  the  30th,  when  it  was  too  late  to  retreat  and  perilous  to  stand  still,  Pope 
received  information  that  supplies  would  be  "loaded  into  available  wagons  and  cars,"  so  soon  as 
he  should  send  a  cavalry  escort  for  the  train  !— a  thing  utterly  impossible.     Meanwhile  the  corps 
of  Sumner  and  Franklin,  of  McClellan's  command,  which  might  on  that  day  have  secured  victory 
for  the  Nationals,  were  not  permitted  to  go  within  supporting  distance  of  the  struggling  army 
until  the  next  day,  when  Pope,  for  want  of  support,  had  lost  every  advantage. 

8  Page  5 GO. 


1862.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


627 


the  1st  of  September,  at  Chantilly,  not  far  from  Fairfax  Court-House,  in  which 
Generals  Kearney  and  Stevens  were  shot  dead,  and  many  gallant  officers  and  men 
were  mortally  wounded.1  The  Nationals 
held  the  field  that  night,  and  on  the  fol 
lowing  day  [Sept.  2]  fell  back  within  the 
fortifications  around  Washington  City.2 
Thus  ended  Pope's  campaign  in  Virginia,, 
and  also  his  military  career  in  the  East. 
He  had  labored  hard  under  many  difficul 
ties,  and  he  bitterly  complained  of  a  lack 
of  co-operation  with  him,  in  his  later 
struggles,  by  McClellan  and  some  of  his 
subordinates.3 

The  Republic  now  seemed  to  be  in 
great  danger,  and  the  loyal  people  were 
very  anxious.  Already  the  President, 
by  a  call  on  the  1st  of  June,  had  drawn 
forty  thousand  men  for  three  months  PHILIP  KEARNEY. 

from  New  England.     Already  the  loyal 

governors  of  eighteen  States,  acting  under  the  conviction  of  a  large  portion  of 
their  constituents,  who  were  evidently  losing  confidence  in  the  leader  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  had  requested  the  President  to  call  for  three  hundred 
thousand  volunteers  "for  the  war,"4  and  he  had  complied  [July  1]  ;  and  when 
Pope  was  struggling  with  Jackson  near  the  Rapid  Anna,  he  called  [August 
9th]  for  three  hundred  thousand  men  for  nine  months,  with  the  understanding 
that  an  equal  number  of  men  would  be  drafted  from  the  great  body  of  the 
citizens  who  were  over  eighteen  and  less  than  forty-five  vears  of  asre,  if  they 

C1  * •  •/  O  •/ 

did  not  appear  as  volunteers.  These  calls  met  Avith  hearty  responses,  for  the 
loyal  people  had  determined  to  save  the  Republic.  Thousands  of  volunteers 
were  now  flocking  to  the  standard  of  their  country.  The  conspirators  were 
alarmed,  and  Lee  was  instructed  to  take  advantage  of  the  reverses  to  the 
National  arms,  and  act  boldly,  vigorously,  and  even  desperately,  if  necessary, 
in  an  attempt  to  capture  Washington  City.  He  was  re-enforced  by  the  divi- 

— • 

1  The  National  loss  in  Pope's  campaign  in  Virginia,  from  the  battle  of  Cedar  Mountain  to  that 
of  Chantilly,  was  never  officially   reported  in  full.     Careful   estimates   make  it  (including   an 
immense  number  of  stragglers  who  were  returned  to  their  regiments)  30,000.     Lee's  loss  was 
probably  about  15,000. 

2  See  map  on  page  572. 

3  During  the  last  few  days  in  which  the  Army  of  Virginia  was  struggling  for  life,  the  authori 
ties  at  Washington,  by  commands  and  assistance,  made  every  effort  to  induce  McClellan  to  aid 
Pope,  but  in  vain.     And  when,  on  the  29th  of  August,  Halleck  telegraphed  to  McClellan,  saying, 
"  I  want  Franklin's  corps  to  go  far  enough  to  find  out  something  about  the  enemy,"  the  latter 
telegraphed  to  the  President,  saying: — "I  am  clear  that  one  of  two  courses  should  be  adopted: 
First,  to  concentrate  all  our  available  forces  to  open  communication  with  Pope.     Second,  to  leave 
Pope  to  get  out  of  his  scrape,  and  at  once  use  all  our  means  to  make  the  capital  safe." 

4  Clamors  began  to  arise  on  every  side.     Men  of  influence,  whose  faith  in  the  "  young  Napo 
leon,''  as  McClellan  was  fondly  called,  had  been  unbounded,  now  shook  their  heads  doubtingly. 
They  clearly  perceived  that  if  150,000  to  200,000  men  could  not  make  more  headway  in  the  work 
of  crushing  the  rebellion  than  they  had  done  under  his  leadership,  during  full  ten  months,  more 
men  must  be  called  to  the  field  at  once,  and  put  under  a  more  efficient  leader,  or  all  would  be  lost. 


628 


THE     NATION. 


[1862 


sion  of  D.  II.  Hill,  and  then,  operating  upon  the  original  plan  of  General  John 
ston,  of  pushing  into  Maryland  and  getting  in  the  rear  of  Washington,1  he 
crossed  the  Potomac  with  almost  his  entire  force  by  the  Vth  of  September,  with 
the  belief  that  thousands  of  the  citizens  of  Maryland  would  join  his  standard.2 
The  Army  of  Virginia  had  now  disappeared  as  a  separate  organization,  and, 
became  a  part  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  with  McClellan  still  at  its  head. 
When  the  latter  was  informed  of  Lee's  movement  into  Maryland,  he  left  Gene 
ral  Banks  in  command  in  Washington  City,  and.-  with  a  greater  part  of  his 
army,  nearly  90,000  in  number,  he  went  in  pursuit.  He  moved  very  cautiously, 
but  was  soon  advised  that  Lee's  plan  was  to  take  possession  of  Harper's  Ferry, 
and  open  communication  with  Richmond  by  way  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley  ; 
and  meanwhile  to  draw  McClellan  far  toward  the  Susquehanna,  and,  turning 
suddenly  upon  him,  defeat  him  and  march  upon  Washington.3  McClellan  fol 
lowed  him  through  Frederick  and  over  South  Mountain  into  the  Antietam 
Valley.  At  Turner's  Gap,  on  the  South  Mountain,  a  portion  of  the  National 
army,  led  byBurnside,  had  a  severe  light  [September  14]  with  a  part  of  Lee's, 
and  at  the  same  time  another  portion,  under  Franklin,  was  striving  to  force  its 

way  over  the  same 
range  of  hills  at  Cramp- 
ton's  Gap,  nearer  Har 
per's  Ferry.  In  the 
battle  on  South  Moun 
tain,  the  gallant  Gene 
ral  Reno  was  killed.4 
The  strife  ceased  at 
evening,  and  the  Na 
tionals  were  prepared 
to  renew  it  in  the  morn- 
ino\  Darin  a:  the  nio-ht 

£!5  O  C5 

:  the  Confederates  with 
drew  from  the  emi 
nence,  and  Lee  concen 
trated  his  forces  near  the 
Antietam  Creek,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Sharpsburg. 


•yoHS*" 


BATTLE  FIELD  ON  SOUTH  MOUNTAIN.0 


1  Pago  584. 
3  Lee  issued 


[Sept.  8],  and  raised  the  standard  of  revolt.  He  called  upon  the 
Marylanders  to  join  his  invading  host,  assuring  them  that  he  had  come  to  assist  them  in  throw 
ing  off  "the  foreign  yoke"  they  were  compelled  to  bear,  and  to  "restore  the  independence  and 
sovereignty  of  their  State."  He  discoursed  as  fluently  of  the  "  outrages  "  inflicted  by  their  gen 
erous  government,  as  Jefferson  Davis,  his  coadjutor  in  the  monstrous  crime,  ever  did,  but  he  soon 
*found,  to  his  shame  and  confusion,  that  the  few  disloyal  Hollanders  who  had  joined  his  army  in 
Virginia  did  not  represent  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  that  State.  He  lost  more  by  desertion 
than  he  gained  by  recruits  in  Maryland. 

3  McClellan's   advance,  on  entering  Frederick,  found  a  copy  of  Lee's  general  order,  issued  on 
the  9th,  which  revealed  his  plan. 

4  McClellan  reported  his  loss  in  this  engagement  at  1,568,  of  whom  312  were  killed.     The 
Confederates  lost  about  the  same  number  in  killed  and  wounded,  and  1.500  prisoners. 

6  This  shows  the  part  of  the  battle-field  where  General  Reno  was  killed.     The  stone  near  the 


1862.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  629 

All  eyes  were  now  turned  toward  Harper's  Ferry,  then  in  command  of 
Colonel  D.  H.  Miles,  a  Marylander.  Franklin  fought  his  way  over  the  moun 
tain  at  Crampton's  Pass  into  Pleasant  Valley,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  14th 
of  September  he  was  within  six  miles  of  Harper's  Ferry,  then  strongly  in  vested 
by  troops  under  "  Stonewall  Jackson."  They  had  possession  of  Maryland  and 
London  Heights,  which  completely  commanded  that  post.  Its  salvation  from 
capture  depended  upon  the  ability  of  the  garrison  to  hold  out  until  relief 
should  come.  But  Miles,  either  incompetent  or  disloyal,  sent  off  his  cavalry, 
two  thousand  strong,  on  the  night  of  the  14th,  and  surrendered  to  Jackson 
the  next  morning,  before  the  victorious  Franklin  could  make  his  way  thither.1 

McClellan  followed  the  Confederates  in  their  flight  from  South  Mountain  on 
the  morning  of  the  loth  [Sept.,  1862],  but  was  so  impressed  with  the  idea  that 
they  were  on  his  front  in  overwhelming  numbers,  that  he  deferred  an  attack 
until  the  next  day.  The  Confederates  were  posted  along  the  right  bank  of  the 
Antietam,  and  the  Nationals  on  its  left;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  IGth  the 
former  opened  artillery  upon  the  latter.  It  was  past  noon  before  McClellan 
was  ready,  there  being  a  lack  of  ammunition  and  rations,  for  which  he  waited. 
Finally,  Hooker  crossed  the  Antietam  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  Confederates, 
and  other  troops  were  sent  over  during  the  night.  Hooker's  force  had  a  sharp 
and  successful  fight,  and  rested  on  their  arms  that  night ;  and  both  armies  pre 
pared  for  a  decisive  struggle  in  the  morning.  Hooker  opened  it  at  dawn  on 
the  Confederate  left,  and  with  varying  fortunes  the  battle  raged  on  that  wing 
and  along  the  center  until  late  in  the  afternoon.  Meanwhile  the  National  left, 
under  Burnside,  had  been  contending  with  the  Confederate  rio^ht  under  Long- 
street,  with  varied  success ;  and  when  darkness  fell  upon  the  scene  that  night, 
both  armies,  sorely  smitten,  rested  where  for  twelve  or  fourteen  hours  they 
had  contended,  the  advantage  being  with  the  Nationals.2 

The  Confederates  were  now  in  a  perilous  position.  Lee  could  not  easily 
call  re-enforcements  to  his  aid,  his  supplies  were  nearly  exhausted,  and  his 
army  was  terribly  shattered  and  disorganized.  McClellan,  on  the  contrary, 
had  fourteen  thousand  fresh  troops  near,  and  these  joined  him  the  next  morn 
ing.  It  would  have  been  an  easy  matter,  it  seems,  to  have  captured  the  whole 
of  Lee's  army  by  a  vigorous  movement.  Prudential  considerations  restrained 
McClellan,3  and  when  he  was  ready  to  move  on  his  foe,  thirty-six  hours  after 
the  battle  [Sept.  18],  Lee,  with  his  shattered  legions,  were  behind  strong  bat 
teries  on  the  Virginia  side  of  the  Potomac,  Avhither  they  had  fled  under  the 

figure  with  a  cane  marks  the  spot  where  he  fell.     The  chestnut  tree  was  scarred  by  bullets  when 
the  writer  visited  the  field,  in  the  autumn  of  18GG  . 

1  The  number  of  men  surrendered  was  11,583,  most  of  them  new  levies.     The  spoils  were  73 
cannon,  13,000  small  arms,  200  wagons,  and  a  large  quantity  of  supplies. 

2  In  this  battle  McClellan's  effective  force  was  87,000,  and  Lee's  60,000.     McClellan  reported 
his  entire  loss  at  12,469  men,  of  whom  2,010  were  killed.     Among  the  latter  was  General  J.  K. 
F.  Mansfield,  and  General  Richardson  was  mortally  wounded.     Lee's  loss  was  probably  somewhat 
larger.     Six  thousand  of  his  men  were  made  prisoners,  and  the  spoils  were  15,000  small  arms,  13 
cannon,  and  39  battle-flags.     r  .. 

3  In  his  report  he  said: — " Virginia  was  lost,  Washington  menaced,  Maryland  invaded — the 
National  cause  could  afford  no  risks  of  defeat."  '  He  therefore  hesitated,  and.  in  opposition  to  the 
advice  of  Franklin  and  others,  deferred  a  renewal  of  the  battle  until  Lee  had  placed  the  Poto 
mac  between  the  two  armies. 


630 


THE     NATION. 


[1862. 


cover  of  darkness  the  night  before.  A  feeble  attempt  to  follow  was  made,  and 
quickly  abandoned  [Sept.  19],  when  Lee  moved  leisurely  up  the  Shenandoah 
Valley,  and  McClellan  took  possession  of  Harper's  Ferry.  He  now  called  for 
re-enforcements  and  supplies,  and  ten  days  after  the  battle,  the  government 
and  the  loyal  people,  who  hourly  expected  the  announcement  that  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  was  in  swift  pursuit  of  Lee's  broken  columns,  Avere  sadly  dis 
appointed  by  McClellan's  declaration  that  he  intended  to  hold  his  army  where 
it  was,  and  "  attack  the  enemy  should  he  attempt  to  recross  into  Maryland." 
The  President  hastened  to  McClellan's  head-quarters  [Oct.  1],  and  there  became 


VIEW    OF   THE    ANTIETAM   BATTLE-GROUND.1 

so  well  satisfied  that  the  army  was  competent  to  move  at  once  in  pursuit  of 
Lee,  that  he  instructed  its  leader  to  cross  the  Potomac  immediately  for  that 
purpose.  Twenty  days  were  spent  in  correspondence  between  the  commander 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  the  National  authorities  before  that  order 
was  obeyed,  during  which  time  the  beautiful  October  weather,  when  the  roads 
were  good  in  Virginia,  had  passed  by,  and  Lee's  army  had  become  thoroughly 
recruited,  strengthened,  and  supplied,  and  his  communication  with  Richmond 
was  re-established.  On  the  2d  of  November  McClellan  announced  that  his 


1  This  was  the  appearance  of  that  portion  of  the  battle-ground  where  the  struggle  was  most 
severe,  on  the  Confederate  left,  as  it  appeared  when  the  author  sketched  it,  early  in  October, 
186'!.  The  five  birds  seen  in  the  distance  are  over  the  spot  where  Mansfield  was  killed.  The 
Antietnm  Creek  is  seen  in  the  foreground.  The  view  is  from  near  the  house  of  Mr.  Pry,  where 
McClellan  had  his  head-quarters. 


1862.] 


LINCOLN'S    ADMINISTRATION. 


631 


whole  army  was  once  more  in  Virginia,  prepared  to  move  southward,  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  instead  of  pursuing  Lee  up  the  Shenandoah  Val 
ley,  on  the  western  side.  The  faith  of  the  government  and  of  the  loyal  people 
in  McClellan's  ability  or  disposition  to  achieve  a  victory  by  such  movement 
was  now  exhausted,  and  on  the  5th  of  November  he  was  relieved  of  command, 
and  General  Burnside  was  put  in  his  place.  Thus  ended  McClellan's  unsuccess 
ful  military  career. 

Burnside  now  reorganized  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  (then  numbering  about 
one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  men)  and  changed  the  plan  of  operations, 
by  which  the  capture  of  Richmond,  rather  than  the  immediate  destruction  of 
Lee's  army,  was  the  objective.  He  made  Aquia  Creek,  on  the  Potomac,  his 
base  of  supplies,  and  took  position  at  Fredericksburg,  from  which  he  intended 
to  advance.  Before  he  had  accomplished  that  movement  and  was  prepared  to 
cross  the  Rappahannock,  Lee  had  occupied  the  heights  in  rear  of  Fredericks- 
burg,  in  full  force,  full  eighty  thousand  strong.  The  bridges  were  destroyed, 
and  Burnside  could  pass  the  river  only  on  pontoons  or  floating  bridges.  These 
were  constructed,  and  under  cover  of  a  heavy  fire  of  artillery  from  Stafford 
Heights,  the  National  columns  crossed  over.  A  sanguinary  battle  ensued  on  the 
13th  of  December.  Ter 
rible  was  the  roar  of 
three  hundred  Confede 
rate  cannon  and  half 
that  number  of  Na 
tional  guns.  The  city 
was  battered  and  fired. 
The  Nationals  were  re 
pulsed.1  Two  days 
more  [December  14- 
15]  they  remained  on 
the  city  side  of  the 
river,  and  then  with 
drew  under  cover  of 
the  darkness,  and  Lee 
took  possession  of  Fred 
ericksburg.  Burnside 
was  soon  afterward 
superseded  in  com 
mand  [January  26,  1863]  by  General  Joseph  Hooker.  Here  we  will  leave  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  in  winter  quarters  on  the  Rappahannock,  and  consider 
the  stirring  events  in  the  great  Valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

We  left  the  Lower  Mississippi,  from  its  mouth  to  New  Orleans,  in  posses- 


SCENE   IN   FREDERICKSBURG    ON  .THE   MORNING   OF   THE    12TH. 


1  The  National  Joss  was  about  15,000  men.  A  large  number  of  the  wounded  (seventy  per 
cent.)  soon  rejoined  the  army,  their  hurts  being  slight.  There  were  3,234  of  the  total  loss 
reported  "missing,"  many  of  whom  soon  returned,  so  that  the  absolute  loss  to  the  army,  other 
than  temporary,  was  not  very  large.  The  Confederate  loss  was  probably  about  7.000. 


632 


THE     NATION. 


[1862. 


sion  of  the  National  forces  under  Butler  and  Farragut1  at  the  beginning  of  the 
summer  of  1862,  and  at  the  same  time  the  river  was  held  by  the  same  power 
from  Memphis  to  St.  Louis.  Southern  Tennessee  and  Northern  Alabama  and 
Mississippi  were  also  held  by  the  Nationals,  and  the  Confederate  army,  driven 
from  Corinth,  was  at  Tupelo.2  At  about  this  time  a  Kcntuckian,  named  John 
H.  Morgan,  and  a  notorious  leader  of  a  guerrilla  band  who  had  penetrated  his 
native  State  from  East  Tennessee,  was  raiding  through  that  eommonwealth, 
preparatory  to  the  advent,  under  E.  Kirby  Smith,  of  an  invading  force  of 
Confederates,  the  advance  of  an  army  under  General  Bragg.  Another  bold 
leader  of  Confederate  horsemen  was  N.  B.  Forrest,  who  swept  through  Ten 
nessee  in  various  directions,  and  finally,  at  the  middle  of  July,  threatened 


FORTIFICATIONS   OF   THE   STATE-HOUSE    AT   NASHVILLE/ 

Nashville,  then  in  command  of  General  Negley,  who  had  caused  fortifications 
to  be  built  at  points  ground  the  city,  and  breastworks  to  be  thrown  up  around 
the  State  capitol  in  its  midst.  In  the  mean  time  Bragg  was  moving  through 
the  State  eastward  of  Nashville,  toAvard  Kentucky,  while  General  Buell  was 
moving  in  the  same  direction,  on  a  nearly  parallel  line,  to  foil  his  intentions. 

General  E.  Kirby  Smith,  with  a  considerable  force,  entered  Kentucky  from 
East  Tennessee,  and  pushed  on  in  the  direction  of  Frankfort,  the  capital  of  the 


1  Page  611.  ^  2  Page  604. 

3  This  is  a  view  of  the  breastworks  at  one  of  the  fronts  of  the  capitol,  seen  near  the  three 
smaller  figures,  with  a  portion  of  the  city,  the  Cumberland  River,  and  the  country  around,  as  they 
appeared  when  sketched  by  the  writer  in  May,  18C6. 


1362.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

State.  He  fought  a  severe  battle  [August  30,  1862]  with  Union  troops  under 
General  M.  D.  Manson,  near  Richmond,  where  General  Nelson1  took  command. 
The  Nationals  were  routed  and  scattered,  and  Smith  passed  on  to  Lexington. 
The  affrighted  Legislature  of  Kentucky,  then  in  session  at  Frankfort,  fled  to 
Louisville.  The  secessionists  of  that  region  warmly  welcomed  the  invader, 
and  the  conqueror  pushed  vigorously  toward  the  Ohio,  with  the  intention  of 
capturing  and  plundering  Cincinnati.  He  was  unexpectedly  confronted  there 
by  strong  fortifications  constructed  and  a,  large  force  collected  on  the  southern 
side  of  the  Ohio,  under  the  direction  of  the  energetic  General  Lewis  Wallace. 
By  these  the  career  of  the  invader  was  checked,  the  city  was  saved,  and  Wal 
lace  received  the  thanks  of  the  authorities  of  Cincinnati  and  of  the  Legislature 
of  Ohio,  for  "  the  promptness,  energy,  and  skill  exhibited  by  him  in  organizing 
the  forces  and  planning  the  defenses  "  which  saved  the  soil  of  that  State  from 
invasion.2  Foiled  in  this  attempt,  -Smith  turned  his  face  toward  Louisville. 
He  captured  Frankfort,3  and  there  awaited  the  arrival  of  Bragg,  who  for  almost 
three  weeks  had  been  moving  northward  from  Chattanooga,  with  over  forty 
regiments  of  all  arms  and  forty  cannon.  His  destination  was  Louisville. 

Bragg  crossed  the  Cumberland  River  at  Carthage,  and  entered  Kentucky 
on  the  5th  of  September,  his  advance,  eight  thousand  strong,  pushing  toward 
the  railway  between  Nashville  and  Louisville.  At  Mumfordsville,  on  that 
railway,  a  National  force  under  Colo 
nel  T.  J.  Wilder  fought  [September  14] 
some  of  the  troops  of  the  traitor  Buck- 
ner  for  five  hours,  and  repulsed  them. 
Two  days  afterward,  a  strong  Confede 
rate  force  under  General  Polk  appeared, 

and,  after  another  severe  battle   [Sep-  WPrm&g 

tember  16],  Wilder  was  compelled  to 
surrender.  Bragg  was  elated  by  this 
event.  Buell,  then  at  Bowling  Green, 
had  sent  no  relief  to  Wilder,  and  he 
seemed  to  be  so  exceedingly  tardy,  that 
the  Confederate  leader  had  no  doubt  of 
an  easy  march  upon  Louisville.  On  the 
1st  of  October  he  formed  a  junction  DON  CARLOS  BUELL. 

with  Kirby  Smith's  troops  at  Frank 
fort,    and  his  marauding  bands  were  out  plundering  the  people  in  all  direc 
tions.4      Then  Buell,  who  had  kept  abreast  of  Bragg,  turned  upon  the  latter, 

1  Page  577. 

2  Wallace  was  satisfied  that  nothing  but  the  most  vigorous  measures  would  save  the  city. 
He  declared  martial  law,  and  ordered  the  citizens,  under  the  direction  of  the  Mayor,  to  assemble 
an  hour  afterward,  in  convenient  public  places,  to  be  organized  for  work  on  intrenchments  on  the 
south  side   of  the   river.     "The  willing,"  he  said,   "shall  be  properly  credited,  the  unwilling 
promptly  visited.     The  principle  adopted  is :  citizens  for  labor— soldiers  for  the  battle." 

3  There  Bragg  performed  the  farce  of  making  a  weak  citizen,  named  Hawes,  "  Provisional 
Governor  of  Kentucky." 

4  On  the  1 5th  of  September  Bragg  issued  a  proclamation  to  the  inhabitants  of  Kentucky,  assu 
ring  them  that  he  came  as  their  "liberator from  the  tyranny  of  a  despotic  ruler."     He  told  them 


634 


THE     NATION.  [1862. 


and  near  Perry ville  they  had  a  severe  battle  on  the  8th  [October,  1862], 
in  which  the  Confederates  were  so  roughly  handled  that  they  fled  during 
the  night,  and  made  their  way  as  rapidly  as  possible  toward  East  Tennessee.1 
Bragg  pretended  that  he  expected  a  general  uprising  in  Kentucky  in  favor 
of  the  Confederate  cause  on  his  arrival,  and  was  greatly  disappointed.  His 
invasion  proved  a  disaster  rather  than  a  benefit.  It  might  have  proved  utterly 
ruinous  had  the  invaders  been  vigorously  pursued  in  their  retreat,  but  General 
Buell,  like  General  McClellan,  Avas  too  cautious  to  secure  all  of  the  advantages 
of  a  victory.  The  government  perceived  this,  and  at  the  close  of  October 
relieved  him  of  his  command,  and  gave  it  to  General  Rosecrans.2  Then  the 
title  of  his  large  force,  called  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  was  changed  to  that  of 
the  Army  of  the  Cumberland. 

Simultaneously  with  the  movement  of  Bragg  toward  Kentucky,  was  an 
advance  of  Generals  Yan  Dorn  and  Price  (who  had  been  left  in  Mississippi) 
toward  Tennessee ;  and  strong  bands  of  Confederates,  under  different  leaders, 
were  raiding  through  the  western  portion  of  that  State,  all  working  in  aid  of 
Bragg's  movement.  Rosecrans  was  then  at  the  head  of  the  Army  of  the 
Mississippi,  whose  duty  was  to  hold  the  region  in  Northern  Mississippi  and 
Alabama  w^hich  the  capture  of  Corinth3  and  the  operations  of  Mitchel4  had 
secured  to  the  Nationals.  He  was  at  Tuscumbia  when  word  came  from  Grant 
that  danger  was  gathering  west  of  him.  He  moved  his  main  force  toward 
Corinth,  when  Price  advanced  to  luka  Springs,5  and  captured  a  large  amount 
of  National  property  there. 

General  Grant,  in  chief  command  in  that  region,  had  watched  these  move 
ments  very  vigilantly,  and  now  he  sent  a  force  under  General  Ord  to  co 
operate  with  Rosecrans  against  Price.  Before  Orel's  arrival,  Rosecrans, 
with  a  greatly  inferior  force,  attacked  Price  [September  19],  and,  in  a  severe 
battle  near  the  village  of  luka  'Springs,  the  Confederates  were  beaten.6 

he  must  have  supplies  for  his  army,  but  that  they  should  be  fairly  paid  for.  He  had  neither 
means  nor  intention  to  do  so.  He  plundered  the  people,  without  inquiring  whether  they 
were  his  friends  or  foes ;  and  he  started  to  flee  from  the  State  with  a  wagon  train  of  stolen  sup 
plies  forty  miles  in  length,  but  so  fearful  was  he  of  capture  that  he  left  a  large  portion  of  his 
plunder  behind.  In  truth,  the  invasion  of  Kentucky  by  Kirby  Smith  and  Braxton  Bragg  was 
nothing  but  a  great  plundering  raid,  and  the  wealth  of  that  State  and  of  Southern  Indiana  and 
Ohio  was  the  chief  object  of  their  march  from  the  Tennessee  toward  the  Ohio  River. 

1  Buell's  entire  army  numbered  at  this  time  about  100.000  men.  Bragg's  force  in  Kentucky 
was  about  65,000.  Only  portions  of  each  army  were  in  the  battle  near  Perry  ville.  Buell  reported 
that  his  force  which  advanced  on  Bragg  was  58,000  strong,  of  whom  22,000  were  raw  troops. 
He  reported  his  loss  in  the  battle  at  4,348,  of  whom  916  were  killed.  Among  the  slain  were 
Generals  Jackson  and  Terrell.  The  Confederate  loss  is  supposed  to  have  been  nearly  the  same. 
Bragg  claimed  to  have  captured  15  guns  and  400  prisoners. 

a'  Page  563.  3  Page  G04.  4  Page  601. 

6  This  is  a  celebrated  summer  resort  for  the  people  in  the  Gulf  region.  It  is  on  the  Memphis 
and  Charleston  railway,  a  few  miles  east  of  Corinth. 

6  The  disparity  of  numbers  in  this  engagement  was  very  great.  "I  say  boldly,"  reported 
General  Hamilton,  on  the  23d  of  September,  "that  a  force  of  not  more  than  2.800  met  and  con 
fronted  a  rebel  force  of  11,000,  on  a  field  chosen  by  Price,  and  a  position  naturally  very  strong." 
Only  a  small  portion  of  Rosecrans's  force  was  engaged,  and  these  won  the  victory,  but  with  fearful 
loss  to  the  few  National  regiments  in  the  fight.  The  men  of  the  llth  Ohio  Battery  suffered 
dreadfully.  Seventy-two  were  slain  or  wounded,  and  all  the  horses  were  killed  before  the  guns 
were  abandoned.  The  appearance  of  their  burial-place  on  the  battle-field,  when  the  writer  visited 
the  spot,  in  the  spring  of  1866,  is  seen  iii  the  engraving  on  the  next  page.  Rosecrans  reported  his, 


1862.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


635 


GRAVLS    OF    THE   ELEVENTH    OHIO   BATTERY-MEN. 


They  fled  southward,  pursued  some  distance  by  the  victors,  and  at  Ripley,  in 
Mississippi,  the  forces  of  Van  Dorn  and  Price  were  united.  Then  they  moved 
upon  Corinth,  now  occu 
pied  by  Rosecrans,  and 
there,  on  the  3d  and  4th 
of  October  [1862],  a  san 
guinary  battle  was  fought, 
in  which  both  parties  dis 
played  the  greatest  valor. 
The  Nationals  were  be 
hind  the  fortifications, 
and  had  some  advantage 
in  that  respect.1  The 
struggle  was  fearful,  and 
ended  in  the  repulse  of 
the  assailants,  who  fled 
southward,  vigorously 
pursued  as  far  as  Ripley.2 

The  repulse  of  the  Confederates  at  Corinth  was  followed  by  brief  repose 
in  the  department  over  which  General  Grant  had  chief  command.  But  there 
were  stirring  scenes  lower  down  the  Mississippi  River.  The  hills  about  the 
city  of  Vicksburg  had  been  covered  with  fortifications,  and  the  capture  of  this 
point,  and  the  works  at  Port  Hudson  below,  which  constituted  the  only  for 
midable  obstructions  to  a  free  navigation  of  the  river,  was  now  an  object 
toward  which  military  movements  in  the  Southwest  were  tending.  Curtis, 
whom  we  left,  after  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge,  marching  eastward,3  was  making 
his  way  toward  Helena  for  that  purpose,  and  the  forces  under  Butler  and 
Farragut  were  at  work  for  the  same  end.  '  So  early  as  the  7th  of  May 
[1862],  Baton  Rouge,  the  capital  of  Louisiana,  had  been  captured,  and  Far- 
loss  in- this  battle  at  7  82,  of  whom  1 44  were  killed.  He  estimated  the  Confederate  loss  at  1 ,438.  He 
captured  from  them  1.629  small  arms  and  13.000  rounds  of  ammunition  and  other  war  materials. 
1  The  fortifications  thrown  up  around  Corinth  by  the  Confederates  had  been  strengthened  by 
the  Nationals  and  new  batteries  constructed.  At  one  of  these,  called  Fort 
,  Robinet,  the  struggle  was  very  severe.  In  four  lines  Texans  and  Missis- 
sippians  approached  to  assail  it,  in  the  face  of  a  terrible  storm  of  grape  and 
canister  shot.  They  reached  the  ditch,  paused  for  a  moment,  and  then,  with 
a  brave  leader  (Colonel  Rogers)  bearing  the  new  Confederate  flag*  in  his 
hand,  they  attempted  to  scale  the  parapet,  when  the  concealed  Nationals 
behind  suddenly  arose,  and  poured  murderous  volleys  of  bullets  upon  them 
that  swept  them  down  by  scores. 

-  2  In  this  retreat  troops  under  General  Ord  had  a  severe  battle  aC  Davis's 
Bridge,  on  the  Hatchee  River,  with  a  part  of  Van  Dorn's  column,  in  which 
the  Union  general  was  severely  wounded.     Rosecrans  reported  his  loss  in 
the  battle  at  Corinth  and  in  the  pursuit  at  2,359,  of  whom  315  were  killed. 
He  estimated  the  Confederate  loss,  including  2,248  prisoners,  at  a  little  more 
than  9,000.     Among  tlie  trophies  were  fourteen  flags,  two  guns,  and  3,363 
small  arms.     Rosecrans  reported  that,  according  to  Confederate  authority, 
CONFEDERATE  FLAG.*    they  had  38,000  men  in  the  battle,  and  that  his  own  force  was  less  than  20,000. 
3  Page  592. 

*  By  a  recent  Act  of  the  Confederate  "  Congress,"  the  "  Stars  and  Bars"  of  the  first  Confederate  flag  [page  555] 
had  been  superseded  by  a  white  flag,  the  stars  on  a  blue  field  arranged  in  the  fornrot'a  cross. 


4>  m     '  nyw     ^ 
A  » ... 


THE     NATION.  [1802. 

ragut's  vessels  went  up  to  Vicksburg  and  exchanged  greetings  with  others 
that  came  down  from  Memphis.  Vicksburg  was  attacked  on  the  26th  of 

June,  and  Farragut,  with  his  flag-ship 
(Hartford]  and  other  vessels,  ran  by 
and  above  it.  He  besieged  Vicksburg, 
and  attempted  to  cut  a  canal  across  the 
peninsula  in  front  of  it,  so  as  to  avoid 
the  city  and  its  fortifications  altogether. 
But  these  operations  failed,  and  the 
fleet  went  down  the  river.  Not  long 
afterward  the  National  troops  at  Baton 
Roiicre,  under  General  "Williams,  were 

O       ' 

assailed  [August  5,  1862]  by  Confede 
rates  under  Breckinridge.  Williams 
was  killed,  but  the  Confederates  were 
repulsed,1  and  this  result  was  followed 
DAVID  G.  FARRAGUT.  by  i}ie  ^struction  of  the  formidable 

Confederate  ram  Arkansas*  [August  6] 

by  the  Essex,  Captain  Porter,  and  two  other  gun-boats.  Then  Porter  went 
up  the  river  to  rconnoiter,  and  on  the  7th  of  September  he  had  a  sharp  fight 
with  the  growing  batteries  at  Port  Hudson. 

At  the  beginning  of  September  General  Butler  was  satisfied  that  the  Con 
federates  had  abandoned  all  idea  of  attempting  to  retake  New  Orleans,  so  he 
sent  out  some  aggressive  expeditions.  The  most  important  of  these  was  for 
the  purpose  of  "  repossessing  "  the  rich  La  Fourche  district  of  Louisiana.  The 
command  of  it  was  intrusted  to  General  Godfrey  Weitzel.  He  soon  accom 
plished  the  task,  after  a  sharp  engagement  [October  27]  near  Labadieville,  in 
which  lie  lost  eighteen  killed  and  seventy-four  wounded,  and  captured  two 
hundred  and  sixty-eight  prisoners.  A  large  portion  of  Louisiana,  bordering  on 
the  western  shore  of  the  Mississippi,  was  brought  under  the  National  control 
before  the  close  of  the  year,3  when  General  Butler  was  relieved  of  the  command 
of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf,  and  General  Banks  became  [December  16]  his 
successor. 

In  the  mean  time  there  had  been  active  military  movements  in  Missouri 
and  Arkansas.  Since  the  autumn  of  1861,  General  J.  M.  Schofield  had  been  in 
command  in  the  former  State,  and  with  twenty  or  thirty  thousand  men,  scat 
tered  over  the  commonwealth,  he  made  successful  warfare  on  the  Confederate 

1  The  National  loss  was  371,  of  whom  82  were  killed.  The  Confederate  loss  is  unknown. 
One  hundred  of  the  latter  were  made  prisoners. 

3  This  ram  was  built  in  the  Yazoo  River,  in  the  rear  of  Vicksburg,  and  was  intended  to 
sweep  the  National  gun-boats  from  the  Mississippi,  ghe  came  down  to  assist  Breckinridge  in  the 
assault  on  Baton  Rouge.  Five  miles  above  that  place  she  was  attacked,  driven  ashore,  set  on 
fire  by  her  commander,  and  by  the  explosion  of  her  magazine  was  blown  into  fragments. 

3  The  rebellion  haxl  paralyzed  the  industrial  operations  in  that  region,  arid  General  Butler 
thought  it  expedient,  as  a  State  policy,  and  for  the  sake  of  humanity,  to  confiscate  the  entire 
property  of  La  Fourche  district.  He  appointed  a  commission  to  take  charge  of  it,  who  emp^ed 
the  negroes  and  saved  the  crops.  Two  Congressional  districts  were  "  repossessed,"  and  in  De 
cember  the  loyal  citizens  of  New  Orleans  elected  two  members  of  Congress. 


1862.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

guerrilla  bands  late  in  the  summer  of  1862.  From  April  until  September  of 
that  year,  about  one  hundred  battles  and  skirmishes  occurred  in  Missouri. 
Troops  from  Arkansas,  who  came  thither  to  aid  their  insurgent  brethren,  ^vere 
driven  back.  These  formed  a  nucleus  for  a  force  Avhich,  late  in  September, 
was  gathered  in  Arkansas,  full  forty  thousand  strong,  under  T.  C.  Hindman,  a 
former  member  of  Congress.  Against  these  Schofield  marched  with  what  was 
called  the  Army  of  the  Frontier.  Joining  General  J.  G.  Blunt,  in  the  southern 
part  of  Missouri,  the  combined  forces,  ten  thousand  strong,  sought  the  insur 
gents.  The  latter  were  shy,  and  hovered  cautiously  among  the  Ozark  Hills. 
A  portion  of  them  were  attacked  near  Maysville  [October  22]  by  Blunt,  and 
driven  in  disorder  into  the  Indian  country.  Six  days  afterward,  another  por 
tion,  mostly  cavalry,  were  struck  by  General  Francis  J.  Herron,  and  driven  to 
the  mountains.  Soon  after  this  ill  health  compelled  Schofield  to  leave  the 
field,  and  the  command  devolved  on  General  Blunt. 

Hindman  now  determined  to  strike  a  decisive  blow  for  the  recovery  of  his 
State.  Toward  the  close  of  November  he  had  collected  an  army  about  twenty 
thousand  strong  on  its  western  border.  His  advance  wras  attacked  by  Blunt 
on  the  Boston  Mountains  on  the  26th  of  that  month,  and  were  driven  toward 
Van  Buren,  when  Blunt  took  position  at  Cave  Hill.  Ilindman,  with  about 
eleven  thousand  men,  marched  from  Van  Buren  to  crush  him.  Blunt  sent  for 
Herron,  then  in  Missouri,  to  come  and  help  him.  He  did  so,  and  at  a  little 
settlement  called  Prairie  Grove,  on  Illinois  Creek,  they  utterly  defeated  Hind- 
man  in  a  severe  battle,  and  drove  his  shattered  army  over  the  mountains.  In 
the  mean  time  there  was  bloody  strife  in  Texas,  where  Confederate  rule  was 
supreme,  and  the  Unionists  there  suffered  the  rigors  of  a  reign  of  terror 
unparalleled  in  atrocity.  Some  attempts  had  been  made  to  "  repossess  "  impor 
tant  points  of  that  State,  especially  the 
city  of  Galveston.  So  early  as  May, 
1862,  a  demand  for  the  surrender  of 
that  city  had  been  made  by  the  com 
mander  of  a  little  squadron  and  refused, 
and  so  matters  remained  until  the  8th 
of  October,  when  the  civil  authorities 
of  Galveston  surrendered  it  to  Com 
mander  Renshaw,  of  the  National  navy. 

Let  us  now  see  what  was  occurring 
eastward  of  the  Mississippi,  bearing 
upon  the  capture  of  Vicksburg,  at  the 
close  of  1862.  Grant  had  then  moved 
the  bulk  of  his  army  to  the  region  of 
Holly  Springs,  in  Mississippi,  where  he 

:  WILLIAM    S.    ROSECRANS. 

was    confronted   by    V  an    Dora ;    and 

Rosecrans,  who  succeeded  Buell,1  was  moving  southward  from  Nashville. 

Rosecrans  found  the  Army  of  the  Ohio  (now  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland) 

1  Page  634. 


638 


THE    NATION". 


[1862. 


in  a  sad  condition — wasted  in  substance  by  marches  and  conflicts,  and  de 
moralized  by  lack  of  success — "its  spirit  broken,  its  confidence  destroyed, 
its  discipline  relaxed,  its  courage  weakened,  and  its  hopes  shattered."1  Its 
effective  force  was  only  sixty-five  thousand,  and  its  cavalry  was  weak  in 
number  and  equipment,  while  the  rough-riders  of  Forrest  and  Morgan  were 
very  strong  and  bold.  That  army  was  in  the  vicinity  of  Bowling  Green  and 
Glasgow  when  Rosecrans  took  command  of  it,  and  Bragg  had  concentrated 
his  forces  at  Murfreesboro',  below  Nashville,  from  w^hich  went  out  expeditions 
that  seriously  threatened  the  latter  city.  Perceiving  its  peril,  Rosecrans  moved 
in  that  direction  at  the  beginning  of  November,  and  very  severe  encounters 
between  his  forces  and  Bragg's  warned  the  latter  that  he  had  now  a  loyal, 
earnest,  and  energetic  leader  to  deal  with,  and  he  became  circumspect. 

Rosecrans  prepared  to  move  upon  Bragg,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  26th 
of  December,  the  bulk  of  his  army,  about  forty-five  thousand  in  number,  went 
forward,  and,  after  various  preliminary  operations,  it  appeared  before  the  Con 
federate  post  at  Murfreesboro'  on  the  29th  of  December.  Both  armies  made 
vigorous  preparations  for  battle.  Rosecrans  had  among  his  subordinate  leaders 
Generals  McCook,Thomas,  Crittenden,  Rousseau,  Harker,  Palmer,  Sheridan,  J.  C. 
Davis,  Wood,  Van  Cleve,  Hazen,  Negley,  Mathews,  and  others  ;  and  Bragg  had 
Polk,  Breckinridge,  Hardee,  Kirby  Smith,  Cheatham,  Withers,  Cleborne,  and 
Wharton.  The  armies  lay  upon  each  side  of  Stone's  River,  within  cannon-shot 
distance  of  Murfreesboro'.  There  a  most  sanguinary  battle  was  begun  on  the 
morning  of  the  31st  [Dec.,  1862],  and  raged  until  evening  with  varied  success, 

when     the      Nationals 

ffiSSife  -"  had  lost  very  heavily 

in  men  and  guns,  but 
were  not  disheartened.2 
The  gallant  Rosecrans 
had  been  seen  at  every 
post  of  danger  during 
the  battle,  and  his  men 
had  perfect  confidence 
in  him. 

Bragg  that  night 
felt  sure  of  victory,  and 
expected  to  find  his  foe 
in  full  retreat  before 
morning.  lie  was  mis 
taken.  There  was  Rose 
crans  ready  for  battle. 
The  astonished  Bragg 
moved  cautiously,  and 

1  Annals  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  by  John  Fitch. 

a  To  the  brigade  of  Acting  Brigadier-General  W.  B.  Hazen  was  freely  given  the  honor  of 
saving  the  day  for  the  Nationals.  Upon  his  gallant  band  the  brunt  of  battle  fell  at  a  critical 
moment,  when  his  thirteen  hundred  men,  skillfully  handled,  kept  thousands  at  bay,  and  stayed 


MONUMENT   ERECTED   BY   IIAZEN'S   KRIGADE. 


18G2]  LINCOLN'S    ADMINISTRATION.  539 

the  sum  of  that  day's  [Jan.  1,  1863]  operations  was  some  heavy  skirmishing. 
On  the  following  morning  [Jan.  2]  the  conflict  was  renewed.  The  struggle 
was  terrific.  Both  sides  massed  their  batteries  and  plied  them  with  destruc 
tive  effect.  For  a  time  it  seemed  as  if  mutual  annihilation  would  be  the  result. 
Finally,  a  charge  by  seven  National  regiments1  decided  the  day.  The  Con 
federates  were  scattered  by  it,  and  in  the  space  of  twenty  minutes  they  lost 
two  thousand  men.  So  ended,  in  complete  victory  for  the  Nationals,  the  battle 
of  Stone's  River  or  Murfreesboro'.2  Bragg  retreated  to  Tullahoma,  in  the  direc 
tion  of  Chattanooga,  and  Rosecrans  occupied  Murfreesboro'.  Such  continued 
to  be  the  relative  position  of  the  two  armies  for  several  months  afterward. 

While  for  more  than  a  year  and  a  half  the  National  armies  had  been  striv 
ing  to  crush  the  gigantic  rebellion,  the  loyal  people  and  the  government  had 
been  contemplating  the  propriety  of  striking  a  withering  blow  at  the  unrigh 
teous  Labor  System,  for  the  spread  and  perpetuation  of  which  the  war  was 
waged  by  the  conspirators  and  their  friends.  The  subject  of  slavery,  and  its 
abolition,  as  a  war  measure,  occupied  much  of  the  attention  of  Congress  dur 
ing  its  session  in  the  winter  of  1861-62.  The  public  mind  had  been  for  a 
long  time  excited  by  the  conduct  of  several  military  commanders  who  had 
returned  fugitive  slaves  to  their  masters.  This  was  forbidden  by  law ;  and 
the  Republican  party3  in  Congress  pressed  with  earnestness  measures  looking 
to  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  as  a  necessary  means  for  suppressing  the 
rebellion.  The  President,  kind  and  forbearing,  proposed  to  Congress  to  co-ope 
rate  with  any  State  government  whose  inhabitants  might  adopt  measures  for 
emancipation,  by  giving  pecuniary  aid ;  but  the  slave-holders  everywhere 
refused  to  listen  to  any  propositions  tending  to  such  result.  So  Congress 
abolished  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  over  which  it  had  control ;  and 
finally  that  body  gave  the  Chief  Magistrate  discretionary  power  to  declare  the 
emancipation  of  all  slaves  in  States  where  rebellion  existed,  under  certain  con 
ditions,  and  to  employ  them  in  the  armies  of  the  Republic.  Accordingly,  on 
the  22d  of  September,  1862,  the  Chief  Magistrate  declared  it  to  be  his  purpose 
to  issue  a  proclamation  on  the  first  of  January,  1863,  pronouncing  forever  free 
the  slaves  within  any  State  or  designated  parts  of  a  State,  the  people  whereof 
should  then  be  in  rebellion.  At  this  the  conspirators  sneered  and  their  friends 
raved,  comparing  the  proclamation  to  "  the  Pope's  bull  against  a  comet,"  and 
on  the  designated  day  the  rebellion  Avas  more  rampant  than  ever.  The  Presi 
dent,  who  had  hoped  that  kindness  might  affect  the  rebellious  people,  saw  that 

the  tide  of  victory  for  the  Confederates,  which  had  been  rolling  steadily  forward  for  hours.  On 
the  spot  where  the  struggle  occurred  Hazen's  men  erected  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  their 
slain  comrades. 

1  The  19th  Illinois,  18th,  21st,  and  74th  Ohio,  78th  Pennsylvania,  llth  Michigan,  and  37th 
Indiana. 

a  Rosecrans  officially  reported  his  loss  at  nearly  12,000  men,  while  Bragg  estimated  it  at  24,000. 
Rosecrans  had  1,533  killed.  Bragg  admitted  a  loss  of  10,000  on  his  part,  of  whom  9,000  were 
killed  and  wounded.  Among  the  killed  were  Generals  Rains  and  Hanson. 

While  the  movements  of  the  two  armies  were  tending  toward  the  decisive  battle,  Bragg's 
superior  cavalry  were  raiding  over  Western  Tennessee,  to  prevent  communication  between  Grant 
and  Rosecrans,  and  to  strike  the  communications  of  the  latter  with  Nashville.  At  about  the  same 
time  a  successful  counter-raid  into  East  Tennessee  was  made  by  General  S.  P.  Carter. 

3  Page  529. 


THE     NATION.  [1863. 

every  concession  was  spurned  with  scorn,  and  on  the  designated  day  [January 
1,  1863],  he  issued  the  threatened  Proclamation  of  Emancipation.1  Then  the 
shackles  fell  from  the  limbs  of  three  millions  of  slaves ;  and  from  that  hour 
when  the  nation,  by  its  chosen  head,  proclaimed  that  act  of  justice,  the  power 
of  the  rebellion  began  to  wane.  The  conspirators  were  struck  with  dismay, 
for  they  well  knew  that  it  was  a  blow  fatal  to  their  hopes.  It  touched  with 
mighty  power  a  chord  of  sympathy  among  the  aspirants  for  genuine  freedom 
in  the  elder  world ;  and  from  that  hour  the  prayers  of  true  men  in  all  civilized 

1  The  following  is  a  copy  of  that  proclamation : 

Whereas,  On  the  22d  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  sixty-two,  a  proclamation  was  issued  by  the  President  of  the  -United  States,  containing, 
among  other  things,  the  following,  to  wit : 

"That  on  the  1st  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
sixty-three,  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  any  State  or  designated  part  of  a  State,  the  people 
whereof  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  shall  be  then,  thenceforward,  and  for 
ever  free ;  and  the  Executive  Government  of  the  United  States,  including  the  military  and  naval 
authority  thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of  such  persons,  and  will  do  no  act  or 
acts  to  repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them,  in  any  efforts  they  may  make  for  their  actual 
freedom. 

"That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first  day  of  January  aforesaid,  by  proclamation,  designate 
the  States  and  parts  of  States,  if  any,  in  which  the  people  thereof,  respectively,  shall  then  be  in 
rebellion  against  the  United  States ;  and  the  fact  that  any  State,  or  the  people  thereof,  shall  on 
that  day  be  in  good  faith  represented  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  by  members  chosen 
thereto  at  elections  wherein  a  majority  of  the  qualified  voters  of  fauch  State  shall  have  participated, 
shall,  in  the  absence  of  strong  countervailing  testimony,  be  deemed  conclusive  evidence  that  such 
State,  and  the  people  thereof,  are  not  then  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States." 

NoWj  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  by  virtue  of  the  power 
in  me  vested  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States  in  time  of 
actual  armed  rebellion  against  the  authority  and  Government  of  the  United  States,  raid  as  a  lit 
and  necessary  war  measure  for  suppressing  said  rebellion,  do,  on  this  first  first  day  of  January, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  in  accordance  with  my 
purpose  so  to  do,  publicly  proclaimed  for  the  full  period  of  one  hundred  days  from  the  day  first 
above  mentioned,  order  and  designate,  as  the  States  and  parts  of  States  wherein  the  people 
thereof,  respectively,  are  this  day  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  the  following,  to  wit : 

Arkansas.  Texas,  Louisiana  (except  the  parishes  of  St.  Bernard,  Plaquemines,  Jefferson,  St. 
John,  St.  Charles,  St.  James,  Ascension,  Assumption,  Torre  Bonne,  Lafourche,  Ste.  Marie,  St. 
Martin,  arid  Orleans,  including  the  city  of  New  Orleans).  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia, 
South  Carolina,  North  Carolina,  and  Virginia  (except  the  forty-eight  counties  designated  as  West 
Virginia,  and  also  the  counties  of  Berkley,  Accomac,  Northampton,  Elizabeth  City,  York,  Princess 
Anne,  and  Norfolk,  including  the  cities  of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth),  and  which  excepted  parts 
are,  for  the  present,  left  precisely  as  if  this  proclamation  were  not  issued. 

And  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  I  do  order  and  declare  that  all  per 
sons  held  as  slaves  within  said  designated  States  and  parts  of  States  are,  and  henceforward  shall 
be  free ;  and  that  the  Executive  Government  of  the  United  States,  including  the  military  and 
naval  authorities  thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of  said  persons. 

And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  people  so  declared  to  be  free  to  abstain  from  all  violence,  unless 
m  necessary  self-defense;  and  I  recommend  to  them  that,  in  all  cases  when  allowed,  they  labor 
faithfully  for  reasonable  wages. 

And  I  further  declare  and  make  known  that  such  persons,  of  suitable  condition,  will  be 
received  into  the  armed  service  of  the  United  States,  to  garrison  forts,  positions,  stations,  and 
other  places,  and  to  man  vessels  of  all  sorts  in  said  service. 

And  upon  this  act,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of  justice,  warranted  by  the  Constitution 
upon  military  necessity,  I  invoke  the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind,  and  the  gracious  favor  of 
Almighty  God. 

In  testimony  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  name,  and  caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States 
to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
LL.  s.J    one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  of  the  Independence   of  the  United 
States  the  eighty-seventh. 

ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 
By  the  President. 

WILLIAM  II.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State. 


18G3.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

lands  went  up  to  the  throne  of  God  in  supplication  for  the  success  of  the 
armies  of  the  Republic  against  its  enemies.1 

While  the  National  government  was  thus  working  for  the  good  of  man 
kind,  the  Confederate  "government,"  so  called,  at  Richmond,  was  putting 
forth  amazing  energies  in  the  prosecution  of  schemes  for  an  opposite  result. 
Their  "  Provisional  Constitution  "2  had  been  succeeded  by  a  "  Permanent 
Constitution,"  and  Jefferson  Davis  had  been  elected  [Feb.  22d,  1862]  "Perma 
nent  President "  of  the  Confederacy  for  six  years.3  In  the  "  Congress "  at 
Richmond  were  delegates  from  all  the  Slave-labor  States  excepting  Maryland 
and  Delaware,  and  resolutions  were  adopted  and  measures  were  devised  for 
prosecuting  the  war  with  the  greatest  vigor,  declaring  that  they  would  never, 
"  on  any  terms,  politically  affiliate  with  a  people  who  were  guilty  of  an  inva 
sion  of  their  soil  and  the  butchery  of  their  citizens."  With  this  spirit  they 
prosecuted  the  war  on  land,  and  by  the  aid  of  some  of  the  British  aristocracy, 
merchants,  and  ship-builders,  they  kept  afloat  piratical  craft  on  the  ocean,  that 
for  a  time  drove  most  of  the  carrying  trade  between  the  United  States  and 
Europe  to  British  ships.  One  of  the  most  noted  of  these  piratical  vessels  was 
the  Alabama,  built,  equipped,  armed,  pro 
visioned,  coaled,  and  manned  by  the  British,4 
and  commanded  by  Raphael  Semmes.  She 
roamed  the  ocean  a  simple  sea-robber  ;5  and 
during  the  last  ninety  days  of  1862,  she 
destroyed  by  fire  no  less  than  twenty-eight 
helpless  American  merchant  vessels.  While 
her  incendiarism  was  thus  illuminating  the 
sea,  the  George  Griswold,  laden  with  pro 
visions,  furnished  by  the  citizens  of  Xew 
York  who  had  suffered  most  by  the  piracies, 
was  out  upon  the  ocean,  bearing  a  gift  of 
food  from  them,  valued  at  one  hundred  thou 
sand  dollars,  to  the  starving  English  opera- 

fo  s  .     V_      -  RAPHAEL   SEMMES. 

tives  in  Lancashire,  who  had  been  deprived  of 

work  by  the  rebellion.     Ancl  that  ship  of  mercy  was  convoyed  by  an  American 

1  The  first  regiment  of  colored   troops   raised  by  the  authority  of  an  act  of  Congress  was 
organized  in  Beaufort  District,  South  Carolina;   and  on  the  day  when  this   proclamation    was 
issued,  a  native  of  that  district  (Dr.   Brisbane),  who  had  been  driven  away  many  years  before 
because  he  emancipated  his  slaves,  announced  to  these  troops  and  other  freed  people  the  great 
fact  that  they  were  no  longer  in  bonds. 

2  Page  547 

3  His  immediate  advisers,  to  whom  he  gave  the  titles  of  the  cabinet  ministers  of  his  govern 
ment  at  Washington,   were  Judah  P.    Benjamin,   ''Secretary  of  State;"    George  W.  Randolph, 
"Secretary  of  War;"  S.  R.  Mallory,   "Secretary  of  the  Navy;"  C.  Gr.  Memminger,   "Secretary  of 
the  Treasury;"  Thomas  H.  Watts,   "Attorney-General;"    and  John  H.    Reagan,   "Postmaster- 
General." 

4  While    these  vessels  were  a-building  in   England,  and  their  destination  was  known,    the 
American  minister  in  London  called  the  attention   of  the  British  government  to  the  fact.     He 
failed  to  elicit  any  action  that  might  prevent  their  going  to  sea,  fully  manned  and  armed.     It  was 
painfully  evident  that  the  government  wns  willing  they  should  go  to  sea  in  aid  of  the  rebellion. 

5  Immediately  after  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter  [page  553],  Jefferson  Davis  recommended,  and 
his  fellow-conspirators  in   "Congress"  authorized,  the  employment  of  armed  vessels  to  destroy 

41 


642 


THE     NATION. 


[1863. 


ship  of  war  to  protect  her  from  the  torch  of  a  pirate  lighted  by  British  hands. 
The  subsequent  career  of  the  Alabama  will  be  considered  hereafter. 
Let  us  now  turn  again  to  a  consideration  of  military  events. 
At  the  close  of  1862,  the  Civil  War  was  in  full  career.  Up  to  that  time 
the  loyal  people  had  furnished  for  the  contest,  wholly  by  volunteering,  more 
than  one  million  two  hundred  thousand  soldiers,  of  whom,  at  the  beginning  of 
1863,  about  seven  hundred  thousand  were  in  the  service.  The  theater  of  strife 
was  almost  co-extensive  with  the  Slave-labor  States,  but  the  most  important 
movements  were  those  connected  with  preparations  for  a  siege  of  Yicksburg, 
and  the  capture  of  Port  Hudson,  twenty-five  miles  above  Baton  Rouge. 
Between  these  places  only,  the  Mississippi  was  free  from  the  patrol  of  National 
war-vessels,  and  it  was  determined  to  break  that  link  between  the  Confederates 
east  and  west  of  the  river.  For  that  purpose  Grant  concentrated  his  troops 
near  the  Tallahatchee,  where  the  Confederates  were  strongly  posted.  Troops 
under  Hovey  and  Washburne  came  over  from  Arkansas  to  co-operate  with  him, 
and  early  in  December  his  main  army  was  at  Oxford,  and  an  immense  amount 

of  his  supplies  were  at  Holly  Springs. 
The  latter,  through  the  carelessness  or 
treachery  of  the  commander  of  their 
guard,  were  captured  by  Yan  Dorn  on 
the  20th.  /This  loss  compelled  Grant 
to  fall  back  and  allow  a  considerable 
Confederate  force,  under  General  J.  C. 
Pemberton,  to  concentrate  at  Yicks 
burg. 

Meanwhile,  in  accordance  with 
Grant's  instructions,  General  W.  T. 
Sherman  moved  down  the  Mississippi 
from  Memphis,  with  a  strong  force,  and 
siege-guns,  to  beleaguer  Yicksburg. 
JOHN  c  PEMBERTON  Troops  from  Helena  joined  him  at 

Friar's  Point  [Dec.  20],   and  there  he 

was  met  by  Admiral  D.  D.  Porter,  whose  naval  ftfrce  was  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Yazoo  River,  just  above  Yicksburg.  The  two  commanders  arranged  a  plan 
for  attacking  Yicksburg  in  the  rear,  by  passing  up  the  Yazoo  a  few  miles  and 


American  shipping  on  the  high  seas.  These,  according  to  the  laws  of  nations  and  the  proper 
definition  of  the  word,  were  pirates.  A  pirate  is  denned  as  "a  robber  on  the  high  seas,"  and 
piracy,  as  "taking  property  from  others  by  open  violence,  and  without  authority,  on  the  sea." 
These  vessels,  and  their  officers  and  crews,  answered  this  definition,  for  Davis  and  Toornbs,  who 
signed  their  commissions,  were  not  "  authorized"  to  do  so  by  any  real  government  on  the  face  of 
the  earth.  The  conspirators  they  represented  had  no  more  "authority"  than  Jack  Cade,  Daniel 
Shays,  Nat  Turner,  or  John  Brown.  Hence  these  Confederate  marauders  were  not  "privateers." 
but  "  pirates."  Semmes's  vessel  had  neither  register  nor  record,  and  no  ship  captured  by  her 
was  ever  sent  into  any  port  for  adjudication.  She  had  no  acknowledged  flag  or  recognized 
nationality.  All  the  regulations  of  public  justice  which  discriminate  the  legalized  naval  vessel 
from  the  pirate  were  disregarded.  She  had  no  accessible  port  into  which  to  send  her  captives, 
nor  any  legal  tribunal  to  adjudge  her  captures.  She  was  an  outlaw  roving  the  seas,  an  enemy 
to  mankind,  and  her  commander  was  a  pirate  in  the  worst  sense  of  that  term. 


1863.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

reducing  batteries  along  a  line  of  bluffs,  by  which  approaches  to  it  were 
defended.  This  was  undertaken,  but  after  a  severe  battle  on  the  Chickasaw 
Bayou  [Dec.  28,  1862],  in  which  Sherman  lost  about  2,000  men,  and  his  foe 
only  207,  the  Nationals  were  compelled  to  abandon  the  enterprise.  At  that 
moment  [January  2,  1863]  General  McClernand1  arrived,  and,  ranking  Sher 
man,  took  the  chief  command. 

Toward  the  middle  of  January  the  army  and  navy  in  the  vicinity  of  Yicks- 
burg  went  up  the  Arkansas  River  and.  captured  Fort  Hindman,  at  Arkansas 
Post  [January  11,  1863],  a  very  important  position.  The  fort  and  much  valu 
able  property  was  destroyed.2  Meanwhile  Grant  had  come  down  the  river 
from  Memphis,  and  arrangements  were  at  once  made  for  a  vigorous  prosecu 
tion  of  the  siege  of  Yicksburg.  He  organized  his  army  into  four  corps,3  and 
encouraged  the  enlistment  of  colored  men.  He  weighed  well  all  proposed 
plans  for  the  siege,  and  being  satisfied  that  the  post  was  too  well  fortified  to 
warrant  an  attack  on  its  river  front,  he  determined  to  get  in  its  rear.  First 
the  canal  begun  by  Farragut4  received  his  attention.  It  was  a  failure,  and  that 
project  was  abandoned.  Other  passages  among  the  neighboring  bayous  were 
sought,  and  finally  a  strong  land  and  naval  force  made  its  way  into  the  Yazoo, 
with  the  intention  of  descending  that  stream,  carrying  the  works  at  Haines's 
Bluff,5  and  so  gaining  the  rear  of  Yicksburg.  The  expedition  was  repulsed  at 
Fort  Pemberton,  near  Greenwood,  late  in  March,  and  the  enterprise  was  aban 
doned.  Porter,  with  amazing  energy  and  perseverance,  tried  other  channels, 
but  failed.  A  record  in  detail  of  the  operations  of  the  army  and  navy  in  that 
region,  during  the  winter  and  spring  of  1863,  would  fill  a  volume. 

In  the  mean  time  there  were  stirring  scenes  on  the  bosom  of  the  Missis 
sippi.  Some  of  the  war-vessels  passed  by  the  lotteries  at  Yicksburg  [Feb., 
1863],  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  Confederate  gun-boats  below,  but  were 
themselves  captured.6  Later,  when  Grant  had  sent  a  strong  force  down  the 
west  side  of  the  river,  under  McClernand  and  McPherson,  toward  New  Car 
thage,  Porter  determined  to  run  by  Yicksburg  with  nearly  his  whole  fleet,  and 
the  transports  and  barges.  This  was  successfully  done  on  the  night  of  the 
16th  of  April.  Six  more  transports  performed  the  same  perilous  feat  on  the 
night  of  the  22d,  and  Grant  prepared  for  vigorous  operations  against  Yicks 
burg  on  the  line  of  the  Big  Black  River,  on  its  flank  and  rear. 

Let  us  now  turn  for  a  moment,  and  see  what  was  occurring  in  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  Gulf  under  General  Banks,  the  successor  of  General  Butler,  who 

1  Page  577. : 

a  The  National  loss  was  980  men.  The  Confederates,  to  the  number  of  5,000,  were  made 
prisoners,  and  the  spoils  were  17  cannon,  3,000  small  arms,  and  a  large  quantity  of  stores. 

s  These  were  commanded  respectively  by  Generals  McClernaud,  Sherman,  Hurlbut,  and 
McPherson. 

4  Page  636. 

5  This  was  at  the  end  of  the  range  of  bluffs  extending  from  Vicksburg  to  the  Yazoo. 

c  One  of  them  was  the  powerful  iron-clad  Indianola.  She  was  attacked,  injured,  and  captured. 
While  the  Confederates  were  repairing  her,  Porter,  one  evening,  sent  down  the  river  an  old  flat- 
boat,  arranged  so  as  to  imitate  a  gun-boat  or  ram.  It  seemed  very  formidable,  and  drew  the  lire 
of  the  Vicksburg  batteries  as  it  passed  sullenly  by  them.  Word  was  sent  to  warn  Confederate 
vessels  below,  and  the  Indianola  was  blown  into  fragments  to  prevent  her  being  captured  by  this 
supposed  ram, 


644 


THE     NATION. 


[1863. 


was  co-operating  with  Grant  against  Vicksburg,  and  was  also  charged  with  the 
task  of  gaining  possession  of  Louisiana  and  Texas.  Galveston,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  in  possession  of  a  National  naval  force.1  Banks  sent  troops  to  its 
support,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  first  of  January,  1863,  the  Confederates, 
under  General  Magruder,2  attacked  the  troops  and  the  war-vessels.  A  severe 
struggle  ensued,  which  resulted  in  the  defeat  of  the  Nationals.  Galveston  was 
repossessed  by  the  Confederates,  but  on  account  of  a  vigorous  blockade,  at 
once  established  by  Farragut,  the  victory  was  almost  a  barren  one. 

Banks  now  turned  his  attention  to  the  recovery  of  Louisiana  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  along  its  shores.  Already  a  force  under  General  Grover  occu 
pied  Baton  Rouge;  and  early  in  January  [1863]  a  land  and  naval  force  under 
General  Weitzel  and  Commodore  Buchanan  was  sent  into  the  Teche  region,  a 

country  composed  of  fertile 
plantations,  extensive  forests, 
sluggish  lagoons  and  bayous, 
and  almost  impassable  swamps. 
The  expedition  was  successful. 
Banks  novr  concentrated  his 
forces,  about  12,000  s:/ong,  at 
Batjon  Rouge,  for  the  purpose 
of  co-operating  with  Admiral 
Farragut  in  an  attempt  to  pass 
the  now  formidable  batteries 
at  Port  Hudson.  This  was 
attempted  on  the  night  of  the 
1 3th  of  March,  when  a  terrible 
contest  occurred  in  the  gloom 
between  the  vessels  and  the 
land  batteries.  Only  the  flag 
ship  (Hartford)  and  com 
panion  (Albatross)  passed  by. 
Then  Banks  again  sent  a  large 
A  LOUISIANA  SWAMP.  portion  of  his  available  force 

into  the  interior  of  Louisiana, 

where  General  Richard  Taylor  was  in  command  of  the  Confederates.  The 
troops  were  concentrated  at  Brashear  City  early  in  April,  and  moved  trium 
phantly  through  the  country  to  the  Red  River,  accompanied  by  the  Depart 
ment  commander.  At  the  close  of  the  first  week  in  May  they  were  at 
Alexandria,  on  the  Red  River,  where  Banks  announced  that  the  power  of  the 
Confederates  in  Central  and  Northern  Louisiana  was  broken.  With  this 
impression  he  led  his  troops  to  and  across  the  Mississippi,  and  late  in  May 
invested  Port  Hudson. 

We  left  Grant,  late  in  April,  below  Vicksburg,  prepared  for  new  operations 
against  that  post.3  By  a  most  wonderful  raid,  performed  by  cavalry  under 


2  Page  5G2. 


3  Page  643. 


1863.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


645 


Colonel  Grierson,  in  the  heart  of  Mississippi,1  he  was  satisfied  that  the  bulk  of 
the  Confederate  soldiers  of  that  region  were  near  Yicksburg,  under  Pember- 
ton.  So  he  prepared  to  act  with  vigor.  Porter  attacked  and  ran  by  [April 
29]  the  batteries  at  Grand  Gulf,  and  Grant's  army  crossed  the  river  at  Bruins- 
burg,  a  little  below,  pushed  on,  and  near  Port  Gibson  gained  a  decisive  vic 
tory  [May  l]  over  the  Confederates.2  Meanwhile  Sherman,  who  had  been  left 
to  operate  in  the  Yazoo  region,  and  had  made  another  unsuccessful  attempt  to 
capture  Haines's  Bluff,3  was  ordered  to  niarch  down  the  west  side  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  and  join  the  main  army.  This  junction  was  effected  on  the  8th  of 
May,  near  the  Big  Black  River,  and  the  whole  army  pressed  on  toward  Jack 
son,  the  capital  of  Mississippi,  where  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  was  in  com 
mand.  In  a  severe  battle  at  Raymond  [May  12],  on  the  way,  the  Confederates 
were  defeated.4  Such,  also,  was  the  result  of  a  battle  at  Jackson  [May  14], 
when  the  Confederates  were  driven  northward,  the  city  was  seized,  and  a  large 
amount  of  public  property  was  destroyed.  Then  the  victors  turned  toward 
Yicksburg,  and  fought  [May  16]  a  severe  battle  with  the  Confederates  under 
Pemberton  at  Champion  Hills,  and  were  victorious.5  Grant  pressed  forward, 
and  after  a  battle  at  the  passage  of  the  Big  Black  River  [May  1 7],  the  Confede 
rates  were  again  driven.  Grant  crossed  that  stream,  and  on  the  1 9th  of  May 
his  army,  which  for  a  fortnight  had  subsisted  off  the  country,  invested  Yicks 
burg,  and  received  sup 
plies  from  a  base  on  the 
Yazoo  established  by 
Admiral  Porter. 

Grant  made  an  un 
successful  assault  upon 
Yicksburg  on  the  day 
of  his  arrival.  Another, 
with  disastrous  effect  on 
the  Nationals,  was  made 
three  days  later  [May 
22],  when  Porter  with 
his  fleet  co-operated,  and 
then  Grant  commenced 
a  regular  siege,  which 
continued  until  the  first 


CAVE-LIFE   IN   VICKSBURG. 


1  Grierson  left  Lagrano;e,  Tennessee,  on  the  17th  of  April,  with  a  body  of  cavalry,  and  swept 
through  the  country  southward,  between  the  two  railways  running  parallel  with  the  Mississippi 
River,  striking  thorn  hero  and  there,  smiting  Confederate  outposts,  and  destroying  public  property. 
At  times  his  troops  were  scattered  on  detached  service,  and  often  rode  fifty  and  sixty  miles  a  day, 
over  an  exceedingly  difficult  country  to  travel  in.  They  killed  and  wounded  about  100  of  the  foe ; 
captured  and  paroled  full  500  ;  destroyed  3.000  stand  of  arms,  and  inflicted  a  loss  on  the  Confed 
erates  of  property  valued  at  about  $6,000,000.  Grierson's  loss  was  27  men,  and  a  number  of 
horses. 

a  The  National  loss  was  840  men.     They  captured  3  guns,  4  flags,  and  580  prisoners. 

3  Page  643. 

4  The  National  loss  was  442  men,  and  that  of  the  Confederates  823. 

5  The  National  loss  was  2,457.     The  loss  of  the  Confederates  in  the  battle  was  about  the 
same,  besides  2,000  prisoners. 


646 


THE     NATION.  [1863. 


week  in  July,  and  produced  the  greatest  distress  in  the  city,  and  in  the  belea- 
gured  camps.  Shot  and  shell  were  hurled  upon  it  daily  from  land  and  water,  and 
the  inhabitants  were  compelled  to  live  in  caves1  cut  in  the  clay  hills  on  which 
Yicksburg  is  built,  as  the  only  safe  place  for  their  persons.  At  length  one  of  the 
principal  forts  was  blown  up  by  a  mine  made  under  it  by  the  Nationals,  and 
other  mines  were  ready  for  their  infernal  work.  Famine  was  stalking  through 
the  city  and  the  camps.  Fourteen  ounces  of  food  had  become  the  allowance 
for  each  person  for  forty-eight  hours,  and  the  flesh  of  mules  had  been  pro 
nounced  a  savory  dish.2  Pemberton  now  lost  all  hope  of  aid  from  Johnston, 
in  Grant's  rear  (who  had  been  watching  for  an  opportunity  to  strike  the 
besiegers),  or  the  salvation  of  his  army,  and  on  the  3d  of  July  he  offered  to 
surrender.  That  event  took  place  on  the  morning  of  the  4th,  when  27,000 
men  became  prisoners  of  war,  and  the  stronghold  of  Vicksburg  passed  into 
the  possession  of  the  National  power.3 

This  victory,  won  simultaneously  with  another  at  Gettysburg,  in  Pennsyl 
vania,  produced  unbounded  joy  in  all  loyal  hearts.  It  was  followed  a  few  days 
later  by  the  surrender  of  Port  Hudson,  which  had  been  besieged  by  General 
Banks  for  forty  days,  his  gallant  troops  at  times  performing  great  achievements 
of  valor  and  fortitude.  He  had  been  ably  supported  by  Farragut  and  his  squad 
ron.  The  missiles  sent  by  the  army  and  navy  had  caused  great  destruction  within 
the  fortifications.  The  ammunition  and  provisions  of  the  garrison  were  nearly 
exhausted,  and  when  news  came  of  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  General  Gardner, 
the  commander  of  Port  Hudson,  despairing  of  succor,  surrendered  the  post, 
and  its  occupants  and  spoils,  on  the  9th  of  July.  Then,  for  the  first  time  in 

1  The  streets  of  Vicksburg  are  cut  through  the  hills,  and  houses  are  often  seen  far  above  the 
street   passengers.     In  the  perpendicular  banks  formed  by  these  cuttings,  and  composed  of  clay, 
caves  were  dug  at  the  beginning  of  the  siege,  some  of  them  sufficiently  large  to  accommodate 
whole  families,  and  in  some  instances  communicating  with  each  other  by  corridors.     Such  was  the 
character  of  some  made  on  Main  Street,  opposite  the  house  of  Colonel  Lyman  J.  Strong,  for  the 
use  of  his  family  arid  others,  and  of  which  the  writer  made  the  sketch  on  page  G45,  in  April,  1866. 
These  caves  were  then  in  a  partially  ruined  state,  as  were  most  of  them  in  and  around  Vicksburg, 
for  rains  had  washed  the  banks  away,  or  had  caused  the  filling  of  the  entrances.     In  this  picture 
the  appearance  of  the  caves  in  their  best  estate  is  delineated,  with  furniture  in  accordance  with 
descriptions  given  to  the  writer  by  the  inhabitants. 

2  "This  dajV  wrote  a  citizen  of  Vicksburg  in  his  diary,  under  date  of  June  30,  "we  heard  of 
the  first  mule  meat  being  eaten.     Some  of  the  officers,  disgusted  with  the  salt  junk,  proposed  to 
slaughter  some  of  the  fat  mules  as  an  experiment;  as,  if  the  siege  lasted,  we  must  soon  come  to 
that  diet.     The  soup  from  it  was  quite  rich  in  taste  and  appearance.     Some  of  the  ladies  ate  of  it 
without  knowing  the  difference." 

3  Grant  and  Pemberton  met  under  a  live-oak  tree,  on  a  slope  of  the  hill  on  which  the  fort  that 
was  blown  np  was  situated,  and  there  agreed  upon  terms  of  surrender.     That  tree  was  soon 
afterward  cut  down  and  converted  into  canes  and  other  forms,  as  mementoes  of  the  event.     A 
marble  monument,  with  suitable  inscriptions,  was  afterward  placed  on  the  spot.     It  soon  became 
mutilated,  and  in  its  place  a  100-pounder  iron  cannon  was  erected,  and  suitably  inscribed. 

General  Grant  thus  stated  the  result  of  the  operations  of  his  army  from  Port  Gibson  to 
Vicksburg:  "The  result  of  this  campaign  has  been  the  defeat  of  the  enemy  in  five  battles  outside 
of  Vicksburg;  the  occupation  of  Jackson,  the  capital  of  the  State  of  Mississippi,  and  the  capture 
of  Vicksburg  and  its  garrison  and  munitions  of  war ;  a  loss  to  the  enemy  of  thirty-seven  thousand 
(37,000)  prisoners,  among  whom  were  fifteen  general  officers;  at  least  ten  thousand  killed  and 
wounded  (among  the  killed  Generals  Tracy,  Tilghman,  and  Green),  and  hundreds,  and  perhaps 
thousands,  of  stragglers,  who  can  never  be  collected  and  reorganized.  Arms  and  munitions  of 
war  for  an  army  of  sixty  thousand  men  have  fallen  into  our  hands,  besides  a  large  amount  of 
other  public  property,  consisting  of  railroads,  locomotives,  cars,  steamboats,  cotton,  &c.,  and  much 
was  destroyed  to  prevent  our  capturing  it." 


1863.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

more  than  two  years,  every  impediment  to  the  free  navigation  of  the  Missis 
sippi  was  removed.  Powerful  portions  of  the  Confederacy  were  thus  severed 
and  weakened,  and  the  loyal  people  of  the  land  were  jubilant  with  the  hope 
and  expectation  that  the  end  of  the  terrible  strife  was  nigh.  The  blow  dis 
mayed  the  Conspirators,  and  the  wiser  men  in  the  Confederacy  clearly  perceived 
that  all  was  lost.1 


CHAPTER     XVIII. 

THE     CIVIL     WAR.       [1861—1865.] 

WHILE  a  portion  of  the  Xational  troops  were  achieving  important  vic 
tories  on  the  banks  of  the  Lower  Mississippi,2  those  composing  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  were  winning  an  equally  important  victory  not  far  from  the 
banks  of  the  Susquehanna.  We  left  that  army  in  charge  of  General  Joseph 
Hooker  after  sad  disasters  at  Fredericksburg ; 3  let  us  now  observe  its  move 
ments  from  that  time  until  its  triumphs  in  the  conflict  at  Gettysburg,  between 
the  Susquehanna  and  Potomac  rivers. 

From  January  until  early  in  April,  Hooker  was  employed  in  preparing  the 
weakened  and  demoralized  Army  of  the  Potomac  for  a  vigorous  campaign. 
It  lay  on  the  northern  side  of  the  Kappahannock  River,  nearly  opposite  Freder 
icksburg,  and,  with  the  exception  of  some  slight  cavalry  movements,  it  remained 
quiet  during  nearly  three  months  of  rest  and  preparation.  It  was  reorganized,4 

1  The  blow  was  unexpected  to  the  Conspirators.     They  knew  how  strong  Vicksburg  was,  and 
were  confident  that  the  accomplished  soldier.  General  Johnston,  would  compel  Grant  to  raise  the 
siege.     Even  the  Daily  Citizen,  a  paper  printed  in  Vicksburg,  only  two  days  before  the  surrender 
(July  2),  talked  as  boastfully  as  if  perfectly  confident  of  success.     In  a  copy  before  the  writer, 
printed  on  wall-paper,  the  editor  said :   "  The  great  Ulysses — the  Yankee  generalissimo  surnamed 
Grant— has  expressed  his  intention  of  dining  in  Vicksburg  on  Saturday  next,  and  celebrating  the 
Fourth  of  July  by  a  grand  dinner,  and  so  forth.     When  asked  if  he  would  invite  General  Joe 
Johnston  to  join  him,  he  said,  '  No  !  for  fear  there  will  be  a  row  at  the  table.'      Ulysses  must  get 
into  the  city  before  he  dines  in  it.     The  way  to  cook  a  rabbit  is,  'first  catch  the  rabbit,'  &c."     In 
another  paragraph,  the  Citizen  eulogized  the  luxury  of  mule-meat  and  fricasseed  kitten. 

2  See  page  646.  3  See  page  631. 

4  The  army  was  arranged  in  seven  corps,  named,  respectively,  the  1st,  2d,  3d,  5th,  6th,  llth, 
and  1 2th,  and  each  was  distinguished  by  peculiar  badges,  worn  on  the  hat  or  cap,  and  composed 
of  scarlet,  white,  and  blue  cloth,  made  in  the  forms  shown  in  the  engraving,  whose  numbers  cor 
respond  with  those  of  the  respective  corps,  as  follow : — 


11  12 


The  corps  composed  twenty-three  divisions;  and  at  the  close  of  April  [1863],  the  army  consisted 
of  110,000  infantry  and  artillery,  with  400  guns,  and  a  well-equipped  cavalry  force,  13,000  strong. 
The  corps  commanders  were  Generals  J.  F.  Reynolds,  D.  N.  Couch,  D.  E.  Sickles,  G.  G.  Meade, 
J.  Sedgwick,  0.  0.  Howard,  and  II.  W.  Slocum. 


THE     NATION.  [1863. 

and  weeded  of  incompetent  and  disloyal  officers.1  Measures  were  taken  to 
prevent  desertions  and  to  recall  a  vast  number  of  absentees.2  Order  and  dis 
cipline  were  thoroughly  established ;  and,  at  the  close  of  April,  Hooker  found 
himself  at  the  head  of  an  army  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  in  number, 
well  disciplined,  and  in  fine  spirits.  General  Lee,  in  command  of  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia,  then  lying  on  the  Fredericksburg  side  of  the  Rappahan- 
nock,  had  been  equally  active  in  reorganizing,  strengthening,  and  disciplining 
his  forces.  A  vigorous  conscription  act  was  then  in  operation  throughout  the 
Confederacy,  and  in  April,  Lee  found  himself  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  little 
more  than  sixty  thousand  men  of  all  arms,3  unsurpassed  in  discipline,  and  full 
of  enthusiasm.  A  part  of  his  army,  under  General  Longstreet,  was  absent  in 
Southeastern  Virginia,  confronting  the  troops  of  General  J.  J.  Peck,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Norfolk.  Yet  with  his  forces  thus  divided,  Lee  felt  competent  to 
cope  with  his  antagonist,  for  he  was  behind  a  strong  line  of  intrenchments 
reachino-  from  Port  Royal  to  Banks's  Ford,  a  distance  of  about  twenty-five 
miles. 

We  have  observed  that  only  some  cavalry  movements  disturbed  the  quiet 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in  the  winter  and  spring  of  1  863.  Early  in  Feb 
ruary  the  Confederate  General  W.  H.  F.  Lee  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to 
surprise  and  capture  National  forces  at  Gloucester,  opposite  Yorktown ;  and 
at  a  little  past  midnight  of  the  8th  of  March,  the  notorious  guerrilla  chief, 
Moseby,  with  a  small  band  of  mounted  men,  dashed  into  the  village  of  Fairfax 
Court-House,  and  carried  away  the  Union  commander  there  and  some  others. 
A  few  days  later  the  first  purely  cavalry  battle  of  the  war  occurred  not  far 
from  Kelly's  Ford,  on  the  Rappahannock,  between  National  troops  under  Gen 
eral  W.  W.  Averill  and  Confederates  led  by  Fitz-Hugh  Lee.  Averill  encoun 
tered  Lee  while  he  was  pushing  on  toward  Culpepper  Court-ITouse,  from  the 
Rappahannock,  when  a  severe  contest  ensued,  and  continued  until  late  in  the 
evening,  when  Averill  retreated  across  the  river,  pursued  to  the  water's  edge 
by  his  foe.  Each  lost  between  seventy  and  one  hundred  men. 

Early  in  April,  before  the  ranks  of  his  army  were  full,  Hooker  determined 
to  advance,  his  objective  being  Richmond,  for  the  terms  of  enlistment  of  a 
large  portion  of  his  men  would  soon  expire.  He  ordered  General  Stoneman  to 


1  There  were  officers  in  that  army,  high  in  rank,  who  were  opposed  to  the  policy  of  eman 
cipating  the  slaves  as  a  war  measure,  which,  from  the  beginning,  had  been  contemplated  by  the 
government.     The  proclamation  of  the  President  to  that  effect  developed  this  opposition  in  con 
siderable  strength,  and  this  in  connection  with  the  active  influence  of  a  part  of  the  Opposition 
party,  known  as  the  Peace  Faction,  upon  the  friends  of  the  soldiers  at  home,  had  a  most  depress 
ing  effect  upon  the  army.     The  men  were  impressed  with  the  idea  that  it  was  becoming  a  "  Avar 
for  the  negro,"  instead  of  "  a  war  for  the  Union."     Officers  known  to  be  inclined  to  give  such  a 
tone  of  feeling  to  their  men  were  replaced  by  loyal  men,  in  active  sympathy  with  the  government 
in  its  efforts  to  crush  the  rebellion. 

2  When  Hooker  took  command  of  the  army,  he  found  the  number  of  reported  absentees  to  be 
2.922  commissioned  officers  and  81,964  non-commissioned  officers  and  privates.     This,  doubtless, 
included  all  the  deserters  since  the  organization  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  the  sick  and 
wounded  in  the  hospitals.     It  is  estimated  that  50,000  men,  on  the  rolls  of  that  army,  were  absent 
at  the  time  we  are  considering,  namely,  the  close  of  January,  1863. 

3  Lee's  army  was  composed  of  two  corps,  commanded  respectively  by  Generals  J.  Longstreet 
and  T.  J.  ("Stonewall")  Jackson.     His  artillery  was  consolidated  into  one  corps,  under  the  com 
mand  of  General  Pendleton  as  chief. 


1863.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


649 


JOSEPH    HOOKER. 


cross  the  Rappahannock  with  a  large  force  of  cavalry,  strike  and  dispers 
horsemen  of  Fitz-Hugh  Lee,  of  Stuart's  cavalry,  known  to  be  at  Culpepper 
Court-House,  and  then,  pushing  on  to  Gordonsville,  turn  to  the  left,  and 
destroy  the  railways  in  the  rear  of 
Lee's  army.  Heavy  rains,  which  made 
the  streams  brimful,  foiled  the  move 
ment  at  its  beginning,  and  Stoneman 
and  his  followers  swam  their  horses 
across  the  Rappahannock,  and  returned 
to  camp.  Hooker  then  paused  for  a 
fortnight,  when  he  put  his  whole  army 
in  motion,  for  the  purpose  of  turning 
Lee's  flank.  He  sent  ten  thousand 
mounted  men  to  raid  on  his  rear,  and 
threw  a  large  portion  of  his  army 
(Fifth,  Eleventh,  and  Twelfth  Corps) 
across  the  Rappahannock,  above  Fred- 
ericksburg,  with  orders  to  concentrate 
at  Chancellorsville,  in  Lee's  rear,  ten 

miles  from  that  city.  This  was  accomplished  on  the  evening  of  the  30th 
[April,  1863],  when  over  thirty-six  thousand  troops  threatened  the  rear  of  the 
Confederate  army. 

Meanwhile,  the  left  wing  of  Hooker's  army  (First,  Third,  and  Sixth  Corps), 
under  General  Sedgwick,  left  near  Fredericksburg,  had  so  completely  masked 
the  movements  of  the  turning  column,  by  demonstrations  on  Lee's  front,  that 
the  latter  was  not  aware  of  the  peril  that  threatened  his  army  until  that 
column  had  crossed  the  Rappahannock,  and  was  in  full  march  on  Chancellors 
ville.  Hooker  expected  Lee  would  turn  and  fly  toward  Richmond  when  he 
should  discover  this  peril,  but  he  did  no  such  thing.  On  the  contrary,  he  pro 
ceeded  to  strike*  his  antagonist  a  heavy  blow,  for  the  twofold  purpose  of 
securing  the  direct  line  of  communication  between  the  parts  of  Hooker's  now 
severed  army,  and  to  compel  him  to  fight,  with  only  a  part  of  his  force,  in  a 
disadvantageous  position,  at  Chancellorsville,  which  was  in  the  midst  of  a 
region  covered  with  a  dense  forest  of  shrub-oaks  and  pines,  and  tangled  under- 
growths,  broken  by  morasses,  hills,  and  ravines,  called  The  Wilderness.  For 
this  purpose,  Lee  put  "  Stonewall "  Jackson's  column  in  motion  [May  1]  toward 
Chancellorsville,  at  a  little  past  midnight. 

Early  in  the  morning  Jackson  was  joined  by  other  troops,  and  the  whole 
force  moved  upon  Chancellorsville  by  two  roads.  Hooker  sent  out  a  greater 
part  of  the  Fifth  and  the  whole  of  the  Twelfth  Corps,  with  the  Eleventh  in 
its  support,  to  meet  the  advancing  columns.  A  battle  ensued ;  and  the  efforts 
of  Lee  to  seize  the  communications  between  the  parts  of  Hooker's  army,  just 
alluded  to,  were  foiled.  But  the  Nationals  were  pushed  back  to  their  intrench- 
ments  at  Chancellorsville,  and  there  took  a  strong  defensive  position. 

Both  commanders  now  felt  a  sense  of  impending  danger,  for  both  armies 
were  in  a  critical  position  in  relation  to  each  other.  Hooker  decided  to  rest  on  the 


£50  THE     CATION.  [1863. 

defensive,  but  Lee,  in  accordance  with  the  advice  of  Jackson,  took  the  bold  aggres 
sive  step  of  detaching  the  whole  of  that  leader's  corps  and  sending  it  on  a  secret 
flank  movement,  to  gain  the  rear  of  the  National  army.  The  movement  was 
successfully  made,  though  not  entirely  unobserved ;  but  the  troops  seen  moving 
behind  the  thick  curtain  of  The  Wilderness  thickets  were  supposed  to  be  a 
part  of  Lee's  army  in  retreat.  While  General  Sickles,  in  command  of  that 
portion  of  the  line  where  the  discovery  was  made,  was  seeking  positive  knowl 
edge  in  the  matter,  Jackson,  who  had  gained  the  National  rear,  solved  the 
problem  by  bursting  suddenly  from  behind  that  curtain  with  twenty-five  thou 
sand  men,  falling  suddenly  and  firmly  upon  Hooker's  right,  crumbling  it  into 
atoms,  and  driving  the  astounded  column  in  wild  confusion  upon  the  remainder 
of  the  line.  A  general  battle  ensued,  in  which  the  residue  of  the  Confederate 
army,  under  the  direct  command  of  General  Lee,  participated,  he  having 
attacked  Hooker's  left  and  center.  The  conflict  continued  until  late  in  the 
evening,  when  the  Confederates  sustained  an  irreparable  loss  in  the  death  of 
Jackson,  who  was  accidentally  shot,  in  the  gloom,  by  his  own  men.1 

Hooker  made  new  dispositions  to  meet  the  inevitable  attack  the  following 
morning  [May  3,  1863].  He  had  called  from  Sedgwick  the  First  Corps,  full 
twenty  thousand  strong,  and  it  arrived  that  evening  and  swelled  the  National 
force  at  Chancellorsville  to  about  sixty  thousand  knen.  He  had  also  ordered 
Sedgwick  to  cross  the  Rappahannock  at  once,  seize  and  hold  the  town  and 
heights  of  Fredericksburg,  and  push  the  bulk  of  his  force  with  all  possible 
haste  along  the  roads  to  Chancellorsville.  He  also  changed  a  portion  of  the 
front  of  his  own  line  so  as  to  receive  the  expected  attack.  During  the  night 
Lee  effected  a  slight  connection  between  the  two  wings  of  his  army,  and  soon 
afterward,  Stuart,  at  dawn,  shouted  at  the  head  of  the  Confederate  column  on 
Hooker's  right,  "  Charge,  and  remember  Jackson  !"  whose  troops  he  was  lead 
ing,  and  fell  furiously  upon  a  portion  of  the  line  commanded  by  General 
Sickles.  Lee  attacked  Hooker's  left  and  center  ao;ain.  The  struo-o-le  was 

O  O£? 

severe  and  sanguinary,  and  when,  toward  noon,  Sickles,  finding  himself  sorely 
pressed,  sent  to  Hooker  for  re-enforcements,  the  chief  had  just  been  prostrated 
by  an  accident,  and  for  a  brief  space  the  army  was  without  a  head.2  There 
was  an  injurious  delay,  and  finally,  after  long  and  hard  fighting,  the  whole 
National  army  was  pushed  from  the  field,  and  took  a  strong  position  on  the 
roads  back  of  Chancellorsville,  leading  to  the  Rapid  Anna  and  Rappahannock. 
Lee's  army  was  now  united,  while  Hooker's  remained  divided. 

Sedgwick  had  endeavored  to  obey  Hooker's  command  to  join  him,  but 
failed  to  do  so.  He  had  thrown  his  army  across  the  river  on  the  morning  of 
the  2d  [May],  and  was  lying  quietly  when  he  received  the  order  at  midnight. 
He  moved  immediately,  and  took  possession  of  Fredericksburg.  General 

1  Jackson  had  been  reconnoitering  in  front  of  his  forces,  and,  when  retiring  in  the  darkness, 
he  and  his  companions  were  mistaken  by  their  friends  for  Union  cavalry,  and  were  fired  upon. 
Jackson  fell,  pierced  by  their  bullets,  and  some  of  his  staff  were  killed.  "His  arm  was  shattered, 
and  afterward  amputated.  Pie  died  on  the  10th  of  May. 

8  A  cannon-ball  struck  a  pillar  of  the  Chancellor  House,  and  hurled  it  with  such  force 
against  Hooker,  that  it  stunned  him.  The  command  then  devolved  on  Couch,  but  Hooker  was 
able  to  resume  it  m  the  course  of  a  few  hours. 


1863.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

Early  was  then  in  command  on  the  heights.  Sedgwick  formed  storming  col 
umns  in  the  morning,  drove  the  Confederates  from  the  fortified  ridge,  and  with 
nearly  his  entire  force  pushed  on  toward  Chancellorsville.  At  Salem  Church, 
a  few  miles  from  Fredericksburg,  he  was  met  and  checked,  by  a  force  sent  by 
Lee,  after  a  sharp  fight,  by  which  he  lost,  that  clay,  including  the  struggle  for 
the  heights  in  the  morning,  about  five  thousand  men.  Instead  of  joining 
Hooker,  Sedgwick  found  himself  compelled,  the  next  day,  in  order  to  save  his 
army,  to  fly  across  the  Rappahannock,  which  he  did,  near  Banks's  Ford,  on  the 
night  of  the  4th  and  5th  of  May.  Hooker,  meanwhile,  had  heard  of  the 
perilous  situation  of  Sedgwick,  and,  on  consultation  with  his  corps  command 
ers,  it  Avas  determined  to  retreat  to  the  north  side  of  the  river.  Lee  had  pre 
pared  to  strike  Hooker  a  heavy  blow  on  the  5th.  A  violent  rain-storm 
prevented,  and  that  night  the  Nationals  passed  the  river  in  safety  without 
molestation.  On  the  same  day  the  Confederate  army  resumed  its  position  on 
the  heights  at  Fredericksburg.  Both  parties  had  suffered  very  severe  losses.1 
While  Hooker  and  Lee  were  contending  at  Chancellorsville,  a  greater  por 
tion  of  the  cavalry  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  commanded  by  Stoneman, 


RUINS   OF   THE    CHANCELLOR   MANSION.2 

were  raiding  on  the  communications  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 
They  crossed  the  Rappahannock  [April  29],  and  swept  down  toward  Rich 
mond  in  the  direction  of  Gordonsville.  Unfortunately  for  the  efficiency  of 
the  expedition,  the  command  was  divided,  and  raided  in  various  directions, 
one  party,  under  Kilpatrick,  approaching  within  two  miles  of  Richmond.  They 
destroyed  much  property,  but  the  chief  object  of  the  expedition,  namely,  the 
breaking  up  of  the  railways  between  Lee  and  Richmond,  was  not  accomplished, 
and  the  week's  work  of  the  cavalry  had  very  little  bearing  on  the  progress  of 
the  war. 

1  The  National  loss  was  reported  at   17,197,   including   about   5,000   prisoners.     They  left 
behind,  in  their  retreat,  their  dead  and  wounded,  13  pieces  of  artillery,  about  20,000  small-arms, 
17  colors,  and  a  large  quantity  of  ammunition.     The  Confederate  loss  was  probably  about  15,000, 
of  whom  5,000  were  prisoners,  with  15  colors,  and  7  pieces  of  artillery. 

2  The  villa  and  out-buildings  of  Mr.  Chancellor  constituted  "  Chancellorsville."     That  man 
sion  was  beaten  into  ruins  during  the  battle.     The  picture  gives  its  appearance  when  the  writer 
sketched  it,  in  June,  1866. 


652 


THE     NATION.  [1863. 


We  have  observed '  that  Longstreet  was  operating  against  General  Peck 
in  the  vicinity  of  Norfolk.  The  latter  officer,  with  a  considerable  force,  was 
in  a  strongly  fortified  position  at  Suffolk,  at  the  head  of  the  Nansemond  River, 
from  which  he  kept  watcli  over  Norfolk  and  the  mouth  of  the  James  River, 
and  furnished  a  base  for  operations  against  Petersburg  and  the  important  Wei- 
don  railway.  Early  in  April  [1863],  Longstreet  made  a  sudden  and  vigorous 
movement  against  Suffolk,  expecting  to  drive  the  Nationals  from  that  post, 
seize  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth,  and  perhaps  make  a  demonstration  against 
Fortress  Monroe.  But  Peck  met  his  foe  with  such  skill  and  valor  that 
Longstreet  was  compelled  to  resort  to  a  siege.  In  this  he  failed,  and  on 
hearing  of  the  battle  at  Chancellorsville,  he  withdrew  and  joined  Lee,  making 
that  commander's  army  nearly  as  strong  as  that  of  his  antagonist.  Hooker's 
losses,  and  the  expiration  of  the  terms  of  his  nine  months'  and  two  years' 
men,  to  the  number  of  almost  30,000,  about  to  occur,  greatly  reduced  his  num 
bers.  Lee's  army  was  buoyant,2  and  Hooker's  was  desponding. 

Impelled  by  false  notions  of  the  temper  of  the  people  of  the  Free-labor 
States,  and  the  real  resources  and  strength  of  the  government,  and  elated  by 
the  events  at  Chancellorsville,  the  Conspirators  now  ordered  Lee  to  invade 
Maryland  and  Pennsylvania  again.  Hooker  suspected  such  intention,  and  so 
reported,  but  the  authorities  at  Washington  were  Islow  to  believe  that  Lee 
would  repeat  the  folly  of  the  previous  year.  But  he  did  so.  By  a  flank 
movement  he  caused  Hooker  to  break  up  his  encampment  on  the  Rappahan- 
nock,  and  move  toward  Washington,  after  there  had  been  some  sharp  cavalry 
engagements  near  the  river,  above  Fredericksburg.  Lee  sent  his  left  wing, 
under  Ewell,  through  Chester  Gap  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  into  the  Shenandoah 
Valley.  He  swept  down  rapidly  to  Winchester,  and  drove  Milroy  [June  15, 
1863],  who  was  there  with  seven  thousand  men,  across  the  Potomac  into  Mary 
land  and  Pennsylvania,  with  the  loss  of  nearly  all  of  his  artillery  and  ammu 
nition.  He  also  lost  many  men  in  the  race  from  Winchester  to  the  Potomac, 
but  saved  his  trains. 

Hooker,  at  the  same  time,  had  moved  from  the  Rappahannock  to  Centre- 
ville,  for  the  purpose  of  covering  Washington,  while  Longstreet  marched  on  a 

1  See  page  648. 

3  The  Confederates  and  their  friends  were  full  of  hope  at  tins  time.  The  repulse  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  seemed  to  promise  security  to  Richmond  for  some  time.  Vicksburg  and  Port 
Hudson  [see  page  646]  chen  seemed  impregnable ;  and  the  promises  of  the  disloyal  Peace  Faction 
at  the  North,  of  a  counter-revolution  in  the  Free-labor  States,  seemed  likely  to  be  soon  fulfilled. 
The  news  of  the  Battle  of  Chancellorsville  inspirited  the  friends  of  the  Confederates  in  England, 
and  these  were  clamorous  for  their  government  to  acknowledge  the  Confederacy  as  an  inde 
pendent  nation;  and  in  the  spring  of  1864  a  large  body,  representing  the  ruling  classes  in  Eng 
land,  formed  a  league,  to  assist  the  Confederates,  called  the  Southern  Independence  Association. 
But  the  British  government  wisely  hesitated,  and  only  the  Pope  of  Rome,  of  all  the  rulers  of  the 
earth,  ever  recognized  the  Arch-Conspirator  as  the  head  of  a  nation,  whom,  in  a  friendly  letter, 
he  addressed  as  "  the  Illustrious  and  Honorable  Jefferson  Davis,  President  of  the  Confederate 
States  of  America."  At  this  time  a  scheme  of  the  French  Kmperor  for  destroying  the  Republic 
of  Mexico  and  aiding  the  Conspirators,  was  in  operation,  20,000  French  troops  and  5,000  recreant 
Mexicans  being  engaged  in  the  work.  The  Austrian  Archduke  Maximilian  was  made  Emperor 
of  Mexico  by  means  of  French  bayonets,  but  when  the  Civil  War  closed,  in  1865,  and  the 
scheming  Napoleon  saw  that  our  Republic  was  stronger  than  ever,  he  abandoned  the  enterprise 
and  his  dupe,  and  Maximilian,  overthrown,  was  shot  by  order  of  the  legitimate  Republican  Chief 
Magistrate  of  Mexico. 


1863.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


653 


parallel  line  along  the  eastern  bases  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  watching  for  an  oppor 
tunity  to  pounce  upon  the  National  Capital.  Cavalry  skirmishes  often  occurred, 
for  the  hostile  forces  were  continually  feeling  each  other.  Meanwhile  fifteen 
hundred  Confederate  cavalry  had  dashed  across  the  Potomac  in  pursuit  of 
Milroy's  wagon-train,  swept  up  the  Cumberland  Valley  to  Chambersburg,  in 
Pennsylvania,  destroyed  the  railway  in  that  region,  and  plundered  the  people. 
This  raid  produced  great  alarm.  Governor  Curtin  issued  a  call  for  the  Penn 
sylvania  militia  to  turn  out  in  defense  of  their  State,  and  the  National  authori 
ties  had  taken  measures  to  meet  the  peril.  When,  a  little  later,  the  Confederate 
army  was  streaming  across  the  Potomac,  about  fifty  thousand  troops,  or  one 
half  the  number  the  President  had  called  for  from  the  States  nearest  the  Capi 
tal,  were  under  arms.  Almost  one  half  of  these  were  from  Pennsylvania,  and 
fifteen  thousand  were  from  New  York.  The  apathy  shown  by  Pennsylvanians 
when  danger  seemed  remote,  now  disappeared. 

By  skillful  movements,  Lee  kept  Hooker  in  doubt  as  to  his  real  intentions, 
until  Swell's  corps  had  crossed  the  Potomac  at  Williamsport  and  Shepards- 
town  [June  22  and  23],  and  was  pressing  up  the  Cumberland  Valley.  Ewell 
advanced  with  a  part  of  his  force  to  within  a  few  miles  of  the  capital  of  Penn 
sylvania,  on  the  Susquehanna,  while  another  portion,  under  Early,  reached 
that  river  farther  down,  after  passing  through  Emmettsburg,  Gettysburg,  and 
York,  and  levying  contributions  on  the  people.  These  movements  created 
an  intense  panic,  and  with  reason,  for  at  one  time  it  seemed  as  if  there  was  no 
power  at  hand  to  prevent  the  invaders  from  marching  to  the  Sclmylkill,  and 
even  to  the  Hudson.  Three  days  after  Ewell  crossed  the  Potomac,  Longstreet 
and  Hill  followed,  and  on  the  25th  of  June  [1863]  the  whole  of  Lee's  army 
was  again  in  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  thrown  across  the  river  at  and  near 
Edwards's  Ferry,  one  hundred  thousand  strong,  having  been  re-enforced  by 
troops  in  the  vicinity  of  Washington. 
A  difference  of  opinion  now  arose  be 
tween  Generals  Hooker  and  Halleck 
(the  latter  then  General-in-Chief  of  the 
armies),  concerning  the  occupation  of 
Harper's  Ferry.  Their  views  were  ir 
reconcilable,  and  the  former  offered  his 
resignation.  It  was  accepted,  and  Gen 
eral  George  G.  Meade  was  placed  in 
command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
and  did  not  relinquish  it  until  the  close  \ 
of  the  war.  A  change  in  the  com 
manders  of  an  army  in  the  presence  of 
an  enemy  is  a  perilous  act,  but  in  this 
case  no  evil  followed.  General  Meade 
assumed  the  command  on  the  28th  of 
June,  when  the  army  was  lying  at  Frederick,  in  Maryland,  in  a  position 
to  dart  through  the  South  Mountain  Gaps  upon  Lee's  line  of  communication,  or 


GEORGE    G.    MEADE, 


THE     NATION.  [1863. 

upon  his  columns  in  retreat,  or  to  follow  him  on  a  parallel  line  toward  the 
Susquehanna. 

Lee  was  about  to  cross  the  Susquehanna  at  Harrisburg,  and  march  on 
Philadelphia,  when  he  was  alarmed  by  information  of  the  position  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  in  increased  force,  which  was  threatening  his  flank  and  rear. 
He  observed  at  the  same  time  the  rapid  gathering  of  the  yeomanry  of  Penn 
sylvania,  and  troops  from  other  States  on  his  front,  and  he  thought  it  prudent 
to  abandon  his  scheme  of  further  invasion.  He  immediately  recalled  Ewell, 
and  ordered  a  concentration  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  in  the  vicinity 
of  Gettysburg,  with  a  view  of  falling  upon  the  Nationals  with  crushing  force, 
and  then  marching  on  Baltimore  and  Washington,  or,  in  the  event  of  defeat, 
to  have  a  direct  line  of  retreat  to  the  Potomac. 

In  the  mean  time  Meade  had  put  his  army  in  motion  toward  the  Susque 
hanna,  but  it  was  not  until  the  evening  of  the  30th  of  June  that  he  was 
advised  of  Lee's  evident  intention  to  give  battle  in  full  force.  Satisfied  of  this, 
he  prepared  to  meet  the  shock  on  a  line  south  of  Gettysburg.  He  had  already 
sent  his  cavalry  forward  to  reconnoiter.  At  Hanover,  east  of  Gettysburg, 
Kilpatrick's  command  encountered  [June  29]  and  defeated,  in  a  sharp  fight, 
some  of  Stuart's  cavalry,  and  on  the  same  day  Buford  and  his  horsemen 
entered  Gettysburg.  The  Confederates  were  not  ^et  there,  and  on  the  follow 
ing  day  the  .First  Corps,  commanded  by  General  J/.  F.  Reynolds,  reached  that 
place.  General  Hill  was  then  approaching  from  Chambersburg,  and  that  night 
Buford  lay  between  the  Confederates  and  Gettysburg.  On  the  following 
morning  [July  1]  he  met  the  van  of  the  Confederates.  A  hot  skirmish  ensued. 
Reynolds  hastened  forward  to  the  scene  of  action,  and  on  Oak  or  Seminary 
Ridge  a  severe  battle  was  fought,  in  which  Reynolds  was  killed.  Meanwhile 
the  Eleventh  (Howard's)  Corps  came  up,  and  the  conflict  assumed  grander 
proportions,  for  Lee's  troops  were  concentrating  there.  The  Nationals  were 
finally  pressed  back,  and  under  the  direction  of  Howard  took  an  advantageous 
position  on  a  range  of  rocky  heights  back  of  but  close  to  Gettysburg,  forming 
two  sides  of  a  triangle,  whereof  Cemetery  Hill,  nearest  the  town,  was  the 
apex.  There  the  Nationals  bivouacked  that  night,  and  Meade  and  the 
remainder  of  the  troops  hastened  to  join  them.  Lee's  army  occupied  Seminary 
Ridge  that  night. 

Both  commanders  were  averse  to  taking  the  initiative  of  battle,  and  it  was 
between  three  and  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  2d  before  the  struggle 
was  renewed.  Then  Lee  fell  heavily  upon  Meade's  left,  commanded  by  Sickles. 
A  sanguinary  contest  ensued,  which  gradually  extended  to  the  center,  where 
'Hancock  was  in  command.  The  chief  struggle  was  for  a  rocky  eminence, 
called  Round  Top  Ridge,  or  Little  Round  Top ;  but  the  Nationals  firmly  held 
it  against  fierce  assaults.  Heavy  masses  were  thrown  against  Hancock,  but 
these  were  cast  back  with  heavy  losses ;  and,  at  sunset,  the  battle  ended  on 
the  left  and  center  of  the  Nationals.  When  the  sounds  of  conflict  died  away 
on  that  part  of  the  field,  they  were  heard  on  the  right  and  right  center,  where 
Slocum  and  Howard  were  in  command.  Howard  was  on  Cemetery  Hill,  and 
Slocum  on  Gulp's  Hill.  Against  these  Early  and  Johnson,  of  Ewell's  corps, 


1863.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


655 


advanced  with  great  vigor.  They  were  thrown  back  from  Cemetery  Hill,  but 
succeeded  in  penetrating,  and  holding  for  the  night,  the  works  on  the  extreme 
right  of  Slocum's  command.  It  was  near  ten  o'clock  at  night  [July  2,  1863] 
when  the  battle  ended,  amd  the  advantage  seemed  to  be  with  the  Confederates. 

Both  parties  now  prepared  for  another  struggle  the  next  day.  It  was 
begun  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  [July  3],  when  Slocum  drove  the  Con 
federates  out  of  his  lines,  and  some  distance  back.  It  required  a  hard  fight  for 
four  hours  to  accomplish  it,  but  it  was  done.  Then  Ewell  was  firmly  held  in 
check.  Round  Top  Ridge,  on  Meade's  extreme  left,  was  impregnable,  and  so 
Lee  determined  to  assail  his  more  vulnerable  center.  He  spent  the  whole  fore 
noon  in  preparations  for  an  attack,  and,  at  one  o'clock,  he  opened  upon  Cem 
etery  Hill  and  its  immediate  vicinity  one  hundred  and  forty-five  cannon.  A 
hundred  National  guns  quickly  responded,  and  for  the  space  of  two  hours 
Gettysburg  and  the  surrounding  country  were  made  to  tremble  by  the  thunder 
of  more  than  two  hundred  cannon.  Then,  like  a  stream  of  lava,  the  Confed 
erates,  preceded  by  a  cloud  of  skirmishers,  swept  over  the  plain,  and  assailed 
the  National  line.  Fearful  was  the  struggle,  and  fearful  the  loss.  At  near 
sunset  the  assailants  were  repulsed  at  every  point,  and  the  great  and  decisive 
Battle  of  Gettysburg  was  Avon  by  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  It  had  been 
fought  Avith  amazing  courage  and  fortitude  by  both  armies,  and  each  was 
dreadfully  shattered  by  the  collision.1  The  writer  A\ras  upon  the  ground  a  few 
days  after  the  battle, 
when  full  tAVO  hundred 
dead  horses  Avere  still 
unburied.  The  annexed 
picture  shoAvs  a  group  of 
them  as  they  fell  in  the 
road  in  front  of  a  farm 
house,  near  General 
Meade's  head-quarters. 

On  the  evening  of  the 
day  after  the  battle  [July 
4,  1863],  Lee  began  are- 
treat  toward  Virginia, 
and,  the  next  day,  was 
folloAved  by  Meade,  ivho 
chased  him  to  the  Potomac,  at  Williamsport,  above  Harper's  Ferry.  There,  by 
strong  intrenchments  arid  a  show  of  force,  Lee  kept  Meade  at  bay  until  he  could 
construct  pontoon  bridges,  when,  over  these,  and  by  fording  the  river  above,  the 
whole  remnant  of  his  army,  his  artillery  and  trains,  passed  into  Virginia,  and 
escaped,  much  to  the  disappointment  of  the  loyal  people.  When  it  was  known 
that  the  Confederates  had  been  beaten  at  Gettysburg,  and  Avere  in  full  retreat, 

1  The  National  loss  during  the  three  days  of  conflict  was  23,186  men,  of  whom  2,834  were 
killed,  13,709  wounded,  and  6,643  were  missing.  Lee,  as  usual,  made  no  report  of  his  losses. 
He  spoke  of  them  as  having  been  "  severe."  A  careful  estimate,  made  from  various  statements, 
places  it  at  about  30,000,  of  whom  14,000  were  prisoners. 


SCENE   ON   THE    GETTYSBURG    BATTLE-GROUND. 


THE     NATION.  [1863. 

it  was  expected  they  would  be  captured  at  the  margin  of  the  swollen  Potomac. 
But  that  disappointment  speedily  gave  way  to  a  feeling  of  satisfaction  because 
of  the  important  victory.  That  battle  proved  to  be  the  pivotal  one  of  the 
war — the  turning  point  in  the  rebellion.  The  scale  of  success  was  then  turned 
in  favor  of  the  National  cause.  It  was  so  regarded  at  the  time,  and  in  view  of 
the  importance  of  the  victory,  the  President,  as  the  representative  of  the 
nation,  recommended  the  observance  of  a  day  [Aug.  15]  "for  National  thanks 
giving,  praise,  and  prayer." * 

While  the  loyal  people  were  rejoicing  because  of  the  great  deliverance  at 
Gettysburg,  and  the  government  was  preparing  for  a  final  and  decisive 
struggle  with  its  foes,  leading  politicians  of  the  Peace  Faction,  evidently  in 
affiliation  with  the  disloyal  secret  organization,  known  as  Knights  of  the 
Golden  Circle?  were  using  every  means  in  their  power  to  defeat  the  patriotic 
purposes  of  the  Administration,  and  to  stir  up  the  people  of  the  Free-labor 
States  to  a  counter-revolution.  This  had  been  their  course  for  several  months 
during  the  dark  hours  of  the  Republic,  before  the  dawn  at  Gettysburg ;  and 
the  more  strenuous  appeared  the  efforts  of  the  government  to  suppress  the 
rebellion,  more  intense  was  their  zeal  in  opposing  it.  This  opposition  was 
specially  active,  when  the  President,  according  to  the  authority  of  Congress, 
found  it  necessary,  in  consequence  of  the  great  discouragements  to  volunteering 
produced  by  the  Peace  Faction,  to  order  [May  8, /1 863]  a  draft  or  conscription 
to  be  made,  to  fill  up  the  ranks  of  the  army.  This  measure,  the  suspension  of 
the  privilege  of  the  Avrit  of  Habeas  Corpus,  and  arbitrary  arrests,  were  severely 
denounced.  These,  and  the  arrest  and  punishment,  for  treasonable  practices, 
of  C.  L.  Yallandigham,  a  citizen  of  Ohio  and  late  member  of  Congress,  one  of  the 


1  The  Secretary  of  State,  satisfied  that  the  rebellion  would  soon  be  ended,  addressed  [August 
12,  1863]  a  cheering  circular  to  the  diplomatic  agents   of  the  government  abroad,  in  which  he 
recited  the  most  important  events  in  the  history  of  the  war  thus  far,  and  declared  that  the  country 
"showed  no  signs  of  exhaustion  of  money,  men,  or  materials;"  and  mentioned  the  fact  that  our 
loan  was  purchased,  at  par,  by  our  citizens  at  the  average  of  $1,200,000  daily,  and  that  gold  was 
selling  in  our  market  at  23  and  28  per  cent,  premium,  "  while  in  the   insurrectionary  region  it 
commanded  1,200  per  cent,  premium."     According  to  the  report  of  the  Confederate   "Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,"  at  that  time,  the  Confederate  debt  was  over  $600,000,000.     At  about  the  same 
time  Davis,  the  Arch-Conspirator,  sent  forth  an  address,  for  the  purpose  of  "  firing  the  Southern 
heart,"  and  reconciling  the  people  to  the  merciless  conscription  they  were  then  subjected  to,  filled 
with  the  most  malignant  misrepresentations.     He  told  them,  in  effect,  that  the  Northern  people 
were  little  better  than  savages.     "  Their  malignant  rage,"  he  said,  "aims  at  nothing  less  than  the 
extermination  of  yourselves,  your  wives,  and  your  children.     They  seek  to  destroy  what  they 
cannot  plunder.     They  propose  as  spoils  of  victory  that  your  homes  shall  be  partitioned  among 
wretches  whose  atrocious  cruelty  has  stamped  infamy  on  their  government.     They  design  to 
incite  servile  insurrection,  and  light  the  fires  of  incendiarism  whenever  they  can  reach  your 
homes;  and  they  debauch  an  inferior  race,  heretofore  docile  and  contented,  by  promising  them 
the  indulgence  of  the  vilest  passions  as  the  price  of  their  treachery." 

Davis  was  then  exasperated  by  the  failure  of  an  attempt  of  his  to  gain  an  official  recognition 
by  the  government,  by  means  of  a  trick.  He  sent  his  lieutenant,  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  under 
a  false  pretense,  at  the  moment  when  Lee,  as  he  thought,  was  marching  triumphantly  on  Phila 
delphia,  to  seek  an  interview  with  the  President,  as  the  representative  of  the  "government."  so- 
called,  at  Richmond.  Stephens  went  to  Fortress  Monroe,  but  was  not  permitted  to  go  farther. 
His  mission  to  Washington  doubtless  had  a  twofold  object,  namely,  an  official  recognition  of  the 
Confederacy  by  the  act  of  treating  with  it,  and  for  the  purpose  of  proclaiming  the  "  Confederate 
government,"  with  Jefferson  Davis  as  Dictator,  from  the  portico  of  the  Capitol,  when  Lee  should 
seize  Washington,  as  it  was  confidently  believed  he  was  about  to  do 

2  See  page  520. 


1863.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


657 


DRAFTING. 


most  conspicuous  leaders  of  the  Peace  Faction,1  furnished  that  active  fragment 
of  the  Democratic  party2  with  pretenses  for  the  most  bitter  denunciations 
of  the  government,  and  violent  opposition  to  its  measures. 

The  inflammatory  appeals  of  politicians  excited  the  passions  of  the  more 
dangerous  classes  in  cities,  and  finally  led  to  a  fearful  riot  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  at  the  middle  of  July,  the  immediate  pretext  being  opposition  to  the 
Draft,  which  commenced  there 
on  Monday,  the  1 3th.  A  mob 
suddenly  collected,  destroyed 
the  apparatus  for  making  the 
Draft,  and  burned  the  build 
ing.  Like  a  plague  this  pub 
lic  disorder  seemed  to  break 
out  simultaneously  at  different 
points  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  city,  and  for  three  days 
the  commercial  metropolis 
Avas  at  the  mercy  of  lawless 
men  and  Avomen,  chiefly  na 
tives  of  Ireland  of  the  lower 
class,  and  disloyal  men  from  Slave-labor  States.  The  cry  against  the  Draft 
soon  ceased,  and  was  followed  with  that  of,  "  Down  with  the  Abolitionists  ! 
Down  with  the  Nigger !  Hurrah  for  Jeff.  Davis !"  Arson  and  plunder 
became  the  business  of  the  rioters,  and  maiming  and  murder  Avas  their  recrea 
tion.  The  colored  population  of  the  city  were  special  objects  of  their  wrath. 
These  were  hunted  doAvn,  bruised,  and  killed,  as  if  they  had  been  noxious  wild 
beasts.  Men,  women,  and  children  shared  a  common  fate.  An  asylum  for 
colored  children  Avas  sacked  and  burned,  Avhile  the  poor,  affrighted  orphans, 
some  beaten  and  maimed,  fled  in  terror  to  Avhatever  shelter  they  could  find. 
Finally,  the  police,  aided  by  some  troops,  quelled  the  riot  with  the  strong  arm 
of  power,  after  a  sacrifice  of  full  four  hundred  human  lives,  and  the  destruction 
of  property  valued  at  $2,000,000.  After  that,  the  Draft  Avas  resumed,  and 
went  quietly  on.3 

1  General  Burnside,  in  command  of  the  Department  of  the  Ohio,  issued  an  order  for  the-  sup 
pression  of  sedition  and  treasonable  speech  and  conduct.     Vallandigham,  whose  sympathy  with 
the  cause  of  the  Conspirators  had  been  conspicuously  shown  from  the  beginning,  denounced  this 
order,  and  openly  violated  it.    He  was  arrested,  tried  by  a  military  commission,  found  guilty,  and, 
by  orders  of  the  President,  was  sent  within  the  Confederation,  with  a  penalty  of  imprisonment 
should  he  return.     He  was  treated  with  contempt  by  his  "Southern  friends,"  and  soon  made  his 
way  in  a  blockade-runner  to  Halifax,  and  thence  into  Canada. 

2  The  Peace  Faction  of  the  "Democratic"  or  Opposition  party  did  not  fairly  represent  the 
great  mass  of  the  members  of  that  party.     It  was  essentially  disloyal :  they  were  loyal.     Yet 
the  influence  of  that  faction  was  so  potent,  that  it  controlled  the  policy  of  the  party  as  an  organi 
sation.     Its  aims  appeared  no  higher  than  the  control  of  the  emoluments  and  offices  of  the  gov 
ernment  :  and  the  encouragement  it  continually  held  out  to  the   Conspirators,    by  falsely  repre 
senting  the  Opposition  party  as  friendly  to  their  cause,  and  discouraging  volunteering  and  other 
efforts  for  putting  down  the  rebellion,  prolonged  the  war  at  least  two  years,  and,  as  a  consequence, 
tens  of  thousands  of  precious  lives,  and  tens  of  millions  of  treasure,  were  wasted. 

3  Horatio  Seymour,  who  was  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  leaders  of  the  Peace  Faction,  and  then 
Governor  of  the  State  of  New  York,  had  denounced  the  government  as  a  despot,  because  of  the 

42 


658 


THE     NATION.  [1863. 


There  appears  to  be  ample  evidence  that  preparations  had  been  made 
among  the  disloyal  politicians  of  the  Free-labor  States,  at  the  time  we  are  con 
sidering,  for  a  counter-revolution,  which  should  compel  the  government  to 
make  terms  of  peace  with  the  Conspirators,  on  the  basis  of  a  dissolution  of  the 
Union  and  the  independence  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States.  The  invasion 
of  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania,  so  as  to  encourage  the  Peace  Faction,  was  a 
part  of  the  drama;1  and  chiefly  for  the  encouragement  of  the  same  class  in 
the  Western  States,  and  form  a  nucleus  for  armed  opponents  of  the  govern 
ment  in  that  region,  the  notorious  guerrilla  chief,  John  H.  Morgan,  was  sent 
into  Indiana  and  Ohio  at  the  close  of  June,  with  over  three  thousand  mounted 
men.  He  crossed  the  Ohio  River  from  Kentucky  into  Indiana,  some  distance 
below  Louisville,  and,  pushing  a  little  into  the  interior,  made  a  plundering 
raid  eastward  through  that  State  and  Ohio,  well  toward  the  Pennsylvania 
border.  There  was  an  uprising  of  the  people  because  of  his  presence,  but  not 
such  a  one  as  the  Peace  Faction  had  led  him  to  expect.  Within  forty-eight 
hours  after  Morgan  entered  Indiana,  sixty  thousand  of  its  citizens  had  re 
sponded  to  the  call  of  the  Governor  to  turn  out  and  drive  him  out  of  it. 
Equally  patriotic  were  the  people  of  Ohio.  Morgan  was  pursued,  and 
finally  captured,  with  a  remnant  of  his  band,  nearly  all  of  whom  were  killed 
or  made  prisoners.  The  truth  seemed  to  be  that  the  reverse  of  Lee  at  Gettys 
burg  had  disconcerted  the  leaders  of  the  Peace  Faction,  and  they  were  com 
pelled,  by  prudence,  to  postpone  their  revolutionary  operations.  The  riot  in 
New  York  seems  to  have  been  an  irregular  manifestation  of  an  organized  out 
break  in  that  city,  when,  as  it  was  expected,  the  neighing  of  the  horses  of  Lee's 
cavalry  would  be  heard  on  the  opposite  banks  of  the  Hudson. 

When  Lee  escaped  into  Virginia  [July  14,  1863],  and  moved  up  the  Shen- 
andoah  Valley,  Meade  determined  to  follow  him  along  the  route  pursued  by 


arrest  and  punishment  of  Yallandigham,  "  not,"  he  said,  "  for  an  offense  against  law,  but  for  a 
disregard  of  an  invalid  order,  put  forth  in  an  utter  disregard  of  the  principles  of  civil  liberty." 
He  opposed  the  Draft ;  mildly  and  without  effect  he  interposed  his  authority  as  Governor  to  quell 
the  riot,  and  sent  his  adjutant-general  to  Washington  to  demand  the  suspension  of  the  Draft. 
This  he  told  the  mob,  and  said :  "  Wait  till  my  adjutant  returns  from  Washington,  and  you  shall 
be  satisfied."  He  wanted  the  Draft  postponed  until  the  courts  should  decide  whether  it  was  con 
stitutional,  but  this  obvious  advantage  to  the  Conspirators,  who  were  then  filling  their  ranks  by  a 
rigorous  conscription,  the  President  refused  to  give,  and  the  Draft  went  on. 

1  Lee's  invasion  was  counted  on  largely  as  an  aid  to  the  Peace  Faction  in  carrying  out  their 
plans.  And  after  his  failure,  and  he  was  lying  quietly  near  the  Rapid  Anna,  in  September,  the 
Richmond  Enquirer  said:  "The  success  of  the  Democratic  party  [at  the  approaching  election] 
would  be  no  longer  doubtful,  should  General  Lee  once  more  advance  on  Meade.  .  .  .  He 
may  so  move  and  direct  his  army  as  to  produce  political  results,  which,  in  their  bearing  upon  this 
war,  will  prove  more  effectual  than  the  bloodiest  victories.  Let  him  drive  Meade  into  Washing 
ton,  and  he  will  again  raise  the  spirits  of  the  Democrats,  confirm  their  timid,  and  give  confidence 
to  their  wavering.  He  will  embolden  the  Peace  party  should  he  again  cross  the  Potomac, 
for  he  will  show  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  how  little  security  they  have  from  Lincoln  for  the 
protection  of  their  homes." 

Matthew  P.  Maury,  formerly  Superintendent  of  the  National  Observatory,  and  one  of  the 
most  unworthy  traitors  to  his  country,  said,  in  a  letter  to  the  London  Times,  on  the  17th  of 
August,  1863:  "There  is  already  a  Peace  party  in  the  North.  All  the  embarrassments  with 
which  that  party  can  surround  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  all  the  difficulties  that  it  can  throw  in  the  way 
of  the  War  party  in  the  North,  operate  directly  as  so  much  aid  and  comfort  to  the  South.  .  .  . 
New  York  is  becoming  the  champion  of  State  Rights  in  the  North,  and  to  that  extent  is  taking 
Southern  ground.  .  .  .  Vallaudigham  waits  and  watches  over  the  border,  pledged,  if  elected 
Governor  of  Ohio,  to  array  it  against  Lincoln  an  1  the  war.  and  go  for  peace." 


1863.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  (559 

McClellan  in  his  race  for  the  Rappahannock  with  the  same  foe  the  year  before,1 
keeping  close  to  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  using  its  gaps  as  circum 
stances  might  dictate.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  crossed  the  river  on  the  1 7th 
and  18th  of  July,  and  moved  rapidly  forward,  getting  the  start  of  its  antagonist, 
which  had  lingered  between  the  Potomac  and  Winchester.  Lee  tried  to  recall 
Meade,  by  threatening  another  invasion  of  Maryland.  He  failed,  and  then 
marched  rapidly  up  the  Shenandoah  Valley  to  meet  the  dangers  that  threatened 
his  front  and  Hank.  There  were  skirmishes  in  the  mountain-passes  during  this 
exciting  race,  one  of  which,  at  Manassas  Gap,  so  detained  Meade's  army,  that 
Lee,  by  a  quick  movement,  went  through  Chester  Gap,  and  took  position  in 
front  of  the  Nationals,  between  the  Rappahannock  and  Rapid  Anna  rivers. 
Meade  slowly  advanced  to  the  Rappahannock,  and  then  the  two  armies  rested 
for  some  time.  Both  were  somewhat  weakened  by  drafts  upon  them  for  men 
to  serve  elsewhere.  Finally,  at  the  middle  of  September,  Meade  crossed  the 
river  and  drove  Lee  beyond  the  Rapid  Anna,  where  the  latter  took  a  strongly 
defensive  position.  In  the  mean  time  Meade's  cavalry  had  not  been  idle,  and 
divisions  under  Buford  and  Kilpatrick  had  considerable  skirmishing  with  those 
of  Stuart  between  the  two  rivers. 

General  Meade  contemplated  a  forward  movement  for  some  time,  mid  Lee, 
feeling  able  to  cope  with  his  antagonist,  proposed  to  march  directly  on  Wash 
ington,  at  the  risk  of  losing  Richmond,  but  he  was  overruled  by  his  "  govern 
ment."  So  he  proceeded  to  employ  the  more  cautious  measure  of  turning 
Meade's  right  flank,  and  attempting  to  get  in  his  rear  and  seize  the  National 
Capital.  He  had  moved  some  distance  for  this  purpose,  and  was  on  Meade's 
flank  before  the  latter  was  aware  of  it.  Then  a  close  race  in  the  direction  of 
Washington,  by  the  two  armies,  occurred  for  the  third  time.  The  Army  of 
the  Potomac  was  the  winner,  and  reached  the  heights  at  Centreville,  the  first 
objective  [October  15,  1863],  before  its  antagonist.  There  had  been  some 
severe  collisions  on  the  way.  Gregg's  cavalry  was  routed,  with  a  loss  of  five 
hundred  men,  at  Jeflersonton.  Stuart,  with  about  two  thousand  men,  hung 
closely  upon  the  rear  flank  of  Meade's  army,  and  at  Auburn  he  came  near 
being  captured,  with  all  his  men.  He  escaped,  however ;  and  from  that  point 
to  Bristow  Station  there  was  a  sharp  race.  There  a  battle  occurred  between 
the  corps  of  Generals  Warren  and  Hill,  in  which  the  pursuing  Confederates 
were  repulsed,  and  the  Union  force  moved  on  and  joined  the  main  army,  then 
at  Centreville.  At  Bristow  Station  Lee  gave  up  the  race,  and  fell  back  to  the 
Rappahannock,  destroying  the  Orange  and  Alexandria  railway  behind  him. 
Meade  slowly  followed,  after  the  railway  was  repaired,  attacked  the  Confed 
erates  at  Rappahannock  Station,  on  the  river,  and,  after  a  severe  battle,  drove 
them  toward  Culpepper  Court-House. 

Lee  now  took  post  again  behind  the  Rapid  Anna,  and  Meade's  army 
lay  quietly  between  the  two  rivers  until  late  in  November,  while  he  was 
watching  for  a  favorable  opportunity  to  advance  on  his  foe,  whose  forces, 
he  had  observed,  were  spread  over  a  considerable  surface,  in  the  direction 

1  See  page  631. 


(>60 


THE     NATION. 


[186:5. 


of  Gordonsville.  But  Lee  had  begun  the  construction  of  strong  defenses  along 
the  line  of  Mine  Run,  and  Meade  determined  to  advance  and  attempt  to  turn 
his  position.  It  would  be  a  perilous  undertaking  at  that  season  of  the  year, 
for  it  involved  the  necessity  of  cutting  loose  from  his  supplies,  which  could  not 
be  carried  with  safety  to  the  south  side  of  the  Rapid  Anna.  The  risk  was 
taken.  The  troops  were  provided  with  ten  days'  rations,  and,  crossing  the 
river  on  the  26th  [November,  1863],  pushed  on  in  the  direction  of  Mine  Run, 
along  the  line  of  which  were  strong  intrenchments,  defended  by  heavy  abcttis. 


ABATIS.1 


General  Warren,  in  the  advance,  opened  a  battle,  but  it  was  soon  found  that 
the  Confederates  were  too  strongly  intrenched  to  promise  a  successful  assault. 
So  Meade  suspended  the  attack,  withdrew,  and  established  his  army  in  winter 
quarters  on  the  north  side  of  the  Rapid  Anna.  So  ended  the  campaign  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  in  1863. 

In  Western  Virginia,  adjoining  the  great  theater  on  which  the  armies  of 
the  Potomac  and  of  Northern  Virginia  were  performing,  there  had  been  very 
few  military  movements  of  importance  since  the  close  of  1861.  In  the  summer 
of  1868  a  raiding  party,  under  Colonel  Tolland,  went  over  the  mountains  from 
the  Kanawha  Valley,  and  struck  the  Virginia  and  Tennessee  railway  at 
Wytheville.  Finding  sharp  resistance,  they  retraced  their  steps  with  great 
suffering.  A  little  later,  General  W.  W.  Averill  went  over  the  mountain- 
ranges-  from  Tygart's  Valley,  with  a  strong  cavalry  force,  destroyed  Confed 
erate  salt-works  and  other  property,  and  menaced  Staunton.  He  fought  Con 
federate  cavalry  near  White  Sulphur  Springs  for  nearly  two  days  [August  26 
and  27],  and  was  compelled  to  retreat.  Early  in  November  he  started  on 


1  Alafis  is  a  French  term  in  Fortification,  for  obstructions  placed  in  front  of  works,  composed 
of  felled  trees,  with  their  branches  pointing  outward.  Such  obstruction  is  represented  in  the 
engraving; 


18G3.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

another  expedition,  pushing  the  Confederates  before  him  in  the  mountain 
regions,  and  nearly  purging  West  Virginia  of  armed  rebels.  lie  pushed  for 
ward  for  the  purpose  of  breaking  up  the  Virginia  and  Tennessee  railway, 
which  was  the  chief  communication  between  the  armies  of  Lee  and  Bragg, 
and  on  the  16th  of  December,  after  a  perilous  inarch,  over  icy  roads,  he  struck 
that  highway  at  Salem,  and  destroyed  the  track  and  other  property  over  an 
extent  of  about  fifteen  miles.  The  Confederates  in  all  that  region  were 
aroused,  and  no  less  than  seven  different  leaders  combined  in  an  attempt 
to  intercept  AverilPs  return,  but  failed.  The  raider  escaped,  with  two  hun 
dred  prisoners,  and  a  loss  of  only  six  men  drowned,  five  wounded,  and  ninety 
missing. 

Let  us  now  turn  our  attention  to  events  in  Tennessee,  where  we  left  the  large 
armies  of  Rosecrans  and  Bragg,  after  the  Battle  of  Stone's  River,  the  former 
at  Murfreesboro'  and  the  latter  a  little  further  southward.1  Bragg's  line  was 
along  the  general  direction  of  the  Duck  River,  from  near  the  Cumberland 
mountains  westward,2  and  in  that  relative  position  the  two  armies  lay  from 
January  until  June  [1863],  Rosecrans  waiting  to  complete  full  preparations  for 
an  advance,  before  moving.  Meanwhile,  detachments  of  the  two  armies,  chiefly 
of  N  mounted  men,  were  active  in  minor  operations.  At  the  beginning  of  Feb 
ruary,  General  Wheeler,  Bragg's  chief  of  cavalry,  with  Wharton  and  Forrest 
as  brigadiers,  concentrated  his  forces,  over  four  thousand  strong,  at  Franklin, 
a  little  south  of  Nashville,  and,  advancing  rapidly  to  the  Cumberland  River, 
attempted  to  capture  the  post  of  Fort  Donelson,3  then  commanded  by  Colonel 
Harding.  They  were  repulsed,  after  considerable  loss  on  both  sides.  General 
J.  C.  Davis  was  operating  in  Wheeler's  rear,  and  hastened  his  departure  from 
the  region  of  the  Cumberland.  A  little  later,  General  Earl  Van  Dorn  was 
found  hovering  around  Franklin  with  a  considerable  force  of  cavalry  and 
infantry,  and  against  these  General  Sheridan  and  Colonel  Colburn  were  sent. 
The  latter  was  compelled  to  surrender  [March  5]  to  superior  numbers,  while 
the  former  drove  Van  Dorn  southward  across  the  Duck  River. 

There  was  a  severe  struggle  eastward  of  Murfreesboro'  [March  18]  between 
troops  under  Colonel  Hall  and  those  of  Morgan,  the  guerrilla  chief,  in  which 
the  latter  were  worsted,  and  lost  between  three  and  four  hundred  men. 
Early  in  April  Van  Dorn  was  again  in  the  vicinity  of  Franklin,  with  a  force 
estimated  at  nine  thousand  men,  the  object  being  to  seize  that  post,  preliminary 
to  an  attack  on  Nashville,  the  great  depository  of  Rosecrans's  supplies.  Gen 
eral  Gordon  Granger  was  then  in  command  at  Franklin,  where  he  was  building 
a  fort  on  the  bank  of  the  Harpeth  River,  and,  being  forewarned,  he  was  pre 
pared  for  an  attack,  which  Van  Dorn  made  on  the  10th  [April,  1863],  The 
Confederates  were  repulsed  and  retired  to  Spring  Hill,  after  a  loss  of  about 

1  See  page  639. 

2  Bragg's  line  extended  from  Columbia,  on  the  west,  to  McMinnville,  on  the  east.     His  infantry 
occupied  the  space  between  Wartrace  and  Shelbyville ;  his  cavalry,  on  his  right,  stretched  out  to 
McMinnville,  and  on  his  left  as  far  as  Spring  Hill,  between  Franklin  and  Columbia. 

3  Forrest  had  been  operating  at  one  or  two  other  points  on  the  Cumberland,  for  the  purpose 
of  cutting  off  Rosecrans's  supplies  by  way  of  that  river,  for  his  army  was  chiefly  subsisted  by 
provisions  that  came  down  from  the  region  of  the  Ohio  River. 


662 


THE     NATION. 


[1863. 


three  hundred  men.  The  Union  loss  was  less  than  forty.1  A  few  days  later 
a  detachment  of  Rosecrans's  army,  under  General  J.  J.  Reynolds,  drove  a  band 
of  Morgan's  men  from  McMinnville  [April  20],  and  destroyed  a  good  deal  of 
Confederate  property  there ;  and  these  and  lesser  expeditions,  sent  oat  from 
time  to  time,  while  Rosecrans  was  procuring  cavalry  horses  and  making  other 
preparations  for  an  advance,  caused  great  circumspection  on  the  part  of  the 
Confederates. 

A  more  ambitious  expedition  than  any  previously  sent  out  by  Rosecrans, 
moved  toward  the  middle  of  April,  under  Colonel  A.  IX  Straight,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  crippling  the  resources  of  the  foe.  He  left  Xashville  in  steamers  [April 
111,  and,  debarking  at  Fort  Donelson,  crossed  over  to  the  Tennessee  River  at 
Fort  Henry,  and  ascended  that  stream  to  the  borders  of  Mississippi  and  Ala 
bama,  gathering  horses  for  his  use  on  the  way.  At  Tuscumbia,  most  of  his 
troops  being  then  mounted,  Streight  turned  southward,  and,  sweeping  through 
Alabama  in  a  curve  bending  eastward,  pushed  on  toward  Rome,  in  Northern 
Georgia,  where  extensive  iron-works  were  in  operation,  and  Atlanta,  an  import 
ant  railway  center.  The  cavalry  of  Forrest  and  Roddy  followed.  The 
parties  skirmished  and  raced;  and  finally,  when  near  Rome,  Streight's 
exhausted  command  was  struck  and  mostly  captured  [May  3,  1863],  when 


LIBBY   PRISON,    RICHMOND. 

they  were  sent  to  Richmond,  and  confined  in  the  famous  Libby  Prison.  From 
that  loathsome  place  the  leader  and  one  hundred  of  his  officers  escaped,  in 
February  following,  by  burrowing  under  the  foundations  of  the  building. 

As  June  wore  away,  and  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  (Rosecrans's)  was 

1  Tan  Dorn  was  one  of  the  most  dashing  of  the  Confederate  leaders.     He  was  shot  soon  after 
ittle  we  have  just  considered,  by  an  indignant  husband,  whose  wife  the  Confederate  leader 
had  dishonored. 


1863.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

yet  lying  at  Murfreesboro',  the  public,  unable  to  comprehend  the  obstacle  to 
its  advance,  became  impatient  of  the  delay.  The  cavalry  of  that  army  was 
then  in  a  fair  condition,  and  its  supplies  being  abundant,  Rosecrans,  on  the 
23d  of  June,  ordered  an  advance,  his  grand  objective  being  Chattanooga. 
Bragg,  his  antagonist,  was  strongly  intrenched  among  hills  favorable  for 
defensive  operations.  Yet  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  moving  in  three 
corps,  commanded  respectively  by  Generals  Thomas,  McCook,  and  Crittenden, 
was  so  skillfully  managed,  that  the  Confederates  were  soon  pushed  from  their 
position  along  the  line  of  the  Duck  River,  back  to  Tullahoma.  When  Bragg 
saw  Rosecrans  seize  the  mountain  passes  on  his  front,  and  threaten  his  flanks 
in  his  new  position,  he  fled  [June  30,  1863]  without  offering  to  give  a  blow  in 
defense  of  a  line  of  most  formidable  works  which  he  had  cast  up  in  the  course 
of  several  months. 

Rosecrans  now  pressed  hard  upon  the  rear  of  the  fugitive  Confederates, 
but  the  latter  having  the  railway  for  transportation,  kept  out  of  his  reach,  and 
pushed  as  rapidly  as  possible  over  the  Cumberland  Mountains  toward  the  Ten 
nessee  River,  which  they  crossed  at  Bridgeport,  destroyed  the  bridge  behind 
them,  and  hastened  to  Chattanooga.1  Rosecrans  advanced  his  army  to  the 
base  of  the  mountains,  when,  finding  Bragg  too  far  ahead  to  be  easily  over 
taken,  he  halted  his  entire  force,  and  rested  more  than  a  month  while  gathering 
supplies  for  his  army  at  proper  places,2  and  repairing  the  railway  from  the 
high  table-land  at  Decherd,  down  through  the  mountain  pass  of  Big  Crow 
Creek,  to  Stevenson.  At  the  middle  of  August  he  moved  forward,  his  army 
stretched  over  a  long  line  east  and  west,,  with  cavalry  on  its  flanks.  In  the 
course  of  four  or  five  days  it  crossed  the  mountain  ranges  and  stood  along  the 
shores  of  the  Tennessee  from  above  Chattanooga  westward  for  a  hundred 
miles,  startling  [August  21,  1863]  Bragg  by  its  apparition,  the  thunder  of  can 
non  on  the  eminences  opposite  that  town,  and  the  screaming  of  shells  over  the 
Confederate  camp. 

Early  in  September,  Thomas  and  McCook  crossed  the  Tennessee  with  their 
corps  at  points  each  side  of  Bridgeport,  where  the  railway  spans  it,  and  by 
the  8th  had  secured  the  passes  of  Lookout  Mountain  as  far  as  Valley  Head, 
while  Crittenden's  corps  took  post  at  Wauhatchie,  in  Lookout  Valley,  nearer 
the  river.  Informed  of  these  threatening  movements,  Bragg  abandoned  Chat 
tanooga,  passed  through  the  gaps  of  the  Missionaries'  Ridge3  to  the  West 
Chickamauga  River,  in  Northern  Georgia,  and  posted  his  army  in  a  strong 
position  near  Lafayette,  to  meet  the  National  forces  expected  to  press  through 

1  This  expulsion  of  Bragg's  army  from  Middle  Tennessee,  by  which  a  greater  portion  of  that 
State  and  Kentucky  was  left  under  the  absolute  control  of  the  National  authority,  was  a  dis 
heartening  event  for  the  Confederates,  and  they  now  felt  that  every  thing  depended  upon  their 
holding  Chattanooga,  the  key  of  East  Tennessee,  arid,  indeed,  of  all  Northern  Georgia. 

2  Bragg  had  stripped  that  mountain  region  of  forage,  so  Rosecrans  waited  until  the  Indian 
corn,  in  cultivated  spots,  was  sufficiently  grown  to  furnish  a  supply.     Meanwhile  he  gathered 
supplies  at  Tracy  City  and  Stevenson,   and  thoroughly  picketed  the  railway  from  Cowan  to 
Bridgeport. 

a  The  writer  was  informed  by  the  late  John  Ross,  the  venerable  Chief  of  the  Cherokee 
Nation,  that  this  undulating 'ridge,  lying  back  of  Chattanooga  and  rising  about  300  feet  above  thw 
Tennessee  River,  was  named  the  Missionaries'  Ridge  because  missionaries  among  the  Cherokeea 
had  a  station  on  the  southeastern  slope  of  it. 


604 


THE     NATION. 


[1S63. 


- 


the  mountain  passes.  This  was  done  in  expectation  of  precisely  what  Rose- 
crans  proceeded  to  do,  namely,  pass  through  the  mountains,  and  threaten  his 
enemy's  communications  between  Dalton  and  Resaca.  Rosecrans  came  to  this 
determination  with  the  mistaken  idea,  when  informed  by  Crittenden  that 
Brao;g  had  left  Chattanooga,  that  the  latter  had  commenced  a  retreat  toward 
Rome.  Crittenden,  who  had  made  a  reconnoissance  on  Lookout  Mountain, 
and  from  its  lofty  summit  looked  down  upon  Chattanooga  and  observed  that 
Braajg  had  retreated  from  it,  immediately  moved  his  corps  into  the  Chatta 
nooga  Valley,  and  on  the  evening  of  the  10th  of  September,  encamped  at 
Rossville,  within  three  or  four  miles  of  the  deserted  village.  Thus,  without  a 
battle,  the  chief  object  of  the  movement  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland 
over  the  mountains  was  gained.  With  great  ease  Bragg  had  been  expelled 
from  Middle  Tennessee,  and  was  now  held  at  bay  in  an  unfortified  position, 
away  from  the  coveted  stronghold  and  strategic  position  of  Chattanooga. 

General  Burnside,  who  was  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  was 
now  brought  into  active  co-operation  with  Rosecrans,  having  been  ordered  to 
pass  over  the  mountains  into  East  Tennessee  to  assist  that  leader  in  his  struggle 
with  Bragg.  When  summoned  to  that  field,  he  concentrated  his  command, 
then  in  hand,  about  twenty  thousand  in  number,  at  Crab  Orchard,  in  South 
eastern  Kentucky.  He  prepared  for  a  rapid  movjement.  His  infantry  were 

mostly  mounted  ;  his  cavalry  and  artil 
lery  had  good  horses,  and  his  supplies 
were  carried  on  pack-mules,  that  more 
facile  movements  might  be  made  than  a 
wagon-train  would  allow.  On  the  day 
when  Bragg  was  startled  by  the  great 
guns  of  his  pursuer  at  Chattanooga 
[August  21,  1863],  Burnside  began  his 
march  over  the  Cumberland  mountains, 
a  cavalry  brigade  in  advance.  They 
soon  passed  the  great  ranges,  and  were 
speedily  posted  on  the  line  of  the  rail 
way  southwesterly  from  London,  on  the 
Tennessee  River,  so  as  to  connect  Avith 
Rosecrans  at  Chattanooga.  General 

Buckner,  who  commanded  about  twenty  thousand  troops  in  East  Tennessee, 
had  retired  on  Burnside's  approach,  and  joined  Bragg,  and  the  important  moun 
tain  pass  of  Cumberland  Gap  was  soon  in  possession  of  the  Nationals.  The 
great  valley  between  the  Alleghany  and  Cumberland  mountains,  from  Cleve 
land  to  Bristol,  seemed  to  be  permanently  rid  of  armed  Confederates.1 

1  The  magnificent  Valley  of  East  Tennessee  has  an  average  width  of  seventy-five  miles,  and 
a  length  of  two  hundred  miles.  The  loyal  inhabitants  of  that  region  received  the  National 
troops  with  open  arms.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  the  intensity  of  the  feelings  of  the  Union  peo 
ple  along  the  line  of  Burnside's  march.  "Everywhere,"  wrote  an  eye-witness,  "the  people 
flocked  to  the  roadsides,  and,  with  cheers  and  wildest  demonstrations  of  welcome,  saluted  the 
flag  of  the  Republic  and  the  men  who  had  borne  it  in  triumph  to  the  very  heart  of  the  '  Confed 
eracy.'  Old  men  wept  at  the  sight,  which  they  had  waited  for  through  months  of  suffering- 


PACK-MULES. 


18(53.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


G65 


gg  had  begun  a  retreat  toward 


Believing,  as  we  have  observed,  that  Bra 
Rome,  Rosecrans  pushed  his  troops  through  the  gaps  of  Lookout  Mountain  to 
strike  his  flank,  but  he  soon  ascertained  that  his  foe,  instead  of  retreating,  was 
concentrating  his  forces  at  Lafayette,  to  attack  the  now  attenuated  line  of  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland,  whose  left  was  at  Ringgold  and  its  right  near  Alpine 
— points,  by  the  National  line,  about  fifty  miles  apart.  Rosecrans  immediately 
ordered  the  concentration  of  his  own  troops,  to  avoid  and  meet  perils  that- 
threatened  them.  This  was  quickly  done,  and  at  a  little  past  the  middle  of 
September  [1863],  the  contending  forces  confronted  each  other,  in  battle  array, 
on  each  side  of  the  Chickamauga  Creek,  in  the  vicinity  of  Crawford's  Spring 
and  Lee  and  Gordon's  Mill,  the  line  of  each  stretching  northward  to  the  slopes 
of  the  Missionaries'  Ridge. 

General  Thomas  took  position  on  the  extreme  National  left,  and  opened 
battle  on  the  morning  of  the  19th  [September],  by  attacking  the  Confederate 
right.  The  conflict  raged  almost  without  intermission  until  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  when  there  was  a  lull.  It  was  renewed  by  the  Confederates  at  five 
o'clock,  and  continued  until  dark.  On  the  right  center  there  had  been  some 
severe  fighting,  and  when  night  fell  the  advantage  appeared  to  be  with  the 
Nationals.  In  the  mean  time  Long- 
street,  who  had  been  sent  from  Vir 
ginia,  by  Lee,  with  his  corps,  to  help 
Bragg,  and  had  passed  through  the 
Carolinas  and  Georgia  to  Atlanta,  was 
now  coming  up  with  his  forces.  He 
arrived  on  the  field  that  night,  and 
assumed  command  of  Bragg's  left,  and 
on  the  morning  of  the  20th  the  Con 
federates  had  full  seventy  thousand 
men  opposed  to  fifty-five  thousand 
Nationals. 

Both  parties  prepared  to  renew 
the  struggle  in  the  morning.  Thomas's 
troops  intrenched  during  the  night. 
A  heavy  fog  enveloped  the  armies  in 
the  morning,  and  when  it  lifted,  between  eight  and  nine  o'clock,  a  most  san 
guinary  battle  was  commenced  on  the  wing  where  Thomas  was  in  command. 
It  soon  raged  furiously  along  the  whole  line.  Finally  a  desperate  charge  was 
made  upon  the  temporarily  weakened  right  center  of  the  Nationals,  when  the 
line  was  broken.  The  right  wing  was  shattered  into  fragments,  and  fled  in 
disorder  toward  Rossville  and  Chattanooga,  carrying  along  upon  its  turbulent 
and  resistless  tide  Rosecrans,  Crittenden,  and  ilcCook,  while  Sheridan  and 

children,  even,  hailed  with  joy  the  sign  of  deliverance.  Nobly  have  these  persecuted  people 
stood  by  their  faith,  and  all  loyal  men  will  rejoice  with  them  in  their  rescue  at  last  from  the  clutch 
of  the  destroyer."  "  They  were  so  glad  to  see  Union  soldiers,"  wrote  another,  "  that  they  cooked 
every  thing  they  had,  and  gave  it  freely,  not  asking  pay,  and  apparently  not  thinking  of  it.  Women 
stood  by  the  roadside  with  pails  of  water,  and  displayed  Union  flags.  The  wonder  was  where 
all  the  'Stars  and  Stripes'  came  from." 


GEORGE    H.    THOMAS. 


QQQ  THE     NATION.  [1863 

Davis  rallied  a  portion  of  it  upon  another  road.  Rosecrans,  unable  to  join 
Thomas,  and  believing  the  whole  array  would  be  speedily  hurrying,  pell-mell, 
toward  Chattanooga,  pushed  on  to  that  place  to  make  provision  for  holding 
it,  if  possible.  But  Thomas  stood  firm,  and  for  awhile  fought  a  greater  part 
of  the  Confederate  army,  enduring  shock  after  shock,  and  keeping  it  at  bay 
until  he  could  withdraw  his  forces,  in  obedience  to  an  order  from  Rosecrans. 
This  was  done  in  good  order,  and  the  worn  and  wearied  troops  took  position  in 
the  Rossville  and  Dry  Valley  gaps  of  the  Missionaries'  Ridge,  where  they 
bivouacked  that  night.  On  the  following  evening  the  whole  army  fell  back  to 
Chattanooga ;  and  within  forty-eight  hours  after  the  battle  it  was  so  strongly 
intrenched  that  it  defied  Bragg,  who  had  not  thought  it  prudent  to  follow  the 
retreating  forces  from  the  battle-field.  He  contented  himself  with  taking  pos 
session  of  the  Missionaries'  Ridge  and  Lookout  Mountain.  Victory  was  won 
by  the  Confederates  in  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  but  at  a  fearful  cost  to  both 
armies.1 

The  Army  of  the  Cumberland  was  now  closely  imprisoned  at  Chattanooga. 
By  holding  Lookout  Mountain,  which  abuts  upon  the  Tennessee  River,  Bragg 
commanded  that  stream  and  cut  off  Rosecrans's  communication  with  his  sup 
plies  at  Bridgeport  and  Stevenson,  and  compelled  him  to  transport  them  in 
wagons,  over  the  rough  mountains,  fifty  or  sixty  miles.  This  was  a  severe  and 
precarious  service.  For  awhile  the  army  was  on  short  allowance,  and  not  less 
than  ten  thousand  horses  and  mules  were  worked  or  starved  to  death  in  the 
service.  In  the  mean  time  a  change  in  the  organization  of  the  army  was 
effected.  It  was  determined  by  the  government  to  hold  Chattanooga,  arid  for 
that  purpose  it  was  ordered  that  the  armies  under  Burnside,  Rosecrans,  and 
Grant,  should  be  concentrated  there.  Over  these  combined  forces  Grant  was 
placed.  His  field  of  command  was  called  the  Military  Division  of  the  Missis 
sippi.2 

When  Grant  arrived  at  Chattanooga,  late  in  October,  he  found  Thomas 
alive  to  the  importance  of  securing  a  safe  and  speedy  way  for  supplies  to  reach 
that  post.  Nearly  the  whole  of  Bragg's  cavalry  had  been  operating  against 


1  The  National  loss  was  reported  at  16,326,  of  whom  1,687  were  killed.     The  total  loss  of 
officers  was  974.     It  is  probable   the   entire  Union  loss  was   19,000.     The  Confederate  loss  was 
20,950,  of  whom  2.674  were  killed.     Rosecrans  brought  off  from  the  field  2,003  prisoners,  36 
guns,  20  caissons,  and  8,450  small-arms. 

2  Rosecrans  was  relieved  of  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Thomas,  and  General  W.  T.  Sherman  was  promoted  to  the  command  of  Grant's  Army  of  the 
Tennessee.     Rosecrans  was  ordered  to  St.  Louis,  and  was  placed  in  command  of  the  Department 
of  Missouri. 

Before  Grant  was  called  to  his  enlarged  command,  he  had  taken  measures  for  securing  every 
advantage  of  the  victories  at  Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson.  He  sent  his  paroled  prisoners  (see 
page  646)  to  the  Confederate  lines  at  Jackson,  and  on  the  same  day  ordered  Sherman  to  lead  a 
heavy  force  against  Johnston,  whose  troops  were  hovering  in  the  rear  of  Vicksburg.  His  head 
quarters  was  at  Jackson,  and  when  Sherman  advanced,  lie  concentrated  his  forces  there,  behind 
intrenchments.  From  there  he  was  driven  on  the  l.'Jth  of  July,  when  he  fled  toward  the  interior 
of  Mississippi.  Grant  cast  up  a  line  of  fortifications  around  Vicksburg,  and  with  these,  and  the 
expulsion  of  Johnston,  that  post  was  made  secure.  On  the  day  of  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  the 
important  post  of  Helena,  in  Arkansas,  farther  up  the  Mississippi,  was  attacked  by  a  heavy  force 
of  Confederates,  but  they  were  repulsed  with  heavy  loss :  and  when  Grant  was  summoned  to  the 
command  at  Chattanooga,  the  freedom  of  navigation  on  the  Mississippi  River  seemed  to  be  per 
manent!  v  secured. 


1863.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION". 


667 


his  line  of  communications  among  the  mountains.  They  had  seized  and 
destroyed  wagon-trains,  and,  notwithstanding  they  were  driven  here  and  there 
by  Union  cavalry,  these  raiders  made  the  safe  transportation  of  supplies  so 
doubtful,  that  the  troops  at  Chattanooga  were  threatened  with  famine.  Thomas 
had  already  devised  a  method  of  relief.  General  Hooker  had  been  sent  with 
the  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  Corps  (Howard's  and  Slocum's),  from  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  to  guard  Ilosecrans's  communications.  He  was  now  at  Bridge 
port  with  a  part  of  these  forces,  and  it  was  proposed  £hat  he  should  cross  the 
Tennessee  with  them,  and,  pushing  into  Lookout  Valley,  threaten  Bragg's 
left,  and  cover  the  river  to  a  point  where  a  short  route  by  land  to  Chattanooga 
might  be  obtained.  Grant  approved  the  plan,  and  it  was  executed.  Hooker 
reached  Wauhatchie,  in  Lookout  Valley,  after  some  fighting,  on  the  28th  of 
October,  and  at  the  same  time  General  W.  F.  Smith  came  down  from  Chatta 
nooga,  and  threw  a  pontoon  bridge  across  the  river  at  a  point  only  a  few  miles 
from  that  town.1  This  movement,  a  Richmond  journal  said,  deprived  the 
Confederates  "of  the  fruits  of  Chickamauga." 

From  the  hour  when  Hooker  entered  Lookout  Valley,  his  movements  had 
been  keenly  watched  by  the  Confederates  on  Lookout  Mountain,  and  at  mid 
night  [October  28,  29]  a  strong  body  of  them  swept  down  from  the  hills  and 
fell  suddenly  upon  the  Nationals  at  Wauhatchie,  commanded  by  General 
Geary,  expecting  to  surprise  them.  They  were  mistaken.  Geary  was  awake, 
and  met  the  attack  bravely ;  and,  with  the  help  of  troops  from  Howard's 
(Eleventh)  corps,  repulsed  the  assailants,  and  scattered  them  in  every  direc 
tion.  From  that  time  the  safe  passage  of  the  river,  from  Bridgeport  to 
Brown's  Ferry,  was  secured.  Bragg's 
plans  for  starving  the  National  army 
were  defeated,  and  a  little  steamboat, 
called  Chattanooga,  was  soon  carry 
ing  provisions  up  the  river,  in  abun 
dance.2 

While  these  events  were  occurring 
near  Chattanooga,  others  of  importance 
were  seen  in  the  great  Valley  of  East 
Tennessee.  Burnside's  forces  were  busied 
in  endeavors  to  drive  the  armed  rebels 
out  of  that  region,  and  in  so  doin«*  sev- 

O  /  O 

eral  skirmishes  and  heavier  engagements 

CJ      O 

occurred,  the  most  prominent  of  which 

were  at  Blue  Springs  and  Rogersville.     Meanwhile,  Longstreet  was  sent  by 


THE  CHATTANOOGA. 


1  Eighteen  hundred  troops,  under  General  Hazen,  went  down  the  river  in  batteaux  at  about 
midnight  [October  26  and  27J,  gliding  unobserved  by  the  Confederate  sentinels  along  the  base  of 
Lookout  Mountain,  where  the  Tennessee  sweeps  around  Moccasin  Point,  and,  with  other  troops 
that  went  down  by  land,  seized  Brown's  Ferry  and  threw  a  pontoon  bridge  across  the  river  there. 
Hooker's  troops  coming  up,  connected  with  those  at  the  ferry,  and  secured  its  possession  to  the 
Nationals. 

a  There  was  no  steamboat  to  be  found  on  the  Tennessee  River  in  that  region,  so  mechanics  of 
the  army  built  one  for  the  public  service,  and  called  it  Chattanooga. 


THE     NATION.  [1863. 

Bragg  to  seize  Knoxville  and  drive  the  Nationals  out  of  East  Tennessee.  He 
advanced  swiftly  and  secretly,  and  on  the  20th  of  October  struck  the  first 
startling  blow  at  the  outpost  of  Philadelphia,  and  drove  the  Nationals  to  the 
Tennessee,  at  London.  Below  that  point  he  crossed,  and  moved  on  Knoxville, 
but  was  temporarily  checked  by  Burnside  in  a  severe  fight  at  Campbell's  Sta 
tion,  each  losing  between  three  and  four  hundred  men.  Burnside  fell  back  to 
Knoxville,  where  he  was  strongly  intrenched,  closely  followed  by  Longstrcet, 
who  began  a  regular  siege  of  the  place. 

While  the  Confederates  were  besieging  Knoxville,  stirring  events  were 
occurring  near  Chattanooga.  Grant  had  been  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  forces 
under  Sherman,  to  enable  him  to  advance  on  Bragg  and  send  relief  to  Burn- 
side.  So  early  as  the  22d  of  September,  that  commander  had  been  ordered, 
with  as  many  troops  as  could  be  spared  from  the  line  of  the  Mississippi,  to 
proceed  to  the  help  of  Rosccrans.  These  troops  were  011  the  line  of  the  Mem 
phis  and  Charleston  railway,  at  the  middle  of  October,  and  toward  the  close 
of  the  month  they  were  summoned  by  Grant  to  Stevenson,  to  head  off  an 
anticipated  flank  movement  by  Bragg,  in  the  direction  of  Nashville.  When 
Sherman  arrived  there,  events  were  in  such  shape  that  Grant  thought  it  proper 
to  attack  Bragg  as  speedily  as  possible,  for  the  twofold  purpose  of  preventing 
his  flight  southward,  which  he  suspected  was  his  design,  and  to  demoralize  or 
weaken  Longstreet's  force  and  compel  him  to  abandon  the  siege  of  Knoxville. 

Grant  determined  to  aim  his  first  heavy  blow  at  Bragg's  right,  on  the  Mis 
sionaries'  Rido-e.  Sherman  was  directed  to  cross  the  Tennessee,  and  menace 

O  .  J 

his  right  on  Lookout  Mountain,  and  then  secretly  recross,  move  to  a  point 
above  Chattanooga,  cross  again,  and  advance  on  the  Ridge.  All  this  was 
satisfactorily  done.  Meanwhile,  it'  was  thought  best  to  make  a  movement 
from  the  center,  at  Chattanooga.  This  was  performed  [November  23]  by 
Thomas,  when  a  commanding  eminence  in  front  of  the  Missionaries'  Ridge, 
called  Orchard  Knob,  was  seized  by  the  Nationals  and  fortified.  Hooker  was 
then  ordered  to  attack  Bragg's  right  on  Lookout  Mountain  early  the  next 
morning,  so  as  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  Confederates  while  Sherman 
should  cross  the  Tennessee  above  Chattanooga. 

Hooker  performed  his  prescribed  duty  with  vigor  and  success.  He  opened 
his  guns  upon  the  breastworks  and  rifle-pits  of  the  Confederates  along  the 
steep,  wooded,  and  broken  slopes  of  the  mountain,  and  then  his  troops,  dash 
ing  vigorously  forward,  swept  every  thing  before  them,  and  captured  a  large 
portion  of  their  foes  on  their  front.  Then  the  victors  scaled  the  rugged  sides 
of  the  mountain,  up  to  the  muzzles  of  cannon  planted  in  a  hollow  far  toward  its 
summit,  and  driving  the  Confederates  there  around  an  arable  belt  in  the  direc 
tion  of  the  Chattanooga  Valley,  established  a  line  firmly  on  the  eastern  face 
of  the  mountain,  with  its  right  resting  at  the  palisades  at  its  top.  During  a 
greater  part  of  the  struggle  which  ended  in  this  advantage  to  the  Nationals, 
Lookout  Mountain  was  hooded  in  a  mist  that  went  up  from  the  Tennessee  in 
the  morning,  and  Hooker's  troops  were  literally  fighting  in  the  clouds,  and 
were  hidden  from  their  listening  brethren  at  Chattanooga  below,  who  heard 
the  thunders  of  the  cannon,  but  could  only  get  an  occasional  glimpse  of  the 


1863.] 


LINCOLN'S    ADMINISTRATION. 


669 


Union  banners.1     Perceiving  the  clanger  of  having  their  only  way  of  retreat  to 
the  Chattanooga  Valley  cut  off,  the  Confederates  occupying  the  summit  of  the 
mountain  fled  at  midnight,  masking  their  retreat  by  an  attack  on  the  Nationals, 
in  the    gloom.     In    the  bright   sunlight   and 
crisp  morning  air  the  next  day,  the  National 
flag  was  seen  by  delighted  eyes  below,  wav 
ing  over  Pulpit  Rock,  on  the  top  of  Lookout 
Mountain,  where,  only  a  few  days  before,  Jef 
ferson  Davis  had  stood  and  assured  the  assem 
bled  troops  that  all  was  well  with  the  Con 
federacy. 

While  Hooker  was  fighting  on  Lookout 
Mountain,  Sherman's  troops  were  crossing 
the  Tennessee  on  pontoon  bridges.  They 
were  all  over  at  noonday,  and,  pressing  for 
ward,  secured  a  position  on  the  northern  end 
of  the  Missionaries'  Ridge.  That  night  [No 
vember  24]  both  armies  prepared  for  a  struggle 
in  the  morning.  Bragg  withdrew  all  of  his 
forces  from  Lookout  Mountain,  and  concen 
trated  them  on  the  Missionaries'  Ridge ;  and 
on  the  following  day  [November  25,  1863] 
they  were  attacked  there  in  flank  and  front. 
Sherman  moved  early  along  the  ridge,  with 
flank  columns  at  the  base  on  each  side.  Hooker  descended  from  Lookout 
Mountain,  and,  entering  Ross's  Gap,  made  a  similar  movement  upon  Bragg's 


PULPIT   ROCK. 


THE  MISSIONARIES'  RIDGE,  FROM  THE  CEMETERY  AT  CHATTANOOGA.* 

right,  in  the  afternoon.     A  terrible  struggle  ensued,  which  Grant,  standing  on 

1  During  this  struggle,  a  battery,  planted  on  Moccasin  Point,  under  Captain  Naylor,  did 
excellent  service.  It  actually  dismounted  one  of  the  guns  in  a  Confederate  battery,  on  the 
summit  of  the  mountain,  1.500  feet  above  the  river. 

•  a  This  ridge  is  made  up  of  a  series  of  small  hills,  with  gaps  or  passes  between.  The  hill  more 
in  the  foreground,  at  the  left,  is  Orchard  Knob,  on  which  Grant  made  his  quarters  during  the 
battle  of  the  25th. 


570  THE     NATION.  [1863. 

Orchard  Knob,  watched  with  the  most  intense  interest.  The  center,  under 
Thomas,  was  ordered  forward.  The  eager  soldiers  cleared  the  rifle-pits  at  the 
foot  of  the  ridge,  and  then  scaled  the  acclivity.  The  Confederates  were  speedily 
driven  from  their  stronghold,  and  fled  in  the  direction  of  Ringgold ;  and  that 
night  the  Missionaries'  Ridge  blazed  with  the  camp-fires  of  the  victors.1  Early 
the  next  morning,  Sherman,  Palmer,  and  Hooker  went  in  pursuit  of  Bragg's 
flying  army.  His  rear-guard,  under  Cleburne,  the  "  Stonewall  Jackson  of  the 
South,"  was  struck  at  Ringgold,  and,  after  sharp  fighting,  was  driven.  Then 
Grant's  troops  fell  back,  and  General  Sherman  was  sent  to  the  relief  of  Burn- 
side.  Bragg  retreated  to  Dalton,  established  a  fortified  carnp  there,  and  was 
succeeded  in  command  by  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston.  Davis  made  Bra^g 
General-in-Chief  of  the  Confederate  armies. 

Immediately  after  his  arrival  before  Knoxville,  Longstreet  opened  some  of 
his  guns  [November  18,  1863]  upon  the  National  works,  and  sharply  attacked 

their  advance,  under  General  W.  P. 
Sanders,  who  was  in  immediate  com 
mand  there.  A  severe  but  short  en 
gagement  ensued,  in  which  Sanders 
was  killed,  and  his  troops  were  driven 
back  to  their  works.  From  that  time 
until  the  dark  night  of  the  28th, 
Longstreet  closely  invested  Knoxville.2 
Then,  alarmed  by  the  news  of  Bragg's 
disaster  at  Chattanooga,  and  being 
re-enforced  by  nearly  all  of  the  Con 
federate  troops  then  in  East  Tennessee, 
he  proceeded,  at  midnight,  to  assail 
Fort  Sanders,  the  principal  work  of 
the  defenses  of  Knoxville.  It  was 


JAMES    LONGSTREET. 


a  strong,  bastioned  earth-work.     The 


troops  that  defended  it,  as  well  as  others  there,  were  under  the  immediate 
command  of  General  Ferrero.  A  gallant  defense  was  made.  A  heavy  storming 
party  of  Confederates,  who  made  a  most  courageous  attack,  were  repulsed 


1  The  Union  loss  was  5,616,  of  whom  757  were  killed.     The  Confederate  loss  was  a  little 
over  9,000.   of  whom  6,000  were  prisoners.     Grant  captured,  40  pieces  of  cannon  and  7,000 
small-arms.     General  Halleck  said,  in  a  report  of  the  operations  of  the  army:    " Considering  the 
strength  of  the   rebel  position  and  the  difficulty  of  storming  his  .retrenchments,  the  Battle  of 
Chattanooga  must  be  regarded  as  the  most  remarkable  in  history.     Not  only  did  the  officers  and 
men  exhibit  great  skill  arid  daring  in  their  operations  in  the  field,  but  the  highest  praise  is  also 
due  to  the  commanding  general  for  his  admirable  dispositions  for  dislodging  the  enemy  from  a 
position  apparently  impregnable." 

2  When  the  siege  commenced  there  was  in  the  commissary  department  little  more  than  one 
day's  rations,  and  supplies  could  then  be  received  only  from  the  south  side  of  the  Holston,  across 
a  pontoon  bridge,  Iho  foe  holding  the  avenues  of  approach  to  Knoxville  on  the  north  side  of  the  river. 
Burnside's  efforts  were  directed  to  keeping  open  the  country  between  the  Holston  and  the  French 
Broad,  and  every  attempt  of  Longstreet  to  seize  it  was  promptly  met.     A  considerable  quantity 
of  corn  and  wheat,  and  some  pork,  was  soon  collected  in  Knoxwlle,  but  almost  from  the  beginning 
of  the  siege  the  soldiers  were  compelled  to  subsist  on  half  and  quarter  rations,  without  coffee  or 
sugar.     Indeed,  during  the  last  few  days  of  the  siege,  the  bread  of  their  half-rations  was  made 
of  clear  bran. 


1863.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

with  fearful  loss,  and  Knoxville  was  saved.1  Sherman's  forces  were  then 
pressing  forward,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  3d  of  December,  when  Long- 
street  perceived  that  his  army  was  flanked,  he  raised  the  siege,  and  withdrew 
toward  Virginia.  Then  Sherman  and  his  troops  returned  to  Chattanooga. 
Because  of  the  victory  at  the  latter  place  and  the  salvation  of  Knoxville,  the 
President  recommended  the  loyal  people  to  give  public  thanks  to  Almighty 
God  "  for  the  great  advancement  of  the  National  cause." 

Let  us  now  turn  again  to  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  consider  the  most  prom 
inent  events  there  after  the  departure  of  Burnside  from  North  Carolina  and 
the  seizure  of  the  coasts  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Florida.2  Burnside  left 
General  Foster  in  command  of  the  troops  in  North  Carolina ;  and  from  New 
Berne,  which  was  his  principal  head-quarters,  the  latter  sent  out  expeditions 
from  time  to  time  to  break  up  rendezvous  of  Confederates  and  scatter  their 
forces,  for  it  was  evident  that  they  were  watching  opportunities  to  recapture 
lost  posts  in  that  State.  Sometimes  sharp  skirmishes  would  ensue,  and  heavy 
losses  occur.  In  one  of  his  raids  to  Goldsboro'  [December,  1862],  for  the  pur 
pose  of  damaging  the  Weldon  and  Wilmington  railway,  Foster  lost  over  five 
hundred  men.  He  attempted  to  establish  communication  with  the  National 
forces  at  Suffolk  and  Norfolk,  but  when  Burnside  was  repulsed  at  Fredericks- 
burg,3  and  Confederate  troops  sent  from  North  Carolina  to  assist  Lee  in  that 
campaign  were  thereby  released,  he  abandoned  further  attempts  at  that  time. 
Finally,  General  D.  H.  Hill  was  ordered  to  make  a  diversion  in  favor  of  Long- 
street  at  Suffolk,4  where,  with  a  considerable  force,  lie  first  menaced  New 
Berne,  and  then  marched  on  Little  Washington.  He  invested  that  place 
[March  30,  1863],  and  the  little  garrison  of  twelve  hundred  men  were  speedily 
cut  off  from  the  outside  world.  Finally,  the  Fifth  Rhode  Island  Regiment 
went  to  its  relief,  from  New  Berne  [April  8],  by  water.  The  blockade  of  the 
river  was  run  [April  13],  and  the  garrison  was  relieved;  and  when,  a  little 
later,  Foster  inarched  upon  Hill,  the  latter  withdrew  to  the  interior  of  the 
State.  During  the  succeeding  summer  Foster  kept  up  his  raids,  until  he  was 
called  to  take  the  place  of  General  Dix,  in  command  at  Fortress  Monroe. 

Looking  farther  down  the  Atlantic  coast,  we  observe  vigorous  preparations 
for  an  attempt  to  take  Charleston.  Admiral  Dupont  was  working  with  Gen 
eral  Hunter  to  that  end,  in  the  spring  of  1863,  when,  at  the  middle  of  May,  a 
slave  named  Robert  Small  (a  pilot),  and  a  few  fellow-bondmen,  came  out  of 
the  harbor  of  Charleston  in  the  Confederate  steamer,  Planter,  delivered  her  to 
Dupont,  and  communicated  information  concerning  military  affairs  at  Charles- 


1  The  charge  of  the  storming  party  was  greatly  impeded  by  a  novel  contrivance.     Between  the 
abatis  and  rifle-pits  in  front  of  Fort  Sanders,  the  ground  was  covered  with  the  stumps  of  recently 
felled  trees.     Extending  from  one  to  another  of  these   stumps  were  strong  wires,  about  a  foot 
above  the  ground,  and  these  tripped  the  assailants  at  almost  every  step.     Whole  companies  were 
prostrated  by  this  wire  net-work,  and  at  the  same  time  the  double-shotted  guns  of  the  fort  were 
playing   fearfully  upon  them.     Yet  the  assailants  pressed  up,  gained  the  ditch,  and  one  officer 
actually  reached  the  parapet  and  planted  the  Confederate  flag  there.     He  soon  rolled  dead  into 
the  ditch,"  which  was  swept  by  a  bastion  cannon.     Lieutenant  Benjamin,  chief  of  artillery  in  the 
fort,  actually  took  bomb-shells  in  his  hand,   ignited  the  fuses,  and  threw  them  over  into  the 
ditch,  where  they  produced  great  destruction  of  life. 

2  See  pages  G07  and  608.  3  See  p-ige  (>:>!.  4  See  page  652. 


672 


THE     NATION".  [1863. 


ton  of  great  value.  Hunter  concentrated  troops  on  Edisto  Island,  preparatory 
to  throwing  them  suddenly  upon  James's  Island,  and  marching  swiftly  on  the 
deeply  offending  city,  while  other  troops  were  sent  to  break  up  the  railway 
connecting  the  cities  of  Charleston  and  Savannah.  Meanwhile  the  Confed 
erates  prepared  to  meet  the  Nationals  on  James's  Island ;  and,  finally,  when 
Union  troops  crossed  over  to  that  island,  under  the  direction  of  General  Ben- 
ham,  and  attacked  [June  16,  1863]  Confederate  works  at  Secessionville,  they 
were  repulsed  with  great  loss.  This  event  postponed  the  intended  march  on 
Charleston,  and  in  September  Hunter  was  superseded  by  the  energetic  General 
O.  M.  Mitchel.  That  officer  was  making  preparations  for  vigorous  measures 
for  indirect  operations  against  Charleston,  when  he  sickened  and  died  [Oct. 
.30].  General  Brannan  attempted  to  carry  out  his  plans  against  the  Charleston 
and  Savannah  railway,  but  he  found  that  road  so  well  guarded  at  points  to 
which  he  penetrated  that  he  could  not  accomplish  his  purpose. 

After  Mitchel's  death  little  was  done  by  the  military  in  the  Department 
of  the  South  until  the  following  spring.  The  navy  in  that  region  was  some 
what  active  in  other  than  mere  blockading  service.  Late  in  February  [1863], 
the  famous  blockade  runner,  Nashville,  imprisoned  in  the  Ogeechee  River, 
below  Savannah,  was  attacked  by  the  "monitor"  Montauk,  commanded  by 
Captain  John  L.  Worden,  and  destroyed  [Feb.  28,]  1863].  She  had  been  lying 
under  the  protection  of  the  guns  of  Fort  McAllister,  and  upon  this  work  Com 
mander  Drayton  tried  the  guns  of  some  armored  vessels  a  few  days  later,  but 
without  serious  effect.  Meanwhile  Admiral  Dupont  was  preparing  for  a  vigor 
ous  attack  on  Charleston.  Hunter  was  again  in  command  of  the  Department 
of  the  South,  and  was  strengthened,  for  co-operation  with  Dupont,  by  twelve 
thousand  troops  from  North  Carolina,  Four  thousand  men,  under  General 
Truman  Seymour,  were  stationed  in  a  masked  position  on  Folly  Island  at  the 
beginning  of  April,  and  on  the  6th  of  that  month  Dupont  crossed  Charleston 
bar  with  nine  "monitor"  vessels,  leaving  five  gun-boats  outside  as  a  reserve 
squadron.  It  had  been  determined  by  the  government  to  speedily  reduce  the 
rebellious  city  to  subjection,  for  resisting  forces  were  yet  intensely  active 
there.1 

Dupont  moved  up  to  attack  Fort  Sumter,  the  most  formidable  obstacle  in 
the  way  to  Charleston.  The  Confederate  batteries  near  were  ominously  silent, 
until  the  advanced  vessels  became  entangled  in  a  terrible  net-work  of  torpe 
does  and  other  obstructions.  Then  Fort  Sumter,  and  other  batteries,  bearing 
an  aggregate  of  nearly  three  hundred  guns,  opened  a  concentric  fire  upon  the 
assailants,  repulsed  them  after  a  sharp  fight,  and  destroyed  the  Jfeokuk,  one 
of  the  smaller  but  most  daring  of  the  monitors.  The  fact  was,  the  harbor 
was  filled  with  formidable  obstructions,  and  around  it  were  guarding  batteries 


1  At  the  close  of  January  [1863]  two  formidable  "rams"  darted  out  of  Charleston  harbor 
in  the  obscurity  of  darkness  and  fog,  and  attacked  the  blockading  squadron.  Two  of  the  ships 
were  quickly  disabled,  arid  compelled  to  strike  their  colors.  Although  the  assailants  fled  back  to 
Charleston  without  taking  possession  of  the  disabled  vessels,  the  Conspirators  at  Richmond 
actually  proclaimed  to  the  world  that  the  blockade  of  Charleston  harbor  was  raised. 


18G3.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION 

of  great  strength,1  and  the  attempt  to  enter  it  Avas  necessarily  a  failure.  The 
land  troops  were  not  in  a  condition  to  co-operate,  excepting  in  the  event  of 
the  reduction  of  Fort  Sumter. 

There  was  comparative  quiet  along  the  coasts  of  South  Carolina  and  Geor 
gia  for  some  time  after  Dupont's  attack  on  Fort  Surnter.  General  Hunter  was 
succeeded  [June  12,  1863]  by  General  Q.  A.  Gillmore.2  He  found  a  little  less 
than  eighteen  thousand  troops  in  the  Department,  with  arduous  duties  to  per 
form.3  There  were  eighty  effective  cannon  and  an  ample  supply  of  small-arms, 
munitions  and  stores,  at  his  command.  With  these  forces  and  supplies  he  set 
about  organizing  an  expedition  for  the  capture  of  Charleston  by  troops  and  ships. 
He  determined  to  seize  Morris  Island  and  its  fortifications,  and  from  it  batter 
down  Fort  Sumter  and  lay  the  city  in  ashes  by  his  shells,  if  not  surrendered. 
Dupont,  having  no  faith  in  the  scheme  so  far  as  the  navy  was  concerned,  was 
relieved  of  the  command  of  the  fleet  there,  and  was  succeeded  by  Admiral 
Dahlgren  on  the  6th  of  July.4 

Gillmore  found  Folly  Island,  next  to  Morris  Island,  well  occupied  by  Union 
troops  on  his  arrival.  He  caused  batteries  to  be  erected  to  bear  upon  the  lat 
ter,  so  as  to  make  way  for  his 
forces  to  cross  Light-House  In 
let  to  that  island,  and  attack 
Fort  Wagner.  These  fortifica 
tions  were  well  made  behind  a 
curtain  of  pine-trees,  under  the 
direction  of  General  Vogdes, 
and  a  larsre  number  of  cannon, 

A   PARROTT    GUN. 

mostly     1  arrott     guns,      were 

planted  on  them.     Then  General  Terry  was  sent  to  James's  Island  with  a  force 

1  The  fortifications  consisted  of  two  batteries  on  Sullivan's  Island  seaward  from  Fort  Moultrie, 
and  Battery  Bee,  landward  from  it.     On  Mount  Pleasant,  on  the  main  near  the  mouth  of  Cooper  4 
River,  was  a  heavy  battery.     In  front  of  the   city  was  Castle  Pinckney;  and  on  a  submerged 
sand-bank,  between  this  work  and  Fort  Johnson,  was  Fort  Ripley,  or  Middle-ground  Battery. 

Along  the  southern  border  of  the  harbor  were  Fort  Johnson 
and  some  batteries.  On  Morris  Island,  not  far  from  Fort  Sum 
ter,  was  Battery  Gregg,  on  Cummings's  Point,  from  which  the 
first  shot  was  hurled  at  Fort  Sumter  in  1861 ;  and  back  of  it  < 
was  Fort  Wagner,  a  very  strong  work,  stretching  entirely 
across  Morris  Island  at  that  point.  Across  the  channels  of 
TORPEDO.  the  harbor,  rows  of  piles  had  been  driven,  and  there  were  chains 

composed  of  railway  iron  linked  ;  and  across  the  main  channel 

a  cable  was  stretched,  from  which  hung  festoons  of  torpedoes  in  the  form  given  in  the  engraving, 
which  were  to  be  exploded  by  electricity,  through  wires  extending  from  apparatus  at  Forts  Sumter 
and  Moultrie.     At  one  point,  where  a  space  in  the  row  of  piles  had  been  left  open,  inviting  a  ship 
to  enter,  was  a  submerged  mine  containing  5.000  pounds  of  gunpowder. 
a  See  page  607. 

3  The  Department  did  not  extend  far  in  the  interior,  but  its  line  parallel  with  the  coast  was 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  in  length.     This  was  to  be  picketed,  and  posts  at  different 
points  were  to  be  maintained. 

4  At   about  the  time  of  Gillmore's  arrival,  rumors  reached  Dupont  that  a  powerful  "  ram  " 
was  nearly  ready,  at  Savannah,  to  make  a  raid  on  his  blockading  squadron,  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Savannah  River.     This  was  the  swift  blockade-runner  Fmgal,  which,  unable  to  escape  to  sea, 
had   been  converted  into  an  armored  warrior  of  the  most  formidable  kind,  and  named  Atlanta. 
Dupont  sent  two  monitors  ( Weehaiuk'-n  and  Nahant)  to  Warsaw  Sound  to  watch  her.     She  appeared 
in  those  waters  on  the  morning  of  the  17th  of  June.     She  was  supposed  by  the  Confederates  to 
be  an  overmatch  for  both  monitors;  and  gun-boats,  filled  with  spectators,  accompanied  her  to  tow 

43 


THE     NATIOX.  [1863. 

to  mask  the  real  intentions  of  the  Nationals,  when  General  Strong,  with  two 
thousand  men,  went  in  boats  to  Morris  Island,  landed  suddenly  [July  10, 
1863],  and,  with  the  help  of  the  batteries  on  Folly  Island,  drove  the  Confed 
erates  to  Fort  Wagner.  Strong  allowed  his  troops  to  rest  until  the  next  morn 
ing,  when  he  assailed  Fort  Wagner,  but  w^as  repulsed.  These  movements 
greatly  alarmed  the  Confederates,  and  Beauregard  and  the  Mayor  of  Charles 
ton  advised  all  non-combatants  to  leave  the  city. 

Fort  Wagner  was  stronger  than  Gillmore  suspected  it  to  be,  and  he  deter 
mined  to  attempt  to  reduce  it,  first  by  a  bombardment,  and  if  that  failed,  then 
by  a  regular  siege.  A  line  of  batteries  were  erected  across  the  island  within 
range  of  Fort  Wagner,  and  Dahlgren's  fleet  took  position  to  open  fire  on  that 
work.  This  was  done  by  the  land  and  naval  forces  on  the  18th  [July],  with  a 
hundred  great  guns  ;  and  while,  at  sunset,  a  heavy  thunderstorm  was  sweeping 
by,  arrangements  were  made  for  another  assault  on  the  fort.  Terry  had  with 
drawn  from  James's  Island  after  a  sharp  fight,  and  now  Gillmore's  troops  were 
concentrated  for  the  important  work.  Two  assaulting  columns  moved  upon 
the  fort.  The  first,  under  General  Strong,  was  repulsed  with  great  slaughter. 
The  second,  and  smaller  one,  under  Colonel  II.  S.  Putnam,  met  a  similar  fate.1 
Gillmore  now  abandoned  the  plan  of  direct  assault,  and  began  a  regular 
siege,  approaching  the  fort  by  parallels.  He  also5j  with  great  labor,  planted  a 

battery  in  the  midst  of 
a  marsh  between  Morris 
and  James's  Islands,  on 
which  was  mounted  a 
200-pounder  Parrott  gun, 
called  "  The  Swamp  An 
gel,"  from  which  shells 
were  hurled  into  Charles 
ton,  a  distance  of  five 
miles.2  Finally,  Gill 
more's  preparations  for 
attack  on  Fort  Wagner 
THE  SWAMP  ANGEL.  were  completed,  and  on 

the   17th  of  August  fire 

from  twelve  batteries,  and  from  Dahlgren's  fleet,  w^as  opened  upon  it  and  Fort 
Sumter.  Before  night  the  walls  of  the  latter  began  to  crumble,  and  its  guns 

back  to  Savannah  the  captured  iron-clads.  She  first  encountered  the  Weehawken.  Four  shots 
from  the  latter  caused  the  Atlanta  to  haul  down  her  colors;  and  instead  of  sweeping  the  block 
ading  squadron  from  the  coast,  and  opening  southern  ports  to  the  commerce  of  the  world,  as  was 
expected  by  the  Confederates,  she  was  sent  to  Philadelphia,  and  exhibited  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Union  Volunteer  Refreshment  Saloon  of  that  city. 

1  Strong  was  mortally  wounded,  and  Putnam  was  killed.     In  this  assault  a  regiment  of  col 
ored  troops  from  Massachusetts,  under  Colonel  Shaw,  performed  gallant  deeds.     Shaw  was  killed, 
and  the  Confederates,  supposing  they  were  disgracing  the  young  hero,  buried  him  in  a  pit  in  the 
sand  under  a  large  number  of  his  slain  negro  troops. 

2  The  rnud  on  which  this  battery  was  constructed  was  about  sixteen  feet  in  depth.     Piles 
were  driven  through  it  to  the  solid  earth,  and  on  these,  timbers  were  laid.     Colonel  Serrell.  of 
New  York,  had  the  matter  in  charge,  and  he  assigned  to  a  lieutenant  the  superintendence  of  the 
work.     When  the  spot  chosen  for  building  the  battery  was  shown  to  the  latter,  he  said  the  thing 
was  impossible.     ''There  is  no  such  word  as  'impossible'  in  the  matter,"  the  colonel  answered, 


1863.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  (375 

were  silenced,  under  the  pounding  of  Dahlgren's  cannon.  The  land  troops 
pushed  the  parallels  closer  to  Fort  Wagner,  and  at  near  midnight,  of  September 
6th,  Terry  was  prepared  to  storm  the  works.  It  was  soon  ascertained  that  the 
Confederates  had  abandoned  them.  Gillmore  immediately  took  possession  of 
Fort  Wagner  and  Battery  Gregg,  turned  their  guns  upon  Fort  Sumter  and 
Charleston,  and  made  the  "  Cradle  of  Secession  "  a  desolation  in  the  world  of 
business.  Fort  Sumter  was  made  apparently  harmless,  yet  a  garrison  remained 
there,  and  when  one  night  [Sept.  8]  a  party  from  the  fleet  attempted  to  sur 
prise  and  capture  the  fort,  they  were  repulsed  with  terrible  loss.  Finally,  late 
in  October,  Gillmore  opened  heavy  guns  upon  it,  and  made  it  a  sloping  heap 
of  rubbish  from  the  parapet  to  the  water.1 

Let  us  now  change  our  field  of  observations,  in  the  extended  theater  of  the 
war,  from  the  sea-coast  to  the  region  beyond  the  Mississippi  River,  a  thousand 
miles  farther  westward,  and  see  what  of  importance  occurred  there  since  the 
battle  of  Prairie  Grove,2  the  re-occupation  of  all  Texas  by  the  Confederates,3 
Banks's  march  to  the  Red  River,4  and  the  battle  at  Helena,5  in  July,  1863. 
Missouri  and  Arkansas,  after  brief  repose,  were  convulsed  by  the  machinations 
of  disloyal  citizens  and  the  contests  of  hostile  troops.  Marmaduke,  a  noted 
leader,  suddenly  burst  out  of  Arkansas,  and  fell  upon  Springfield,  in  Missouri, 
early  in  1863,  when  he  was  repulsed  with  a  loss  of  t\vo  hundred  men.  After 
reverses  at  other  points,  he  fled  back  into  Arkansas  early  in  February.  There 
were  some  stirring  movements  in  Northwestern  Arkansas  at  about  the  same 
time.  Two  thousand  Confederates  attacked  a,  Union  force  under  Colonel  Har 
rison,  at  Fayetteville  [April  18,  1863],  when  the  assailants  were  repulsed,  and 
fled  over  the  Ozark  mountains. 

Marmaduke,  meanwhile,  had  gone  to  Little  Rock,  the  capital  of  Arkansas, 
and  there,  with  the  chief  leaders  in  that  region,  planned  a  raid  into  Missouri, 
chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  capturing  National  stores  at  Cape  Girardeau,  on  the 
Mississippi  River.  With  about  eight  thousand  men,  he  pushed  rapidly  into 
that  State,  and  following  the  general  line  of  the  St.  Francis  River  to  Freder- 
icton,  turned  eastward,  and  moved  on  Cape  Girardeau.  General  McNeil  was 
there  to  receive  him,  and  after  a  severe  engagement  [April  26,  1863],  drove 
Marmaduke  out  of  the  State. 

In  May,  three  thousand  Confederates,  under  Colonel  Cofley,  menaced  Fort 
Blunt  [May  20]  in  the  Indian  country  just  west  of  Arkansas,  but  did  not  ven- 

and  directed  the  lieutenant  to  build  the  battery,  and  to  call  for  every  thing  required  for  the  work. 
The  next  clay  the  lieutenant,  who  was  something  of  a  wag,  made  a  requisition  on  the  quarter 
master  for  one  hundred  men,  eighteen  feet  in  height,  to  wade  through  mud  sixteen  feet  deep, 
and  then  went  to  the  surgeon  to  inquire  if  he  could  splice  the  eighteen-feet  men,  if  they  were 
furnished  him.  This  pleasantry  caused  the  lieutenant's  arrest,  but  he  was  soon  released,  and 
constructed  the  work  with  men  of  usual  height. — Davis's  History  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fourth 
Pennsylvania  Regiment,  page  253. 

1  In  his  annual  report  to  Congress,  in  December,  1863,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  in  summing 
up  the  operations  of  that  arm  of  the  service  on  the  Southern  coast,  said  :   ':  Not  a  blockade  runner 
has   succeeded  in  reaching  the  city  for  months,  and  the  traffic  which  had  been  to  some  extent, 
and  with  large  profits,  previously  carried  on,  is  extinguished.     As  a  commercial  mart,  Charleston 
has  no  existence ;  her  wealth,  her  trade,  has  departed.     In  a  military  or  strategic  view,  the  place 
is  of  little  consequence ;  and  whether  the  rebels  are  able,  by  great  sacrifice  and  exhaustion,   to 
hold  out  a  few  weeks,  more  or  less,  is  of  no  importance." 

2  See  page  637.  3  See  page  G44.  4  See  page  G44.  5  See  note  2.  page  660. 


•Qq-Q  THE     NATION.  [186,1 

ture  to  attack.  So  they  moved  off,  with  a  large  drove  of  cattle,  for  some 
weaker  prey.  A  little  more  than  a  month  later,  a  wagon-train  for  Fort  Blunt 
was  attacked  [July  1]  by  Tcxans  and  Creek  Indians.  These  were  repulsed, 
and  the  train  reached  the  fort  in  safety.  Just  then  a  great  peril  threatened 
that  post.  Six  thousand  Confederates  were  approaching  to  assail  it.  General 
Blunt  had  just  arrived.  He  at  once  led  three  thousand  troops,  with  twelve 
light  cannon,  to  attack  the  Confederates.  He  found  them  at  Honey  Springs, 
under  General  Cooper,  where  he  fell  upon  them  suddenly.  After  two  hours' 
hard  fighting  [July  17],  the  Confederates  gave  way.  Only  an  hour  afterward, 
General  Cabell,  whom  Cooper  was  expecting,  came  up  with  three  thousand 
Texan  cavalry.  It  was  too  late.  Cabell  did  not  think  it  prudent  to  attack 
Blunt,  and  so  he  moved  across  the  Canadian  River  into  Texas. 

Guerrilla  bands  were  now  active  in  Blunt's  rear.  Early  in  August,  about 
three  hundred  of  these,  composed  chiefly  of  desperate  characters  of  Missouri, 
and  led  by  a  white  savage,  who  had  assumed  the  name  of  Quantrell,  crossed 
into  Kansas,  and  attacked  the  town  of  Lawrence  [August  13],  inhabited  chiefly 
by  Unionists.  The  town  was  wholly  without  defenders,  and  the  guerrillas 
murdered  people  and  destroyed  property  without  hinderance.  In  the  course 
of  a  few  hours,  one  hundred  and  forty  persons  were  murdered,  and  one  hun 
dred  and  eighty-five  buildings  were  in  flames.  This  crime  produced  horror 
and  indignation  ;  and  when,  ten  days  afterward,  the  guerrilla  chief,  M.  Jeif. 
Thompson,  was  captured,  it  was  very  difficult  to  shield  him  from  personal 
injury. 

Soon  after  the  capture  of  Vicksburg,  General  Steele  organized  an  expedi 
tion  at  Helena  for  the  capture  of  Little  Rock.  He  moved,  on  the  10th  of 
August,  with  about  twelve  thousand  men  and  forty  cannon.  He  crossed  the 
White  River  at  Clarendon,  and  pushing  back  the  Confederates  under  Marina- 
duke,  reached  the  Arkansas,  below  Little  Rock,  011  the  7th  of  September.  A 
part  of  his  forces,  under  General  Davidson,  crossed  to  the  south  bank,  and 
upon  opposite  sides  of  the  river  the  two  columns  moved  on  Little  Rock.  Mar- 
maduke  made  some  opposition,  but  with  General  Price  and  others,  and  all  the 
troops  in  that  vicinity,  he  abandoned  the  Arkansas  capital,  leaving  several 
steamers  on  fire.  On  the  evening  of  the  10th  [Sept.,  1863],  Steele's  forces 
occupied  the  city  and  the  fortifications.  The  Confederates  retreated  rapidly 
to  Arkadelphia,  on  the  Washita  River.  This  successful  campaign  occupied 
forty  days. 

Blunt,  meanwhile,  was  trying  to  bring  the  Confederates  and  Indians  in  the 
region  west  of  Arkansas  to  battle,  but  failed  to  do  so ;  and  Cabell,  with  a  large 
force,  hastened  to  the  aid  of  Price  at  Little  Rock.  He  did  not  reach  there  in 
time,  but  joined  Price  in  his  retreat  to  Arkadelphia. ,  Blunt  took  possession  of 
Fort  Smith,  and  garrisoned  it ;  and  early  in  October,  when  on  his  way  from 
Kansas  to  that  post,  with  an  escort  of  a  hundred  cavalry,  he  was  attacked 
[October  4],  near  Baxter's  Springs,  by  Quantrell  and  six'  hundred  guerrillas. 
The  escort  was  demolished;  an  accompanying  train  was  plundered  and  burned, 
and  Blunt,  with  about  a  dozen  followers,  barely  escaped  with  their  lives  to. 
Little  Fort  Blair.  The  Confederates  in  that  region,  now  finding  their  supplies 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


677 


to  be  nearly  exhausted,  a  part  of  Cabell's  command,  under  Colonel  Shelby, 
undertook  a  raid  into  Missouri,  to  procure  some.  In  the  southwestern  part  of 
that  State  they  were  joined  by  a  considerable  force  under  Coffey,  when  the 
combined  army  was  twenty-five  hundred  strong.  They  penetrated  the  State 
to  Booneville  [October  1,  1863],  on  the  Missouri  River,  but  were  quickly 
driven  back  into  Arkansas  by  Generals  Brown  and  McNeil,  when  the  latter 
was  placed  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Frontier.  Comparative  quiet 
prevailed  in  Missouri  and  Arkansas  after  that  for  some  time,  the  only  hostile 
movement  of  note  being  an  attack  [Oct.  25]  by  Marmaduke  upon  Pine  Bluff, 
on  the  Arkansas  River,  with  two  thousand  men  and  twelve  guns.  The  little 
garrison,  under  Colonel  Clayton,  with  the  help  of  two  hundred  negroes  in 
making  barricades,  drove  off  the  assailants,  after  a  contest  of  several  hours. 

Let  us  now  see  what  was  occurring  west  of  the  Mississippi,  in  the  Gulf 
Department,  commanded  by  General  N".  P.  Banks.     When  that   commander 


withdrew  from  Alexan 
dria,  on  the  Red  River, 
to  invest  Port  Hudson,1 
General  Dick  Taylor, 
whom  he  had  driven  into 
the  wilds  of  Western 
Louisiana,  returned,  took 
possession  of  the  aban 
doned  towns  of  Alexan 
dria  and  Opelousas,  and 
garrisoned  Fort  de  Rus- 
sy,  early  in  June  [1863]. 
Then  he  swept  rapidly 
through  the  State  toward 
the  Mississippi,  and  in 
the  direction  of  New  Orleans,  causing  Banks  to  draw  in  his  outposts  to 
Brashear  City.  But  this  post  was  soon  captured  [June  24,  1863],  with  an 
immense  amount  of  public  property,  and  a  thousand  prisoners.2  A  few  days 
later,  a  Confederate  force,  under  General  Green,  attempted  to  seize  Fort 
Butler  [June  20],  at  Donaldsonville,  on  the  Mississippi,  but  were  repulsed, 
with  a  loss  of  over  three  hundred  men;  and,  on  the  12th  of  July,  the  same 
leader  attacked  some  troops  under  General  Dudley,  in  the  rear  of  Donaldson 
ville,  when,  after  a  partial  success,  the  Confederates  were  driven,  and  retreated 
out  of  that  district.  This  was  about  the  last  struggle  of  Taylor's  troops  to 
gain  a  foothold  on  the  Mississippi,  for  Banks's  force,  released  by  the  fall  of 
Port  Hudson,3  quickly  expelled  the  Confederates  from  the  region  eastward  of 
the  Atchafalaya. 


FORT  DE    RUSSY. 


1  See  page  644. 

2  The  Confederates  took  possession  of  the  fort  there,  with  its  ten  guns ;  also,  a  large  amount 
of  smal-larms,  munitions  of  war,  provisions.  &c.,  the  whole  valued  at  full  $2,000,000.     A  thousand 
refugee  negroes  were  also  seized  there,  and  remanded  into  slavery  worse  than  they  had  endured 
before.  3  See  page  646. 


THE     NATION.  [1863. 

Banks  now  turned  his  thoughts  to  aggressive  movements.  Grant  visited 
him  early  in  September,  when  the  two  leaders  united  in  an  earnest  expression 
of  a  desire  to  move,  with  their  combined  forces,  on  Mobile.  But  the  represent 
ations  of  Texan  loyalists,  then  in  Washington  City,  caused  the  government 
to  order  an  expedition  for  the  recovery  of  Texas.  Banks  fitted  out  one,  to 
make  a  lodgment  in  that  State  at  Sabine  Pass,  on  the  boundary-line  between 
Louisiana  and  Texas.  He  sent  four  thousand  veteran  troops  for  the  purpose, 
under  General  Franklin ;  and  Admiral  Farragut  detailed,  as  a  co-operative 
naval  force,  four  gun-boats,  under  Lieutenant  Crocker.  The  expedition  crossed 
the  bar  at  Sabine  Pass  on  the  8th  of  September  [1863],  when,  instead  of  the 
troops  landing,  according  to  instructions,  and  taking  the  Confederate  works  in 
reverse,  the  gun-boats  proceeded  to  make  a  direct  attack.  They  were  repulsed 
by  a  handful  of  men  behind  a  small  work,  armed  with  eight  guns,1  and  the 
expedition  returned  to  New  Orleans,  leaving  behind  two  steamers,  with  fifteen 
rifled-guns,  two  hundred  men  as  prisoners,  and  fifty  men  killed  and  wounded. 

The  notice  given  to  the  Confederates  by  this  unfortunate  expedition,  of  a 
design  to  invade  Texas  coastwise,  caused  an  abandonment  of  the  scheme  at  that 
time,  and  Banks  concentrated  his  forces  on  the  Atchafalaya,  for  the  purpose 
of  penetrating  that  State  by  way  of  Shreveport,  on  the  Red  River.  There 
appeared  insuperable  obstacles  to  an  expedition  over  that  route.  Banks  deter 
mined  to  make  an  attempt  to  seize  and  hold  the  hai'bors  of  that  commonwealth 
on  the  coast.  General  C.  C.  Washburn  was  ordered  to  mask  the  movement 
by  marching  from  Brashear  toward  Alexandria,  and,  on  the  26th  of  October, 
an  expedition,  consisting  of  about  six  thousand  troops  and  some  war-vessels, 
sailed  from  New  Orleans  directly  for  the  Rio  Grande.  The  troops,  under  the 
immediate  command  of  General  Dana,  landed  at  Brazos  Santiago,  drove  some 
Confederate  cavalry  toward  Brownsville,  thirty  miles  up  the  river,  and,  fol 
lowing  them,  reached  that  post  on  the  6th  of  November.  Detachments  were 
sent  to  other  points,  and  in  the  space  of  a  month  National  troops  took  posses 
sion  of  Texan  seaports  and  fortified  posts  on  the  coast,  from  the  Rio  Grande 
eastward,  to  near  the  mouth  of  the  Brazos.  Only  the  latter  place,  and  Galves- 
ton  Island,  were  now  held  by  the  foe.  There  they  had  formidable  works.  At 
the  close  of  the  year  all  Texas  west  of  the  Colorado  was  abandoned  by  them.9 

1  This  fort  had  a  garrison  of  200  men ;  but,  at  the  time  of  the  attack,  all  but  forty-two  were 
absent.  Those  present  were  chiefly  Irishmen,  and  belonged  to  an  organization  known  as  the 
"Davis  Guards."  For  their  gallantry  on  this  occasion,  Jefferson  Davis  presented  each  man  with 
a  small  silver  medal,  a  representation  of  which  may  be  found  in  Lossing's  Pictorial  Field-Book  of 
the  di-.il  War.  iii.,  222. 

a  While  the  events  we  have  just  noticed  were  occurring  in  the  region  westward  of  the 
Lower  Mississippi,  others,  having  a  slight  bearing  upon  the  war,  occurred  on  the  same  side  of  the 
great  river,  in  the  region  of  its  upper  waters.  This  was  a  war  with  the  Sioux  tribe  of  Indians,  in 
the  State  of  Minnesota.  It  broke  out  in  the  summer  of  1862,  when  Little  Crow,  a  saintly-looking 
savage  in  civilized  costume,  led  his  fellow-savages  in  the  butchery  of  the  white  inhabitants  at 
different  places  along  the  frontier  settlements.  These  warriors  besieged  Forts  Ripley  and  Aber- 
crombie  in  the  autumn,  and  in  that  region  they  massacred  about  five  hundred  white  people — men, 
women,  and  children.  Finally,  troops  under  General  Sibley  captured  about  five  hundred  of  the 
savages,  and  thirty-seven  of  the  worst  offenders  were  hanged.  Little  Crow  was  shot  by  a  private 
citizen  while  the  savage  was  picking  blackberries.  His  skeleton  is  preserved  in  the  Minnesota 
Historical  Society.  The  war  was  not  ended  until  the  summer  of  1863,  when  General  Pope  was 
in  command  of  that  Department. 


1863.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  (379 

Before  proceeding  to  a  consideration  of  military  affairs  in  1864,  let  us  take 
a  brief  glance  at  the  aspect  of  civil  affairs  at  the  beginning  of  that  year.  The 
management  of  the  finances  of  the  nation  were  yet  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Chase.1 
The  public  debt  had  then  reached  the  appalling  sum  of  considerably  over 
$1,000,000,000; 2  the  great  war  was  in  full  career,  and  the  debt  was  increasing 
every  day ;  and  yet  the  public  credit,  among  American  citizens,  never  stood 
higher.  "  The  history  of  the  world,"  said  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  a 
year  later,  when  he  had  been  fully  sustained  by  the  people,  "  may  be  searched 
in  vain  for  a  parallel  case  of  popular  financial  support  to  a  National  move 
ment."  The  Secretary,  in  his  report  to  Congress  in  1862,  had  shown  that,  to 
meet  all  demands  to  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year,  at  the  end  of  June,  1864 
(eighteen  months),  provision  must  be  made  for  raising  over  $900,000,000  more. 
Such  a  demand  would  have  appalled  the  representatives  of  a  less  hopeful 
people.  But  they  met  the  matter  firmly,  and  took  measures  for  raising  the 
money.  The  people  manifested  their  confidence  in  the  government,  by  lending 
it,  within  the  space  of  two  months  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress  [March 
3,  1863],  $169,000,000. 

The  finances  of  the  Confederates  were  in  a  deplorable  condition  at  the 
beginning  of  1864.  Their  public  debt,  in  round  numbers,  was  $1,000,000,000, 
with  a  prospective  increase  at  the  end  of  the  year  to  full  $2,000,000,000.  The 
currency  in  circulation  amounted  to  $600,000,000,  and  was  so  depreciated  that 
the  Conspirators  could  see  nothing  but  ruin  ahead.  Few  persons,  besides  de 
ceived  and  sympathizing  Europeans,  particularly  Englishmen,3  could  be  induced 
to  take  the  "  government "  bonds  willingly.  The  producers  of  the  Confederacy 
were  unwilling  to  take  the  promises  to  pay  of  the  Conspirators  for  their  products, 
and  want  had  threatened  their  army  with  destruction.  So  the  authorities  at 
Richmond  had  boldly  adopted  the  measure  of  seizing  supplies  for  their  armies ; 
and,  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  their  ranks  full,  had  passed  a  law  declaring,  in 
substance,  every  white  man  in  the  Confederacy,  liable  to  bear  arms,  to  be  in 
the  military  service,  and  that  iipon  failure  to  report  for  duty  at  a  military  sta 
tion  within  a  certain  time,  he  was  liable  to  the  penalty  of  death  as  a  deserter.* 

Notwithstanding  these  disabilities  and  the  fading  away  of  every  hope  of 
recognition  by  foreign  governments,  or  the  moral  support  of  any  civilized 
people,5  the  Conspirators  at  Richmond,  holding  the  reins  of  despotic  power 

1  See  page  5(50. 

a  The  National  debt  on  the  first  of  July,  1863,  was  $1,098,793,181.  It  was  estimated  that  at 
the  same  period  in  1864  it  would  be  $1,680,956,190.  The  average  rate  of  interest  on  the  whole 
debt,  without  regard  to  the  varying  margin  between  coin  and  notes,  had  been  reduced  from  4'36 
per  cent.,  on  the  first  of  July,  1862,  to  3'77  per  cent,  on  the  first  of  July,  1863. 

3  The  Confederates  negotiated  a  loan  in  Europe  of  $15,000,000,  on  the  security  of  cotton  to 
be  sent  abroad  and  sold.     Members  of  the  Southern  Independence  Association,  in  England,  com 
posed  of  persons  of  the  ruling  class,  were  heavy  losers  by  the  transaction. 

4  The  history  of  civilized  nations  has  no  parallel  to  this  despotic  act.     Davis  and  his  fellow- 
conspirators  had  then  readied  a  critical  point  in  their  wicked  game,  and  seemed  willing  to  sacrifice 
every  man;  ruin  every  family,  waste  all  the  property  in  the  Confederacy,  and  see  their  section  of 
the  Republic  converted  into  a  wilderness,  in  a  desperate  effort  to  win,"  well  knowing  that  failure 
would  be  ruin  to  themselves.     They  seemed  to  regard  the  "common  people"  as  of  no  account, 
excepting  as  docile  instruments  for  the  aggrandizement  of  the  slave-holding  Oligarchy. 

6  On  the  first  of  April,  1864,  Lord  Lyons,  the  British  minister  at  Washington,  forwarded  to 
Jefferson  Davis,  by  permission  of  our  government,  a  letter  from  Earl  Russell,  the  British  Foreign 
Secretary,  in  which,  in  the  name  of  "her  Majesty's  government,''  he  protested  against  the  further 


680 


THE     NATION.  [186J 


with  firm  jjrasp,  resolved  to  carry  on  the  war  regardless  of  consequences  to 
their  deluded  and  abused  victims.  They  employed  the  President's  Proclama 
tion  of  Emancipation '  as  a  means  for  "  firing  the  Southern  heart,"  and  they 
put  forth  the  grossest  misrepresentations  to  deceive  the  people.  They  devised 
schemes  for  retaliation,  and  the  most  cruel  measures  toward  negro  troops  and 
their  white  commanders  were  proposed.  They  refused  to  recognize  captive' 
negro  soldiers  as  prisoners  of  war,  and  sought,  by  threats  of  vengeance,  to 
deter  negroes  from  enlisting.  But  more  prudent  co.unsels  prevailed,  for  it  was 
seen  that  such  measures  might  be  retorted  with  fearful  effect.  The  President 
stood  firm  concerning  emancipation.  His  proclamation  was  the  exponent  of 
the  future  policy  of  the  government.  Congress  passed  laws  in  consonance 
with  it.  The  organization  of  negro  troops  for  military  service  was  authorized 
and  carried  out,  and  the  government  took  the  just  ground  that  all  its  soldiers 
should  have  equal  protection.  The  slave-holding  Oligarchy  raved.  The 
Peace  Faction  protested.  The  loyal  people  said  to  the  government,  Be  firm. 
"The  signs,"  the  President  said,  "look  better."  More  than  fifty  thousand 
square  miles  had  been  recovered  from  the  Confederates  in  the  West.  The 
autumn  elections  [1863]  showed  that  the  friends  of  the  government,  who  had 
spoken  at  the  ballot-box,  we^e  overwhelming  in  numbers  and  moral  strength. 
The  government  took  fresh  courage,  and  adopteijl  measures  for  a  vigorous 
military  campaign  in  1864.  The  President,  with  (he  hope  of  weakening  the 
moral  strength  of  the  Conspirators,  issued  a  generous  Amnesty  Proclamation,2 

procuring  of  pirate  vessels  within  the  British  dominions  by  the  Confederates.  After  courteously 
reciting  facts  connected  with  the  matter,  Russell  said:  " Under  these  circumstances,  her  Majesty's 
government  protests  and  remonstrates  against  any  further  efforts  being  made  on  the  part  of  the 
so-called  Confederate  States,  or  the  authorities  or  agents  thereof,  to  build,  or  cause  to  be  built,  or 
to  purchase,  or  cause  to  be  purchased,  any  such  vessels  as  those  styled  'rams,'  or  any  other  ves 
sels  to  be  used  for  war  purposes  against  the  United  States,  or  against  any  country  with  which 
the  United  Kingdom  is  at  peace  and  on  terms  of  amity ;  and  her  Majesty's  government  further 
protest  and  remonstrates  against  all  acts  in  violation  of  the  neutrality  laws  of  the  realm." 

These  words  from  one  who,  personally  and  as  the  representative  of  the  British  government. 
had  given  the  insurgents  all  the  "aid  and  comfort "  a  wise  business  prudence  would  allow,  kindled 
the  hottest  indignation  of  the  Conspirators,  and  Jefferson  Davis  instructed  one  of  his  assistants 
(Burton  N.  Harrison)  to  reply  that  it  "would  be  inconsistent  with  the  dignity  of  the  position  he 
[J.  Davis]  fills  as  Chief  Magistrate  of  a  nation  comprising  a  population  of  more  than  twelve  mil 
lions,  occupying  a  territory  many  times  larger  than  the  United  Kingdom,  and  possessing  resources 
unsurpassed  by  those  of  any  other  country  on  the  face  of  the  globe,  to  allow  the  attempt  of  Earl 
Russell  to  ignore  the  actual  existence  of  the  Confederate'  States,  and  to  contemptuously  style  them 
'so-called,1  to  pass  without  a  protest  and  a  remonstrance.  The  President,  therefore,  does  pro 
test  and  remonstrate  against  this  studied  insult;  and  he  instructs  me  to  say  that  in  future  any 
document  in  which  it  may  be  repeated  will  be  returned  unanswered  and  unnoticed."  The  scribe 
of  the  irate  "President"  added:  "Were,  indeed,  her  Majesty's  government  sincere  in  a  desire 
and  a  determination  to  maintain  "neutrality,  the  President  would  not  but  feel  that  they  would 
neither  be  just  nor  gallant  to  allow  the  subjugation  of  a  nation  like  the  Confederate  States,  by 
such  a  barbarous,  despotic  race  as  are  now  attempting  it." 

1  See  page  G40. 

\  The  President  offered  full  pardon,  and  restoration  of  all  rights  of  property,  excepting  as  to 
slaves,  to  all  persons  (with  specified  exceptions),  who  had  participated  in  the  rebellion,  who  should 
take  a  prescribed  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  government.  The  persons  excepted  were  all  who  were 
or  had  been  civil  or  diplomatic  agents  of  the  so-called  Confederate  government;  all  who  had  left 
judicial  stations  under  the  United  States  to  aid  the  rebellion;  all  who  were  or  had  been  military 
or  naval  officers  of  the  so-called  Confederate  government  above  the  rank  of  colonel  in  the  army 
and  lieutenant  in  the  navy ;  all  who  left  seats  in  the  National  Congress  to  aid  the  rebellion ;  all 
who  resigned  commissions  in  the  National  Army  or  Navy,  and  afterward  aided  the  rebellion ;  and 
all  who  had  engaged  in  any  way  in  treating  colored  persons,  or  white  persons  in  charge  of  such, 
otherwise  than  lawfully  as  prisoners  of  war. 


1864.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

and  a  prescription  for  the  reorganization  of  States  wherein  rebellion  existed. 
The  new  Congress  (XXXVIIIth)  had  heavy  majorities  of  loyal  members  in 
both  Houses. 

The  National  forces  in  the  field  at  the  opening  of  1864  numbered  about, 
800,000.  Those  of  the  Confederates  were  about  half  that  number.  The  former 
•v/ere  ready  and  disposed  to  act  on  the  offensive ;  the  latter,  generally,  stood 
on  the  defensive.  The  government  and  people  were  tired  of  delays  and  the 
almost  indecisive  warfare  of  posts,  as  the  struggle  had  been  up  to  this  time. 
It  was  evident  that  proper  vigor  in  the  control  of  the  armies  could  only  be 
obtained  by  placing  that  control  in  the  hands  of  one  competent  man  in  the 
field.  For  this  purpose  Congress  created  the  office  of  Lieutenant-General. 
The  President  nominated  Ulysses  S.  Grant  to  fill  it.  The  Senate  confirmed 
the  nomination  [March  2,  1864],  and  that  successful  leader  was  commissioned 
[March  8]  General-in-Chief  of  the  Armies  of  the  United  States,  and  made  his 
head-quarters  in  the  field,  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

Grant  had  no  sympathy  with  a  system  of  warfare  half  coercive  and  half 
persuasive.  That  had  been  tried  too  long  for  the  public  good.  He  believed 
his  government  to  be  right  and  the  Conspirators  wrong.  He  regarded  sharp 
and  decisive  blows  as  the  most  merciful  in  the  end,  and  calculated  to  save  life 
and  treasure,  and  so  he  resolved  to  make  war  with  all  the  terrible  intentions  of 
war,  and  end  it.  He  at  once  organized  two  grand  expeditions,  having  for 
their  geographical  objectives  the  capture  of  Richmond  in  Virginia  and  Atlanta 
in  Georgia;  and  their  prime  object  was  the  destruction  of  the  two  great 
armies  of  the  Conspirators,  commanded  by  Lee  and  Johnston.  The  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  destined  to  conquer  Lee,  was  placed  under  the  command  of 
General  George  G.  Meade ;  that  intended  to  fight  Johnston  was  intrusted  to 
General  W.  T.  Sherman.  Events  proved  the  wisdom  of  Grant's  choice. 

Before  considering'  these  great  campaigns,  let  us  notice,  briefly,  other 
important  movements  in  the  country  between  the  mountains  and  the  Missis 
sippi  River,  and  the  region  beyond  that  stream. 

^  1  When  Sherman  went  to  the  assistance  of  Rosecrans,1  he  left  General  J.  B. 
McPhcrson  in  command  at  Vicksburg.  Late  in  October  [1863]  that  officer 
went  out  with  about  eight  thousand  men,  to  drive  the  Confederates  from  the 
line  of  the  railway  between  Jackson  and  Canton,  but  was  met  by  a  superior 
force  [October  21],  and  returned  without  fighting.  Meanwhile,  the  Confed 
erate  guerrilla  chief,  Forrest,  with  about  four  thousand  men,  broke  into  West 
Tennessee  from  Northern  Mississippi,  and  making  Jackson,  in  that  State,  his 
head-quarters  [December],  sent  out  foraging  parties  in  various  directions. 
Troops  were  sent  by  Hurlbut,  at  Memphis,  to  catch  him,  but  he  managed  to 
escape  with  much  plunder.  Sherman  soon  afterward  reappeared  in  Mississippi, 
and  on  the  3d  of  February  he  left  Vicksburg  with  about  twenty-three  thou 
sand  effective  men,  for  a  grand  raid  through  that  State,  in  the  direction  of 
Montgomery,  in  Alabama,  and  to  march  on  Mobile,  if  circumstances  should' 
warrant  the  movement.  General  (Bishop)  Polk  was  then  in  command  in  that 

1  See  page  668. 


682 


THE     NATION. 


[1864. 


resjdoii,  with  a, 

O  ' 


large 


force  of  infantry  and  cavalry.  He  made  but  a  feeble 
resistance,  and  fell  back  as  Sherman  moved  victoriously  to  Meridian,  at  the 
intersection  of  important  railways.  There  the  latter  halted,  and  waited  for 
a  division,  chiefly  of  cavalry,  under  General  W.  S.  Smith,  expected  from 
Tennessee.  Sherman's  path  from  Jackson  to  Meridian,  was  marked  by  the 
destruction  of  the  railway,  its  station-houses  and  rolling  stock,  besides  stores 
and  other  public  property;  and  during  a  week  that  he  staid  at  Meridian  he 
made  the  most  complete  destruction  of  railroads  each  way  from  that  point. 
In  the  mean  time  Smith  foiled  to  join  him.  He  started  late,  and  was  driven 
back  by  a  Confederate  force  under  Forrest  and  others.  Sherman,  at  the  end 
of  a  week,  laid  Meridian  in  ashes,  and  returned  to  Vicksburg  with  four  hun 
dred  prisoners,  a  thousand  white  Union  refugees,  and  about  five  thousand 
negroes.  His  raid  spread  dismay  throughout  the  Confederacy,  from  the  Mis 
sissippi  to  the  Savannah,  and  inflicted  a  heavy  loss  on  the  foe.1 

Sherman's  raid  caused  Johnston,  at  Dalton,  in  Northern  Georgia,  to  send 
troops  to  the  aid  of  Polk.  Informed  of  this,  Grant,  at  Chattanooga,  sent  the 
Fourteenth  Army  Corps,  under  General  Palmer,  to  menace  Johnston  and 
compel  him  to  recall  his  detachments.  The  retrograde  movement  of  Sherman 
caused  these  detachments  to  fall  back,  when  Palmer,  confronted  by  a  superior 
force,  after  some  severe  fighting  [February,  1864],  between  Ringgold  and 
Dalton,  returned  to  Chattanooga. 

O 

Forrest,  whose  sphere  of  duty  had  been  enlarged,  was  now  charged  with 
that  of  preventing  re-enforcements  from  reaching  Johnston's  opponent,  from 
the  region  of  the  Mississippi,  by  keeping  them  employed  there.  Late  in 
March  he  made  a  rapid  raid  through  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  to  the  Ohio  at 
Paducah,  with  about  five  thousand  men,  capturing  Union  City  and  Hickman 
by  the  way.  He  assailed  the  fort  and  garrison  at  Paducah,  under  Colonel 

Hicks,  and  was  repulsed, 
when  he  hurried  to  attack 
Fort  Pillow,  on  the  Ten 
nessee,  above  Memphis, 
commanded  by  Major  L. 
F.  Booth,  with  a  garrison 
composed  largely  of  col 
ored  troops.  Tli is  post 
Forrest  besieged  on  the 
13th  of  April.  Booth  was 
assisted  in  the  defense  by 
the  gun-boat  New  Era, 
Captain  Marshall,  but  was 
overcome  by  a  trick  rather 
than  by  arms.  Forrest 
sent  in  a  flag  of  truce,  demanding  a  surrender  of  the  fort,  and  while  it  was 


NEW   ERA. 


1  The  sum  of  injury  done  to  the  Confederates  during  Sherman's  raid,  including  that  of  Smith, 
id  an  expedition  which  Porter  sent  simultaneously  to  attack  Yazoo  City  and  distract  the  Con- 


1864.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

there,  and  the  summons  was  under  consideration,  he  secretly  placed  large 
numbers  of  his  troops  in  ravines  near,  where  they  might  effectually  fall  upon 
the  fort  from  points  where  their  presence  was  least  expected.  This  was  done, 
with  the  cry  of  "  No  quarter,"  when  a  large  number  of  the  garrison,  who 
threw  down  their  arms,  were  slaughtered  by  methods  most  cruel.  The  poor 
negro  troops  were  objects  of  the  direst  vengeance  of  the  assailant.1  "  Forrest's 
motto,"  said  Major  C.  W.  Gibson,  one  of  his  men,  to  the  writer,  "  was,  '  War 
means  fight,  and  fight  means  kill — we  want  but  few  prisoners.' "  This  principle 
was  fully  illustrated  by  Forrest  by  his  foul  deed  at  Fort  Pillow.2 

An  attempt  was  made  to  intercept  Forrest  in  his  retreat  southward  from 
Fort  Pillow.  It  failed.  Some  weeks  later  General  Sturgis  was  sent  out 
from  Memphis  with  a  large  force  into  Mississippi,  to  hunt  up  and  beat  him, 
when  the  former  was  attacked  near  Gun  Town,  on  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  rail 
way,  by  Forrest,  and,  after  a  severe  battle  [June  10],  was  compelled  to  fly 

federates,  may  be  stated  in  general  terms  as  follows  :  The  destruction  of  150  miles  of  railway,  67 
bridges,  700  trestles,  20  locomotives,  28  cars,  several  thousand  bales  of  cotton,  several  steam 
mills,  and  over  2,000,000  bushels  of  corn.  About  500  prisoners  were  taken,  and  over  8,000 
negroes  and  refugees  followed  the  various  columns  back  to  Vicksburg. 

The  expedition  sent  to  Yazoo  City  consisted  of  some  gun-boats,  under  Lieutenant  Owen,  and 
a  detachment  of  troops  under  Colonel  Osband.  They  did  not  then  capture  the  place,  but  inflicted 
considerable  damage,  and  returned  with  a  loss  of  not  more  than  50  men.  Yazoo  City  was  soon 
afterward  occupied  by  a  Union  force,  composed  of  the  8th  Louisiana  and  200  of  the  Seventh  Mis 
sissippi  colored  troops,  and  the  1 1th  Illinois.  They  were  attacked  by  a  superior  force  on  the  5th 
of  March.  A  desperate  fight  ensued.  The  assailants  were  finally  driven  away  by  some  re-en 
forcements  from  below,  and  soon  afterward  the  town  was  evacuated.  The  Union  loss  in  this 
struggle  was  130.  That  of  the  Confederates  was  about  the  same. 

1  There  was  much  opposition  to  the  employment  of  negroes  as  soldiers,  until  quite  a  late 
period  of  the  war.     At  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion,  colored  men  in  the  Free-labor  States 
offered  their  services  as  soldiers,  but  they  were  not  accepted.     When  General  Hunter  took  com 
mand  in  the  Department  of  the  South,  he  proclaimed  the  freedom  of  the  slaves,  and  was  about  to 
organize  regiments  of  colored  men.     The  government  would  not  sanction  his  proceedings.     When 
General  Phelps,  commanding  a  short  distance  from  New  Orleans,  proposed  to  make  fighters  of 
those  colored  men  who  fied  into  his  camp  from  their  masters,  and  was  ordered  by  General  Butler 
to  employ  them  only  as  servants,  he  declared  that  he  was  not  "  willing  to  become  a  mere  slave- 
driver,"  and  threw  up  his  commission  and  returned  to  Vermont.     But,  as  the  war  went  on,  and 
prejudice  gave  way  to  necessity,  the  enlistment  of  colored  men  into  the  army  was  authorized. 
Their  usefulness  was  proven  at  Milliken's  Bend,  Port  Hudson,  Fort  Wagner,  and  other  places. 
In  March,  1863,  the  Adjutant-General  of  the  armies  was  sent  to  the  Mississippi  Valley  for  the 
purpose  of  promoting  the  enlistment  of  colored  troops.     During  the  war  full  200,000  of  these 
dusky  soldiers  were  seen  in  the  uniform  of  the  armies  of  the  Republic.     For  awhile  the  Confed 
erates  refused  to  consider  them  as  prisoners  of  war  and  subjects  of  equal  exchange  with  white 
captives.     But  they  were  finally  compelled  to  acknowledge  their  equality  as  soldiers,  and  accept 
the  conditions  imposed  by  necessity. 

2  In  a  report  of  a  sub-committee  of  the  Congressional  Committee,  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War, 
made  shortly  after  the  deed,  the  perpetration  of  the  most  horrible  cruelties  were  proven.     One  or 
two  illustrative   instances  will  suffice:    "All  around  were  heard  cries  of  'No  quarter!     Kill  the 
damned  niggers!     Shoot 'em  down  !' and  all  who  asked  for  mercy  were  answered  by  the  most 
cruel  taunts  and  sneers.     Some  were  spared  for  a  time,  to  be  murdered  under  circumstances  of 

the  greatest  cruelty One  negro,  who  had  been  ordered  by  a  rebel  officer  to  hold  his 

horse,  was  killed  by  him  when  he  remounted;  another,  a  mere  child,  whom  an  officer  had  taken 
up  behind  him,  was  seen  by  Chalmers  [General  Chalmers,  one  of  Forrest's  leaders],  who  at  ojice 
ordered  the  officer  to  put  him  down  and  shoot  him,  which  was  done."     They  burned  huts  and 
tents  in  which  the  wounded  had  sought  shelter,  and  were  still  in  them.     "  One  man  was  deliber 
ately  fastened  down  to  the  floor  of  a  tent,  face  upward,  by  means  of  nails  driven   through  his 
clothing  and  into  the  boards  under  him,  so  that  he  could  not  possibly  escape,  and  then  the  tent 
set  on  tire.     Another  was  nailed  to  the  side  of  a  building  outside  of  the  fort,  and  then  the  build 
ing  set  on  fire  and  burned These  deeds  of  murder  and  cruelty  ceased  when  night 

came  on,  only  to  be  renewed  the  next  morning,  when   the   demons   carefully  sought  among  the 
dead,  lying  about  in  all  directions,  for  any  of  the  wounded  yet  alive,  and  thoso  they  found  were 
deliberately  shot.-' 


gg4  THE     NATIOX. 

back  to  Memphis  as  rapidly  as  possible,  with  very  heavy  loss.  Another  expe 
dition,  under  General  A.  J.  Smith,  composed  of  about  twelve  thousand  men, 
was  sent  on  a  similar  errand.  He  fought  and  defeated  Forrest  near  Tjipelo 
[July  14],  and  then  returned  to  Memphis.  Three  weeks  afterward  Smith 
returned  to  Mississippi,  with  ten  thousand  men,  in  search  of  Forrest,  but  while 
he  was  there,  that  bold  leader,  with  three  thousand  picked  men,  flanked  him, 
dashed  into  Memphis  in  broad  daylight,  hoping  to  capture  some  Union  generals 
at  the  Gayosa  House,  and  then  fled  back  to  Mississippi. 

Let  us  now  look  across  the  Father  of  Waters,  and  see  what  was  occurring 
there  in  1864. 

Early  in  January,  General  Banks  received  orders  from  Halleck,  the  General- 
in-Chief  of  the  armies,  to  organize  an  expedition  for  the  recovery  of  Texas,  to 
go  by  way  of  the  Red  River,  to  Shreveport,  in  the  vicinity  of  which  was  a 
considerable  Confederate  force,  under  General  E.  Kirby  Smith  and  other 
leaders.  It  was  proposed  to  have  troops  from  Sherman's  command,  and  a  fleet 
of  £im-boats  under  Admiral  Porter,  to  co-operate  directly  with  Banks,  while 
Steele,  at  Little  Rock,1  should  more  remotely  aid  the  expedition.  Accordingly, 
early  in  March,  Porter  was  at  the  mouth  of  the  Red  River  [March  7],  with 
his  fleet,  and  transports  with  Sherman's  troops  under  General  A.  J.  Smith. 
The  latter  were  landed  at  Simms's  Port  on  the  Atchafalaya.  They  marched  to 
Fort  de  Russy'2  and  captured  it  [March  14,  1864],  and  then,  on  transports, 
went  up  the  river  to  Alexandria,  and  took  possession  of  the  town  [March  16]. 
Banks's  column  had  marched,  meanwhile,  from  the  vicinity  of  Brashear  City, 
under  General  Franklin,  and  moving  by  way  of  Opelousas,  arrived  at  Alex 
andria  on  the  26th.  Banks  had  arrived  there  two  days  before.  Smith's  troops 
went  forward,  driving  the  Confederates  who  were. gathering  on  their  front,  and 
took  post  twenty  miles  farther  up  the  river,  in  the  direction  of  Shreveport. 

The  water  in  the  Red  River  was  low,  arid  falling,  and  it  was  with  much 
difficulty  that  the  fleet  and  transports  got  above  the  rapids  at  Alexandria. 
They  did  so  after  a  few  days  of  hard  labor.  Banks's  column,  meanwhile,  had 
advanced  to  Natchitoches,  eighty  miles  above  Alexandria  [April  3],  the  Con 
federates,  in  increasing  numbers,  falling  back  as  they  advanced.  Smith's 
troops  on  transports,  and  the  fleet,  advanced  to  Grand  Ecore,  near  Natchi 
toches,  and  from  that  point  the  great  body  of  the  expedition  moved  toward 
Shreveport.  The  larger  gun-boats  could  go  no  further,  so  a  detachment  of 
Smith's  command,  under  General  T.  Kilby  Smith,  accompanied  the  transports 
and  lighter  gun-boats,  with  supplies  for  the  army. 

The  expedition  encountered  the  Confederates  on  the  way,  now  and  then, 
but  they  invariably  fell  back,  until  they  reached  Sabine  Cross  Roads,  not  far 
from  Mansfield,  where  they  made  a  stand  in  heavy  force.  There  Banks's 
cavalry,  and  part  of  his  infantry  and  artillery,  engaged  in  a  sharp  struggle 
[April  8],  when  they  were  forced  to  retreat  a  short  distance  by  overwhelming 
numbers.  Franklin  came  up  with  re-enforcements  late  in  the  afternoon,  when 
the  whole  body  of  National  troops  were  routed  with  heavy  loss  of  men  and 


1  See  page  676.  «  See  page  677. 


1364.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  (385 

materials  of  war.  Fortunately  the  fine  division  of  General  Emory  was  near, 
and  took  a  stand  at  Pleasant  Grove  to  receive  the  fugitives  and  resist  the 
Confederates.  Another  heavy  battle  ensued,  when  the  Nationals  were  again 
victorious.  They  thought  it  prudent,  however,  after  the  battle,  to  fall  back  to 
Pleasant  Hill,  fifteen  miles  in  the  rear,  for  it  was  not  certain  that  General 
Smith  would  come  up  in  time  to  aid  the  wearied  troops  on  the  field  of  victory. 
There  the  united  forces  took-  a  strong  position.  The  Confederates  had  fol 
lowed  closely,  and  there  another  severe  battle  was  fought  [April  9,  1864], 
which  resulted  in  another  victory  for  the  Nationals.  Banks  proposed  to  move 
again  toward  Shreveport,  in  the  morning,  but  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the 
officers  of  his  and  Smith's  command,  was  that  it  would  be  best  for  the  expedi 
tion  to  fall  back  to  the  Red  River,  at  Grand  Ecore.1  The  transports  and 
guarding  troops,  and  the  lighter  gun-boats,  which  had  gone  up  to  Loggy 
Bayou,  after  some  fighting  on  the  way  with  Confederates  on  the  banks  of  the 
river,  joined  the  army  at  Grand  Ecore. 

The  troubles  of  the  expedition  were  not  at  an  end.  It  was  determined  to 
fall  back  to  Alexandria,  and  it  was  an  easy  matter  for  the  army  to  do  so,  but 
the  water  in  the  Red  River  was  so  low,  and  still  falling,  that  it  was  difficult  to 
get  the  fleet  over  the  bar  at  Grand  Ecore.  This  was  accomplished,  however, 
and  on  the  17th  of  April  the  fleet  started  down  the  river,  when  one  of  the 
vessels  was  sunk  by  a  torpedo.  The  army  moved  on  the  21st  [April,  1864], 
but  was  met  at  the  passage  of  the  Cane  River,  where  the  Confederates,  on 
Monet's  Bluff,  confronted  them.  These  were  dislodged  by  skillful  maneuvers 
and  sharp  fighting,  and  the  National  forces  entered  Alexandria  on  the  27th, 
after  an  absence  of  twenty-four  days.  Some  of  the  fleet  had  a  severe  struggle 
with  a  battery  at  the  mouth  of  Cane  River,  but  the  vessels  ran  by  it  in  the 
darkness,  excepting  a  pump-boat.  The  expedition  against  Shreveport  was  now 
abandoned,  and  it  was  determined  to  return  to  the  Mississippi. 

The  fleet  encountered  a  most  serious  obstacle  at  Alexandria,  The  water 
was  so  low  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  vessels  to  pass  over  the  rapids.  A 
means  had  been  suggested,  by  Lieutenant  Colonel  Joseph  Bailey,  Engineer  of 
the  Nineteenth  Corps,  so  early  as  the  day  of  the  battle  at  Pleasant  Hill, 
when  a  retreat  was  thought  of.  It  was  to  dam  the  river  at  the  foot  of  the 
rapids,  so  as  to  deepen  the  water  on  them,  and  thus,  when  the  vessels  were 
there,  open  a  sluice  and  allow  them  to  go  down  with  the  deep  current.2  This 

1  The  chief  reasons  offered  were:  (I.)  The  difficulty  in  bringing  his  trains  \vhich  had  been 
sent  forward  on  the  road  toward  Grand  Ecore,  in  time  to  move  quickly  after  the  flying  Confede 
rates;  (2.)  A  lack  of  water  for  man  or  beast  in  that  region,  excepting  such  as  the  wells  afforded; 
(3.)  The  fact  that  all  surplus  ammunition  and  supplies-  of  the  army  were  on  board  the  transports 
sent  up  the  river,  and  the  impossibility  of  knowing  whether  these  had  reached  their  destination ; 
(4.)  The  falling  of  the  river,  which  imperiled  the  naval  part  of  the  expedition ;  and  (5.)  The  report 
of  a  scouting  party,  on  the  day  of  the  battle,  that  no  tidings  could  be  heard  of  the  fleet.     "  These 
considerations,"  said  Banks,  "the  absolute  deprivation  of  water  for  man  or  beast,  the  exhaustion 
of  rations,  and  the  failure  to  effect  a  connection  with  the  fleet  on  the  river,  made  it  necessary  for 
the  army,  although  victorious  in  the  struggle  through  which  it  had  just  passed,  to  retreat  to  a 
point  where  it  would  be  certain  of  communicating  with  the  fleet,  and  where  it  would  have  an 
opportunity  for  reorganization." 

2  Admiral  Porter,  in  his  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  said:   "The  work  was  com 
menced  by  running  out  from  the  left  bank  of  the  river  a  tree-dam,  made  of  the  bodies  of  very 


686 


THE     NATION. 


[18G4. 


was  clone  successfully.  All  of  the  vessels  passed  the  rapids  safely  into  the 
deep  water  below,  made  so  by  an  upward  current  of  the  brimful  Mississippi, 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  distant.  With  very  little  further  trouble,  the 
whole  expedition  moved  down  to  the  Mississippi.  At  Simms's  Port  on  the 


• 


BAILEY'S  BED  RIVER  DAM. 

Atchafalaya,  General  Canby  appeared,  and  took  command  of  Banks's  troops, 
and  the  latter  returned  to  New  Orleans.  General  Smith  returned  to  Missis 
sippi,  and  Porter  resumed  the  service  of  patrolling  the  Mississippi  River. 

General  Steele  had  not  been  able  to  co-operate  with  the  expedition,  as  was 
expected.  He  started  southward  from  Little  Rock  late  in  March  with  about 
eight  thousand  troops,  and  was  soon  joined  by  General  Thayer,  commander  of 
the  Army  of  the  Frontier.  They  pushed  back  Price,  Marmaduke,  and  others, 
who  opposed  them  in  considerable  force,  and  captured  the  important  post  of 
Camden  [April  15,  1864],  on  the  Washita  River.  It  was  a  difficult  one  to 
hold,  and  Steele  soon  abandoned  it,  and  returned  to  Little  Rock,  after  a  severe 
battle  at  Jenkinson's  Ferry  on  the  Sabine  River.  So  ended,  in  all  its  parts, 
the  disastrous  campaign  against  Shreveport  for  the  repossession  of  Texas.  It 
failure  was  owing  to  a  radically  defective  plan,  over  which  the  leaders  had  no 
control.1 

large  trees,  brush,  brick,  and  stone,  cross-tied  with  other  heavy  timber,  and  strengthened  in  every 
way  ingenuity  could  devise.  This  was  run  about  three  hundred  feet  into  the  river.  Four  large 
coal-barges  were  then  filled  with  brick,  and  sunk  at  the  end  of  it.  From  the  right  bank  of  the 
river  cribs  filled  with  slone  were  built  cut  to  meet  the  barges." 

1  General  Banks  had  so  often  objected  to  taking  the  route  of  the  Bed  River,  for  Texas,  that 
when  Halleck  again  urged  it,  he  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  demur.  He  laid  before  the  General-in- 
Chief  a  memorial,  in  which  were  explicitly  stated  the  obstructions  to  be  encountered,  and  the 
measures  necessary  to  accomplish  the  object  in  view.  It  recommended  as  indispensable  to 
success:  (1.)  Such  complete  preliminary  organization  as  would  avoid  the  least  delay  in  move 
ments  after  the  campaign  had  opened;  *(2.)  That  a  line  of  supply  be  established  from  the  Missis 
sippi,  independent  of  water-courses,  because  these  would  become  unmanageable  at  certain  seasons 
of  the  year;  (3.)  The  concentration  of  the  forces  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  such  other  force  as 
should  be  assigned  to  this  duty  from  General  Sherman's  command,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  expel 
the  enemy  from  Northern  Louisiana  and  Arkansas :  (4.)  Such  preparation  and  concert  of  action 
among  the  different  corps  engaged  as  to  prevent  the  enemy,  by  keeping  him  constantly  employed, 
from  operating  against  our  positions  or  forces  elsewhere ;  and  (5.)  That  the  entire  force  should 
be  placed  under  the  command  of  a  single  general.  Preparations  for  a  long  campaign  was  also 
advised,  and  the  month  of  May  was  indicated  as  the  point  of  time  when  the  occupation  of 


1864.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

The  failure  of  the  Red  River  expedition,  and  the  expulsion  of  Steele  from 
the  region  below  the  Arkansas  River,  emboldened  the  Confederates,  and  they 
soon  had  almost  absolute  control  of  the  State.  Raiding  parties  roamed  at 
will ;  and  very  soon  the  Unionists  were  awed  into  silence,  and  the  civil  power, 
in  a  great  degree,  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  enemies  of  the  Republic.1 
This  condition  of  affairs  was  favorable  to  a  long-contemplated  invasion  of 
Missouri  by  Price,  which  had  both  a  military  and  political  object  in  view. 
In  the  Western  States,  and  particularly  in  Missouri,  were  secret  associations  in 
sympathy  with  the  Conspirators,  known  as  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle12  and 
"Sons  of  Liberty."  An  arrangement  appears  to  have  been  made  for  an 
armed  uprising  of  the  members  of  these  associations,  when  Price  should 
enter  the  State,  and  he  was  induced  to  do  so  by  promises  of  being  joined  by 
over  twenty  thousand  of  these  disloyal  men.  The  vigilant  Rosecrans,  then 
commander  of  the  Department  of  Missouri,3  discovered  their  plans,  made 
some  arrests,  and  so  frightened  the  great  mass  of  these  secret  enemies  of  the 
government,  that  when  Price  appeared,  he  found  very  few  recruits. 

Price,  and  Shelby,  with  nearly  twenty  thousand  followers,  entered  South 
eastern  Missouri,  late  in  September,  and  pushed  on  to  Pilot  Knob,  half  way  to 
St.  Louis  from  the  Arkansas  line.  There  General  Ewing,  with  a  single  brigade, 
struck  him  an  astounding  blow  that  made  him  very  circumspect.  Fortunately 
Rosecrans  had  just  been  re-enforced  by  volunteers  from  the  surrounding  region, 
and  by  troops  under  General  A.  J.  Smith,  which  had  been  stopped  at  Cairo  on 
their  way  to  join  Sherman  in  Northern  Georgia,  with  others  under  General 
.Mower,  which  spee*dily  arrived.  Price  saw  that  a  web  of  peril  was  rapidly 
weaving  around  him,  so  he  abandoned  his  design  of  marching  upon  St.  Louis. 
He  hastened  toward  Jefferson  City,  but  passed  on  without  touching  it,  and 
fled  toward  Kansas,  closely  pursued.  It  was  an  exciting  chase,  and  was  made 
lively,  at  times,  by  sharp  encounters.  Finally,  early  in  November,  Price  was 
driven  into  Western  Arkansas  with  a  broken  and  dispirited  army.  It  was  the 
last  invasion  of  Missouri. 

Turning  our  attention  eastward,  at  about  this  time,  AVG  observe  some 
stirring  events  in  East  Tennessee.  After  Longstreet's  retirement  from  Knox- 
ville4  he  lingered  some  time  between  there  and  the  Virginia  border.  General 
Foster  took  Burnside's  place  as  the  commander  of  the  Union  troops  there. 
Some  severe  skirmishing  occurred  at  different  places,  but  no  pitched  battle ; 
and,  finally,  Longstreet  withdrew  into  Virginia,  to  re-enforce  the  menaced  army 
of  General  Lee.  The  notorious  Morgan  and  his  guerrilla  band  lingered  in 

Shreveport  might  be  anticipated.  "Not  one  of  these  suggestions,"  said  General  Banks  in  his 
report,  "  so  necessary  in  conquering  the  inherent  difficulties  of  the  expedition,  was  carried  into 
execution,  nor  was  ic  in  my  power  to  establish  them."  There  existed  that  bane  of  success,  a 
divided  command.  Banks,  Porter,  and  Smith,  acted  independently  of  each  other,  as  far  as  they 
pleased,  there  being  no  supreme  authority  to  compel  unity  or  co-operation  in  action. 

1  After  Steele  took  possession  of  Little  Rock  in  the  autum  of  1863,  the  Unionists  of  Arkansas 
held  a  Convention  there,  and  proceeded  to  re-establish  civil  government  according  to  the  prescrip 
tion  contained  in  the  President's  Amnesty  Proclamation.     Now  the  State  was  so  absolutely  under 
the  control  of  the  Confederates,  that  the  disloyal  government  called  a  session  of  the  old  Legis 
lature  [September  22,  1864],  and  elected  a  representative  in  the  so-called  "  Senate  "  of  the  Con 
spirators,  at  Richmond. 

2  See  page  520.  3  See  note  2,  page  666.  4  See  page  G71. 


688 


THE     NATION. 


'[1864. 


East  Tennessee  a  few  months  longer.  At  the  close  of  May  he  went  over  the 
mountains  into  Kentucky,  and  raided  through  the  richest  portions  of  that 
State,  well  up  toward  the  Ohio,  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  Union  troops, 
then  threatening  Southeastern  Virginia,  in  that  direction.  General  Burbridge 
hastened  after  him,  and  struck  him  such  blows  that  his  shattered  column 
went  reeling  back  into  East  Tennessee.  At  Greenville,  early  in  September, 
Morgan  was  surprised,  arid  was  shot  dead  while  trying  to  escape.  Soon  after 
this,  Breckinridge  moved  into  East  Tennessee  with  a  considerable  force ;  and 
from  Knoxville  to  the  Virginia  line,  was  a  theater  of  stirring  minor  events  of 
the  war. 

Early  in  1864,  there  were  some  movements  having  in  view  the  capture  of 
Richmond,  and  the  release  of  Union  prisoners  in  the  Libby,  and  on  more  hor 
rible  Belle  Isle  in  the  James  River.  The  first  of  these  which  attracted  much 
attention,  occurred  in  February,  when  General  B.  F.  Butler,  then  in  command 
of  the  Department  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  sent  about  fifteen  hundred 
troops  against  Richmond.  The  expedition,  owing  to  treachery,  was  fruitless. 
Later,  General  Kilpatrick,  with  five  thousand  cavalry,  swept  around  Lee's 

right  flank,  down  to  Rich 
mond,  and  into  its  out 
er  line  of  fortifications 
[March  ],  1864],  but  was 
compelled  to  retire.  At 
about  the  same  time 
Colonel  Dahlgren,  with  a 
part  of  Kilpatrick's  com 
mand,  appeared  before 
Richmond  [March  2, 
1864],  at  another  point, 
but  was  repulsed,  and 
BELLE  ISLE.  while  retiring,  was  killed. 

The  Confederate  authori 
ties  were  so  exasperated  by  the  audacity  of  Kilpatrick,  that  they  contemplated 
the  summary  execution  of  ninety  of  Dahlgren's  command,  who  were  captured  ;' 
and  they  actually  placed  gunpowder  under  Libby  Prison  for  the  purpose  of 
blowing  it  up  with  its  hundreds  of  captive  Union  soldiers,  should  they  attempt 
to  escape  !2  A  few  days  later,  General  Carter,  with  a  considerable  force. 

1  A  Rtib-l  War  Clerk's  [J.  B.  Jones]   Diary,  March  5,  1864.     The  Kichmond  press,    in  the 
interest  of  the  Conspirators,  strongly  recommended    the    measure.     "Let   them  die."  said  the 
Richmond  Whig,  not  by  court-martial,  not  as  prisoners,  but  as  hostes  humani  generis  by  general 
order  from  the  President,  Commander-in-Chief." 

2  A  Rebel  War -Clerk's  Di>jry,  March  2,  1864.     "Last  night,"  says  the  Diary,  "-when  it  was 
supposed  probable  that  the  prisoners  of  war  at  the  Libby  might  attempt  to  break  out,  General 
Winder  ordered  that  a  large  amount  of  powder  be  placed  under  the  building,  with  instructions  to 
blow  them  up  if  the  attempt  were  made."     Seddon  would  not  give  a  written  order  for  the  diaboli 
cal  work  to  be  done,  but  he  said,  significantly,  "the  prisoners  must  not  be  allowed  to  escape. 
under  any  circumstance*."  "which,"  says  the  diarist,  "was  considered  sanction  enough.     Captain 

-  obtained  an  order  for  and  procured  several  hundred  pounds  of  gunpowder,  which  was 
placed  in  readiness.  Whether  the  prisoners  were  advised  of  this  I  know  not ;  but  I  told  Captain 
it  would  not  be  justifiable  to  spring  such  a  mine  in  the  absence  of  their  knowledge  of  the 


1864.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  £39 

threatened  Lee's  communications  in  the  direction  of  Chaiiottesville  and  the 
Shenandoah  Valley. 

We  now  come  to  the  consideration  of  one  of  the  great  campaigns,  planned 
\)y  General  Grant,  namely,  that  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  under  General 
Meade,  against  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  under  General  Lee,  and  Rich 
mond,  the  head-quarters  of  the  Conspirators.  Grant,  as  we  have  seen,1  made 
his  head-quarters  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  which  was  re-organized,  and 
divided  into  three  corps,  commanded,  respectively,  by  Generals  Hancock, 
Warren,  and  Sedgwick,  and  known  in  the  order  of  the  commanders  named,  as 
the  Second,  Fifth,  and  Sixth.  General  Burnside,  who,  since  his  retirement 
from  East  Tennessee,  had  been  re-organizing  his  old  Ninth  Corps,  was  ordered 
forward,  and  joined  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  on  the  Rapid  Anna.  Re-enforce 
ments  rapidly  filled  the  armies,  and  at  the  close  of  April  [1864],  Grant  gave 
orders  for  Meade  in  Virginia,  and  Sherman  in  Northern  Georgia,  to  advance. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac  crossed  the  Rapid  Anna,  into  the  tangled  region 
known  as  The  Wilderness,  on  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  May.  At  that  time 
Lee's  army  lay  strongly  intrenched  behind  Mine  Run,2  and  extending  from  the 
Rapid  Anna  almost  to  Gordonsville.  It  was  also  divided  into  three  corps, 
under  Ewell,  Hill,  and  Longstreet.  Grant  intended  to  move  swiftly  by  Lee's 
flank,  masked  by  The  Wilderness,  and  plant  the  Union  army  between  that  of 
the  Confederates  and  Richmond;  but  the  latter  was  vigilant,  and  boldly 
leaving  his  intrenchments,  attacked  the  Nationals  in  The  Wilderness.  A  very 
sanguinary  battle  ensued  [May  5  and  6],  on  that  strange  battle-field,3  by  which 
both  armies  were  shattered,  but  without  any  decided  advantage  gained  by 
either.  It  continued  two  days,  when  Lee  withdrew  behind  his  intrenchments, 
and  Meade  prepared  to  get  out  of  The  Wilderness,  into  the  open  country  near 
Spottsylvania  Court-House,  as  soon  as  possible.  In  this  sanguinary  battle, 
the  gallant  Union  General  Wadsworth  was  killed,  and  the  Confederate  General 
Longstreet  was  wounded. 

General  Warren  led  the  movement  out  of  The  Wilderness,  and  Grant's  plan 
of  flanking  Lee  would  doubtless  have  been  successful,  but  for  delays.  When, 
on  the  morning  of  the  8th  [May,  1864],  Warren  emerged  into  the  open  country 
two  or  three  miles  from  Spottsylvania  Court-House,  he  found  a  part  of  Lee's 
army  across  his  path,  in  strong  position  behind  intrenchments  previously  cast 
up,  and  the  remainder  rapidly  arriving.  Before  the  whole  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  could  arrive,  that  of  Northern  Virginia  was  there  and  ready  to 
oppose  Grant  in  flanking  movement.  Dispositions  were  made  for  battle, 

fate  awaiting  them  in  the  event  of  their  attempting  to  break  out,  because  such  prisoners  are  not 
to  be  condemned  for  striving  to  regain  their  liberty.  Indeed  it  is  the  duty  of  a  prisoner  of  war  to 
escape  if  he  can." 

1  See  page  681.  a  See  page  6GO. 

3  Covered  with  a  thick  growth  of  pine,  cedars,  and  shrub-oaks-,  and  tangled  under-brush,  it 
was  a  country  in  which  maneuvering,  in  the  military  sense,  was  almost  impossible,  and  where  by 
the  compass  alone,  like  mariners  at  murky  midnight,  the  movements  of  troops  were  directed. 
The  three  hundred  guns  of  the  combatants  had  no  avocation  there,  and  the  few  horsemen  not 
away  on  outward  duty  were  compelled  to  be  almost  idle  spectators.  Of  the  two  hundred  thou 
sand  men  there  ready  to  fall  upon  and  slay  each  other,  probably  no  man's  etyes  saw  more  than  a 
thousand  at  one  time,  so  absolute  was  the  concealments  of  the  thickets.  Never  in  the  history  of 
war  was  such  a  spectacle  exhibited. 

44 


THE     NATION. 


after  some  skirmishing  on  the  morning  of  the  9th,  and  that  day  was  spent 
in  preparations.  The  gallant  Sedgwick  was  killed  while  superintending  the 
arrangement  of  a  battery.  Every  thing  was  in  readiness  for  battle  on  the 
morning  of  the  10th.  It  opened  vigorously,  and  raged  furiously  all  day,  with 
dreadful  losses  on  both  sides.  On  the  following  morning  [May  11,  1864], 
General  Grant  sent  to  the  government  that  famous  dispatch  in  which  occurred 
his  declaration,  "I  propose  to  fight  it  out  on  this  line,  if  it  takes  all  summer." 

Early  on  the  12th,  another  and  equally  sanguinary  contest  ensued,  when 
Hancock  broke  through  the  Confederate  lines,  gained  a  great  advantage,  and 
held  it.  Another  day  of  terrible  fighting  ensued,  and  did  not  wholly  cease 
until  midnight,  when  Lee  suddenly  withdrew  behind  his  second  line  of  intrench- 
ments,  and  was  apparently  as  strong  as  ever.  In  the  space  of  eight  days,  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  had  lost  nearly  thirty  thousand  men.  Yet  Grant,  sent  a 
cheering  dispatch  to  the  government  ;  and  the  whole  country  was  listening 
with  the  deepest  anxiety  for  tidings  from  the  two  great  armies.  Finally, 
Grant  determined  to  turn  Lee's  present  position,  and  made  dispositions  accord 
ingly.  Lee  proceeded  to  thwart  him,  and  a  severe  battle  occurred  on  the  19th 
of  May,  in  which  the  Nationals  were  successful  in  repulsing  Lee,  but  with 
fearful  loss  to  themselves.  About  forty  thousand  of  the  army  that  crossed  the 
Rapid  Anna  was  now  disabled.  Lee  had  lost  about  thirty  thousand. 


THE   PLACE    WHERE   SEDGWICK   WAS    KILLED.' 


When  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  emerged  from  The  Wilderness,  General 
Philip  II.  Sheridan,  with  a  greater  portion  of  the  National  cavalry,  went  upon 
a  raid  on  Lee's  rear.  He  swept  down  into  the  outer  line  of  works  before 
Richmond,  fighting  and  killing  on  the  way,  a  few  miles  north  of  the  city,  the 
eminent  cavalry  officer,  General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  and  destroying  the  railways 
and  a  vast  amount  of  public  property.  He  pushed  on  to  the  James  River  below, 
and  then  returned  to  the  army.  In  the  mean  time  a  co-operating  force,  under 
General  Sigel,  in  the  Shenandoah  and  Kanawha  Valleys,  was  active.  A  part  of 

1  This  is  from  a  sketch  made  by  the  author  in  June,  1866,  taken  from  the  breastworks  in  front 
of  the  Union  line.  Toward  the  right  is  seen  the  logs  of  the  battery,  the  construction  of  which 
Sedgwick  was  superintending,  and  near  which  he  fell.  The  bullet  came  from  the  clump  of  trees 
on  the  knoll  seen  more  to  the  right,  on  rising  ground. 


1864.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

it  under  Sigel  in  person,  fought  Confederates  under  Breckinridge,  at  New 
Market  [May  15],  when  the  Nationals  were  routed.  Another  part,  under 
Generals  Crooke  and  Averill,  moved  out  of  the  Kanawha  Valley,  and  pro 
ceeded  toward  the  Virginia  Central  railway,  to  destroy  it,  and  also  some  lead 
mines  near  Wytheville.  But  little  was  accomplished.  Later  than  this,  General 
Hunter,  who  had  succeeded  Sigel  in  command,  fought  [June  5]  the  Confeder 
ates  at  Piedmont,  not  far  from  Staunton,  'where  he  was  joined  by  Crook  and 
Averill.  Then  the  whole  body,  twenty  thousand  strong,  went  over  the  mount 
ains  to  capture  Lynchburg.  It  was  too  strong  ;  and  Hunter,  after  destroying  a 
vast  amount  of  property  in  that  region,  withdrew  into  West  Virginia,  and  was 
not  able  to  join  in  the  campaign  for  several  weeks  afterward. 

While  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  struggling  with  Lee,  General  Butler, 
who  had  been  joined  by  troops,  under  General  Gillmore,  which  had  been  called 
up  from  Charleston,  made  effective  co-operative  movements.  He  went  up 
the  James  River  [May  4,  1864],  in  armed  transports,  with  about  twenty-live 
thousand  men,  followed  by  a  squadron  of  gun-boats  under  Admiral  Lee,  and 
unarmed  transports.  Fort  Powhatan,  Wilson's  Landing,  and  City  Point,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Appomattox  River,  were  seized,  and  Butler  proceeded  at 
once  to  take  possession  of  and  hold  the  peninsula  of  Bermuda  Hundred  between 
the  rivers  James,  and  Appomattox.  Simultaneously  with  this  movement  up 
the  James,  General  Kautz,  with  five  thousand  cavalry,  went  out  from  SuiFolk, 
to  break  up  the  railways  south  and  west  of  Petersburg  ;  while  Colonel  West, 
with  fifteen  hundred  mounted  men  went  up  the  Peninsula,  forded  the  Chick- 
ahominy,  and  took  post  on  the  James  River,  opposite  City  Point.  All  this  was 
done  with  scarcely  any  opposition,  for  Confederate  troops  were  then  few  in 
that  region. 

General  Butler  proceeded  to  cast  up  a  strong  line  of  intrenchments  across 
the  peninsula  of  Bermuda  Hundred,  and  to  destroy  the  railway  between  Peters 
burg  and  Richmond.  The  former  place  was  then  at  his  mercy,  and  might 
have  been  easily  taken,  but  misinformation  from  Washington  made  Butler 
move  cautiously.  Meanwhile,  the  withdrawal  of  Gillmore's  troops  having 
relieved  Charleston  of  immediate  danger,  left  the  Confederate  forces  there  free 
to  act  elsewhere.  So,  when  Butler  moved  up  the  James,  Beauregard  was 
summoned  to  Richmond  with  all  the  troops  he  could  collect.  He  passed  over 
the  Weldon  road  before  Kautz  struck  it,  and  filled  Petersburg  with  defenders 
before  Butler  could  move  upon  it  in  force.  His  columns  were  receiving  acces 
sions  of  strength  every  hour,  and  while  Butler  was  intrenching,  Beauregard 
was  massing  a  heavy  force  on  his  front  along  the  line  of  the  railway.  Finally, 
on  the  morning  of  the  16th  [May],  while  a  dense  fog  shrouded  the  country,  he 
attempted  to  turn  Butler's  right  flank,  which  was  connected  with  the  James  by 
a  thin  line.  A  National  brigade  was  utterly  overwhelmed  by  the  first  heavy 
blow,  when  two  regiments,  standing  firmly  at  the  junction  of  roads,  checked 
the  victors.  At  the  same  time  a  force  that  had  fallen  on  Butler's  front,  was 
repulsed.  The,  assault  was  renewed,  on  the  National  right,  when  the  Union 
troops  all  fell  back  to  their  intrenchments.  In  this  collision  the  Nationals  lost 
about  four  thousand  of  their  number,  and  the  Confederates,  about  three  thou- 


692 


THE     NATION. 


[1864. 


sand.  For  several  days  afterward  there  was  some  sharp  fighting  in  front  of 
Butler's  line.  Kautz,  meanwhile,  had  been  on  the  railway  communications  in 
the  rear  of  Petersburg,  inflicted  considerable  but  not  very  serious  damage,  and 
returned  to  head-quarters. 

And  now  Grant's  flanking  column  was  moving  grandly  forward.  Lee  had 
the  advantage  of  higher  ground,  and  a  more  direct  road  to  Richmond,  and 
when  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  approached  the  North  Anna  River,  near  the 
Fredericksburg  railway  crossing,  it  found  its  antagonist  strongly  posted  on  the 
opposite  side,  to  dispute  its  passage.  A  heavy  battle  ensued  [May  23],  when 
Lee  withdrew  a  little  to  a  stronger  position.  Grant  became  satisfied,  after 
careful  examination  of  that  position,  that  he  could  not  carry  it.  So  he  with 
drew  [May  26],  and  resumed  his  march  on  Richmond,  well  eastward  of  his  foe, 
Sheridan,  with  the  cavalry,  in  the  advance;  and  on  the  28th  the  entire  Army 
of  the  Potomac  was  south  of  the  Pamunkey  River,  with  an  unobstructed  com 
munication  with  its  new  base  of  supplies  at  White  House,  near  the  mouth  of 
that  stream.  But  Lee,  moving  by  a  shorter  road,  was  again  in  a  strongly 
intrenched  position  on  the  National  front,  covering  the  turnpike  and  the  two 
railways  to  Richmond.  There  heavy  battles  were  fought  [May  28,  29],  when 
Grant,  again  finding  Lee's  position  too  strong  to  be  carried,  began  another 

flanking  rmovement,  with  the  intention 
of  crossing  the  Chickahominy  near 
Cool  Arbor.  Sheridan  had  seized  an 
eligible  position  at  Cool  Arbor,  and 
there,  on  the  following  day,  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  was  re-enforced  [May 
31]  by  ten  thousand  men  under  Gen 
eral  W.  F.  Smith,  sent  up  by  Butler 
from  the  Army  of  the  James  at  Ber 
muda  Hundred. 

Meade  now  gave  orders  for  an 
advance  upon  the  foe,  and  the  forcing 
of  a  passage  of  the  Chickahominy. 
Here  was  the  old  battle-ground  where 
McClellan  and  Lee  fought  two  years 


PHILIP    II.    SHERIDAN. 


before,  and  here  were  now  some  san 
guinary  engagements  preparatory  to  the  final  struggle  which  occurred  on  the 
3d  of  June,  when  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  attempted  to  break  through  the 
lines  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  and  cross  the  Chickahominy.  The 
struggle  was  fearful  and  bloody,  but  brief.  Twenty  minutes  after  the  first  shot 
was  fired,  full  ten  thousand  Union  men  were  killed  or  wounded.  The  Nationals 
lost  no  ground,  but  did  not  attempt  to  advance  farther.  They  were  attacked 
that  night,  but  repulsed  their  assailants.  Another  attack  the  next  day,  and 
also  at  night,  had  a  similar  result,  but  with  heavy  losses  on  both  sides.1  Mean- 


1  The  total  loss  of  the  Unionists  in  the  struggle  around  Cool  Arbor,  was  in,  153,  of  whom 
1,705  were  killed,  9.042  wounded,  and  2,405  missing. 


1864.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  £93 

while  the  Nationals  were  gradually  moving  to  the  left,  and  on  the  7th  [June] 
that  wing  touched  the  Chickahominy.  Then  Sheridan  was  dispatched  with 
two  divisions  of  cavalry  around  Lee's  left.  He  tore  up  the  railways  in  that 
direction,  and  scattered  all  Confederate  forces  that  opposed  him  until  he  reached 
Gordonsville,  where  he  found  them  so  numerous  that  he  retraced  his  steps. 

Grant  now  formed  the  bold  resolution  to  cross  the  Chickahominy  far  to 
Lee's  right,  and  then  pass  the  James  River  and  attack  Richmond  from  the 
south.  This  resolution  startled  the  authorities  at  Washington  with  fears  that 
Lee  might  turn  back  and  seize  that  city.  Grant  had  considered  all  the  contin 
gencies  incident  to  such  a  bold  movement,  and  feared  no  evil  from  it.1  To 
this  end  the  whole  army  was  put  in  motion  [June  12,  13].  The  most  of  the 
troops  crossed  the  Chickahominy  at  Long  Bridge,  and  moved  toward  the 
James  by  way  of  Charles  City  Court-House,  carrying  with  them  the  iron  work 
of  the  railway  between  the  Chickahominy  and  White  House.  The  passage  of 
the  river  was  safely  made  by  the  army  on  ferry-boats  and  pontoon  bridges  on 
the  14th  and  15th  of  June.  At  the  same  time  unsuccessful  efforts  were  made 
by  a  portion  of  the  Army  of  the  James  to  seize  Petersburg  before  aid  should 
come  down  to  Beauregard  from  Lee.  The  failure  to  do  so  was  a  sad  misfor 
tune,  and  from  that  time,  for  about  ten  months,  Petersburg  and  Richmond  sus 
tained  a  most  pressing  siege. 

General  Grant  established  his  head-quarters  at  City  Point,  and  thither 
Meade  hastened,  after  posting  his  army  [June  16],  to  consult  him,  when  it  was 
determined  to  make  a  general  assault  that  evening  on  Petersburg.  It  was  done 
by  the  combined  corps  of  Warren,  Hancock,  and  Burnside,  at  a  heavy  cost  of 
life,  but  with  the  gain  of  a  slight  advance  of  the  National  line.  It  was  evident 
that  a  greater  portion  of  Lee's  army  was  now  south  of  the  James  River.  A 
force  under  Terry,  sent  out  by  Butler  to  seize  and  hold  the  railway,  was  driven 
by  Longstreet  and  Pickett.  Another  general  assault  was  ordered  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  18th,  when  it  was  found' that  the  Confederates  had  withdrawn  to  a 
stronger  line  of  works  nearer  Petersburg.  The  attack  was  made  in  the  after 
noon,  and  resulted  in  no  gain  to  the  Nationals,  but  in  a  heavy  loss  of  men. 

It  was  now  evident  that  Petersburg  could  not  be  carried  by  a  direct  assault, 
so  a  flanking  movement  was  made  for  the  purpose  of  seizing  and  cutting  the 
Weldon  road,  and  turning  the  Confederate  right.  The  turning  column  was 
heavily  attacked  [June  22,  1864]  by  General  A.  P.  Hill,  and  Avere  falling  back, 
when  Meade  arrived.  Then  the  line  was  restored,  and,  by  an  advance  at 
nightfall,  nearly  all  of  the  lost  ground  was  recovered.  The  Weldon  road  was 
reached  the  next  morning,  but  just  as  destructive  operations  upon  it  were  com 
menced,  Hill  struck  the  Nationals  a  stunning  blow,  which  made  them  recoil. 
In  this  unsuccessful  flank  movement,  the  Unionists  lost  about  four  thousand 
men,  mostly  by  capture.  At  the  same  time  General  Wilson,  with  his  own  and 
Kautz's  cavalry,  struck  the  Weldon  railway  at  Reams's  Station,  destroyed  the 

1  The  country  between  Lee's  shattered  army  and  "Washington,  was  thoroughly  exhausted  by 
the  troops  that  had  passed  over  it,  and  had  Lee  attempted  such  a  movement,  Grant  could  have 
sent  troops  from  the  James  b}'  way  of  the  Potomac  for  the  protection  of  the  capital  much  sooner 
than  Lee  could  have  marched  to  the  attack. 


694 


THE     NATION. 


[1864. 


buildings  and  track,  and  then  pushed  on  to  the  Lynchburg  road.  This  was 
also  destroyed  over  a  distance  of  twenty-two  miles.  In  the  prosecution  of  this 
destructive  business,  the  cavalry  went  onto  the  Staunton  River,  when  they 
turned,  and  found  themselves  compelled  to  fight  their  way  back.  Wearied 
and  worn,  the  shattered  column  reached  the  army,  with  a  loss  of  their  guns, 
train,  and  nearly  a  thousand  men  made  captive. 

Butler  now  threw  a  pontoon  bridge  across  the  James  River  at  Deep  Bottom, 
over  which  troops  passed  and  menaced  Richmond.     Lee  sent  a  force  to  con- 


PONTOON   BRIDGE    AT   I)EEP   BOTTOM. 

front  them,  when  Hancock  crossed  over,  flanked  the  Confederate  outpost,  and 
drove  them  back  to  the  shelter  of  strong  works  at  Chapin's  Bluff,  not  far 
below  Fort  Darling,  on  Drewry's  Bluff.  These  Sheridan  attempted  to  flank. 
Lee  was  so  alarmed  by  these  movements  within  a  few  miles  of  Richmond,  that 
he  withdrew  a  large  portion  of  his  army  from  the  south  side  of  the  river  to 
meet  the  menace,  when  Grant  took  the  opportunity  to  make  a  vigorous  attempt 
to  carry  the  Confederate  lines  before  Petersburg.  He  had  secretly  run  a  mine 
under  one  of  their  principal  forts,  in  front  of  Burnside's  position,  and  this  was 
sprung  on  the  morning  of  the  30th  of  June.  The  explosion  produced  a  large 
crater  where  the  fort  stood,  and  by  it  about  three  hundred  inmates  of  the  work 
perished.  At  the  same  moment  the  National  Artillery  was  opened  along  the 
whole  line,  but  a  simultaneous  assault  that  was  to  havc'been  made  at  the  point 
of  the  explosion  for  the  purpose  of  penetrating  the  Confederate  works,  was 
not  undertaken  in  time,  and  the  scheme  failed.1 

1  Owing  to  a  lack  of  readiness  on  the  part  of  the  attacking  column,  the  assault  was  not  made 
until  the  Confederates  had  recovered  from  the   shock,  and  massed  troops  at  the  breach.      These 


1864.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  595 

There  was  now  a  brief  lull  in  operations  before  Petersburg  and  Richmond, 
during  which  there  were  some  stirring  events  in  Maryland.  When  Hunter 
disappeared  beyond  the  mountains,1  General  Early,  who  had  been  sent  by  Lee 
to  drive  the  former  from  Lynchburg,  hastened  to  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and, 
with  about  fifteen  thousand  men,  swept  down  to  and  across  the  Potomac,  driv 
ing  General  Sigel  into  Maryland.  Early  did  not  stop  to  molest  some  of  Sigel's 
command  on  Maryland  Heights  at  Harper's  Ferry,  but  pushed  on  to  Hagers- 
town  and  Frederick.  His  was  a  powerful  raid,  for  the  purposes  of  plunder 
and  a  possible  seizure  of  Baltimore  and  Washington,  but  chiefly  to  cause 
Grant  to  send  heavy  bodies  of  troops  for  the  defense  of  the  latter  city,  and  so 
compel  him  to  raise  the  siege  of  Petersburg. 

At  that  time  the  only  force  at  hand  to  confront  Early  were  a  few  troops 
commanded  by  General  Lewis  Wallace,  whose  head-quarters  were  at  Baltimore. 
That  energetic  officer  proceeded  at  once  to  a  judicious  use  of  the  small  force 
under  his  control,  in  which  he  was  ably  seconded  by  the  gallant  General  E.  B. 
Tyler.  On  hearing  of  Early's  movement,  General  Grant  had  sent  the  Sixth 
Corps,  under  General  Wright,  to  Washington,  and,  fortunately,  the  Nineteenth 
Corps,  under  General  Emory,2  arrived  at  this  juncture  at  Fortress  Monroe,  from 
New  Orleans.  The  division  of  General  Ricketts,  of  that  corps,  was  imme 
diately  sent  to  Baltimore,  and  with  these,*  and  such  troops  as  he  could  gather 
in  his  department,  Wallace  made  a  stand  behind  the  Monocacy  River,  not  far 
from  Frederick.  There,  with  his  handful  of  men,  he  fought  Early  [July  8, 
1864],  whose  cavalry  were  making  demonstrations  on  his  flanks.  Wallace  Avas 
compelled  to  fall  back  on  Baltimore  after  heavy  loss.3  Then  Early  pushed  on 
toward  Washington,  but  the  check  and  lesson  given  him  by  Wallace  so 
retarded  his  movements  that  the  Sixth  and  Nineteenth  Corps  arrived  there  in 
time  to  save  the  city  from  capture.  Early  withdrew  from  in  front  of  Wash 
ington  on  the  night  of  the  12th,  and  with  much  booty  crossed  the  Potomac 
into  Virginia  at  Edwards's  Ferry.  General  Wright  pursued  him  through 
Snicker's  Gap  to  the  Shenandoah  River,  where,  after  a  sharp  conflict  [July  19], 
Early  began  a  retreat  up  the  Valley,  and  Wright  returned  to  WashingtQn. 
Tlireatenings  in  that  valley  caused  both  the  Sixth  and  Nineteenth  Corps  to  be 
quickly  sent  there,  and  soon  afterward  occurred  Sheridan's  brilliant  campaign 
in  that  region,  which  will  be  noticed  presently. 

A  fortnight  after  the  failure  of  the  mining  operations  at  Petersburg,  Grant 
sent  another  expedition  to  the  north  side  of  the  James,  at  Deep  Bottom,  com 
posed  of  the  divisions  of  Birney  and  Hancock,  and  cavalry  under  Gregg.  As 
before,  Richmond  was  seriously  threatened,  but  in  engagements  on  the  13th 
and  16th  of  August,  no  decided  advantage  to  the  Unionists  was  gained,  except 
ing  the  incidental  one  of  assisting  similar  demonstrations  on  the  right  of  the 
Confederates,  against  which  Warren  was  impelled,  for  the  purpose  of  seizing 

repulsed  the  assaulting  column  when  it  moved  forward,  and  inflicted  a  loss  on  the  Unionists  of 
about  4,400  men. 

1  See  page  691.  2  See  page  684. 

3  He  lost  nearly  two  thousand  men,  including  1,282  who  were  made  prisoners,  or  were  other 
wise  missing.  His  killed  numbered  98,  and  his  wounded  579. 


696 


THE     X  ATI  OX. 


[1S64. 


the  Weldon  road.  This  he  effected  [August  18],  with  a  loss  of  a  thousand 
men.  There  he  commenced  intrenching,  when  a  stronger  force  than  he  had 
encountered  endeavored  to  regain  the  road.  In  so  doing  they  temporarily 
broke  [August  19]  "Warren's  line,  and  captured  twenty-five  hundred  of  his 
men,  including  General  J.  Hayes.  But  the  Nationals  held  the  road  in  spite  of 
all  efforts  to  dislodge  them.  They  repulsed  another  heavy  attack  on  the  21st, 
and  on  the  same  day  Hancock,  who  had  returned  from  the  north  side  of  the 
James,  struck  the  Weldon  road  at  Reams's  Station,  and  destroyed  the  track 
for  some  distance.  The  Confederates  attacked  them  in  heavy  force,  when  they 
were  most  gallantly  opposed  by  Miles  and  others.  The  Nationals  were  finally 
driven  off  after  a  loss  of  2,400  men  out  of  8,000  men ;  also  five  guns. 

For  a  month  after  this  there  was  comparative  quiet  along  the  lines,  when 
National  troops  moved  simultaneously  upon  the  right  and  left  flanks  of  the  Con 
federates.  That  of  Warren,  on  their  right,  was  more  for  the  purpose  of  mask 
ing  a  more  formidable  one  by  Butler  on  their  left,  on  the  north  side  of  the 
James,  with  the  Tenth  Corps,  under  Birney,  and  Eighteenth,  under  Ord. 
Warren  gained  some  advantage  by  pushing  forward  the  National  lines,  but 
that  gained  by  Butler  was  of  far  more  importance.  He  stormed  and  captured 

their  strongest  work  [September  29,  1864]  on 
that  side  of  the  river,  known  as  Fort  Harrison, 
with  fifteen  guns  and  a  line  of  intrenchments. 
In  an  attack  upon  another  fort  near,  immediate 
ly  afterward,  the  Nationals  were  repulsed,  and 
General  Burnham  was  killed.  The  gallant 
behavior  of  colored  troops  in  this  charge  was 
such  that  General  Butler,  after  the  war,  caused 
a  number  of  silver  medals  to  be  struck  and 
given  to  the  most  distinguished  among  them, 
in  testimony  of  their  valor  on  that  occasion. 
Now  there  was  another  pause  for  a  month, 
when  an  attempt  was 
made  to  turn  the  Con 
federate  right,  while 
Butler  menaced  their 
left  on  the  north  side 
of  the  James  River. 
The  bulk  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  was 
massed  on  Lee's  right, 
and  moved  [October 
27]  upon  his  works  on 
Hatcher's  Run,  west 
of  the  Weldon  road. 
For  that  position  there  was  a  severe  struggle,  which  resulted  in  a  repulse  of 
the  Nationals,  and  their  final  withdrawal  [October  29]  to  their  intrenchments 
in  front  of  Petersburg  Froin  that  time  until  the  opening  of  the  spring  cam- 


THE    BUTLKR    MEDAL. 


1834.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


697 


paign,  little  was  done  by  the  Nationals  immediately  in  front  of  Petersburg  and 
Richmond,  excepting  an  extension  of  their  line  to  Hatcher's  Run.  Up  to  the 
first  of  November,  from  the  fifth  of  May,  the  losses  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
had  been  fearful — a  little  more  than  88,000  men.  Probably  the  entire  loss 
among  troops  engaged  in  the  campaign  against  Richmond  during  that  time 
was  100,000  men. 

In  the  mean  time  there  had  been  stirring  events  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley. 
On  the  day  after  Wright  and  Early  fought,1  Averill,  moving  up  from  Martins- 
burg,  had  a  contest  with  and  worsted  a  Confederate  force  near  Winchester 
[July  20],  taking  prisoners  and  guns.  Two  or  three  days  afterward,  Crook 
was  driven  back  from  that  neighborhood  by  a  strong  attacking  party,  and  it 
was"  evident  that  Early  had  not,  as  was  expected,  hastened  to  rejoin  Lee,  but 
was  in  full  force  in  the  Valley,  and  ready  to  fight.  His  own  estimate  of  his 
power  was  evinced  by  his  sending  General  AjcCausland  and  others  on  a  raid 
into  Maryland  and  Western  Pennsylvania,  at  which  time  they  burned  about 
two-thirds  of  the  city  of  Chambersburg.  When  the  raiders  turned  again 
toward  the  Potomac,  Averill,  who  was  in  the  vicinity  of  Chambersburg,  fol 
lowed,  but  they  went  back  to  Virginia  with  plunder,  Avithout  much  molesta 
tion. 

When  information  of  this  daring  raid  reached  Washington,  the  Sixth  and 
Ninth  Corps  were  sent  first  in  quest  of  the  invaders,  arid  then  into  the  Shenan- 


VIEW   AT   CEDAR    CREEK. 


doah  Valley,  where  they  were  joined  by  Hunter's  troops.  The  whole  force, 
about  30,000  strong,  was  placed  under  the  command  of  General  Sheridan  early 
in  August.  After  a  month's  preparation,  he  assumed  the  offensive  against 
Early,  and  by  a  series  of  brilliant  movements  and  a  sharp  battle,  he  sent  him 


See  page  695. 


608 


THE     NATION. 


[1864 


"  whirling  up  the  Valley,"  as  he  expressed  it.  First  there  was  a  severe  battle 
near  Winchester  [Sept.  19],  when  Early  retreated  to  the  strong  position  of 
Fisher's  Hill,  not  far  from  Strasburg.  He  was  driven  from  this  vantage^ 
ground  on  the  21st,  with  heavy  loss,  and  fled  to  the  mountains  with  not  more 
than  half  his  army  with  which  he  had  at  first  met  Sheridan.  The  latter  fell 
back  to  a  position  behind  Cedar  Creek,  near  Strasburg,  where,  on  the  1 9th  of 
October,  Early,  who  had  been  re-enforced,  and  had  come  down  to  Fisher's 
Hill,  fell  suddenly  and  crushingly  upon  the  Nationals,  and  came  near  over 
whelming  them  with  destruction.  They  fell  back  to  Middletown  and  beyond, 
where,  under  the  chief  direction  of  General  Wright,  they  turned  upon  their 
pursuers.  Sheridan  had  just  come  up  from  Winchester.  A  sharp  conflict 
ensued,  when  the  tide  was  turned,  and  Early  was  again  sent  in  swift  retreat  up 
the  Shenandoah  Valley,  with  heavy  loss.  Sheridan's  short  campaign  in  the 
Valley  was  a  brilliant  success,  and  ended  hostilities  in  that  region,  for  he  nearly 
annihilated  Early 's  army,  and  Lee  could  spare  no  more  men  for  warfare  away 
from  Richmond. 


CHAPTER     XIX. 

THE     CIVIL     WAR.       [1861—1865.] 

LET  us  here  turn  from  a  consideration  of  the  campaign  against  Richmond, 
and  its  defenders,  for  awhile,  and  observe  the  progress  of  that  against  Atlanta 
and  the  army  that  stood  in  the  way  of  the  National  advance.  General  William 
T.  Sherman  was  chosen  by  Grant,  to  lead  the  troops  in  the  campaign  in 

Georgia,  and  he  set  out  from  the 
vicinity  of  Chattanooga,  at  the  be 
ginning  of  May,  with  nearly  100,000 
men.1  His  antagonist,  General  Joseph 
E.  Johnston,  then  at  Dalton,  had 
about  55,000  men.2  Johnston  was  in 
a  strong  position  at  Dalton,  the  ap 
proaches  to  it,  through  gaps  in  a 
mountain  range,  being  strongly  forti 
fied.  Sherman,  when  he  moved'for- 
ward,  was  satisfied  that  a  direct 
v  attack  on  Johnston's  front,  through 
Buzzard's  Roost  Pass  in  Rocky  Face 
Ridge,  would  be  disastrous  to  his 
w.  T.  SHERMAN.  men,  so  he  began  that  series  of  mas- 


1  Sherman  was  the  commander  of  the  Military  Division  of  the  Missisippi,  which  Grant  held  at 
the  time  of  his  promotion.      Ilis  force  for  the  campaign  comprised  three  armies,  namely:   Army 
of  the  Cumberland,  led  by  General  George  H.  Thomas,  60,773;  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  General 
McPherson.  24,465;  and  Army  of  the  Ohio,  General  Schofield.  18,559;  total,  98,797. 

2  Johnston's  army  was  divided  into  three  corps,  commanded  respectively  by  Generals  Hardee, 
Hood,  and  Polk. 


1864.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  699 

terly  flank  movements  by  which  he  compelled  his  adversary  (who  was  deter 
mined  to  save  his  army),  to  abandon  one  strong  position  after  another. 

Sherman  menaced  Johnston  on  front  and  flank,  on  the  7th  of  May,  when 
the  latter  abandoned  his  position  at  Dalton,  and  fell  back  behind  strong  works 
at  Resaca,  which  extended  from  the'  Oostenaula  River,  northward.  When 
Sherman  approached,  Johnston  sent  out  troops  to  attack  a  portion  of  his  com 
mand.  A  sharp  fight  occurred  [May  15],  about  two  miles  from  Resaca  Station, 
in  which  the  Confederates  were  driven,  and  retreated,  across  the  Oostenaula 
covered  by  the  corps  of  Ilardee.  The  Nationals  closely  pursued,  Thomas 
following  directly  in  the  rear  of  the  fugitives,  while  McPherson  and  Schofield 
took  routes  to  their  right  and  left.  General  J.  C.  Davis  and  his  division  pushed 
on  to  Rome,  where  they  destroyed  mills  and  founderies  of  great  importance. 
Near  Adairsville,  Johnston  made  a  brief  stand  against  the  central  pursuing 
column,  but  on  the  near  approach  of  the  Nationals,  he  continued  his  retreat  to 
a  strong  and  fortified  position  at  Cassville.  There  he  evidently  intended  to 
give  battle,  but  he  thought  it  prudent  to  move  on  [May  19],  when  he  crossed 
the  Etowah  River,  burnt  the  bridges  behind  him,  and  took  another  good 
position  covering  the  Allatoona  Pass,  in  a  mountainous  region. 

Sherman  now  rested  his  army  a  little.  He  perceived  that  Johnston's  posi 
tion  was  almost  impregnable,  so  he  determined  to  flank  him  out  of  it,  by 
moving  well  to  the  right,  and  concentrating  his  army  at  Dallas.  Johnston 
attempted  to  thwart  the  movement,  and  in  that  vicinity  a  severe  but  indecisive 
battle  was  fought  [May  25].  Johnston's  army,  meanwhile,  had  been  very 
busy  in  casting  up  intrenchments  between  Dallas  and  Marietta,  over  a  broken 
wooded  region,  in  which  it  was  very  difficult  for  troops  to  operate.  In  that 
region  much  skirmishing  and  fighting  occurred,  and  finally,  on  the  first  of  June, 
Johnston  was  compelled  to  evacuate  the  Allatoona  Pass.  Tie  also,  soon  after 
ward,  abandoned  his  intrenchments  near  New  Hope  Church  and  Ackworth. 
Sherman  now  garrisoned  Allatoona  Pass,  and  made  it  a  secondary  base  of  sup 
plies,  he  havino-  caused  the  railway  and  its  bridges  between  there  and  Chatta- 

1  O  •/  O 

nooga  to  be  put  in  order.  He  was  now  re-enforced  by  infantry,  and  cavalry, 
making  his  army  nearly  as  strong  as  when  it  left  Chattanooga ;  and  he  moved 
forward  [June  9]  to  Big  Shanty,  not  far  from  the  great  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
around  and  upon  which,  as  well  as  upon  Lost  Mountain  and  Pine  Mountain, 
the  Confederates  had  lines  of  intrenchments. 

In  this  region  there  was  much  maneuvering  and  fighting,  for  a  few  days, 
in  the  midst  of  almost  incessant  rain,  during  which  General  (Bishop)  Polk  was 
killed.  By  persistent  assaults,  Sherman  compelled  Johnston  to  abandon,  first, 
Pine  Mountain  [June  15],  then  Lost  Mountain  [June  17];  and  finally,  after 
some  sanguinary  engagements,  in  which  both  parties  suffered  terribly,  he  was 
compelled  to  evacuate  the  great  Kenesaw  Mountain  [July  2],  overlooking 
Marietta.  At  dawn  on  the  3d,  the  National  banner  was  seen  waving  over  that 
peak,  and  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  Sherman  rode  into  Marietta,  close 
upon  the  rear  guard  of  Johnston's  army,  then  hastening  to  the  Chattahoochee 
River,  near  Atlanta,  closely  pursued  by  the  Nationals.  Sherman  hoped  to 
strike  Johnson  a  fatal  blow  while  he  was  crossing  that  stream,  but  that  skillful 


TOO 


THE     N  A  T I  0  N 


[1864. 


leader  so  quickly  covered  the  passage  by  strong  mtrenchments,  that  his  array 
was  all  across,  excepting  troops  holding  the  works,  early  on  the  mornin 
the  5th,  without  having  been  molested. 


g  of 


SUMMIT   OF   GREAT   KENESAW    MOUNTAIN. 


Sherman  promptly  advanced  to  the  Chattahoochee,  where  quick  and  success 
ful  turning  movements  by  Schofield  and  Howard,  caused  Johnston  to  abandon 
the  line  of  the  river,  and  retreat  toward  Atlanta  [July  10,  1864].  He  formed 
a  new  line,  covering  that  town,  with  the  Chattahoochee  on  his  left,  and  Peach- 
tree  Creek  on  his  right.  Now  the  two  armies  rested  a  little;  and  at  that  time 

Johnston  was  relieved  of  command, 
and  General  J.  B.  Hood,  of  Texas,  was 
appointed  to  fill  his  place.  The  former 
had  been  careful  to  preserve  his  army. 
His  force  was  every  way  inferior  to 
that  of  his  antagonist,  and  he  knew 
that  in  pitched  battles  he  would  doubt 
less  lose  a  large  portion  of  his  men 
and  materials.  The  Conspirators  at 
Richmond  were  dissatisfied  with  his 
wise  caution,  and  committed  his  army 
to  a  dashing  and  brave  soldier,  who 
preferred  the  quick  work  of  brute  force 
to  the  slower  achievements  of  mili 
tary  science.  Hood  received  from 
Johnston  full  fifty  thousand  effective 
With  these  he  resolved  to  fight,  and  not 


J.    B.    HOOD. 


men,  of  whom  10,000  were  cavalry, 
retreat. 

On  the  16th  of  July,  General  Rousseau  joined  Sherman  witli  2,000  cavalry; 

1  This  is  from  a  sketch  made  by  the  author  in  May,  i860.  The  high  peak  in  the  distance  is 
Lost  Mountain.  The  eminence  on  the  extreme  right  is  Pine  Mountain,  on  which  General  Bolk 
was  killed  while  watching  the  movements  of  troops. 


1864.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  ^Q^ 

and  on  the  19th  such  of  the  National  forces  as  had  not  crossed  the  Chatta- 
lioochee,  passed  over  it.  Then  the  left,  led  by  Schofield  and  McPherson, 
advanced  with  the  intention  of  striking  the  railway  east  of  Decatur,  that 
connects  Atlanta  with  Augusta.  Thomas,  at  the  same  time,  crossed  Peach-tree 
Creek  at  several  places,  and  heavy  skirmishing  occurred  along  the  entire  front 
of  the  advancing  columns.  McPherson  struck  and  destroyed  the  railway  for 
several  miles,  and  Schofield  reached  Decatur.  Hood  had  determined  to  give 
battle  at  an  auspicious  moment,  and  on  the  afternoon  of  the  20th  he  fell 
heavily  upon  the  corps  of  Howard  and  Hooker,  and  a  part  of  Palmer's,  but 
was  repulsed  after  a  most  gallant  struggle,  in  which  both  sides  suffered 
severely.1 

On  the  morning  of  the  22d  [July,  1864],  Sherman  discovered  that  the  Con 
federates  had  abandoned  the  heights  along  Peach-tree  Creek,  and  it  was  con 
cluded  that  Hood,  following  the  example  of  Johnston,  was  about  to  evacuate 
Atlanta.  The  army  was  at  once  moved  rapidly  toward  that  city,  when,  at  an 
average  of  two  miles  from  it,  it  encountered  a  very  heavy  line  of  intrench- 
ments,  which  had  been  cast  up  the  previous  year,  with  Hood  and  his  army 
behind  them.  General  Blair,  commanding  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  had  carried 
an  important  point  the  night  before,  and  was  in  full  view  of  the  city,  and 
preparations  were  made  for  assailing  the  Confederate  lines  in  heavy  force, 
when  they  were  compelled  to  perform  less  acceptable  service.  Hood  had 
been  holding  the  Nationals  in  check  with  a  small  part  of  his  army,  and  had 
made  a  long  night  march  around  with  his  main  body,  and  now  he  fell  with 
crushing  force  upon  Sherman's  rear.  The  first  assault  was  made  by  Hardee  ; 
and  at  about  the  same  time,  McPherson,  who  was  riding  about  alone  in  the 
woods,  and  in  fancied  safety,  making  observations,  was  shot  dead,  when 
General  Logan  succeeded  to  the  command  of  his  troops.  A  terrible  battle, 
that  lasted  for  hours,  succeeded  Hardee's  assault,  when,  toward  evening,  the 
Confederates,  who  had  lost  very  heavily,  unable  to  carry  the  coveted  points, 
desisted.  The  assault  was  soon  renewed,  and  after  another  desperate  struggle, 
the  Nationals  were  victorious,  and  the  Confederates  retired  to  their  works.2 

Hood  now  seemed  more  disposed  to  be  quiet,  and  Sherman  dispatched 
cavalry  to  make  raids  on  the  railways  in  the  rear  of  his  antagonist.  Generals 
A.  D.  McCook  and  Stoneman  were  sent  on  this  business,  on  different  routes, 
but  with  the  intention  of  co-operating.  Failing  in  this,  their  operations, 
though  important,  fell  short  of  Sherman's  expectations.  Stoneman  effected 
very  little,  and  his  force,  divided  and  weakened,  was  captured  or  dispersed, 
and  himself  made  prisoner.  Meanwhile  Sherman  made  dispositions  for  flanking 
Hood  out  of  Atlanta,  when  the  latter  attacked  the  Nationals  [July  28],  and  a 
sanguinary  battle  ensued.  Hood  was  repulsed  with  heavy  loss,  and  soon 
perceiving  that  Sherman  was  gradually  getting  possession  of  the  railroads  by 

1  The  Union  loss,  mostly  of  Howard's  corps,  was  about  1,500  men.     Sherman  estimated  the 
Confederate  loss  at  5,000.     They  left  500  dead,  and  1,000  severely  wounded,  on  the  field,  besides 
many  prisoners. 

2  The  National  loss  in  the  struggles  of  that  day  was  3,722,  of  whom  about  1.000  were  prisoner?. 
Sherman  estimated  Hood's  total  loss  at  not  less  than  8,000.     He  left  2,200  dead  ou  the  h'eld, 
within  the  Union  lines,  and  1,000  prisoners. 


7Q2  THE     NATION.  [1864. 

which  the  Confederates  in  Atlanta  received  their  supplies,  he  sent  his  cavalry 
to  retaliate  in  kind,  by  striking  Sherman's  communications.  This  absence  of 
Hood's  cavalry  gave  Sherman  a  coveted  opportunity  to  harm  his  antagonist 
seriously,  lie  dispatched  Kilpatrick  at  the  middle  of  August  with  5,000 
horsemen,  to  break  up  the  railways  leading,  one  toward  Montgomery,  in 
Alabama,  and  the  other  to  Macon,  in  Georgia.  This  raid  Avas  successful,  and 
was  followed  by  a  movement  of  nearly  the  whole  army  from  Atlanta  to  the 
railways  in  its  rear,  when  Hood,  fatally  dividing  his  a'rmy,  sent  a  part  under 
Hardee,  to  fight  Howard  at  Jonesboro',  twenty  miles  south,  on  the  Macon 
road,  while  he,  with  the  remainder,  staid  at  Atlanta.  There  was  a  desperate 
battle  at  Jonesboro'  [August  31],  in  which  the  Nationals  were  victorious. 
Howard  lost  about  500  men,  and  Hardee  2,500.  The  Confederate  works 
covering  Jonesboro'  were  captured,  and  Hardee  retreated. 

On  hearing  of  the  disaster  at  Jonesboro',  Hood  blew  up  his  magazines  at 

Atlanta,  and  fled  to  a  point  of  junction 
with  Hardee.  Sherman  took  possession 
of  the  city  and  fortifications,  and  found 
that  Hood  had  not  only  left  the  place 
desolate  by  the  destruction  of  factories, 
founderies,  an,d  other  industrial  establish 
ments,  but  had  left  scarcely  any  food  for 
the  inhabitants.  It  was  impossible  for 
Sherman  to  subsist  both  them  and  his 
:  army,  so  he  humanely  ordered  them  to 
leave  for  the  North  or  the  South,  as  their 
inclinations  might  lead  them.1 

O 

While  Sherman  was  resting  his  army 
SHERMAN'S  HEAD-QUARTERS  IN  ATLANTA. 

at    Atlanta,    Hood    flanked     his    right, 

crossed  the  Chattahoochee,  and  made  a  raid  upon  his  communications.  With 
a  strong  force  he  threatened  Sherman's  supplies  at  Allatoona  Pass,  then  lightly 
guarded,  but  General  Corse  hastening  up  from  Rome  assisted  in  saving  them. 
Not  doubting  it  to  be  Hood's  intention  to  push  up  into  Tennessee,  Sherman 
sent  Thomas  to  Nashville,  so  soon  as  he  heard  of  Hood's  flank  movements ; 
and  leaving  Slocum  (who  had  succeeded  Hooker)  in  command  at  Atlanta,  he 
pushed  the  bulk  of  his  army  in  the  direction  of  Allatoona  Pass,  and  from  the 
top  of  Great  Kenesaw,  told  Corse,  by  signal,  that  help  was  near,  and  to  hold 
out  until  it  should  reach  him.  The  Confederates  were  .  repulsed,  and  then 
Hood  moved  northward,  threatening  posts  along  the  line  of  the  railway,  under 
instructions,  to  entice  his  adversary  out  .of  Georgia,  Sherman  closely  followed 
him,  well  up  toward  Chattanooga,  when  the  route  of  the  chase  deflected 
westward.  In  Northern  Alabama,  Sherman  relinquished  it,  and  sending 
Schofield,  and  most  of  his  cavalry,  under  Wilson,  to  Thomas  at  Nashville,  he 
returned  to  Atlanta,  taking  with  him  the  garrisons  of  posts,  dismantling  the 

1  In  government  wagons,  and  at  the  cost  of  the  government,  over  2.000  persons  with  much 
furniture  and  clothing  were  carried  south  as  far  as  Rough  and  Ready,  and  those  who  desired  to 
go  north,  were  kindly  taken  to  Chattanooga. 


1864.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


703 


railway,  and  burning  founcleries,  &c.     He  cut   loose  from  all  his  communi 
cations  on  the  north,  and  prepared  for  a  march  to  the  sea. 

Sherman's  great  march  to  the  sea  was  begun,  with  65,000  men  of  all  arms, 
on  the  llth  of  November,  1864,  on  which  day  he  cut  his  telegraphic  communi 
cations  with  the  North,  and  was  not  heard  from  for  some  time,  excepting 
through  Confederate  newspapers.  His  army  moved  in  two  grand  divisions, 
the  right  led  by  General  O.  O.  Howard,  and  the  left  by  General  H.  W.  Slocum. 
General  Kilpatrick  led,  with  5,000  cavalry.  Much  of  Atlanta  was  destroyed 
before  they  left  it,  and  the  railways  and  public  property  were  made  desolate  in 
the  track  of  the  two  heavy  columns.  Wheeler's  cavalry  afforded  the  chief 
annoyance  to  the  army  on  its  march.  Feints  were  made  here  and  there,  to 
distract  the  Confederates,  and  were  successful.  The  destination  of  the 
Nationals  from  the  beginning,  had  been  Savannah  or  its  vicinity,  but  the 


foe  sometimes  thought  it  was  Augusta,  and  then  Milledgeville.  They  passed 
on,  and  on  the  13th  of  December,  [1864],  General  Hazen  captured  Fort 
McAllister,  on  the  Ogeechee  River,  not  far  from  Savannah.  That  city  was 
immediately  invested,  and  on  the  night 
of  the  20th,  Hardee,  in  command  there 
with  15,000  troops,  evacuated  it,  and 
lied  to  Charleston,  after  destroying  much 
public  property.  On  the  following  day 
the  National  troops  took  possession  of 
Savannah,1  and  there  rested.  The  army 
had  marched  two  hundred  and  fifty-five 
miles  in  the  space  of  six  weeks,  inflicting 
much  injury  on  the  Confederates,  but 
receiving  very  little  injury  in  return.2 
As  Sherman  approached  the  coast,  Gen 
eral  Foster,  commanding  in  that  region 

O  JD  5 

made  valuable  co-operative  movements ; 
and  when  Hardee  fled  to  Charleston,  he  occupied  strong  positions  on  the  rail 
way  between  the  two  cities,  at  Pocotaligo,  and  other  places. 

There  were  some  stirring  scenes  in  1864,  in  the  region  of  the  Atlantic 
coast  between  the  Pamlico  and  St.  John's  rivers,  which  had  passed  into  history 
when  Sherman  reached  the  estuaries  of  the  sea  at  the  close  of  that  year.  We 
left  Gillmore  easily  holding  Charleston  with  a  tight  grasp  at  the  close  of  1863. :! 
Information  had  then  reached  him,  and  the  government,  that  Florida  was 
ready  to  step  back  into  the  Union,  through  the  open  door  of  amnesty,  but 
needed  a  military  escort,  for  there  were  some  active  Confederate  troops,  under 


SHERMAN'S  HEAD-QUARTERS  IN  SAVANNAH. 


1  Sherman,  in  a  dispatch  to  the  President,  said  :  "I  beg  to  present  you,  as  a  Christmas  gift,  the 
city  of  Savannah,  with  150  heavy  guns,  and  plenty  of  ammunition,  and  also  about  25,000  bales  of 
cotton. 

*  Sherman  lost  during  the  march,  5GT  men,  whereof  only  63  were  killed.  He  captured  1,328 
men,  and  167  guns,  fie  found  and  used  ample  subsistence  on  the  route,  amounting,  in  the 
aggregate,  to  13,000  beeves,  160,000  bushels  of  corn,  and  over  5.000  tons  of  fodder;  also  5,000 
horses,  and  4,000  mules.  He  burned  about  20,000  bales  of  cotton,  and  captured  25,000  bales,  at 
Savannah.  3  See  page  675. 


7()4  THE     CATION.  [1864. 

General  Finnegan,  yet  within  her  borders.  General  Gillmore  accordingly  sent 
General  Truman  Seymour,  with  about  six  thousand  troops,  horse  and  foot,  to 
assist  in  the  restoration  of  Florida  to  the  Union.1  He  entered  the  St.  John's 
River  on  a  fleet  of  steamers  and  sailing  vessels,  with  an  imposing  display,  and 
on  the  7th  of  February,  took  possession  of  the  ruined  city  of  Jacksonville, 
from  which  Finnegan  had  fled  on  Seymour's  approach. 

Finnegan  was  immediately  pursued,  Colonel  Henry,  with  cavalry,  leading 
in  the  chase.  He  drove  the  Confederates  from  place  to  place,  capturing  their 
guns,  their  stores,  and  men,  and  was  closely  followed  by  Seymour  with  the 
residue  of  the  army.  Finally,  Seymour  concentrated  his  forces  at  Sanderson, 
and,  with  about  five  thousand  men,  moved  toward  the  Suwannee  River.  At 
Olustee  Station,  Avhere  the  railway  that  crosses  the  peninsula  passes  through  a 
cypress  swamp,  he  encountered  Finnegan  [February  20,  1864],  in  a  strong 
position,  and  in  a  severe  battle  that  ensued,  was  repulsed.  He  retreated  to 
Jacksonville  in  good  order,  burning,  on  the  way,  stores  valued  at  $1,000,000. 
In  that  unfortunate  expedition  Seymour  lost  about  two  thousand  men. 

At  about  that  time  Rear-Admiral  Bailey  destroyed  important  salt-works, 
on  the  Florida  coast,  which  were  valued  at  $3,000,000.  There  were  some 
raids  in  Florida  in  the  course  of  the  summer,  but  after  the  battle  at  Olustee, 
very  little  was  done  toward  the  restoration  of  Florida  to  its  place  in  the 
Union.2  In  Georgia,  Sherman's  invasion  was  absorbing  all  interest.  In  South 
Carolina,  very  little  of  importance,  bearing  upon  the  progress  of  the  war,  was 
accomplished.  There  were  some  unsuccessful  offensive  movements  in  the 
vicinity  of  Charleston.  Gillmore's  guns  kept  watch  and  ward  over  the  harbor 
and  city,  while  he  and  some  of  his  troops  went  up  the  James,  to  assist  in 
operations  against  Petersburg,  and  Richmond,  as  we  have  seen.3 

There  were  some  events  a  little  more  stirring,  in  North  Carolina,  early  in 
1864.  On  the  first  of  February,  a  Confederate  force  under  General  Pickett, 
menaced  New  Berne,  and  destroyed  a  fine  gun-boat  lying  there.  A  few  weeks 
later,  General  Hoke  inarched  seven  thousand  men  against  Plymouth  [April  17, 

w^_.  -  1864],  near  the  mouth 

of  the  Roanoke  River, 
where  General  Wessells 
was  in  command  of  a 
garrison  of  about  twen 
ty-four  hundred  men, 
with  some  fortifica 
tions.  A  formidable 

THE   ALBEMARLE.  '  ram?        Called     the     Al- 

bemarle,    lying    in    the 
Roanoke,  assisted  in  the  attack,  and  on  the  20th,  Wessells  was  compelled  to 

1  The  President  commissioned,  John  Hay,  one  of  his  private  secretaries,  as  major,  and  sent  him 
[January  13],  to  Hilton  Head,  for  the  purpose  of  accompanying  the  expedition,  to  act  in  a  civil 
capacity,  if  circumstances  should  require  him  to. 

2  On  the  20Ui  of  May  there  was  a  Union  Convention,  at  Jacksonville,  to  take  measures  for  the 
restoration  of  civil  authority  in  Florida.     No  practical  advantage  resulted  from  the  <ratherirf 

3  See  page  G91. 


1864.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  705 

surrender  the  place,  with  sixteen  hundred  men,  twenty-five  guns,  and  a  large 
quantity  of  small-arms  and  stores.  After  the  fall  of  Plymouth,  General  Palmer 
abandoned  [April  28]  Washington,  at  the  head  of  Pamlico  Sound,  and 
Hoke  summoned  New  Berne  to  surrender,  expecting  the  co-operation  of  the 
Albemarle  in  a  siege.  She  was  enticed  from  her  safe  anchorage  under  the 
guns  at  Plymouth,  and  after  a  severe  fight  with  the  Sassacus,  was  compelled 
to  flee  for  safety  up  the  Roanoke.  The  siege  of  New  Berne  was  abandoned, 
and  Hoke  was  called  to  the  James  River.  Several  months  later,  the  gallant 
Lieutenant  Gushing,  of  the  navy,  destroyed  [October  27],  the  dreaded  Albe 
marle  with  a  torpedo,  in  the  Roanoke.  Four  days  afterward,  the  National 
troops  re-entered  Plymouth.  After  that  the  war  in  that  region  consisted 
chiefly  of  a  series  of  encounters  bet \veen  Union  raiders  and  detachments  of 
Confederates. 

When  Sherman  sent  Thomas  to  Nashville,  he  gave  him  the  widest  dis 
cretionary  powers.  These  were  used  with  great  judgment,  and  Thomas  pre 
pared  for  the  stirring  events  which  soon  followed,  with  wise  skill.  Hood,  as 
Sherman  had  anticipated,  pushed  across  the  Tennessee  River,  Forrest's  cavalry 
heralding  his  advance.  That  active  leader  went  raiding  up  the  railway  that 
leads  from  Decatur  to  Nashville,  when  he  was  met  at  Pulaski  by  Rousseau, 
and  compelled  to  turn  eastward  to  the  Chattanooga  road.  Rousseau  again 
confronted  him  at  Tullahoma.  At  the  same  time  General  Steedman  was 
marching  against  him  in  considerable  force  from  another  direction.  Forrest 
eluded  them,  and  for  awhile,  in  September  and  October  [1864],  there  were 
stirring  scenes  between  the  Tennessee  and  Duck  rivers,  for  several  detach 
ments  of  National  troops  were  vainly  endeavoring  to  catch  the  bold  raiders. 
At  length,  late  in  October,  Hood  appeared  near  Decatur,  in  Northern  Alabama, 
then  held  by  General  Gordon  Granger.  He  menaced  that  post,  but  only  as  a 
mask  to  the  passage  of  his  army  over  the  Tennessee,  near  Florence.  Forrest 
was  again  on  the  war-path,  co-operating  with  Hood,  and  caused  the  destruc 
tion,  at  Johnson ville,  on  the  Tennessee  River,  of  National  stores  and  other 
property,  valued  at  $1,500,000. 

Hood  had  been  re-enforced  by  a  part  of  Dick  Taylor's  army,  and  he  now 
pressed  vigorously  northward  with  more  than  50,000  men,  a  large  number  of 
them  natives  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky.  Thomas  had  about  30,000  imme 
diately  available  troops,  with  nearly  as  many  more  scattered  over  Tennessee 
and  Northern  Alabama.  He  sent  troops  forward  to  impede  rather  than  pre 
vent  Hood's  march  on  Nashville,  and  was  successful.  Schofield,  with  a  strong 
force  at  Pulaski,  fell  back,  as  Hood  advanced,  across  Duck  River,  with  his 
train  ;  and  at  Columbia  he  kept  the  Confederates  on  the  south  side  of  that 
stream  until  his  wagons  were  well  on  toward  Franklin,  where  he  took  a  posi 
tion  on  the  30th  of  November,  and,  casting  up  intrenchments,  prepared  to 
fight,  if  necessary,  until  his  trains  should  be  safely  on  their  way  to  Nashville. 
Hood  came  up  in  the  afternoon,  and  attempted  to  crush  his  opponent  by  the 
mere  weight  of  numbers.  A  most  desperate  struggle  ensued.  At  the  first 
onset  the  Confederates  drove  the  whole  National  line,  capturing  the  works  and 

guns,  and  gaining,  apparently,  a   complete  victory.     A  counter  charge  was 

45 


706 


THE     NATION. 


[1864. 


made,  when  the  Confederates  were  driven  out  of  the  captured  works,  the  guns 
were  recovered,  ten  flags  and  three  hundred  men  were  captured  from  the 
assailants,  and  the  National  line  was  restored,  chiefly  through  the  skill  and 


VIEW   ON   THE   BATTLE-GROUND   AT   FRANKLIN. 

bravery  of  General  Opdyke,  directing  gallant  soldiers.  Hood  made  desperate 
but  unavailing  attempts  to  retake  the  works,  and  the  battle  raged  until 
toward  midnight.  Hood's  loss  was  terrible — at  least  one-sixth  of  his  effective 
force.1 

Schofield  now  fell  back  to  Nashville,  carrying  with  him  all  of  his  guns, 
when  Hood  advanced  and  invested  that  post  with  about  40,000  men.  Thomas 
had  been  re-enforced  by  General  A.  J.  Smith's  troops,  which  had  just  come 
from  assisting  in  chasing  Price  out  of  Missouri.2  Thomas's  infantry  was  fully 
equal  in  numbers  to  those  of  his  adversary,  but  he  was  deficient  in  cavalry. 
Rousseau  was  in  Fort  Rosecrans,  at  Murfreesboro',  to  hold  the  railway  to 
Chattanooga,  and  Thomas  allowed  Hood  to  remain  in  front  of  him  as  long  as 
possible,  so  as  to  give  himself  time  to  increase  his  own  supply  of  horses  and 
obtain  means  for  transportation.  Finally,  on  the  15th  of  December,  Thomas 
moved  out  upon  Hood.  The  battle  was  opene'd.  by  the  Fourth  Corps,  under 
General  T.  J.  Wood.  The  Confederates  were  driven  out  of  their  works,  and 
pressed  back  to  the  foot  of  the  Harpeth  hills  with  a  loss  of  1,200  prisoners  and 
16  guns.  Wood  again  advanced  the  next  clay  [Dec.  16,  1864],  and  with  other 
troops,  after  a  severe  battle,  drove  the  Confederates  through  the  Brentwood 
Pass.  They  left  behind  them  most  of  their  guns,  and  a  large  number  of  their 
companions  as  prisoners.3  They  were  hotly  pursued  for  several  days,  Hood 
turning  occasionally  to  fight.  Forrest  joined  him  at  Columbia,  and  formed  a 
covering  party ;  and  at  near  the  close  of  the  month  Hood  escaped  across  the 
Tennessee  River  with  his  shattered  columns.  So  ended,  in  complete  victory 

1  The  Confederate  loss  was  reported  by  General  Thomas  at  6,252,  of  whom  1,150  were  killed. 
The  National  loss  was  2,326,  whereof  189  were  killed.  Nearly  1  000  were  captured 

a  See  page  687. 

8  In  the  two  days'  battles,  Thomas  captured  4,462  prisoners,  of  whom  287  were  officers,  one 
of  them  a  major-general ;  also  fifty-three  guns  and  many  small-arms. 


1864.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

for  the  Nationals,  Thomas's  admirably  managed  campaign  in  Tennessee.1 
Hood's  army  had  now  ceased  to  be  formidable  in  numbers  or  spirit,  and  at 
Tupelo,  in  Mississippi,  that  commander  was  relieved,  at  his  own  request,  on 
the  23d  of  January,  1865,  and  was  succeeded  by  Beauregard. 

Let  us  now  turn  a  moment  from  the  consideration  of  the  struggle  on  the 
land,  to  some  events  of  the  war  on  the  ocean.  We  have  already  noticed  the 
pirate  ship  Alabama*  commanded  by  Raphael  Semmes.  The  same  man  had 
previously  commanded  the  pirate  ship  Sumter,  which,  after  a  brief  but  destruct 
ive  career  on  the  ocean,  was  blockaded  by  the  ship-of-war  Tuscarora  at  Gibral 
tar,  and  there  sold  early  in  1862.  A  superior  cruiser,  built  for  the  Conspirators, 
in  England,  called  the  Florida,  afterward  roamed  the  sea  in  charge  of  J.  N. 
Maffit.  Also  the  Georgia,  built  in  Great  Britain,  and  sailing  under  British 
colors.  These  freebooters  captured  and  destroyed  scores  of  ships,  and  cargoes 
valued  at  many  millions  of  dollars ;  and  they  drove  at  least  two-thirds  of  the 
carrying  trade  between  the  United  States  and  Europe  into  British  bottoms. 
They  were  heartily  welcomed  into  all  British  ports ;  and  the  remonstrances  of 
the  American  Minister  in  London  against  the  building,  fitting  out,  and  encour- 
ao-ement  of  these  marauders,  as  we  have  seen,3  were  of  no  avail.  Three  others 

O 

were  added  by  British  shipmasters  in  1864  (Tallahassee,  Olustee,  and  Chicka- 
mauga),  whose  ravages  quickly  swelled  the  sum  total  of  damage  inflicted 
upon  American  commerce  by  Anglo-rebel  pirates.4 

The  new  cruisers  were  equally  destructive,  and  great  efforts  were  made  to 
capture  them.  The  Georgia  was  seized  off  the  port  of  Lisbon  in  August 
[1864],  by  the  Niagara,  Captain  Craven;  and  on  the  7th  of  October,  the 
Wachusetts,  Captain  Collins,  captured  the  Florida  in  a  Brazilian  port.5  The 


1  Thomas  had  sent  Stoneman  from  his  army,  and  Burbridge  from  Eastern  Kentucky,  in  No 
vember,  to  confront  Breckinridge  in  East  Tennessee.     They  drove  him  out  of  that  region,  and 
captured  Abingdon,  in  Virginia,  where  they  destroyed  a  large  quantity  of  Confederate  stores.     In 
these  movements  there  had  been  severe  skirmishes.     These  were  continued.     The  Confederate 
cavalry  was  commanded  by  General  Vaughan,  and  these  were  repeatedly  attacked  by  General 
Gillem  in  that  mountain  region.    Stoneman,  who  had  been  followed  in  his  advance-on  Wytheville, 
by  Breckinridge,  turned  upon  him  at  Marion,  when  the  latter  fled  over  the  mountains  into  North 
Carolina.     East  Tennessee  was  now  entirely  cleared  of  Confederate  troops. 

General  Thomas  reported  that  during  his  campaign,  from  September  7,  1864,  to  January  20, 
1 865,  when  all  was  quiet  in  the  region  of  his  command,  he  had  captured,  including  officers, 
11,587  prisoners,  besides  1,332,  who  had  been  exchanged.  He  had  also  administered  the  oath 
of  allegiance  to  2,207  deserters  from  the  Confederate  armies,  and  captured  72  serviceable  guns 
and  3,079  small-arms.  His  total  loss  during  the  campaign  was  about  ten  thousand  men,  which 
he  estimated  to  be  less  than  half  that  of  the  enemy. 

2  See  page  641,  and  note  5,  same  page. 

3  See  note  4,  page  641. 

4  At  the  beginning  of  1864  the  pirates  then  on  the  ocean  had  captured  193  American  merchant 
ships,  whereof  all  but  17  were  burnt.     The  value  of  their  cargoes,  in  the  aggregate,  was  esti 
mated  at  $13,445.000.     So  dangerous  became  the  navigation  of  the  ocean  for  American  vessels, 
that  about  1.000  of  them  were  sold  to  foreign  merchants,  chiefly  British. 

5  This  act  the  Secretary  of  State  disavowed  in  behalf  of  our  government,  on  the  ground  of  the 
unlawfulness  of  any  unauthorized  exercise  of  force  by  this  country  within  a  Brazilian  harbor. 
At  the  same  time,  while  making  this  reparation,  he  declared  that  Brazil  justly  owed  reparation 
to  the  United  States  for  harboring  the  pirate.     On  that  point  he  said  that  the  government  main 
tained  that  the  Florida,  "like  the  Alabama,  was  a  pirate,  belonging  to  no  nation  or  lawful  belligerent, 
and,  therefore,  the  harboring  and  supplying  of  these  piratical  ships  and  their  crews,  in  belligerent 
ports,  were  wrongs  and  injuries  for  which  Brazil  justly  owes  reparation  to  the  United  States,  as 
ample  as  the  reparation  she  now  receives  from  them." 


708 


THE     NATION. 


[1864. 


JOHN   A.    WIN  SLOW. 


Alabama  had  already  been  sent  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea  by  the  Kearsarge, 
Captain  Winslow,  off  the  French  port  of  Cherbourg,  where  the  two  vessels 

had  a  combat  on  Sunday,  the  19th  of 
June.  After  a  mutual  cannonade  for 
an  hour,  the  Alabama  Avas  disabled 
and  in  a  sinking  condition,  when  she 
struck  her  flag,  and  in  twenty  minutes 
went  down.  The  Alabama  had  a 
British  tender  near,  named  the  Deer- 
hound,  which  was  active  in  rescuing 
Semmes  and  his  officers,  so  that  they 
might  not  be  captured  and  become 
prisoners  of  war.1  The  "  common 
people"  of  the  ship  were  rescued  by 
the  Kearsarge  and  a  French  vessel. 

Soon  after  the  destruction  of  the  Ala 
bama,  measures  were  taken  for  further 
diminishing  the  aid  continually  given  to  the  Confederates  by  British  vessels, 
by  closing,  against  the  blockade-runners,  the  ports  of  Mobile  and  Wilmington, 
the  only  ones  now  remain 
ing  open  to  them.  These 
having  double  entrances, 
made  it  difficult  for  block 
ading  squadrons  to  pre 
vent  the  swift,  light-draft 
blockade-runners,  from 
slipping  in  with  valuable 
cargoes  of  supplies,  and 
slipping  out  with  cargoes 
of  cotton.2  It  was  re 
solved  to  seal  up  Mobile 
first,  and  for  that  purpose 
Admiral  Farragut  appeared  [August  5,  1864]  off  the  entrance  of  Mobile  Bay, 
with  a  fleet  of  eighteen  vessels,  four  of  them  iron-clad,  while  a  land  force,  sent 
from  New  Orleans,  under  General  Gordon  Granger,  was  planted  upon  Dauphin 

1  The  Deerhnund  was  a  yacht  belonging  to  one  of  the  British  aristocracy,  named  Lancaster, 
who  was  in  her,  and  watched  with  eagerness  the  fight  between  his  friend  Serames  and  Winslow. 
It  appears  clear  that  he  was  there  by  previous  arrangement,  to  afford  the  pirate  any  needed  assist 
ance  in  his  power,  and  especially,  in  the  event  of  disaster,  to  keep  him  out  of  the  hands  of 
the  victor.  This  was  done.  He  carried  Semmes  and  his  officers  to  England.  At  Southamp 
ton  a  public  dinner  was  offered  to  Semmes ;  and  a  British  admiral  (Anson)  headed  a  list  of 
subscribers  to  a  fund  raised  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  an  elegant  sword  to  present  to  the 
corsair. 

*  These  vessels  were  generally  painted  a  light  gray,  so  that  it  was  not  easy  to  discern  them 
in  a  fog,  or  the  light  haze. that  often  lay  upon  the  waters  around  the  seaports.  They  were  built 
for  speed,  with  raking  smoke-stacks,  and  were  generally  more  nimble  in  a  chase  than  their  pur 
suers.  A  very  large  number  of  these  vessels  were  captured,  and  it  is  believed  that  a  balance- 
sheet,  illustrative  of  the  pecuniary  results  of  the  business,  in  the  aggregate,  would  show  a  loss  to 
the  violators  of  law. 


BLOCKADE-RUNNER. 


1864]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

Island  for  the  purpose  of  co-operating.  Early  on  that  day  the  fleet  sailed  in 
between  Forts  Morgan  and  Gaines,  the  vessels  tethered  to  each  other  in  couples, 
and  the  Admiral  himself  lashed  to  the  rigging  at  the  main-top  of  his  flag-ship, 
the  Hartford,  that  he  might  overlook  his  whole  fleet,  and  not  be  thrown  down 
by  the  shocks  of  battle.1  All  went  safely,  in  spite  of  the  opened  guns  of  the 
fort,  excepting  the  iron-clad  Tecumseh,  which  was  destroyed  by  a  torpedo.2 
They  drove  before  them  three  Confederate  gun-boats.  The  forts  were  passed, 
their  fire  had  become  almost  ineffectual,  and  the  battle  seemed  to  be  over, 
when  a  Confederate  "  ram,"  called  the  Tennessee,  commanded  by  Buchanan, 
of  Merrimac  fame,3  came  swiftly  down  the  bay,  accompanied  by  the  other  gun 
boats,  and  made  a  dash  at  the  fleet.  A  brief  but  furious  naval  engagement 
now  ensued,  which  resulted  in  the  capture  of  the  Tennessee,  and  a  complete 
victory  for  the  Nationals.4 

Farragut  now  turned  his  attention  to  the  forts.  He  shelled  Fort  Gaines,  on 
Dauphin  Island;  and  on  the  following  day  [August  7,  1864]  it  was  surrendered, 
for  Granger  and  his  troops  were  threatening  its  rear.  Then  Farragut  turned 
upon  Fort  Morgan,  the  far  stronger  work,  situated  on  Mobile  Point,  on  the 
site  of  Fort  Bowyer.5  Granger's  troops  were  transferred  to  that  peninsula 
[August  17],  and  invested  the  fort,  and  on  the  23d,  its  commander,  seeing  no 
chance  for  relief  or  escape,  surrendered  it.6  With  the  two  forts  the  victors 
received  one  hundred  and  four  guns,  and  1,464  men.  By  this  victory  the  port 
of  Mobile  was  effectually  closed,  and  the  land  operations  against  the  city, 
which  occurred  some  months  later,  became  easier  and  more  speedily  effectual. 
The  victories  at  Mobile  and  Atlanta,7  following  close  upon  each  other,  with 
minor  successes  elsewhere,  and  the  noble  response  given  to  the  call  of  the 
President  a  few  weeks  before  [July  1 8]  for  three  hundred  thousand  men  to 
re-enforce  the  two  great  armies  in  the  field,  gave  assurance  that  the  end  of 
the  Civil  War  and  the  return  of  peace  was  nigh.  Because  of  these  triumphs, 
and  the  hopeful  aspect  of  affairs,  the  President  issued  a  proclamation  [Sept.  3, 
1864]  in  wrhich  he  requested  the  people  to  make  a  special  recognition  of  divine 
goodness,  by  offering  thanksgivings  in  their  respective  places  of  worship  on 
the  following  Sabbath  [Sept.  11].  And  on  the  same  day  he  issued  orders  for 
salutes  of  one  hundred  guns  to  be  fired  at  several  places  in  the  Union.8 

While  the  National  armies  were  struggling  desperately,  but  almost  every- 


By  means  of  a  tube  extending  from  his  lofty  position  to  the  deck,  Farragut  communicated 
his  orders.  He  exemplified  in  this  act  a  characteristic  remark  of  his  own,  that  •'  exposure  is  one 
of  the  penalties  of  rank  in  the  navy." 

The  Tecumseh  was  commanded  by  Captain  Craven.  She  was  sunk  almost  instantly,  and 
Craven  and  nearly  all  of  his  officers  and  crew  went  down  in  her.  Only  17  men  out  of  130  were 
saved. 

3  See  page  614. 

4  The  Union  loss  in  this  contest  was  3:55,  of  whom  1G5  were  killed,  including  the  113  who 
went  down  in  the  Tecumseh.     The  Confederates  lost  nearly  300,  chiefly  in  prisoners.     Admiral 
Buchanan  was  severely  wounded.     With  him  were  captured  190  men. 

6  See  page  438. 

6  These  forts  were  about  thirty  miles  from  Mobile.     Into  Fort  Morgan  about  three  thousand 
shells  were  cast  before  it  surrendered. ' 

7  See  page  702. 

8  At   Washington,   New  York,   Boston,  Philadelphia,   Pittsburg,   Baltimore,   Newport  (Ken 
tucky),  St.  Louis,  New  Orleans,  Mobile  Bay,  Pensacola,  Hilton  Head,  and  New  Berne. 


THE     NATION.  [1864. 

where  successfully,  during  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1864,  the  people  in  the 
Free-labor  States  were  violently  agitated  by  a  political  campaign,  the  chief, 
objective  of  which,  to  use  a  military  phrase,  was  the  election  of  a  President  of 
the  Republic,  as  Mr.  Lincoln's  term  of  office  would  expire  early  in  the  ensuing 
spring.  At  a  "  Union "  National  Convention,  held  at  Baltimore  on  the  7th 
of  June,  a  series  of  ten  resolutions  were  adopted,  by  which  the  party  there 
represented  were  pledged  to  sustain  the  government  in  its  war  against  rebel 
lion,  and  to  uphold  its  position  in  regard  to  slavery.  The  acts  of  the  President 
touching  the  prosecution  of  the  war  for  the  life  of  the  Republic,  were  heartily 
approved,  and  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution,  so  as  to  do  away  with 
slavery  forever,  was  recommended.1  Mr.  Lincoln  was  nominated  for  the  Presi 
dency  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  the  delegates,  and  Andrew  Johnson,  of  Ten 
nessee,  then  Military  Governor  of  that  State,  was  nominated  for  the  Vice- 
Presidency. - 

On  the  29th  of  August,  the  Opposition,  or  "Democratic"  party  held  a 
National  Convention  at  Chicago,  over  which  Governor  Seymour,  of  New  York, 
presided,  and  who,  in  his  address  on  taking  the  chair,  took  strong  ground 
against  the  war.  Besides  the  delegates  gathered  there,  a  vast  concourse  of 
members  of  the  "  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,"  and  other  secret  associations 
in  sympathy  with  the  Conspirators,  together  with  Confederate  officers  from 
Canada,  crowded  Chicago,  and  the  most  inflammatory  speeches  were  made  at 
outside  meetings.3  It  is  asserted  that  the  gathering  of  th^se  disloyal  men,  and 
these  inflammatory  harangues,  were  parts  of  a  scheme  for  making  that  the  occa 
sion  for  inaugurating  a  counter-revolution  in  the  West,  the  first  act  to  be  the 
liberating  and  arming  of  8,000  Confederate  prisoners  then  in  Camp  Douglas, 
near  Chicago,  and  at  Indianapolis.  These  schemes  were  frustrated  by  the  vigi 
lance  arid  energy  of  Colonel  B.  J.  Sweet,  then  in  command  over  Camp  Douglas.4 

1  In  these  resolutions  the  noble  services  of  the  soldiers  and  sailors  were  recognized ;  the 
emptyyment  of  freedmen  in  the  public  service  was  recommended;  the  duty  of  the  government  to 
give  equal  protection  to  all  its  servants  was  asserted;   and  the  rigid  inviolability  of  the  National 
faith  pledged  for  the  redemption  of  the  public  debt,  was  enjoined  as  a  solemn  duty. 

2  Already  there  had  been  a  convention  at  Cleveland  [May  31,  1864],  composed,  as  the  call  for 
it  directed,  of  "the  radical  men  of  the  nation."     About  350  delegates  were  present,  and  after 
adopting  a  series  of  thirteen  resolutions,  they  nominated  General  John  C.  Fremont  for  President, 
and  John  Cochrane  of  New  York,  for  Vice-President.     When,  at  a  later  period,  it  was  seen  that 
these  nominations  might  make  divisions  in  the  Union  ranks,  both  candidates  withdrew. 

3  Mr.  Greeley,  in  his  American  Conflict,  ii.  667,  gives  specimens  of  speeches  by  two  clergymen 
belonging  to  the  Peace  Faction,  at  outside  meetings  in  Chicago.     One  of  them,  named  Chauncey 
C.  Burr,  said  that  Mr.  Lincoln  "had  stolen  a  good  many  thousand  negroes;   but  for  every  negro 
he  had  thus  stolen  he  had  stolen  ten  thousand  spoons.     It  had  been  said  that  if  the  South  would 
lay  down  their  arms,  they  would  be  received  back  into  the  Union.     The  South  could  not  honor 
ably  lay  down  their  arms,  for  she  was  fighting  for  her  honor.     Two  millions  of  men  had  been 
sent  down  to  the  slaughter-pens  of  the  South,  and  the  army  of  Lincoln  could  not  again  be  filled, 
either  by  enlistments  nor  conscription  "     The  other  clergyman  alluded  to,  named  Henry  Clay 
Dean,  exclaimed :  "  Such  a  failure  lias  never  been  known.     Such  destruction  of  human  life  had 
never  been  seen  since  the  destruction  of  Sennacherib  by  the  breath  of  the  Almighty.     And  still  the 
monster  usurper  wants  more  men  for  his  slaughter-pens.     .     .     .     Ever  since  the  usurper,  traitor, 
and  tyrant  had  occupied  the  Presidential  chair,  the  Republican  party  had  shouted  '  War  to  the  knife. 
and  the  knife  to  the  hilt!'     Blood  has  flowed  in  torrents;   and  yet  the  thirst  of  the  old  monster 

'   was  not  quenched.'' 

4  Mr.  Greeley  says  (American  Conflict,  ii.  668,  note  19):   "Weeks  later,  with  larger  means  and  a 
better  organization,  the  Conspirators  had  prepared  for  an  outbreak  on  the  day  of  the  Presidential 
election ;  but  Sweet,  fully  apprised  of  their  designs,  pounced  upon  them  on  the  night  of  Novem- 


1864.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


711 


C.    L.    VALLANDIGHAM. 


Iii  the  Convention  there  prevailed  a  decidedly  anti-war  feeling.  C.  L.  Val- 
laridigham1  had  come  boldly  from '  his  exile  in  Canada,2  and  was  the  master 
spirit  of  that  body.  He  was  the  most 
active  man  on  the  committee  appointed 
to  prepare  a  platform  or  declaration  of 
principles  for  the  coming  canvass, 
whereof  James  Guthrie,  of  Kentucky, 
was  chairman.  This  was  in  the  form 
of  six  resolutions,  the  second  of  which 
declared  the  war  to  be  a  failure,  and 
that  "humanity,  liberty,  and  the  pub 
lic  welfare,"  demanded  its  immediate 
cessation.  The  last  resolution  tendered 
the  "  sympathy  of  the  Democratic  par 
ty"  for  the  soldiers  in  the  field,  and 
assured  them  'that  if  that  party  should 
obtain  power,  they  should  "  receive  all 
the  care  and  protection,  regard  and 
kindness,"  which  they  deserved. 

The  Convention  then  proceeded  to  nominate  General  George  B.  McClellan 
for  President,  and  George  H.  Pendleton  for  Vice-President.  The  latter,  next 
to  Vallandigham,  had  been  the  most  bitter  opponent  of  the  war,  in  Congress. 
The  former  had  once  been  general-in-chief  of  the  armies  for  crushing  the  rebel 
lion.  He  accepted  the  nomination,  and,  with  such  candidates  and  such  plat 
forms,  the  two  parties  went  into  the  canvass.  The  voice  of  the  Convention, 
declaring  the  war  a  failure,  had  scarcely  died  away,  when  a  shout  went  over 
the  land,  announcing  the  victories  of  Sherman  arid  Farragut,  and  great  guns 
thundered  a  joyful  accompaniment  to  anthems  of  thanksgiving  chanted  by 
the  loyal  people.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  re-elected  by  an  unprecedented  majority, 
McClellan  securing  the  electoral  vote  of  only  the  two  Slave-labor  States  of 
Delaware  and  Kentucky,  and  the  State  of  New  Jersey.  The  offer  of  sympathy 
and  protection  to  the  soldiers  in  the  field,  by  the  Chicago  Convention,  was 
answered  by  the  votes  of  those  soldiers  in  overwhelming  numbers  against  the 
nominee  of  that  Convention.  They  did  not  regard  the  war  they  had  so  nobly 
waged  as  "  a  failure,"  and  they  required  no  "  sympathy  and  protection  "  from 
any  political  party.3 


ber  6,  making  prisoners  of  Colonel  G-.  St.  Leger  G-renfell.  who  had  been  John  Morgan's  adjutant; 
Colonel  Vincent  Marmaduke  [brother  of  the  rebel  general  of  that  name] ;  Captain  Cantrill,  of 
Morgan's  old  command,  and  several  Illinois  traitors,  thus  completely  crushing  out  the  conspiracy, 
just  as  it  was  on  the  point  of  inaugurating  civil  war  in  the  North." 

1  See  page  656.  2  See  note  1,  page  657. 

3  On  account  of  the  secret  operations  of  the  Peace  Faction,  in  giving  "  aid  and  comfort "  to 
the  enemies  of  the  Eepublic,  those  who  belonged  to  it  were  called,  by  the  Unionists,  Copperheads, 
in  allusion  to  the  habit  of  the  venomous  American  snake  of  that  name,  which,  unlike  its  equally 
venomous  but  more  magnanimous  fellow-reptile,  that  gives  warning  of  danger  to  its  intended  vic 
tim,  always  bites  from  a  hidden  place  and  without  any  notice.  The  epithets  (of  "Copperhead" 
and  "  Black  Republican  "  (the  latter  in  allusion  to  the  desire  of  the  Republican  party  to  give 
freedom  to  the  negro  slaves),  were  rife  among  politicians  during  a  greater  portion  of  the  Civil 
War. 


THE     NATION.  [1864. 

Let  us  now  return  to  the  consideration  of  military  events. 

General  Sherman  gave  his  army  more  than  a  month's  rest  at  Savannah, 
when  he  began  his  memorable  march  northward  through  the  Carolinas.  Gen 
eral  Blair  was  sent,  with  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  by  water  to  Port  Royal,  and 
then  to  Pocotaligo,  to  menace  Charleston,  while  the  bulk  of  the  army  crossed 
the  Savannah  River,  into  South  Carolina,  at  different  points  at  about  the  first 
of  February  [1865],  the  extreme  left  under  General  Slocum,  with  Kilpatrick's 
cavalry,  passing  it  at  Sister'  Ferry.  These  forward  movements  at  widely 
separated  points,  distracted  the  Confederates,  and  prevented  their  concentrating 
a  large  force  anywhere.  Incessant  rains  had  flooded  the  whole  low  country 
by  the  overflow  of  rivers,  and  Wheeler's  cavalry,  hovering  around  the  National 
advance,  had  felled  trees  everywhere  in  their  path. 

Steadily  and  irresistibly  the  entire  army  moved  nearly  due  north  in  the 
direction  of  Columbia,  the  capital  of  South  Carolina,  which  was  surrendered 
to  Sherman  on  the  17th  of  February.  There  had  been,  thus  far,  no  formid 
able  resisting  force  in  front  of  the  National  army  ;  and  that  which  opposed  it 
in  the  vicinity  of  Columbia,  being  under  the  command  of  the  incompetent 
Beauregard,1  was  easily  swept  away.  The  flag  of  the  Republic  was  raised 
over  the  old  State  House,  and  also  the  unfinished  new  one.  Wade  Hampton, 
in  command  of  the  Confederate  rear-guard,  had  ordered  all  the  cotton  in  the 
city  to  be  piled  in  the  public  streets,  and  fired,  notwithstanding  the  wind  was 
blowing  a  gale.  The  consequence  was  that  the  city  was  set  on  fire,  and  a 
large  portion  of  that  beautiful  town  was  laid  in  ashes. 

The  fall  of  Columbia  was  the  signal  for  the  Confederates  to  evacuate 
Charleston,  which  Sherman's  army  had  now  flanked.  Hardee  fled,  and  on  the 
18th  [February,  1865],  colored  Union  troops  marched  in  and  took  possession 
of  the  city,  which  they  found  in  flames,  the  torch  having  been  applied  by  the 
Confederates  when  they  left.  Then  the  National  flag  was  raised  over  Fort 
Sumter,  where  it  was  first  dishonored  by  the  Conspirators,2  and  on  the  fourth 
anniversary  of  the  evacuation  of  that  fortress,  General  Anderson,3  with  his 
own  hand,  raised  over  the  fort  the  identical  flag  which  he  had  been  compelled 
to  pull  down,  but  not  to  surrender. 

Sherman  moved  onward  into  North  Carolina,  making  a  track  of  almost 
absolute  desolation,  forty  miles  in  width,  across  South  Carolina.  The  chief 
obstacles  to  his  march,  for  some  time,  were  the  cavalry  of  Wheeler  and  Hamp 
ton,  with  whom  Kilpatrick  had  some  sharp  skirmishes.  The  whole  *army 
reached  Fayetteville,  in  North  Carolina,  on  the  12th  of  March,  and  there 
Sherman  communicated  with  the  troops  under  General  Schofield,  on  the  coast. 
And  now  Johnston  was  on  his  front  with  a  concentrated  force  drawn  from 
the  west  and  the  coast  region,  together  with  Hardee's  from  Charleston,  and 
cavalry,  making  an  aggregate  of  not  less  than  40,000  men,  mostly  veterans. 


Beauregard  was  placed  in  command  of  Hood's  shattered  army.     [See  page   7071    and  lie 
was  afterward  succeeded  by  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  its  old  commander      At  the  time  we 
Sherman'sTo^t          ^^  °f  ^  ^^  W&*  pressin^  forward>  ™der  General  Cheatham,  to  gain 
™ 


2  See  -  See  page  550. 


1865.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  713 

In  view  of  this  formidable  obstruction  to  his  northward  progress,  and  the 
necessity  for  giving  rest  to  his  army,  Sherman  halted  at  Fayetteville  three 
days. 

While  Sherman  was  moving  through  the  interior  of  South  Carolina,  there 
had  been  efficient  and  important  co-operative  movements  on  the  coast  of  North 
Carolina.  When  it  was  determined  to  close  up  the  harbor  of  Mobile  *  it  was 
also  determined  to  seal  up  that  of  Wilmington,  the  more  difficult  one  to 
blockade  effectually.  An  expedition  was  fitted  out  against  the  fortifications 
that  guarded  the  entrance  to  it,  in  the  autumn  of  186-1,  composed  of  a  powerful 


INTERIOR   OF    FORT    FISHER. 

fleet  under  Admiral  D.  D.  Porter,  and  land  troops  under  the  immediate 
command  of  General  Godfrey  Weitzel.  This  expedition,  accompanied  by 
General  Butler,  the  commander  of  the  Department,  appeared  oif  Fort  Fisher 
late  in  December  [1864],  and  made  a  combined  movement  against  that  work, 
the  main  fortification,  on  Christmas  day.  The  fleet  opened  a  terrible  bombard 
ment  of  the  fort ;  and  at  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  a  little  over  2,000 
troops  were  landed  upon  the  narrow  tongue  of  land  on  which  the  fortress 
stood ;  but  its  many  guns,  with  one  exception,  having  been  untouched  by  the 
shells  from  the  fleet,  and  being  ready  to  sweep  the  peninsula  with  murderous 
effect,  it  was  thought  prudent  not  to  make  an  attack ;  so  the  troops  withdrew. 
The  fleet  remained,  and  General  Grant  promptly  sent  another  land  force,  under 
General  A.  H.  Terry,  to  co-operate  with  it  in  an  attack  on  the  fort. 

Profiting  by  the  experience  of  Christmas-day,  Porter  took  a  position  for 
more  effectual  work  on  the  fort,  and  under  cover  of  a  fire  from  the  fleet,  Terry 
landed,  with  8,000  men  on  the  13th  of  January.  A  bombardment  of  more 
than  thirty  hours  silenced  a  greater  portion  of  the  guns  which  commanded  the 
peninsula,  when  the  army,  skillfully  handled,  and  bravely  acting  in  conjunction 
with  2,000  sailors  and  marines,  assaulted  and  carried  the  works  on  the  15th. 
There  Terry,  who  was  too  weak  to  advance,  was  joined  on  the  9th  of  February 
by  General  Schofield,  who  had  been  called  from  Tennessee,  by  Grant,  and  sent 
down  the  coast  in  steamers,  from  the  Potomac.  This  re-enforcement  raised 
the  number  of  the  land  troops  to  about  20,000  men.  Schofield,  the  senior 
officer,  took  command.  Throwing  a  portion  of  the  troops  across  the  Cape 
Fear  River,  the  Nationals  advanced  on  Wilmington,  the  Confederates  abandon- 

1  See  page  709. 


THE     NATION.  C1865- 

ing  Fort  Anderson,  and  burning  the  pirate  steamers  Tallahassee  and  Chicka- 
maugaj  lying  in  the  river.  They  also  fled  from  Wilmington,  after  burning 
cotton,  and  naval  military  stores  there  ;  and  on  the  22d  of  February  [1865],  the 
victorious  Nationals  entered  that  city.  Soon  after  this  an  army  tug  and  a  gun 
boat  went  up  the  Cape  Fear,  from  Wilmington,  and  opened  communication 
between  Sherman  and  Schofield.2 

At  the  end  of  three  days  of  rest,  Sherman's  army  advanced  from  Fayette- 
ville,  where  they  had  destroyed  the  government  armory,  and  the  costly 
machinery  which  had  been  taken  there  from  Harper's  Ferry.3  The  army 
moved,  as  before,  in  a  deceptive  and  distracting  way,  a  portion  of  the  left 
wing  covered  by  Kilpatrick,  marching  in  the  direction  of  Raleigh,  while  the 
remainder  of  the  left,  witli  the  right  wing,  moved  eastward  toward  (Joldsboro', 
the  real  destination  of  the  army.  Rains  had  made  the  roads  almost  impassable, 
yet  the  troops  moved  steadily  forward,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  16th. [March, 
1865],  not  far  from  Averysboro',  Confederates  under  Hardee,  about  20,000 
strong,  were  encountered  by  Slocum.  A  severe  battle  ensued,  which  lasted  until 
night,  when  the  Nationals  were  victorious.  Each  party  lost  about  four  hundred 
and  fifty  men.  The  Confederates  retreated  toward  Smithfield,  under  cover  of 
darkness,  when  Slocum  moved  on  toward  Goldsboro'.  He  was  soon  attacked 
[March  18],  near  Bentonville,  by  nearly  the  whole  of]  Johnston's  army.  That 
able  leader  fully  expected  to  crush  Slocum,  before  ne  could  receive  support ; 
but  he  was  mistaken.  Six  desperate  assaults  made  by  Johnston  were  repulsed, 
and  when  night  fell,  Slocurn  held  his  ground  firmly.  That  night  he  was 
re-enforced,  and  the  next  day  Johnston's  forty  thousand  men  were  confronted 
by  sixty  thousand  Nationals,  who,  in  endeavoring  to  gain  the  flank  and  rear 
of  their  antagonist,  frightened  him  away.  Johnston  retreated  [March  21] 
rapidly  on  Raleigh.4  Sherman  then  moved  on  to  Goldsboro',  where  he  met 
Generals  Schofield  and  Terry,  who  had  fought  their  way  from  Wilmington, 
driving  the  Confederates  before  them,  and  entered  that  town  on  the  20th  of 
March.  Sherman  now  went  in  a  swift  steamer  from  New  Berne  to  City  Point, 
where  he  held  a  consultation  [March  27]  with  the  President,  and  Generals 
Grant  and  Meade,  and  returned  to  Goldsboro'  three  days  afterward. 

Let  us  now  turn  our  attention  to  the  Gulf  region  again.  There  we  have 
seen  Farragut  and  Granger,  preparing  the  way  for  the  capture  of  Mobile. 
After  that,  arrangements  were  made  for  securing  the  repossession  of  all  Ala 
bama.  For  this  purpose  General  Canby,  in  command  of  the  Gulf  Department, 
moved  [March,  1865]  over  twenty-five  thousand  troops  against  Mobile:  while 
General  Wilson,  of  Thomas's  army,  with  fifteen  thousand  men,  whereof  thirteen 
thousand  were  mounted,  swept  down  into  Alabama,  at  about  the  same  time, 
from  the  Tennessee  River,  with  sixty  days'  supplies  carried  by  a  train  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  wagons.  Wilson  left  Eastport,  on  the  Tennessee,  late  in 
February,  and  pushed  rapidly  into  Northern  Alabama,  across  the  head-waters 
of  the  Tombigbee  River,  and  by  quick  movements  menaced  simultaneously 

1  See  page  708.  a  See  page  713.  3  Pee  page  557. 

4  In  the  engagement  near  Bentonville,  the  Nationals  lost  1,643  men,  of  whom  191  were  killed. 
They  buried  2G7  of  their  foes,  left  on  the  field,  and  took  1.625  prisoners. 


1865.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION.  715 

Columbus,  in  Mississippi,  and  Tuscaloosa,  and  Selrna,  in  Alabama.  He  first 
encountered  Confederates  in  force,  under  Roddy,  on  the  banks  of  the  Cahawba. 
Forrest  was  in  chief  command  in  that  region,  and  strained  every  nerve  to 
cover  Selma,  on  the  Alabama  River,  where  the  Confederates  had  an  arsenal 
and  armory,  and  very  extensive  founderies.  His  efforts  were  vain.  He  was 
there  with  a  motley  force  of  about  seven  thousand  horsemen,  when  Wilson 
arrived  [April  2,  1865],  with  nine  thousand  cavalry.  A  sharp  conflict  ensued, 
but  Wilson  soon  took  the  city,  and  the  public  works  of  the  Confederates  there 
were  utterly  destroyed.1 

Wilson  moved  toward  Montgomery  on  the  10th,  and  reached  that  city,  the 
capital  of  Alabama,  on  the  12th,  when  he  found  that  the  Confederates  had 
just  burned  125,000  bales  of  cotton.  The  city  was  instantly  surrendered,  and 
was  spared.  Then  the  raiders  moved  eastward  [April  14],  destroying  rail 
ways  and  other  public  property,  all  the  way  to  the  Chattahoochee ;  and  near 
Columbus,  Georgia,  they  had  a  severe  fight,  captured  the  place  and  twelve 
hundred  prisoners,  and  destroyed  a  large  amount  of  property.2  On  the  'same 
day  a  part  of  Wilson's  force  captured  Fort  Tyler,  a  strong  work  commanding 
the  railway  crossing  of  the  Chattahoochee  at  West  Point.  On  the  following 
morning,  nearly  the  whole  of  his  command  were  across  that  stream,  on  their 
way  toward  Macon,  in  Georgia,  Avhere  they  arrived  on  the  21st  [March,  1865]. 
The  remainder,  under  Cuxtoii,  reached  there  on  the  30th,  after  a  destructive 
raid  over  a  route  of  six  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  in  the  space  of  thirty  days. 
This  march  through  Alabama  and  Georgia,  so  slightly  resisted  everywhere, 
made  Wilson  readily  believe  the  assurance  of  General  Ho  well  Cobb,  in  com 
mand  at  Macon,  that  the  war  was  virtually  ended.3 

While  Wilson  was  on  his  triumphant  ride,  Canby  was  busy  in  the  reduc 
tion  of  Mobile.  The  Seventeenth  Corps  reached  Dauphin  Island  on  the  1 2th 
of  March,  when  Canby  moved  his  entire  disposable  force  against  the  Confed 
erate  defenses  of  that  city.  The  Thirteenth  Corps,  General  Granger,  moved 
up  from  Mobile  Point,  to  strike  the  post  from  the  east,  and  General  Steele, 
moved  from  Pensacola,  with  a  division  of  colored  troops,  on  Blakely.  At  the 

1  Wilson's  loss  in  the  encounter,  was  about  500  men.  He  captured  32  guns,,  and  2; 700 
prisoners,  with  vast  stores  of  every  kind.  The  Confederates  had  just  burned  25.000  bales  of 
cotton,  and  Wilson  burned  10,000  more.  The  arsenal,  foundries,  and  workshops  of  every  kind 
were  destroyed,  and  the  town  was  sacked.  When  the  writer  was  there  a  year  later  the  place 
presented  a  scene  of  great  desolation. 

a  The  Confederate  i;ram"  Jackson  was  destroyed;  15  locomotives,  250  cars,  115.000  bales  of 
cotton,  were  burnt,  and  a  vast  amount  of  stores  were  consigned  to  destruction.  With  the 
prisoners  were  captured  52  field  guns.  Wilson's  loss  was  only  24  killed  and  wounded. 

3  There  had  been  some  important  raids  in  Mississippi  three  or  four  months  earlier  than  this, 
designed,  chiefly,  to  attract  attention  from  General  Sherman's  march  through  Georgia.  One  of 
these,  under  General  Dana,  went  out  from  Vicksburg,  to  Jackson,  fought  a  Confederate  force  on 
the  Big  Black  River,  and  destroyed  the  railway  [November  25,  1864],  and  a  great  deal  of  other 
property.  Another,  under  General  Davidson,  went  out  from  Baton  Rouge,  doing  similar  work, 
and  alarming  the  garrison  at  Mobile.  Another,  led  by  General  Grierson,  went  out  from  Memphis, 
[Dec.  21],  and  sweeping  southeasterly  through  Northern  Alabama  to  Tupelo,  broke  up  the 
Mobile  and  Ohio  railway  some  distance  southward  from  Okolona.  and  destroyed  a  large  quantity 
of  stores.  At  the  little  railway  station  of  Egvpt  he  had  a  sharp  fight,  in  which  he  routed  his 
foes,  and  then  went  raiding  through  Mississippi.  The  expedition  finally  made  its  way  to  Vicks 
burg  with  500  prisoners,  800  beeves,  and  1,000  negroes.  A  great  amount  of  property  had  been 
destroyed. 


same 


THE     NATION.  [1865. 

time  a  brigade  was  transported  to  Cedar  Point,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
bay,  under  a  heavy  fire  of  shells  from  the  National  iron-clad  vessels.  After  a 
preliminary  struggle,  a  siege  was  begun  [March  25]  in  front  of  Blakely  and 
Spanish  Fort,  the  chief  defenses  of  Mobile,  in  which  the  land  troops  and  the 
fleet  co-operated.  These  posts  fell  on  the  9th  of  April.  General  Maury,  in 
command  at  Mobile,  now  saw  that  the  works  immediately  around  the  city 
were  no  longer  tenable,  and  on  the  10th  and  llth,  he  fled  up  the  Alabama, 
with  nine  thousand  troops,  leaving  five  thousand  prisoners  in  the  hands  of 
the-  victors,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  guns.  The  victory  had  cost  the 
Nationals  about  twenty-five  hundred  men.1 

General  Grant's  chief  business  throughout  the  winter  of  1864-65,  was  to 
hold  the  Confederate  army  and  "  Government  "  in  Virginia,  and  prevent  the 
former  joining  forces  with  Johnston  in  North  Carolina,  to  crush  Sherman. 
So,  while  Sherman  was  making  his  way  from  the  Savannah,  around  to  the  Cape 
Fear  and  the  Neuse  rivers,  Grant  was  holding  Lee  and  his  fifty  thousand 
men,  with  a  tight  grasp,  upon  the  James  River.  The  Confederates  well  knew 
the  reason  of  Grant's  comparatively  defensive  attitude  during  the  winter 
months,  but  were  powerless  either  to  strike  him  a  damaging  blow,  or  to  compel 
him  to  be  an  aggressor.  Only  twice,  during  the  winter,  did  he  show1  a 
disposition  to  attack.  Early  in  December  Warren  was  sent  out  [Dec.  7,  1864] 
by  Meade  to  destroy  the  Weldon  road  near  the  Nortn  Carolina  line,  which  the 
Confederates  were  using  to  advantage  ;  and  again  in  February  two  corps,  with 
cavalry,  were  sent  [Feb.  5,  1865]  across  that  road,  to  Dinwiddie  Court-House, 
apparently  for  the  purpose  of  feeling  the  strength  of  the  Confederates  in  that 
direction,  which  resulted  in  a  severe  action,  with  a  loss  of  about  2,000  men  on 
the  part  of  the  Unionists,  and  1,000  by  the  Confederates.  The  National  gain 
was  the  extension  of  their  line,  permanently,  to  Hatcher's  Run.  In  the  mean 
time,  the  Confederates,  perceiving  the  withdrawal  of  a  large  part  of  the  naval 
force  on  the  James  River,  for  service  against  Fort  Fisher,2  sent  a  squadron3 
down  that  stream,  under  cover  of  darkness  [January  23,  1865],  to  do  what  mis 
chief  they  might.  They  gained  nothing,  and  lost  one  of  their  wooden  gun-boats. 

The  Confederate  horsemen,  under  Mosby,  Rosser,  McNeil,  and  others,  were 
somewhat  active  in  West  Virginia,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  railway,  during  the  winter.  Sheridan  was  then  at  Winchester,  in  the 
Shenandoah  Valley.  He  easily  brushed  away  these  annoyances  on  his  flank, 
and  at  the  close  of  February,  he  left  head-quarters  with  10,000  mounted  men 
for  a  grand  raid,  ordered  by  Grant,  on  Lee's  communications  generally,  and 
against  Lynchburg,  his  great  store-house  of  supplies,  especially.  Sheridan 
swept  through  Staunton  [March  2],  scattered  Early's  forces  at  Waynesboro',4 
and  proceeded  to  Charlottsville,  destroying  the  railroad  on  the  way.  There 

1  Before  he  evacuated  the  city,  Maury  sunk  two  powerful  rams  which  had  been  built  there. 
In  addition  to  the  loss  of  men,  the  Nationals  had  four  gun-boats,  and  one  transport  sunk  by 
torpedoes.  »  gee  page  713. 

3  The  squadron  consisted  of  three  iron-clad,  and  five  wooden  gun-boats,  and  three  torpedo 
boats. 

4  Early  had  2,500  men.     Sheridan  captured  1,600  of  them,  with  11  guns,  17  battle-flags,  and 
200  loaded  wagons. 


1865.] 


LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


717 


he  demolished  manufactories,  bridges,  and  other  property,  when,  satisfied  that 
Lynchburg  was  too  strong  for  him,  he  divided  his  forces,  one  column  for  the 
destruction  of  the  railway  in  the  direction  of  Lynchburg,  and  the  other  for  the 
demolition  of  the  James  River  Canal.  Then  he  passed  around  Lee's  left  to 
White  House,  and  joined  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  on  the  27th  of  March. 

Sheridan's  raid  was  most  destructive,  and  it  thoroughly  alarmed  Lee,  who 
clearly  perceived  that  he  must  break  through  the  armies  encircling  him,  and 
form  a  junction  with  Johnston,  or  bis  own  army,  and  with  it  the  Confederacy, 
must  perish.  For  that  purpose  he  concentrated  his  forces  near  Grant's  center,  in 
front  of  Petersburg,  and 
made  a  desperate  attack 
on  Fort  Stead  man,  for  the 
purpose  of  cutting  in  two 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
They  carried  that  work, 
but  were  no  further  suc 
cessful,  and  the  assault 
was  not  only  repulsed, 
with  heavy  loss  to  the 
Confederates,1  but  it  re- 
suited  in  the  gain  to  the 
Nationals  of  a  portion  of 
their  antagonists'  line. 
Lee's  chance  for  escape 
into  North  Carolina  was 

made  more  remote,  by  this  movement.  Grant  had  now  prepared  for  a  gen 
eral  advance  by  his  left,  and  for  that  purpose,  large  bodies  of  troops  were 
called  from  the  Army  of  the  James  on  the  north  side  of  the  river.  The  grand 
movement  was  begun  on  the  29th  [March,  1865],  when  Sheridan,  with  10,000 
cavalry,  was  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  Union  army,  joined  on  his  right 
by  the  Second  and  Fifth  Corps,  under  Humphreys  and  Warren,  while  General 
Parke  held  the  extended  lines.  Lee  perceived  the  imminent  peril  of  his  army, 
and  hastened  to  attempt  to  avert  it.  Leaving  Longstreet  with  8,000  troops  to 
hold  Richmond  against  the  depleted  Army  of  the  James,  he  massed  his  forces 
on  his  endangered  right.  A  desperate  struggle  ensued,  chiefly  by  Warren,  on 
the  Union  side,  in  which,  at  one  time,  Lee  was  almost  victorious.  Meanwhile 
Sheridan  was  vigorously  co-operating,  but  was'  driven  at  Five  Forks,  to  Din- 
wioldie  Court-House  [April  1,  1365],  where  he  held  his  position  until  his  foe 
withdrew  under  cover  of  night.  The  heavy  fighting  in  that  vicinity  resulted 
in  final  success  for  the  Nationals. 

On  the  evening  of  the  first  of  April,  Grant  ordered  the  guns  all  along  the 
front  of  Petersburg  to  open  upon  the  Confederate  works  and  the  city.  It  was 
done,  and  an  awful  night  it  wras  for  the  Confederate  troops  in  the  trenches,  and 
the  few  inhabitants  in  the  town.  At  dawn  [April  2,  1865],  the  works  were 


INTERIOR   OF   FOET   STEADMAN. 


Each  army  lost  about  2,500  men  in  the  struggle. 


718 


THE     NATION. 


[18G5. 


assailed  by  infantry,  and  some  of  them  were  carried.  Equal  success  was 
attending  similar  efforts  on  the  extreme  left.  Longstreet  had  come  down 
from  Richmond  to  help,  but  it  was  too  late.  Lee  held  Petersburg,  but  his 
right  was  too  much  crushed  to  hope  to  retrieve  disasters  in  that  direction. 
He  had  lost  1 0,000  men ;  and  he  now  saw  but  a  narrow  door  through  which 
there  was  any  possibility  for  his  army  to  escape  into  North  Carolina,  and  that 
was  liable  to  be  shut  any  moment.  So  he  telegraphed  to  Davis,  at  Richmond, 
in  substance :  "  My  lines  are  broken  in  three  places ;  we  can  hold  Petersburg 
no  longer ;  Richmond  must  be  evacuated  this  evening." J 

A  scene  of  wildest  confusion  appeared  in  the  Confederate  Capital  that 
afternoon,  when  it  became  known  that  the  city  was  to  be  evacuated  by  the 
troops.  Consternation  filled  the  minds  and  hearts  of  all  friends  of  the  Con 
spirators,  and  hundreds  fled  from  the  doomed  town.  Davis  and  his  "  Cabinet  " 
were  speedily  on  the  wing  to  secure  their  personal  safety ;  and,  at  midnight,  a 
lurid  glare  shot  up  from  the  brink  of  the  river.  The  Confederate  authorities, 
in  disregard  of  the  danger  to  the  city,  had  ordered  the  burning  of  warehouses 
containing  military  stores.  These  were  then  in  flames ;  and  before  sunrise  a 
greater  portion  of  the  principal  business  part  of  Richmond  was  a  crumbling, 
smoking  ruin.  At  an  early  hour,  General  Weitzel  (who  was  in  command 
of  the  troops  on  the  north  side  of  the  river),  with  his,  staff,  entered  the  aban 
doned  and  burning  city,  followed  by  colored  troops ;  and  then  Lieutenant  J.  L. 
De  Peyster,  of  Weitzel's  military  family,  raised  the  flag  of  the  Republic  over 
the  State  Capitol.  General  G.  F.  Shepley  was  appointed  Military  Governor 
of  Richmond,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Manning  was  made  Provost-Marshal.2 

Davis  and  his  "  Cabinet " — his  more  immediate  associates  in  the  Great 
Crime — fled  to  Danville,  whither  Lee  hoped  to  follow  with  his  army.  But 

loyal  men,  with  trusty 
arms,  stood  in  his  way. 
Petersburg  had  also  been 
evacuated,  and  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia,  re 
duced  to  about  35,000 
men,  was  concentrated 
at  Chesterfield.  They 
moved  rapidly  westward, 
but  were  confronted  by 
Sheridan  not  far  from 
Amelia  Court  -  House. 
There  were  active  move 
ments  and  considerable 
fighting  for  three  or  four 

1  This  was  on  Sunday  forenoon,  April  2,  1865.  The  message  found  Davis  in  the  house  of 
worship  he  was  in  the  habit  of  attending.  He  left  the  church  immediately,  without  saving  a 
word  to  any  one,  but  nobody  misinterpreted  his  exit. 

8  Weitzel  took  1,000  prisoners  in  the  city,  besides  5,000  sick  and  wounded,  in  the  hospital. 
Also  500  guns,  full  5,000  small-arms,  30  locomotives,  300  cars,  and  a  large  amount  of  other  pub 
lic  property. 


! 


THE   CAPITOL   AT   RICHMOND. 


1865.]  LINCOLN'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

days  afterward,  while  Lee  was  making  desperate  efforts  to  escape.  Finally, 
near  Appomattox  Court-House,  the  last  charge  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia,  with  the  hope  of  breaking  through  the  National  lines,  was  made  on  the 
morning  of  the  9th  of  April.  It  was  unsuccessful ;.  and  on  that  day,  Grant 


M'LEAN'S  HOUSE. 

and  Lee  met  at  the  house  of  W.  McLean,1  near  the  Court-House,  where  terms  of 
surrender  on  the  part  of  Lee,  were  agreed  upon.  These  terms  were  very 
generous.2  ' 

1  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  Mr.  McLean,  whose  residence  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  was  on  a 
portion  of  the  battle-field  of  Bull's  Run,  and  had  left  that  region  for  another  that  promised  more 
quiet,  was  again  disturbed  by  the  clash  of  arms  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

2  The  Confederate  army,  officers  and  men,  were  paroled  on  the  condition  that  they  were  not 
to  take  up  arms  against  their  government  until  properly  exchanged.     "  The  arms,  artillery,  and 
public  property,"  ran  Grant's  letter  to  Lee  [April  9,  1865],  "to  be  parked  and  stacked,  and  turned 
over  to  the  officers  appointed  by  me  to  receive  them.     This  will  not  embrace  the  side-arms  of  the 
officers,  nor  their  private  horses  or  baggage.     This  done,  each  officer  and  man  will  be  allowed  to 
return  to  his  home,  not  to  be  disturbed  by  United  States  authority  so  long  as  they  observe  their 
paroles  and  the  laws  in  force  where  they  may  reside." 

This  generous  offer  of  full  amnesty  for  Lee  and  his  companions-in-arms,  who  had  been 
waging  war  for  four  years  against  their  government,  was  gladly  accepted  by  them ;  and  on  the 
following  dny  [April  10,  1865]  Lee,  regardless  of  that  generosity,  and  under  the  shield  of  that 
sacred  promise,  issued  an  address  to  his  troops,  commendatory  of  their  devotion  to  the  cause  of 
the  Conspirators  in  the  following  words: — 

"  After  four  years  of  arduous  service,  marked  by  unsurpassed  courage  and  fortitude,  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia  has  been  compelled  to  yield  to.  overwhelming  numbers  and  resources.  I 
need  not  tell  the  brave  survivors  of  so  many  hard-fought  battles,  who  have  remained  steadfast  to 
the  last,  that  I  have  consented  to  this  result  from  no  distrust  of  them ;  but  feeling  that  valor  and 
devotion  could  accomplish  nothing  that  would  compensate  for  the  loss  that  must  have  attended  a 
continuance  of  the  contest,  I  determined  to  avoid  the  useless  sacrifice  of  those  whose  past  ser 
vices  have  endeared  them  to  their  countrymen.  By  the  terms  of  agreement,  officers  and  men  can 
return  to  their  homes  and  remain  until  exchanged.  You  will  take  with  you  the  satisfaction  that 
proceeds  from  the  consciousness  of  duty  faithfully  performed,  and  I  earnestly  pray  that  a  merci 
ful  God  will  extend  to  you  his  blessing  and  protection.  With  an  increasing  admiration  of  your 
constancy  and  devotion  to  your  country,  and  a  grateful  remembrance  of  your  kind  and  generous 
consideration  for  myself,  I  bid  you  all  an  affectionate  farewell." 


THE     NATION.  [1865. 

President  Lincoln  had  been  at  City  Point  several  days  previous  to  the 
evacuation  of  Richmond,  and  two  days  after  that  event  [April  4]  he  was  con 
veyed  to  that  city  in  a  gun-boat,  and  with  Admiral  Porter  and  a  small  escort 
went  to  the  head-quarters  of  General  Weitzel,  in  the  house  lately  occupied  by 
Jefferson  Davis,  where  he  received  a  large  number  of  army  officers  and 
citizens.  He  afterward  rode  around  the  city  in  an  open  carriage,  and  then 
returned  to  City  Point.  This  visit  was  repeated  two  days  afterward  [April  5,] 
when  Mr.  Lincoln  returned  to  Washington  City,  full  of  joy  because  of  the 
prospect  of  a  speedy  return  of  peace.  There  was  gladness  throughout 
the  Republic ;  and  the  sounds  of  rejoicing  were  swelling  louder  and  louder 
everywhere,  when  they  were  suddenly  hushed  into  silence  by  the  awful 
tidings  that  the  hand  of  an  assassin  had  taken  the  life  of  the  good  President. 
While  Mr.  Lincoln  was  seated,  with  his  wife,  in  a  private  box  in  a  theater 
at  Washington  City,  on  the  evening  of  the  14th  of  April,  a  man  named  John 
Wilkes  Booth  crept  stealthily  behind  him,  and  shot  him  through  the  head  with 
a  pistol-ball.  Then  leaping  upon  the  stage  with  the  cry  of  "  Sic  semper 
tyrannis" — the  legend  of  Virginia's  State  seal — Booth  turned  to  the  audience, 
brandishing  a  dagger,  and  exclaimed,  '''"The  South  is  avenged!"  and  imme 
diately  fled  out  of  the  theater  by  a  back  passage.  The  murderer  was  soon 
afterward  mortally  wounded  in  an  attempt  .to  capture  him ;  and  several  of 
his  confederates,  one  of  whom  attempted  to  assassinate  the  Secretary  of 
State,  the  same  evening,  were  arrested,  tried  by  a  military  commission,  and 
hung.'2 

Mr.  Lincoln  expired  on  the  morning  of  the  15th  of  April,  and  less  than  six 
hours  afterward,  his  constitutional  successor,  Andrew  Johnson,  the  Yice-Presi- 
dent,  took  the  oath  of  office  as  President  of  the  Republic.2  Thoughtful  people, 


1  There  appears  to  have  been  a  conspiracy  for  assassinating  not  only  the  President,  but  other 
members  of  the  Executive  Department  of  the  government;  also  General  Grant  and  distinguished 
leaders  of  the  Republican  party.  The  object  seems  to  have  been  to  put  out  of  the  way  men  in 
high  places  opposed  to  the  Conspirators  who,  on  the  death  of  the  President,  might  administer  the 
government,  hoping  thereby  to  produce  anarchy  which  in  some  way  might  lead  to  the  accession 
to  power  of  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion.  By  a  strange  oversight  in  the  managers  of  the  scheme, 
the  Vice-President,  who  would  legally  succeed  the  murdered  President,  seems  to  have  been 
omitted  in  their  list  of  victims,  there  being  no  evidence  that  any  attempt  was  made  to  take  his 
life.  He  immediately  assumed  the  reins  of  government  without  any  disturbance  of  its  functions ; 
and  on  the  2d  of  May  he  issued  a  proclamation  which  was  countersigned  by  William  Hunter, 
"acting  Secretary  of  State,"  charging  that  the  crime  of  Booth  and  his  associates  had  been 
"  incited,  concerted,  and  procured,  between  Jefferson  Davis,  late  of  Richmond,  Va.,  and  Jacob 
Thompson,  Clement  C.  Clay,  Beverly  Tucker,  George  N.  Sanders,  W.  C.  Cleary,  and  other  rebels 
and  traitors  against  the  government  of  the  United  States,  harbored  'in  Canada."  lie  offered  a 
reward  of  $100,000  for  the  arrest  of  Davis,  and  from  $10,000  to  $25,000  each  for  the  arrest  of  the 
other  persons  named. 

1  Mr.  Johnson  requested  Mr.  Lincoln's  Cabinet  ministers  (see  note  2,  page  551)  to  remain,  and 
they  did  so.  At  that  time  they  consisted  of  "William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State ;  Hugh 
McCullough,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War;  Gideon  Welles, 
Secretary  of  the  Navy;  John  P.  Usher,  Secretary  of  the  Interior;  James  Speed,  Attorney- 
General;  and  William  Dennison,  Postmaster-General.  Mr.  Chase,  the  former  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  had  been  elevated  to  the  seat  of  Chief-Justice  of  the  United  States,  on  the  death  of 
Judge  Taney.  Mr.  Stanton  had  succeeded  Mr.  Cameron  in  the  War  Department,  early  in  1862; 
and  President  Lincoln,  satisfied  that  the  public  good  required  the  removal  of  Montgomery  Blair, 
the  Postmaster-General,  had  asked  him  to  resign.  The  request  was  granted,  and  Mr.  Dennison 
was  put  m  his  place.  Caleb  Smith  had  died,  and  Mr.  Usher  had  taken  his  place. 


1865.] 


JOHNSON'S    ADMINISTRATION. 


721 


who  regarded  private  virtue  as  the  basis  of  public  integrity,  and  who  sadly  re 
membered  the  conduct  of  the  Vice-President  at  his  inauguration  only  a  few  weeks 
before,  which  shocked  the  moral  sense  of 
right-minded  citizens,  were  filled  with 
gloomy  forebodings  concerning  the  fu 
ture  of  the  Republic,  for  the  most  pro 
found  wisdom  and  exalted  virtue  in  the 
Chief  Magistrate  were  needed  at  that 
critical  time.  But  the  new  incumbent 
of  the  chair  of  Washington  made  the 
most  satisfactory  promises  with  so  much 
apparent  sincerity,  that  the  people 
trusted  him.  How  that  confidence  was 
requited,  the  history  of  his  administra 
tion  reveals.1 

On  the  surrender  of  Lee,  the  Con 
federacy  fell,  and  the  war  was  speedily 
ended.  Sherman,  immediately  on  hear 
ing  the  glad  news,  moved  from  Golds- 
boro'  against  Johnston.  Stonernan,  meanwhile,  had  been  making  a  successful 
raid  in  the  rear  of  Johnston,  and  in  aid  of  Sherman.  He  proceeded  from 
Knoxville,  in  East  Tennessee,  late  in  March,  to  destroy  the  railway  in  the 
direction  of  Lynchburg,  from  Wytheville.  There  he  turned  southward,  and 
swept  down  into  North  Carolina,  where  he  struck  and  destroyed  the  railway 
between  Danville  and  Greensboro',  and  then  pushed  on  toward  Salisbury, 
where  a  large  number  of  Union  prisoners  had  been  confined.  He  was  met  tei* 
miles  from  that  town  by  a  Confederate  force,  which  he  routed,  capturing  all 
their  guns  (14)  and  1,364  prisoners.  In  Salisbury  he  destroyed  a  vast  amount 
of  public  property.  Sherman  ordered  him  to  remain  operating  in  Johnston's 
rear,  in  aid  of  his  own  movement  against  the  Confederate  front,  but  Stoneman 
refused  to  do  so,  and  returned  to  East  Tennessee. 

On  the  10th  of  April,  Sherman  moved  upon  Johnston  at  Smith  field.  The 
latter  burned  the  bridge  over  the  Neuse,  and  retreated  on  Raleigh,  destroying 
the  railway  behind  him.  Sherman  followed  him  sharply.  The  pursued  and 
pursuers  pushed  on,  in  heavy  rains,  in  the  direction  of  Hillsboro',  where  the 
chase  was  ended  by  a  note  from  Johnston  to  Sherman  [April  14],  inquiring 
whether  the  latter  was  willing,  for  the  purpose  of  stopping  the  further  effusion 
of  blood,  to  agree  to  a  temporary  suspension  of  hostilities  until  General  Grant 

1  Andrew  Johnson  was  born  in  Raleigh,  Xorth  Carolina,  on  the  29th  of  December,  1807.  ITe 
was  taught  the  business  of  a  tailor  at  an  early  age.  During  his  apprenticeship  he  learned  to 
read,  but  was  not  able  to  write  or  cipher  until,  at  the  age  of  twenty  years,  he  was  taught  by  his 
young  wife,  when  he  was  settled  in  Greenville,  in  East  Tennessee,  in  the  business  of  garment- 
making.  He  became  an  Alderman  of  that  village,  and  was  Mayor  for  three  years.  He  was 
chosen  a  member  of  the  Tennessee  Legislature,  and  was  a  Presidential  elector  in  1840.  In  1843 
he  was  elected  to  Congress,  and  in  1853,  was  chosen  Governor  of  Tennessee.  In  1857  he  was 
elected  a  National  Senator.  In  18f>3  he  was  appointed  Military  Governor  of  Tennessee,  and  in 
tho  autumn  of  1864,  was  chosen  to  be  Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  He  arose  to  the 
Presidency  on  the  death  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  His  career  in  that  office  is  noticed  in  the  text. 

46 


7*22 


THE     NATION. 


[1865. 


should  be  asked  to  take  action  in  regard  to  the  other  armies,  similar  to  that 
had  in  the  case  of  general  Lee's.  Sherman  promptly  complied  with  Johnston's 
wishes,  and  met  that  general  at  Durham  Station  on  the  17th.  On  the  follow 
ing  day  an  agreement  was  signed  by  the  two  generals,  which  would,  in  effect, 
instantly  restore  to  all  persons  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  rebellion  every 
right  and  privilege,  political  and  social,  they  had  enjoyed  before  they  rebelled, 
without  any  liability  to  punishment.  It  proposed  an  utter  forgetfulness,  prac 
tically,  of  the  events  of  the  war,  and  made  it  a  hideous  farce  with  the  features 
of  a  dreadful  tragedy.  The  government,  of  course,  rejected  it,  and  sent  Grant 
to  Sherman  to  direct  an  immediate  resumption  of  hostilities.  This  was  fol 
lowed  by  the  surrender  of  Johnston's  army  to  Sherman,  on  the  26th,  on  the 
generous  terms  accorded  to  Lee.  The  surrender  of  other  bodies  of  troops 
speedily  followed,  arid  early  in  May  the  armed  Rebellion  was  ended.1 

Expecting  Lee  and  his  army  at  Danville,  the  fugitive  "  President  of  the 
Confederacy  "  attempted  to  set  up  a  government  there,  but  when  he  heard  of 
the  surrender  of  Lee  and  his  army,  he  and  his  "  cabinet,"  fled  in  the  direction 
of  Mississippi.  Difficulties  lay  in  their  way,  and  they  turned  southward  with 
a  daily  diminishing  cavalry  escort.  The  "government"  soon  dissolved,  each 
member  seeking  safety  as  best  he  might.  Davis,  accompanied  by  his  family, 
and  by  Reagan,  his  "Postmaster-General,"  pushed  Jon  toward  the  Gulf  of 

Mexico,  over  whose  waters  he  hoped  to 
escape  from  the  country.  His  flight  had 
been  made  known  to  the  vigilant  Wilson, 
at  Macon,2  who  sent  out  cavalry  forces  in 
quest  of  him.  Lieutenant  Pritchard,  of  the 
Fourth  Michigan,  leading  one  of  these  de 
tachments,  found  the  fugitive  encamped 
near  Irwinsville,  the  capital  of  Irwin  County, 
in  Georgia,  and  captured  him  on  the  llth 
of  May.3  Pritchard  conveyed  Davis  and 
his  party,  to  Macon,  whence  the  fallen 
chief  was  sent  to  Fortress  Monroe.4  There 
he  was  confined  in  one  of  the  casemates — 
a  most  comfortable  prison — and  treated 
with  marked  kindness  during  a  long  cap 
tivity,  when  he  was  admitted  to  bail,  charged  with  the  crime  of  Treason. 

The  armies  of  the  Republic,  whose  fortitude,  valor,  and  skill  had  saved 

1  E.  Kirby  Smith,  commanding  in  Texas,  was  disposed  to  longer  resistance.     On  hearing  of 
the  surrender  of  Lee,  he  issued  an  address  to  his  troops,  urging  them  to  a  continuance  of  the 
struggle  in  that  region      The  last  fight  of  the  Civil  War  occurred  not  far  from  Brazos  Santiago,  in 
Texas,  on  the  iMth  of  May.     Soon  after  that,  Smith  and  others  were  fugitives  in  Mexico. 

2  See  page  716. 

3  Davis  was  found  in  a  disguise,  composed  of  a  wrapper,  and  a  woman's  shawl  thrown  over 
his  head,  aud  was  making  his  way,  with  a  bucket,  toward  a  spring  where  his  horses  and  arms 
were.     In  this  disguise,  and  seeming  avocation,  he  appeared  like  a  woman,  but  it  did  not  save 
him. 

4  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  the  "  Vice-Presideut  of  the  Confederacy  "  (who  was  arrested  at 
about  this  time,  at  his  home  in  Crawfordsville).  and  '•  Postmaster-General"  Reagan,  were  sent  to 
Fort  Warren,  in  Boston  Harbor.     They  were  release']  in  the  autumn. 


DAVIS'S   PRISON,    FORTRESS   MONROE. 


1865.]  JOHNSON'S    ADMINISTRATION.  723 

its  life,  and  achieved  the  freedom  of  an  enslaved  race,  were  now  seen  making 
their  way  homeward,  everywhere  received  with  the  warmest  demonstrations 
of  affection.  The  military  prisons  were  opened,  and  the  captive  Confederate 
soldiers  were  set  free  and  kindly  sent  to  their  homes  at  the  expense  of  the 
government.1.  On  the  2d  of  June  General  Grant  issued  a  stirring  farewell 
address  to  the  "  Soldiers  of  the  Armies  of  the  United  States ;" 8  and  by  mid 
autumn  [1865],  the  wonderful  spectacle  was  exhibited  of  vast  armies  of  soldiers, 
surrounded  by  all  the  paraphernalia  of  War,  transformed,  in  the  space  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  days  into  a  vast  army  of  citizens,  engaged  in  the  blessed 
pursuits  of  Peace.3  No  argument  in  favor  of  free  institutions,  and  a  repub- 

1  The  number  of  Confederate  prisoners  released,  after  the  close  of  hostilities,  was  63,442. 
The  number  surrendered  and  paroled  in  the  several  Confederate  armies,  was  174,223.     It  is  a 
fact,  susceptible  of  the  clearest  proof,  that  the  treatment  of  Confederate  prisoners,  as  a  rule,  was 
humane,  and  even  generous,  while  the  treatment  of  Union  prisoners  was  exactly  the  reverse. 
The  sufferings  of  captives  at  Richmond,  Salisbury  in  North  Carolina,  Danville  in  Virginia,  and 
especially  at  Andersonville.  in  Georgia,  were  awful,  and  without  excuse.     It  is  plainly  evident 
that  a  S}rstem  of  treatment,  intended,  if  not  actually  to  murder,  surely  to  permanently  disable 
the  Union  prisoners  of  war,  by  unwholesome  and  iusufficient  diet,  was  inaugurated  and  carried 
out.     The  records  of  Andersonville  show  this.     There  the  prisoners  were  actually  tortured,  and 
starved  to  death,  in  the  midst  of  plenty,  as  the  march  of  Sherman  through  that  State  in  the 
autumn  of  1864,  developed.     See  note  2,  page  703.     It  may  be  well  to  note,  in  this  connection, 
the  fact,  shown  by  the  records  of  the  War  Department,  that  220,000  Confederate  soldiers  were 
captured  during  the  war,  of  whom,  26,436  died  of  wounds  or  diseases,  during  their  captivity, 
while  of  126.940  Union  soldiers  captured,  nearly  23,000  died  while  prisoners.     It  is  estimated 
that  the  whole   number  of  Union  captives  was  about   196,000,  of  whom  41,000   died  while 
prisoners. 

In  this  connection  it  is  also  proper  to  speak  of  the  glorious  work  of  two  benevolent  organiza 
tions:  The  United  Stales  Sanitary  Commits  ton,  and  the  United  States  Christian  Commission.  The 
first  was  organized  at  the  beginning  of  the  war ;  the  second  soon  afterward.  We  •  can  only 
allude  to  their  work  here.  They  were  organized  and  carried  on  for  the  temporal  and  spiritual  help 
of  the  soldiers  who  were  fighting  for  the  Republic.  Their  resources  found  their  springs  in  the 
hearts  of  the  loyal  people  of  the  land,  who  contributed  supplies  to  the  United  States  Sanitary 
Commission,  valued  at  $15,000,000,  and  cash  to  the  amount  of  almost  $5,000,000.  The  receipts 
of  the  United  States  Christian  Commission,  amounted  in  value  to  over  $6,000,000.  This  organi 
zation  not  only  gave  temporal  relief  to  the  soldiers,  in  the  way  of  food  and  clothing,  but  dis 
tributed  immense  numbers  of  useful  books,  and  pamphlets,  for  the  intellectual,  moral  and  religious 
comfort  of  the  soldiers  in  the  field,  the  camp,  and  the  hospital.  It  is  safe  to  estimate  the  money 
value  of  the  free  gifts  of  the  loyal  people,  to  the  soldiers  of  the  armies,  during  the  war,  at 
$500,000,000. 

2  The  following  is  a  copy  of  General  Grant's  address :   "  Soldiers  of  the  Armies  of  the  United 
States:    By  your  patriotic  devotion  to  your  country  in  the  hour  of  danger  and  alarm,  your 
magnificent  fighting,  bravery  and  endurance,  you  have  maintained  the  supremacy  of  the  Union, 
and  the  Constitution,  overthrown  all  armed  opposition  to  the  enforcement  of  the  laws,  and  of 
the  proclamation  for  ever  abolishing  slavery — the  cause  and  pretext  of  the  Rebellion — and  opened 
the  way  to  the  rightful  authorities  to  restore  order,  and  inaugurate  peace  on  a  permanent  and 
enduring  basis  on  every  foot  of  American^  soil.     Your  marches,  sieges,  and  battles,  in  distance, 
duration,  resolution,  and  brilliancy  of  results,  dims  the  luster'of  the  world's  past  military  achieve 
ments,  and  will  be  the  patriot's  precedent  in  defense  of  liberty  and  right,  in  all  time  to  come. 
In  obedience  to  your  country's  call,  you  left  your  homes  arid  families,  and  volunteered  in  her 
defense.     Victory  has  crowned  your  valor,  and  secured  the  purpose  of  your  patriotic  hearts ; 
and,  with  the  gratitude  of  your  countrymen,  and  the  highest  honors  a  great  and  free  nation  can 
accord,  you  will  soon  be  permitted  to  return  to  your  homes  and  families,  conscious  of  having 
discharged  the  highest   duty  of  American  citizens.     To  achieve  these   glorious  triumphs,  and 
secure  to  yourselves,  your  fellow-countrymen,  and  posterity,  the  blessings  of  free  institutions, 
tens  of  thousands  of  your  gallant  comrades  have  fallen,  and  sealed  the  priceless  legacy  with  their 
blood.     The  graves  of  these,  a  grateful  nation  bedews  with  tears,  honors  their  memories,  and  will 
ever  cherish  and  support  their  stricken  families." 

3  The  records  of  the  War  Department  show  that,  on  the  first  of  March,  1865,  the  muster-rolls 
of  the   army  exhibited  an  aggregrate  force  of  965,501  men;  of  whom,  602,593  were  present  for 
duty,  and  132,538  were  on  detached  service.     By  the  middle  of  October  following,  785,205  were 
mustered  out  of  the  service. 

The  whole  number  of  men  called  into  the  service  during  the  war,  was  2,628,523.     Of  these, 


THE     NATION.  [1865. 

lican  form  of  government,  so  conclusive  and  potential  as  this,  was  ever  before 
presented  to  the  feelings  and  judgment  of  the  nations  of  the  earth.  The  great 
political  problem  of  the  nineteenth  century,  was  solved  by  the  Civil  War.  Our 
Republic  no  longer  appeared  as  an  experiment  but  as  a  demonstration. 

After  the  terrible  convulsion  of  the  Civil  War— the  paralysis  of  State 
governments,  and  the  entire  disruption  of  the  industrial  and  social  system  of 
a  large  portion  of  the  Republic— came  the  business  of  reorganization,  not  of 
reconstruction,  for  no  institution  worthy  of  preservation  had  been  destroyed. 
No  State,  as  a  component  part  of  the  Republic,  had  been  annihilated.  Those 
in  which  rebellion  had  existed  were  simply  in  a  condition  of  suspended 
animation.  They  were  all  equal,  living  members  of  the  Commonwealth, 
incapacitated  by  derangements  for  healthful  functional  action,  and  awaiting 
resuscitation  at  the  hands  of  the  only  healer,  the  National  Government.  To 
that  resuscitation — that  reorganization,  and  fitting  for  active  life,  the  govern 
ment  was  now  called  upon  to  employ  its  powers. 

A  preliminary  step  toward  reorganization  was  taken  by  the  President  on 
the  29th  of  April,  1865,  when  he  proclaimed  the  removal  of  restrictions  on 
commercial  intercourse  with  the  inhabitants  of  States  in  which  rebellion  had 
existed.  A  month  later  [May  29],  he  issued  a  proclamation,  stating  the  terms 
by  which  the  people  of  the  paralyzed  States,  with  sipecifiecl  exceptions,  might 
receive  full  amnesty  and  pardon,  and  be  reinvested  with  the  right  to  exercise 
the  functions  of  citizenship.  This  was  followed  by  the  appointment  by  the 
President  of  provincial  governors  for  seven  of  those  States,1  clothed  with 
authority  to  assemble  citizens  in  convention,  who  had  taken  the  amnesty  oath, 
with  power  to  reorganize  State  governments,  and  secure  the  election  of  repre 
sentatives  in  the  National  Congress.  The  plan  was  to  restore  to  the  States 
named,  their  former  position  in  the  Union  without  any  provision  for  securing  to 
the  freedman  the  right  to  the  exercise  of  citizenship,  which  the  amendment  to 
the  National  Constitution,  then  before  the  State  Legislatures,  would  justly 
entitle  them  to.2  The  reorganized  State  governments  were  bound  only  to 
respect  their  freedom. 

about  l.,490,000  were  in  actual  service.  Of  this  number,  nearly  G0,000  were  killed  on  the  field, 
and  about  35,000  were  mortally  wounded.  Disease  in  camps  and  hospitals  slew  184,000.  It  is 
estimated  that  300.000  Union  soldiers  perished  during  the  war.  Full  that  number  of  the  Confed 
erate  sddiers  perished;  and  the  aggregate  number  of  men.  including  both  armies,  who  were 
crippled,  or  permanently  disabled  by  disease,  was  estimated  at  400.000.  The  actual  loss  to  the 
country,  of  able-bodied  men,  in  consequence  of  the  Rebellion,  was  full  1.000,000. 

1  These  were  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  and 
Texas. 

8  On  the  3 1st  of  January,  18G5,  the  House  of  Representatives  passed  a  joint  resolution,  already 
adopted  by  the  Senate  at  a  previous  session,  for  an  amendment  to  the  National  Constitution,  in 
the  following  words  : — 

"SECTION  1.  Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except  as  a  punishment  for  crime, 
whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  shall  exist  within  the  United  States,  or  any 
place  subject  to  their  jurisdiction. 

"  SECTION  2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by  appropriate  legislation." 

This  amendment  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  119  yeas,  against  56  nays.  Eight  members  did 
not  vote.  Senator  Wilson,  one  of  the  most  earnest  and  able  of  the  public  men  of  the  country, 
in  labors  for  this  consummation,  says,  in  his  Anti  Slavery  Measures  in  Congress,  page  393,  that 
when  the  Speaker  announced  .that  the  required  two-thirds  majority  had  voted  in  favor  of  the 
joint  resolution,  the  House  and  the  spectators  gave  expression  to  their  satisfaction  by  an  outburst 
of  applause.  "  The  Republican  members,"  he  says,  "  instantly  sprang  to  their  feet,  and  applauded 


1865.]  JOHNSON'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

This  total  disregard  of  the  highest  interests  of  the  freedmen,  and  the  fact 
that  the  President  was  making  haste  to  pardon  a  large  number  of  those  who 
had  been  active  in  the  rebellion,  and  would  exercise  a  controlling  influence  in 

O 

the  States  which  lie  was  equally  in  haste  to  reorganize  on  his  plan,  startled 
the  loyal  men  of  the  country,  and  made  them  doubt  the  sincerity  of  his 
vehement  declarations  of  intention  to  punish  traitors  and  to  make  treason 
odious.1  They  felt  that  Justice,  not  Expediency,  should  be  the  rule  in  the 
readjustment  of  the  affairs  of  the  Republic  ;  and  it  was  demanded,  as  an  act  of 
National  honor,  that  the  freed  man,  when  made  a  citizen  by  the  Constitution, 
should  have  equal  civil  and  political  rights  and  privileges  with  other  citizens, 
such  as  the  elective  franchise. 

It  soon  became  evident  that  the  President  was  willing  to  take  issue,  upon 
vital  points  of  principle  and  policy,  with  the  party  which  had  carried  the 
country  triumphantly  through  the  great  Civil  War,  and  had  given  him  the 
second  office  in  the  Republic.2  And,  at  the  close  of  the  year,  it  was  plain  to 
sagacious  observers  that  the  Chief  Magistrate  was  more  friendly  to  the  late 
enemies  of  his  country  than  consistency  with  his  profession,  or  the  safety  of 
the  Republic,  would  allow.  As  a  consequence  of  that  friendliness,  it  was  per 
ceived  that  the  politicians  who  had  worked  in  the  interest  of  the  rebellion,  and 
newspapers  which  had  advocated  the  cause  of  the  Conspirators,  had  assumed  a 
belligerent  tone  toward  Congress  and  the  loyal  people,  which  disturbed  the 
latter  by  unpleasant  forebodings.  Meanwhile  measures  for  perfecting  peaceful 
relations  throughout  the  Republic  had  been  taken.  The  order  for  a  blockade 
of  the  Southern  ports  was  rescinded  [June  23,  1865]  ;  more  of  the  restrictions 

with  cheers  and  clapping  of  hands.  The  spectators  in  the  crowded  galleries  waved  their  hats, 
and  made  the  chambers  ring  with  enthusiastic  plaudits.  Hundreds  of  ladies,  gracing  the  galleries 
with  their  presence,  rose  in  their  seats,  and,  by  waving  their  handkerchiefs,  and  participating  in 
the  general  demonstration  of  enthusiasm,  added  to  the  intense  excitement  and  interest  of  a  scene 
that  will  long  be  remembered  by  those  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  witness  it." 

When  this  crowning  act  of  Emancipation  was  accomplished,  Mr.  Ingcrsoll  of  Illinois,  said: 
"  In  honor  of  this  immortal  and  sublime  event,  I  move  that  the  House  adjourn."  The  motion 
was  carried  by  121  to  24.  On  the  following  day,  it  was  resolved  to  send  the  Act  to  the  State 
legislatures  for  ratiiication ;  and  on  the  18th  day  of  December  following,  the  Secretary  of  State,  by 
proclamation,  certified  that  three-fourths  of  the  legislatures  had  ratified  it. 

1  The  fiery  zeal  with  which  the  new  President  denounced  treason  and  traitors,  made  moderate 
men  fear  that  he  would  deal  too  harshly  with  them.  To  a  delegation  from  New  Hampshire,  who 
waited  upon  him  soon  after  his  inauguration,  ho  said :  u  Treason  is  a  crime,  and  must  be  punished 
as  a  crime.  It  must  not  bo  regarded  as  a  mere  difference  of  political  opinion.  It  must  not  be 
excused  as  an  unsuccessful  rebellion,  to  be  overlooked  and  be  forgiven.  It  is  a  crime  before  which 
all  other  crimes  sink  into  insignificance."  Similar,  and  even  severer  language  toward  those  who 
had  lately  tried  to  destroy  the  Republic,  was  used  by  him  at  that  time. 

•  a  So  early  as  August,  or  about  four  months  after  his  accession  to  the  Presidency,  Mr.  Johnson 
manifested  an  unfriendly  feeling  toward  the  most  earnest  men  of  the  Republican  party,  and  who 
had  been  most  zealous  supporters  of  the  government  during  the  war.  In  a  telegraphic  dispatch 
to  Mr.  Sharkey,  whom  he  had  appointed  provisional  governor  of  Mississippi,  he  recommended 
[August  15,  1865]  the  extension  of  the  elective  franchise  to  all  persons  of  color  in  that  State,  who 
could  read  the  National  Constitution  or  possessed  property  valued  at  $250.  This  would  affect  but 
very  few  people  of  that  class,  who,  in  that  State,  were  kept  enslaved  and  poor  by  the  laws.  His 
sole  motive  for  the  recommendation,  as  appears  in  the  dispatch,  was  expressed  in  these  words : 
"  Do  this,  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  radicals, -who  are  wild  upon  negro  franchise,  will  be  com 
pletely  foiled  in  their  attempt  to  keep  the  Southern  States  from  renewing  their  relations  to  the 
Union."  More  than  a  year  before,  Mr.  Lincoln  had  suggested  similar  action  to  the  Governor  of 
Louisiana,  but  with  a  different  motive.  "  They  would  probably  help,"  he  said,  almost  propheti 
cally,  "  in  some  trying  time  to  come,  to  keep  the  jewel  of  Liber  tij  in  the  family  of  Freedom" — Letter  to 
Michael  Hahn,  March  13,  1864. 


TIIE     CATION.  [1S65. 

on  internal  commerce  were  removed  [August  29]  ;  State  prisoners  were  paroled 
[October  12];  and  the  act  suspending  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  Habeas 
Corpus  was  annulled  [December  1]. 

The  provisional  governors  appointed  by  the  President  were  diligent  in 
carrying  out  his  policy  of  reorganization,  and  before  Congress  met,  in  Decem 
ber,  conventions  in  five  of  the  disorganized  States  had  ratified  the  Amendment 
of  the  Constitution  concerning  slavery ;  formed  new  constitutions  for  their 
respective  States,  and  caused  the  election  of  representatives  in  Congress.  The 
President  had  hurried  on  the  work  by  directing  the  provisional  governors  of 
the  five  States  to  resign  their  power  into  the  hands  of  others  elected  under  the 
new  constitutions.  Some  of  these  had  been  active  participants  in  the  rebellion, 
and  some  of  the  Congressmen  elect,  in  those  States,  had  been  hard  workers,  it 
was  said,  in  the  service  of  the  enemies  of  the  Republic.  The  loyal  people 
were  filled  with  anxiety  because  of  these  events,  and  the  assumptions  of  powers 
by  the  President  in  doing  that  Avhich,  as  prescribed  by  the  Constitution, 
belongs  exclusively  to  the  representatives  of  the  people  to  do.  Yet  they 
waited,  with  the  quieting  knowledge  that  Congress  had  a  right  to  judge  of  the 
qualifications  of  its  members,  and  with  the  belief  that  disloyal  men  would  not 
be  allowed  to  enter  that  body  over  the  bar  of  a  test  oath  prescribed  by  law.1 

When  Congress  assembled  [Dec.  4,  1865],  the  subject  of  reorganization 
was  among  the  first  business  of  the  session,  and  by  a  joint  resolution  a  com 
mittee  of  fifteen  was  appointed 2  to  make  inquiries  and  report.  This  was 
known  as  the  "Reconstruction  Committee."  This  action  offended  the  Presi 
dent.  It  was  an  interference  of  the  representatives  of  the  people  with  his 
chosen  policy  of  reorganization,  and  hostility  to  Congress  was  soon  openly 
manifested  by  him.  This  was  vehemently  declared  by  the  President  in  a 
speech  to  the  populace  in  front  of  the  Presidential  Mansion  on  the  22d  of  Feb 
ruary  [1866] — a  speech  which  Americans  would  gladly  blot  from  the  record  of 
their  country — in  which,  forgetting  the  dignity  of  his  position  and  the  gravity 
of  the  questions  at  issue,  he  denounced,  by  name,  leading  members  of  Con 
gress,  and  the  party  which  had  given  him  their  confidence.  The  American 
people  felt  humiliated  by  this  act ;  but  it  was  a  small  matter  when  compared 
with  what  occurred  later  in  the  year  [August  and  September,  1866],  when  the 

1  By  an  Act  passed  on  the  22d  of  July,  1862,  Congress  prescribed  that  every  member  should 
make  oath  that  he  had  not  "  voluntarily  borne  arms  against  the  United  States  since  he  had  been 
a  citizen  thereof,"  or  "  voluntarily  given  aid,  countenance,  counsel,  or  encouragement  to  persons 
engaged  in  hostility  thereto,"  and  had  never  "  yielded  voluntary  support  to  any  pretended  gov 
ernment,  authority,  power,  or  constitution  within  the  United  States,  hostile  or  inimical  thereto." 

8  On  the  first  day  of  the  session,  the  House  of  Representatives,  by  a  vote  of  133  against  36, 
proposed,  and  agreed  to  a  joint  resolution  to  appoint  a  joint  committee,  to  be  composed  of  nine 
members  of  the  House  and  six  of  the  Senate,  to  "inquire  into  the  condition  of  the  States  which 
formed  the  so-called  Confederate  States  of  America,  and  report  whether  they,  or  any  of  them,  are 
entitled  to  be  represented  in  either  House  of  Congress,  with  leave  to  report  at  any  time,  by  bill 
or  otherwise  ;  and  until  such  report  shall  have  been  made  and  finally  acted  upon  by  Congress,  no 
member  shall  be  received  in  either  House  from  any  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States  ;  and  all 
papers  relating  to  the  representatives  of  the  said  States,  shall  be  referred  to  the  said  committee." 
The  resolution  was  adopted  by  the  Senate  on  the  1 4th.  The  House  appointed  Messrs.  Stevens, 
Washburne,  Morrill,  G-rider,  Bingham,  Conkling,  Boutwell,  Blow,  and  Rogers,  as  its  representa 
tives  in  the  committee,  and  the  Senate  appointed  Messrs.  Fessenden,  Grimes,  Harris,  Howland, 
Johnson,  and  Williams. 


1866.]  JOHNSON'S     ADMINISTRATION.  727 

President  and  a  part  of  his  Cabinet,  with  the  pretext  of  honoring  the  deceased 
Senator  Douglas  by  being  present  at  the  dedication  of  a  monument  to  his 
memory  at  Chicago,  on  the  6th  of  September,  made  a  journey  to  that  city  and 
beyond.  He  harangued  the  people  in  language  utterly  unbecoming  the  chief 
magistrate  of  a  nation,  and  attempted  to  sow  the  dangerous  seeds  of  sedition, 
by  denouncing  Congress  as  an  illegal  body,  deserving  of  no  respect  from  the 
people,  and  the  majority  of  its  members  as  traitors,  "  trying  to  break  up  the 
government."  That  journey  of  the  President,  so  disgraceful  in  all  its  features 
— its  low  partisan  object,  its  immoral  performances,  and  its  pitiful  results — 
forms  a  dark  paragraph  in  the  history  of  the  Republic.1 

Having  laid  aside  the  mask  of  assumed  friendship  for  those  who  had 
labored  most  earnestly  for  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion  and  for  the  freed- 
inen,  the  President  used  his  veto  power  to  the  utmost  in  trying  to  thwart  the 
representatives  of  the  people  in  their  efforts  to  reorganize  the  disorganized 
States,  and  to  quickly  secure  a  full  and  permanent  restoration  of  the  Union  on 
the  basis  of  equal  and  exact  justice.2  He  made  uncompromising  war  upon  the 
legislative  branch  of  the  government,  and  caused  members  of  his  cabinet,  who- 
could  not  agree  with  him,  to  resign,  with  the  exception  of  the  Secretary  of 
War.  The  friends  of  the  Republic  urged  that  officer  to  remain,  believing  his 
retention  of  his  bureau  at  that  critical  period  in  the  life  of  the  nation  would 
be  for  the  public  benefit.  He  did  so,  and  became  the  object  of  the  President's- 
hatred. 

On  the  2d  of  April,  the  President,  by  proclamation,  declared  the  Civil 
War  to  be  at  an  end.  Congress,  meanwhile,  was  working  assiduously  in  per 
fecting  its  plans  for  reorganization.  Tennessee  was  formally  restored  to  the 
Union  by  that  body  on  the  23d  of  July ;  and  on  the  29th  of  that  month,  after 
a  long  and  arduous  session,  Congress  adjourned.  Meanwhile  notable  events  in 
the  foreign  relations  of  the  government  had  occurred.  The  Emperor  of  the 
French  had  been  informed  that  the  continuation  of  French  troops  in  Mexico' 
was  not  agreeable  to  the  United  States,  and  on  the  5th  of  April  [1866],  Napo 
leon's  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs  gave  assurance  to  our  government  that 

1  A  convention  had  just  been  held  [Aug.  14]  in  Philadelphia,  composed  chiefly  of  men  who 
had  been  engaged  in  the  rebellion,  and  ihe  enemies  of  the  Republican  party,  for  the  purpose  of 
organizing  a  new  party,  with  President  Johnson  as  its  standard-bearer.     So  discordant  were  the? 
elements  there  gathered,  that  no  one  was  allowed  to  debate  questions  of  public  interest,  for  fear 
of  producing  a  disruption  and  consequent  failure  of  the  scheme.     It  utterly  failed.     A  convention 
of  \oyul  men  from  the  South  was  held  in  Philadelphia  soon  afterward,  in  which  representatives- 
of  the  Republican  party  in  the  North  participated.     The  President's  journey  being  wholly  for  a 
political  purpose,  members  of  the  latter  convention  followed  in  his  track,  making  speeches  in- 
many  places  in  support  of  the  measures  of  Congress  for  effecting  reorganization. 

So  disgraceful  was  the  conduct  of  the  President  at  Cleveland  and  St.  Louis,  in  the  attitude  of 
a  mere  demagogue  making  a  tour  for  partisan  purposes,  that  the  common  council  of  Cincinnati, 
on  his  return  journey,  refused  to  accord  him  a  public  reception.  The  common  council  of  Pitts- 
burg,  in  Pennsylvania,  did  the  same.  When,  on  the  15th  of  September,  the  erring  President  and 
his  traveling  party  returned  to  Washington,  the  country  felt  a  relief  from-  a  sense  of  deep1 
mortification. 

2  On  the  19th  of  February,  1866,  he  vetoed  the  act  for  enlarging  the  operations  of  the  Freed- 
man's  Bureau,  established  for  the  relief  of  freedmen,  refugees,  and  abandoned  lands.    On  the  27th 
of  March  he  vetoed  the  act  known  as  the  Civil  Rights  Law,  which  was  intended  to  secure  to  all 
citizens,   without  regard  to  color  or  a  previous  condition  of  slavery,  equal  civil  rights  in  the 
Republic.     This  Act  became  a  law,  after  it  was  vetoed  by  the  President,  by  the  vote  of  a  constitu 
tional  majority,  on  the  9th  of  April. 


728  THE     NATION.  [1866. 

those  troops  should  be  withdrawn  within  a  specified  time.1  A  military  organ 
ization  of  Irish  residents  of  the  United  States,  known  as  the  Fenian  Brother 
hood,  with  the  ostensible  aim  of  procuring  the  independence  of  Ireland  from 
England,  made  movements  in  May  and  June  [1866]  for  a  formidable  invasion 
of  the  neighboring  British  provinces.  Our  government  interfered,  and  the 
effort  was  a  failure.  With  England,  at  about  the  same  time,  a  peaceful  bond 
of  Union  was  formed,  by  the  successful  laying  of  a  telegraphic  cable  between  the 
two  countries.  The  first  dispatch,  announcing  the  conclusion  of  a  treaty  of 
peace  between  Prussia  and  Austria,  passed  over  it  on  the  29th  of  July,  and  on 
the  following  day  the  President  of  the  United  States  received  by  it,  from 
Queen  Victoria,  a  message  of  congratulation  because  of  the  completion  of  the 
great  work,  which  she  hoped  "might  serve  as  an  additional  bond  between  the 
United  States  and  England."  So  early  as  October,  1862,  telegraphic  commu 
nication  had  been  opened  across  this  continent  between  the  coasts  of  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans ;  and  while  the  great  Civil  War  was  in  progress, 
our  government  cordially  promoted  an  enterprise  having  for  its  object  a  line 
of  telegraphic  communication  around  the  Avorld,  by  connecting  Asia  and 
America,  with  the  delicate  cord,  at  Behring's  Straits. 

The  State  elections  held  in  the  autumn  of  1866  indicated  the  decided 
approval  by  the  people,  of  the  reorganization  plans  of  Congress  as  opposed  to 
that  of  the  President,  who  was  now  openly  affiliated  with  the  Democratic  party 
and  the  late  enemies  of  the  government  in  the  South  and  elsewhere.  The 
majority  in  Congress  felt  strengthened  by  the  popular  approval  of  their  course, 
and  went  steadily  forward  in  perfecting  measures  for  the  restoration  of  the 
Union.  They  took  steps  for  restraining  the  action  of  the  President,  who,  it 
was  manifest,  had  determined  to  carry  out  his  own  policy  in  defiance  of  that 
of  Congress.  And  as  an  indication  of  the  general  policy  of  the  latter,  con 
cerning  suffrage,  a  bill  was  passed  [December  14]  by  a  large  majority  of 
both  Houses  for  granting  the  elective  franchise  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
over  which  Congress  has  direct  control,  to  persons,  "  without  any  distinction 
on  account  of  color  or  race."  The  President  vetoed  the  bill  [January  7,  1867], 
when  it  was  re-enacted  by  the  constitutional  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  mem 
bers  of  both  Houses  in  its  favor.  On  the  same  day  [January  7],  Mr.  Ashley, 
Representative  from  Ohio,  arose  in  his  seat,  and  charged  "Andrew  Johnson, 
Vice-President  and  Acting-President  of  the  United  States,  with  the  commis 
sion  of  acts  which,  in  the  estimation  of  the  Constitution,  are  high  crimes  and 
misdemeanors,  for  which  he  ought  to  be  impeached."  He  offered  specifications 
and  a  resolution  instructing  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary  to  make  inquiries 
on  the  subject.2  The  resolution  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  to  thirty-eight,  forty-five  members  not  voting.  This  was  the  first 

1  This  was  done,  and  the  Archduke  Maximilian,  of  Austria,  whom  Louis  Napoleon  had  placed 
on  a  throne  in  Mexico,  with  the  title  of  Emperor,  was  deserted  by  the  perfidious  ruler  of  France, 
and  after  struggling  against  the  native  Republican  government  for  awhile,  was  captured  and  shot. 

8  Mr.  Ashley  presented  the  following :  "  I  do  impeach  Andrew  Johnson,  Vice-President  and 
acting  President  of  the  United  States,  of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors.  I  charge  him  with 
usurpation  of  power  and  violation  of  law:  (1)  In  that  he  has  corruptly  used  the  appointing 
power;  (2)  In  that  he  has  corruptly  used  the  pardoning  power;  (3)  In  that  he  has  corruptly  used 


1867.]  JOHNSON'S     ADMINISTRATION. 

public  movement  in  the  matter  of  the  impeachment  of  the  President,  which 
resulted  in  his  trial  in  May,  1868. 

At  a  former  session  of  Congress,  bills  were  passed  for  the  admission  of  the 
Territories  of  Colorado  and  Nevada  as  States  of  the  Union.  The  President 
interposed.  Now  similar  bills  were  passed,  prescribing  as  a  preliminary  to 
admission  a  provision  in  their  constitutions  granting  impartial  suffrage  to  their 
citizens,  and  the  ratification  of  the  Amendment  to  the  Constitution.  The 
President  vetoed  them ;  when  that  for  the  admission  or  Nevada  was  passed 
over  his  veto.  That  Territory  became  a  State  on  the  first  of  March,  making  the 
thirty-seventh.  A  bill  limiting  the  authority  of  the  President  in  making  official 
appointments  and  removals  from  office,  known  as  the  "  Tenure-of-Office  Act," 
was  passed,  and  was  vetoed  by  the  President,  when  it  was  passed  over  the 
veto.1  Another  bill  was  passed,  vetoed,  and  passed  over  the  veto,  repealing  so 
much  of  an  Act  of  July  17,  1862,  as  gave  the  President  power  to  grant  amnesty 
and  pardon  to  those  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  rebellion.  A  bill  was  also 
passed,  with  the  same  opposition  from  the  President,  for  the  military  govern 
ment  of  the  disorganized  States.2  The  Thirty-ninth  Congress  closed  its  last 
session  on  the  3d  of  March,  and  the  Fortieth  Congress  began  its  first  session 
immediately  thereafter.  In  view  of  the  conduct  of  the  President,  which 
threatened  the  country  with  revolution,  this  action  of  the  National  Legislature 
was  deemed  necessary  for  the  public  good.  It  adjourned  on  the  31st  of  March, 
to  meet  on  the  first  Wednesday  in  July. 

Congress  assembled  on  the  4th  of  July,  and  on  the  20th  adjourned  to  meet 
on  the  21st  of  November.  The  chief  business  of  the  short  session  wTas  to 
adopt  measures  for  removing  the  obstructions  cast  by  the  President  in  the  way 
of  a  restoration  of  the  disorganized  States.  A  bill  supplementary  to  the  one 
for  the  military  government  of  those  States  was  passed  over  the  usual  veto  of 
the  President,  and  it  was  believed  that  the  Chief  Magistrate  would  refrain 

the  veto  power;  (4)  In  that  he  has  corruptly  disposed  of  public  property  of  the  United  States; 
and  (5)  In  that  lie  has  corruptly  interfered  in  elections,  and  committed  acts  which,  in  contempla 
tion  of  the  Constitution,  are  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors.'' 

On  the  14th  of  January,  Representative  Loan,  from  Missouri,  in  the  course  of  a  debate  con 
cerning  the  duty  of  the  House  to  proceed  to  the  impeachment  of  the  President,  said  that  the 
leaders  of  the  rebellion  comprehended  the  advantages  of  having  such  a  man  as  the  then  incum 
bent,  in  the  Presidential  chair.  "Hence,"  he  said,  "the  assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  The  crime 
was  committed.  The  way  was  made  clear  for  the  succession.  An  assassin's  hand,  wielded  and 
directed  by  rebel  hand,  and  paid  for  by  rebel  gold,  made  Andrew  Johnson  President  of  the 
United  States  of  America.  The  price  that  he  was  to  pay  for  his  promotion  was  treachery  to  the 
Republic  and  fidelity  to  the  party  of  treason  and  rebellion."  Mr.  Loan  was  called  to  order.  The 
Speaker  decided  that  he  was  not  out  of  order,  the  subject  of  debate  being  the  charges  against  the 
President  of  "  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors."  a  member  having  the  right,  on  his  own  responsi 
bility,  to  make  a  specific  charge.  This  decision  was  appealed  from,  when  the  Speaker  was  sus 
tained  by  a  vote  of  101  to  8. 

1  It  took  from  the  President,  among  other  things,  the  power  to  remove  a  member  of  his 
cabinet,  excepting  by  permission  of  the  Senate,  declaring  that  they  should  hold  office  '•  for  and 
during  the  term  of  the  President  by  whom  they  may  have  been  appointed,  and  for  one  month 
thereafter,  subject  to  removal  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate."  The  act  was  passed  oVer 
the  veto  by  a  vote  in  the  Senate  of  35  to  11,  and  in  the  House  of  131  to  37. 

a  Those  States  were  divided  into  five  military  districts,  and  the  following  commanders  were 
appointed :  Fir&t  District,  Virginia,  General  J.  M.  Schofield ;  Second  District,  North  and  South 
Carolina,  General  D.  E.  Sickles ;  Third  District,  Georgia,  Florida,  and  Alabama.  General  J.  Pope  ; 
Fourth  District,  Mississippi  and  Arkansas,  General  E.  0.  C.  Ord ;  Fifth  District,  Louisiana  and 
Texas,  General  P.  II.  Sheridan. 


THE     NATION.  [1867. 

from  further  acts  calculated  to  disturb  the  public  peace.  Not  so.  Immedi 
ately  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  he  proceeded,  in  defiance  of  that 
body,  and  in  violation  of  the  Tenure-of-Office  Act,  to  remove  the  Secretary  of 
War  [Mr.  Stanton],  and  to  place  General  Grant  in  his  place.  The  President  first 
asked  [August  5,  1867]  the  Secretary  to  resign.  Mr.  Stanton  refused.1  A 
week  later  the  President  directed  General  Grant  to  assume  the  duties  of  Secre 
tary  of  War.  Grant  obeyed.  Stan- 
ton  retired,  under  protest,  well  satisfied 
that  his  office  was  left  in  the  hands  of 
a  patriot  whom  the  President  could 
not  corrupt  nor  unlawfully  control.2 

The  removal  of  the  Secretary  of 
War  was  followed  by  the  removal  of 
General  Sheridan  from  the  command 
of  the  Fifth  District,  and  General 
Sickles  from  that  of  the  Second  Dis 
trict,  by  which  the  country  was  notified 
that  the  most  faithful  officers,  who 
were  working  with  the  representatives 
of  the  people  for  the  proper  and  speedy 
EDWIN  M.  STANTON.  restoration  of  the  Union,  would  be 

deprived  of  power  to  be  useful.  Gen 
eral  Grant  protested  against  these  acts,  but  in  vain.  The  country  was  greatly 
excited,  and  the  loyal  people  waited  with  impatience  the  reassembling  of  Con 
gress,  upon  which  they  relied  in  that  hour  of  seeming  peril  to  the  Republic. 
That  body  met  at  the  appointed  time,  and  on  the  12th  of  December  the  Presi 
dent  sent  to  the  Senate  a  statement  of  his  reasons  for  removing  the  Secretary 
of  War.  They  were  not  satisfactory,  and  on  the  13th  of  January  the  Senate 
reinstated  Mr.  Stanton,  and  General  Grant  retired  from  the  War  Department. 
Already  Congress  had  made  much  progress  toward  the  restoration  of  the  dis 
organized  States,  to  the  Union,  by  providing  for  conventions  for  framing  con 
stitutions  and  electing  members  of  Congress ;  and  a  few  days  after  the  restora 
tion  of  Mr.  Stanton,  a  new  bill  for  the  further  reorganization  of  those  States 
was  passed  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  which  larger  powers  were 

1  The  President  addressed  a  note  to  the  Secretary,  in  which  lie  said :  "  Grave  public  consider 
ations  constrain  me  to  request  your  resignation  as  Secretary  of  War."  The  Secretary  replied : 
"Grave  public  considerations  constrain  me  to  continue  in  the  office  of  Secretary  of  War  until  the 
next  meeting  of  Congress."  It  was  believed  that  the  President  was  then  contemplating  a  revo 
lutionary  scheme,  in  favor  of  the  late  enemies  of  the  country,  and  was  seeking  to  use  the  army 
for  that  purpose. 

a  The  President  wras  angry  with  General  Grant  for  quietly  giving  up  the  office  to  Stanton,  at 
the  bidding  of  the  Senate,  and  he  charged  the  General-in-Chief  with  having  broken  his  promises, 
and' tried  to  injure  his  reputation  as  a  soldier  and  a  citizen.  A  correspondence  ensued,  which 
speedily  found  its  way  to  the  public.  It  assumed  the  form  of  a  question  of  veracity  between  the 
President  and  the  General-in-Chief.  Finally,  Grant  felt  compelled  to  say  to  the  President: 
"  When  my  honor  as  a  soldier  and  integrity  as  a  man  have  been  so  violently  assailed,  pardon  me 
for  saying  that  I  can  but  regard  this  whole  matter,  from  beginning  to  end.  as  an  attempt  to  involve 
me  in  the  resistance  of  law,  for  which  you  hesitated  to  assume  the  responsibility  in  orders,  and 
thus  to  destroy  my  character  before  the  country."  The  President  did  not  deny  this  charge. 


I8G8.] 


JOHNSON'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


given  to  the  General-in-Chief  of  the  armies,  in  their  military  government,  and 
depriving  the  President'  of  all  power  to  interfere  in  the  matter. 

On  the  21st  of  February,  the  President  caused  a  new  and  more  intense 
excitement  throughout  the  country,  by  a  bolder  step  in  opposition  to  the  will 
of  Congress  than  he  had  hitherto  ventured  to  take.  On  that  day  he  issued  an 
order  to  Mr.  Stanton,  removing  him  from  the  office  of  Secretary  of  War,  and 
another  to  Lorenzo  Thomas,  the  Adjutant-General,  appointing  him  Secretary 
of  War,  ad  interim.  These  orders  were  officially  communicated  to  the  Senate, 
whereupon  that  body  passed  a  resolution  that  the  President  had  no  authority 
under  the  Constitution  and  laws  to  remove  the  Secretary  of  War.  In  the 
mean  time  Thomas  had  appeared  at  the  War  Department  and  demanded  the 
position  to  which  the  President  had  assigned  him,  when  Mr.  Stanton,  his  supe- 


THE   NATIONAL   CAPITOL. 

rior,  refused  to  yield  it,  and  ordered  him  to  return  to  his  proper  office.  The 
President  being  satisfied  that  he  would  not  be  permitted  to  use  military  force 
in  the  matter,  did  not  attempt  to  eject  Mr.  Stanton  by  force,  and  so  that  officer 
retained  his  place.  This  action  of  the  President  was  so  manifestly  in  violation 
of  law,  that  on  the  following  day  [February  22,  1868],  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  by  a  vote  of  126  to  47, '  "Resolved  that  Andrew  Johnson,  President 
of  the  United  States,  be  impeached  of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors."  J  On 
the  29th  [February,  1868],  a  committee  of  the  House,  appointed  for  the  pur- 

1  This  was  an  almost  strictly  party  vote.     Only  two  Republicans  (Gary  of  Ohio,  and  Stewart 
of  New  York)  voted  in  the  negative,  while  all  the  Democrats  voted  against  the  resolution. 

2  We  have  seen  (page  728)  that  the  subject  of  the  impeachment  of  the  President  was  referred 
to  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary.     That  committee  submitted  reports  (Nov.  25,  1867)  which 
were  acted  upon  on  the  7th  of  December,  when  the  House  of  Representatives,  taking  into  con 
sideration  the  gravity  of  such  a  proceeding,  and  indulging  a  hope  that  the  President  would  cease 
making  war  upon  Congress  and  attend  to  his  legitimate  duties  as  simply  the  Executor  of  the 
poeple's  will,  expressed  by  their  representatives,  refused,  by  a  large  majority,  to  entertain  a  pro- 


^c>2  THE     NATIOX.  [1868. 

pose,1  presented  articles  of  impeachment,  nine  in  number,  and  these,  with  slight 
alterations,  were  accepted  on  the  2d  of  March.2  The  House  then  proceeded  to 
the  appointment  of  Managers,  to  conduct  the  business  before  the  Senate,3  when 
the  Democratic  members  of  the  House,  to  the  number  of  forty-five,  entered  a 
formal  protest  against  the  whole  proceedings. 

On  the  5th  of  March  [1868],  the  Senate  was  organized  as  a  jury  for  the 
trial  of  the  President.  Chief-Justice  Salmon  P.  Chase  presided.4  On  the  7th 
the  President  was, summoned  to  appear  at  the  bar ;  and  on  the  13th,  when  the 
Senate  was  formally  opened  for  the  inquest,  he  did  so  appear,  by  his  counsel, 
who  asked  for  a  space  of  forty  days  wherein  to  prepare  an  answer  to  the 
indictment.  Ten  days  were  granted,  and  on  the  23d  the  President's  counsel 
presented  an  answer.  The  House  of  Representatives,  the  accuser,  simply 
denied  every  averment  in  the  answer,  when  the  President's  counsel  asked  for  a 
postponement  of  the  trial  for  thirty  days.  The  Senate  allowed  seven  days, 
and  on  Monday,  the  30th  of  March,  the  trial  began.  The  examination  of 

position  for  impeachment.  Now,  so  flagrant  was  the  act  of  the  President,  that  the  Republican 
members  were  eager  to  place  him  upon  trial,  and  several  who  were  not  present  when  the  vote 
recorded  in  the  text  was  taken,  afterward  entered  their  votes  in  favor  of  impeachment. 

1  The  committee  consisted  of  Messrs.  Boutwell,  Stevens  (who  made  the  motion  for  im 
peachment).  Bingham,  Wilson,  Logan.  Julian,  and  Ward.  Messrs.  Stevens  and  Bingham  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  announce  to  the  Senate  the  action  of  thQ  House.  This  they  did  on  the 
25th  (Feb.),  when  the  Senate,  by  unanimous  vote,  referred  the  subject  to  a  select  committee  of 
seven,  to  consider  it. 

a  The  following  is  a  brief  summary  of  the  charges  in  the  Articles  of  Impeachment : — Article  1. 
Unlawfully  ordering  the  removal  of  Mr.  Stariton  as  Secretary  of  War,  in  violation  of  the 
provisions  of  the  Tenure-of-Office  Act.  Article  2.  Unlawfully  appointing  General  Lorenzo 
Thomas  as  Secretary  of  War,  wl  interim.  Article  3.  Substantially  the  same  as  Article  2,  with  the 
additional  averment  that  there  was  at  the  time  of  the  appointment  of  General  Thomas,  no 
vacancy  in  the  office  of  Secretary  of  War.  Article  4.  Conspiring  with  one  Lorenzo  Thomas,  and 
other  persons  to  the  House  of  Representatives  unknown,  to  prevent,  by  intimidation  and  threats, 
Mr.  Stanton,  the  legally  appointed  Secretary  of  War,  from  holding  that  office.  Article  5.  Con 
spiring  with  General  Thomas  and  others  to  hinder  the  execution  of  the  Tenure-of-Office  Act;  and 
in  pursuance  of  this  conspiracy,  attempting  to  prevent  Mr.  Stanton  from  acting  as  Secretary  of 
War.  Article  6.  Conspiring  with  General  Thomas  and  others  to  take  forcible  possession  of  the 
property  in  the  War  Department.  Article  7.  Repeated  the  charge  of  conspiring  to  hinder  the 
execution  of  the  Tenure-of-Office  Act,  and  prevent  Mr.  Stanton  from  executing  the  office  of  Secre 
tary  of  War.  Article  8.  Repeated  the  charge  of  conspiring  to  take  possession  of  the  WTar 
Department.  Article  9.  Charged  that  the  President  called  before  him  the  commander  of  the 
forces  in  the  Department  of  Washington  and  declared  to  him  that  a  law,  passed  on  the  30th  of 
June,  1867  (see  page  729),  directing  that  "all  orders  arid  instructions  relating  to  military  opera 
tions,  issued  by  the  President  or  Secretary  of  War,  shall  be  issued  through  the  General  of  'the 
Army,  and  in  case  of  his  inability,  through  the  next  in  rank,"  was  unconstitutional,  and  not  bind 
ing  upon  the  commander  of  the  Department  of  Washington ;  the  intent  being  to  induce  that  com 
mander  to  violate  the  law,  and  to  obey  orders  issued  directly  from  the  President. 

On  the  3d  of  March,  the  managers  presented  two  additional  articles,  which  were  adopted  by 
the  House.  The  first  charged  that  the  President  had,  by  inflammatory  speeches,  during  his  jour 
ney  from  Washington  to  Chicago,  already  mentioned  (page  727),  attempted,  with  a  design  to  set 
aside  the  authority  of  Congress,  to  bring  it  into  disgrace,  and  to  excite  the  odium  and  resentment 
of  the  people  against  Congress  and  the  laws  it  enacted.  The  second  charged  that  in  August, 
1866,  the  President,  in  a  public  speech  at  Washington  City,  declared  that  Congress  was  not  a 
body  authorized  by  the  Constitution  to  exercise  legislative  powers;  and  then  Vent  on  to  specify 
his  offenses  in  endeavoring  by  unlawful  means,  to  prevent  the  execution  of  laws  passed  by  Con 
gress.  These  formed  the  10th  and  1 1th  Articles  of  Impeachment. 

3  The  following  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  were  chosen  to  be  the  managers, 
on  its  part,  of  the  impeachment  case:  Thaddeus  Stevens,  of  Pennsylvania;  Benjamin  F.  Butler, 
of  Massachusetts;  John  A.  Bingham,  of  Ohio;  George  S.  Boutwell,  of  Massachusetts;    James 
F.  Wilson,  of  Iowa;  Thomas  Williams,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  John  A.  Logan,   of  Illinois.     The 
chief  management  of  the  case,  on  the  part  of  the  House,  as  prosecutor,  was  intrusted  to  Mr.  Butler. 

4  See  clause  6,  section  3,  of  Article  I.,  of  the  National  Constitution,  in  the  Supplement. 


18G8.] 


JOHNSON'S     ADMINISTRATION. 


733 


witnesses  was  closed  on  the  22d  of  April,  and  on  the  following  day  the  argu 
ments  of  counsel  began.  These  closed  on  the  afternoon  of  Wednesday,  the 
6th  of  May,  when  the  case  was  submitted  to  the  judgment  of  the  Senate. 
Its  decision  was  given  on  the  26th  of  the  same  month.  Every  member  of 
the  Senate  was  present  and  voted.  Thirty-five  pronounced  the  President 
guilty,  and  nineteen  declared  him  not  guilty.  So  he  escaped  conviction  by 
one  vote.1 

At  this  important  period  in  the  history  of  our  Republic,  we  will  close  the 
record.     Purified  and  strengthened  by  the  operations  of  the  Civil  War,  it  then 


THE   NATIONAL   SENATE    CHAMBER. 

entered  upon  a  new  era  in  its  career,  with  the  most  abundant  promises  of  pros 
perity  and  usefulness.  In  its  dealings  with  its  domestic  enemies,  the  Govern 
ment,  conscious  of  its  strength,  had  been  lenient  beyond  all  precedent,  and 
thereby  won  the  applause  and  admiration  of  mankind.2  The  developed  and 
undeveloped  resources  of  the  country,  and  its  actual,  visible  wealth,  were  evi- 

1  The  vote  of  the  Senate  was  as  follows  : — 

For  Connidion — Messrs.  Anthony,  Cameron,  Cattell,  Chandler,  Cole,  Conkling,  Conness,  Cor- 
bett,  Cragin.  Drake,  Edmunds,  Ferry,  Frelinghuysen,  Ilarlan,  Howard,  Howe,  Morgan,  Morrill  of 
Vermont,  Morrill  of  Maine,  Morton.  Nye/ Patterson  of  New  Hampshire,  Pomeroy,  Ramsey, 
Sherman,  Sprague,  Stewart,  Sumner,  Thayer,  Tipton,  Wade,  Willey,  Williams,  Wilson,  and  Yates. 
These  were  all  "Republicans." 

Fjr  Acquittal  -Messrs.  Bayard,  Buckalew,  Davis,  Dixon,  Doolittle,  Fessenden,  Fowler.  Grimes, 
Henderson,  llendricks,  Johnson,  McCreery,  Norton,  Patterson  of  Tennessee,  Ross,  Saulsbury, 
Trumbull,  Van  Winkle,  and  Vickers.  Eight  of  these,  namely,  Bayard,  Buckalew,  Davis.  Hen- 
dricks,  Johnson  McCreery,  Saulsbury,  and  Vickers,  were  elected  to  ihe  Senate  as  "  Democrats." 
The  remainder  were  elected  as  u  Republicans." 

"  Of  the  thousands  of  the  citizens  of  the  Republic  who  consciously  and  willingly  committed 


734  THE     NATION.  [1868. 

dently  so  abundant  and  available,1  that  the  enormous  debt  created  by  the  Civil 
War  was  not  regarded  as  a  very  serious  burden  upon  the  national  industry. 
It  amounted,  in  round  numbers,  to  a  little  less  than  $2, 500, 000, 000- — a  debt 
not  nearlv  so  large,  in  proportion  to  the  population,  as  the  inhabitants  of  the 
original  thirteen  States  were  burdened  with  at  the  close  of  the  old  war  for 
independence,  when  the  resources  of  the  country  Avere  mostly  undeveloped 
and  unknown.  Immigrants  were  nocking  to  our  shores,  with  strong  arms,  in 
unprecedented  numbers,  not  less  than  six  million  having  come  within  the 
space  of  fifty  years.  Population  was  rapidly  increasing,  and  numbered,  in 
the  States  and  Territories,  at  the  time  we  are  considering  [May,  1868],  not 
less,  probably,  than  forty  million  souls. 

For  years  new  Territories  had  been  rapidly  springing  up  in  the  great  wil 
dernesses  of  the  Republic,  and  these,  in  time,  had  become  the  more  inature  and 
stately  edifices  of  populous  States.  The  pioneer  is  still  at  work,  preparing  the 
sure  foundations  for  other  commonwealths ;  and  statesmen  and  gospel-bearers, 
brave  soldiers  and  gentle  women,  join  with  the  rougher  toilers  in  the  glorious 
work,  while  the  children  of  the  forest,  becoming  fewer  and  fewer  with  each 
revolution  of  the  sun,  look  on  in  sorrow,  for  they  hear  in  the  ring  of  the  ham 
mer  upon  every  corner-stone  of  the  structures  of  civilization,  the  knell  of  their 
I , ____ 

"treason  against  the  United  States,"  according  to  the  prescription  of  the  National  Constitution 
(see  clause  1,  section  3,  article  III.),  not  one  had  been  punished  for  the  crime,  and  only  one 
offender  had  been  indicted  when  this  record  was  closed.  That  one  was  Jefferson  Davis,  the  acting 
head  of  the  Rebellion,  whose  trial  was  ordered  to  take  place  in  June,  1868. 

1  In  1791,  when  the  Government,  under  the  Constitution,  had  just  got  into  working  order, 
the  estimated  value  of  the  taxable  property  in  the  Republic,  then  only  820,680  square   miles  in 
extent,  was  $755,000,000.     According  to  the  last  census  (1860),  the  estimated  value  of  the  taxa 
ble  property  of  the  Republic  was  a  little  more  than  than  $1 6,000,000.000.     In  this  estimate  is  not 
included  the  public  property  of  the  Government,  and  that  of  religious  and  benevolent  institutions. 
The  mineral  wealth  in  this  vast  domain  not  included  in  the  above  estimate  of  value,  is  enormous. 
And  now,  including  a  recent  purchase  from  Russia,  for  the  sum  of  $7,200,000,  of  an  immense 
territory  bordering  on  the  North  Pacific  and  the  Frozen  oceans,  the  area  of  our  Republic  is,  in 
round  numbers,  about  3,000,000  square  miles. 

In  the  year  1860  the  aggregate  value  of  articles  manufactured  in  this  country  was  nearly 
$1,900,000,000;  the  tonnage  of  the  commercial  marine  was  nearly  5,400,000,  and  the  value  of  the 
vessels  representing  it  was  $250,000,000.  The  value  of  articles  exported  was  $400,000,000, 
more  than  one  half  of  which  went  from  the  port  of  New  York.  The  value  of  farms  was  esti 
mated  at  more  than  $6,500,000,000,  and  of  domestic  animals  about  $1,000,000.0^0.  In  1863, 
while  the  great  Civil  War  was  at  its  height,  and  hundreds  of  .thousands  of  the  able-bodied  men 
of  the  country  were  in  the  army,  more  than  830,000,000  bushels  of  corn,  and  171,000,000  bushels 
of  wheat  were  produced.  In  1860,  more  than  30,000  miles  of  railway  had  been  put  in  operation 
in  the  United  States,  at  an  expenditure  of  $850,000,000.  These  few 'items  are  given  to  indicate 
the  material  prosperity  of  the  Republic. 

2  The  following  is  an  official  statement  of  the  public  debt  on  the  first  of  May,  1868  : — 
Debt  bearing  coin  interest. — Five  per  cent,  bonds,  $215,947,400;   Six  per  cent,  bonds  of  1867 

and  '68,  $8.628,241;  Six  per  cent,  bonds  of  1881,  $283,677,200;  Six  per  cent.  5-20  bonds, 
$1,442,065,450;  Navy  pension  fund,  $13,000.000.  Total,  $1,963,318,291. 

Debt  bearing  currency  interest. — Six  per  cent,  bonds,  $23,982,000;  Three  .year  compound 
interest  notes,  $44.573,680;  Three-year  7-30  notes.  $163,490,250;  Three  per  cent,  certificates, 
$28,330,000.  Total,  $260,375,930. 

Matured  debt  not  presented  for  payment. — Three-year  7-30  notes,  due  August  15,  1867. 
$1,075,950;  Compound  interest  notes  matured  June  10,  July  15,  August  15,  October  15,  and 
December  15,  1867,  $4,745,280;  Texas  indemnity  bonds,  $256,000;  treasury  notes,  acts  of 
July  17,  1861,  and  prior  thereto,  $155,461;  Bonds  of  April  15,  1842,  $6,000;  Treasury  notes, 
March  3,  1863.  $616,192;  Temporary  loan,  $1,032,400;  Certificates  of  indebtedness,  $18,000. 
Total,  $7,905,283. 

Debtbi-arinrj  no interef-t. — United  States  notes,  $356,144,727  ;  Fractional  currency,  $32,450,489  ; 
Gold  certificates  of  deposit,  $19,357,900.  Total,  $407,953,116.  Grand  total  of  debt,  $2,639,552,620. 


FOUNDING  NEW  STATES. 


0*  TBDS 

UK1VBRSIT7 


1868.]  JOHNSON'S     ADMINISTRATION.  737 

own  final  extermination.  Over  them  the  free  eagle  may  perch  as  the  emblem  of 
their  former  sovereignty  in  the  land  they  are  leaving  to  others,  but  the  setting- 
sun  just  above  the  peaks  of  the  great  western  hills,  or  over  the  billows  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  more  truly  symbolizes  their  present  and  their  future. 

Never  was  a  State  gifted  by  God  with  better  opportunities  than  ours  at 
this  moment.  We  are  the  heirs  and  stewards  of  a  magnificent  inheritance; 
and  if  we,  as  individuals,  and  as  a  nation,  shall  be  faithful  and  true  to  the 
requirements  of  Justice  and  Mercy,  we  may  become  rich  in  all  the  manifold 
and  precious  results  of  well-doing,  and  be  the  almoners  of  a  thousand  blessings 
to  the  posterities,  which  flow  out  of  the  rich  treasures  of  Civil  and  Religious 
Liberty. 

Amount  of  coin  in  the  Treasury,  $106,909,658;  and  of  currency,  $32,174,126.  Total, 
$139,083.794.  Deduct  this  from  the  grand  total  of  debt,  leaves  the  actual  debt  of  the  Govern 
ment,  on  the  first  of  May,  1868,  $2,500,468.826 — full  nine-tenths  of  which  is  held  by  citizens  of 
the  United  States. 

47 


SUPPLEMENT. 


I. 

ARTICLES     OF     CONFEDERATION. 


So  early  as  July,  1775,  Doctor  Franklin  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  Congress  a  sketch 
of  articles  of  confederation  between  the  colonies,1  limiting  the  duration  of  their  vitality  to  the 
time  when  reconciliation  with  Great  Britain  should  take  place ;  or,  in  the  event  of  the  failure  of 
that  desirable  result,  to  be  perpetual.  At  that  time,  Congress  seemed  to  have  no  fixed  plans  for 
the  future — the  teeming  present,  with  all  its  vast  and  novel  concerns,  engrossed  their  whole 
attention — and  Dr.  Franklin's  plan  seems  not  to  have  been  discussed  at  all  in  the  National  Council. 
But  when  a  Declaration  of  Independence  was  proposed,  that  idea  alone  suggested  the  necessity 
of  a  confederation  of  the  States  to  carry  forward  the  work  to  a  successful  consummation.  Con 
gress,  therefore,  on  the  llth  of  June,  1776.  resolved  that  a  committee  should  be  appointed  to 
prepare,  and  properly  digest,  a  form  of  confederation  to  be  entered  into  by  the  several  States. 
The  committee  appointed  under  the  resolution  consisted  of  one  delegate  from  each  State.2  John 
Dickenson,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  chosen  chairman,  and  through  him  the  committee  reported  a 
draft  of  Articles  of  Confederation  on  the  12th  of  July.  Almost  daily  debates  upon  the  subject 
ensued  until  the  20th  of  August,  when  the  report  was  laid  aside,  and  was  not  ^aken  up  again  for 
consideration  until  the  8th  of  April,  1777.  In  the  mean  while,  several  of  the  States  had  adopted 
Constitutions  for  their  respective  government,  and  Congress  was  practically  acknowledged  the 
supreme  head  in  all  matters  appertaining  to  the  war,  public  finances,  &c.  It  emitted  bills  of 
credit,  or  paper  money,  appointed  foreign  ministers,  and  opened  negotiations  with  foreign  govern 
ments. 

From  the  8th  of  April  until  the  15th  of  November  following,  the  subject  was  debated  two  or 
three  times  a  week,  and  several  amendments  were  made.  As  the  confederation  might  be  a  per 
manent  bond  of  union,  of  course  local  interests  were  considered  prospectively.  If  the  union  had 
been  designed  to  be  temporary,  to  meet  the  exigences  arising  from  the  state  of  war  in  which  the 
colonies  then  were,  local  questions  could  hardly  have  had  weight  enough  to  have  elicited  debate ; 
but  such  was  not  the  case,  and  of  course  the  sagacious  men  who  were  then  in  Congress  looked 
beyond  the  present,  and  endeavored  to  legislate  accordingly.  From  the  7th  of  October  until  the 
15th  of  November  the  debates  upon  it  were  almost  daily,  and  the  conflicting  interests  of  the  sev 
eral  States  were  strongly  brought  into  view  by  the  different  speakers.  On  that  day  the  following 
draft,  containing  all  of  the  amendments,  was  laid  before  Congress,  and  after  a  spirited  debate 
was  adopted: — 

ARTICLE  1.  The  style  of  this  confederacy  shall  be,  "The  United  States  of  America." 

1.  Pnge  %7. 

2.  The  committe*  consisted   of  Mes»rs.  Rartlett,  Samuel  Adams',  Hopkins   Sherman,  R.  R.  Livingston,  Dickenson,  McKean,  Stone,  Nelson, 
Hewes,  Kdwar.1  Rutledge,  and  Gwinnett. 


740  SUPPLEMENT. 

ARTICLE  2.  Each  State  retains  its  sovereignty,  freedom,  and  independence,  and  every  power, 
jurisdiction,  and  right,  which  is  not  by  this  confederation  expressly  delegated  to  the  United  States 
in  Congress  assembled. 

ARTICLE  3.  The  said  States  hereby  severally  enter  into  a  firm  league  of  friendship  with  each 
other  for  their  common  defense,  the  security  of  their  liberties,  and  their  mutual  and  general  wel 
fare  ;  binding  themselves  to  assist  each  other  against  all  force  offered  to,  or  attacks  made  upon 
them,  or  any  of  them,  on  account  of  religion,  sovereignty,  trade,  or  any  other  pretense  whatever. 

ARTICLE  4.  The  better  to  secure  and  perpetuate  mutual  friendship  and  intercourse  among  the 
people  of  the  different  States  in  this  Union,  the  free  inhabitants  of  each  of  these  States,  paupers, 
vagabonds,  and  fugitives  from  justice  excepted,  shall  be  entitled  to  all  privileges  and  immunities 
of  free  citizens  in  the  several  States ;  and  the  people  of  each  State  shall  have  free  ingress  and 
regress  to  and  from  any  other  State,  and  shall  enjoy  therein  all  the  privileges  of  trade  and  com 
merce,  subject  to  the  same  duties,  impositions,  and  restrictions,  as  the  inhabitants  thereof  respect 
ively,  provided  that  such  restrictions  shall  not  extend  so  far  as  to  prevent  the  removal  of  property 
imported  into  any  State  to  any  other  State,  of  which  the  owner  is  an  inhabitant ;  provided,  also, 
that  no  imposition,  duties,  or  restriction  shall  be  laid  by  any  State  on  the  property  of  the  United 
States,  or  either  of  them. 

If  any  person  guilty  of  or  charged  with  treason,  felony,  or  other  high  misdemeanor,  in  any 
State,  shall  flee  from  justice,  and  be*  found  in  any  of  the  United  States,  he  shall  upon  demand  of 
the  Governor  or  executive  power  of  the  State  from  which  he  fled,  be  delivered  up  and  removed 
to  the  State  having  jurisdiction  of  his  offense. 

Full  faith  and  credit  shall  be  given  in  each  of  these  States  to  the  records,  acts,  and  judicial 
proceedings  of  the  courts  and  magistrates  of  every  other  State. 

ARTICLE  5.  For  the  more  convenient  management  of  the  general  interests  of  the  United  States, 
delegates  shall  be  annually  appointed  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature  of  each  State  shall  direct, 
to  meet  in  Congress  on  the  first  Monday  in  November  in  every  year,  with  a  power  reserved  to 
each  State  to  recall  its  delegates,  or  any  of  them,  at  any  time  within  the  year,  and  to  send  others 
in  their  stead  for  the  remainder  of  the  year. 

No  State  shall  be  represented  in  Congress  by  less  than  two,  nor  Toy  more  than  seven  members ; 
and  no  person  shall  be  capable  of  being  a  delegate  for  more  than  three  years  in  any  term  of  six 
years ;  nor  shall  any  person,  being  a  delegate,  be  capable  of  holding  any  office  under  the  United 
States,  for  which  he,  or  another  for  his  benefit,  receives  any  salary,  fees,  or  emoluments  of  any 
kind. 

Each  State  shall  maintain  its  own  delegates  in  a  meeting  of  the  States,  and  while  they  act  as 
members  of  the  committee  of  the  States. 

In  determining  questions  in  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  each  State  shall  have 
one  vote. 

Freedom  of  speech  and  debate  in  Congress  shall  not  be  impeached  or  questioned  in  any  court 
or  place  out  of  Congress ;  and  the  members  of  Congress  shall  be  protected  in  their  persons  from 
arrests  and  imprisonments,  during  the  time  of  their  going  to  and  from,  and  attendance  on  Con 
gress,  except  for  treason,  felony,  or  breach  of  the  peace. 

ARTICLE  G.  No  State,  without  the  consent  of  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  shall 
send  any  embassy  to,  or  receive  any  embassy  from,  or  enter  into  any  conference,  agreement 
alliance,  or  treaty,  with  any  king,  prince,  or  State ;  nor  shall  any  person  holding  any  office  of 
profit  or  trust  under  the  United  States,  or  any  of  them,  accept  any  present,  emolument,  office,  or 
title,  of  any  kind  whatever,  from  any  king,  prince,  or  foreign  State ;  nor  shall  the  United  States 
in  Congress  assembled,  or  any  of  them,  grant  any  title  of  nobility. 

No  two  or  more  States  shall  enter  into  any  treaty,  confederation,  or  alliance  whatever  between 
them,  without  the  consent  of  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  specifying  accurately  tho 
purposes  for  which  the  same  is  to  be  entered  into  and  how  long  it  shall  continue. 

.  No  State  shall  lay  any  imposts  or  duties  which  may  interfere  with  any  stipulations  in  treaties 
entered  into  by  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  with  any  king,  prince,  or  State,  in  pur 
suance  of  any  treaties  already  proposed  by  Congress  to  the  courts  of  France  and  Spain. 

No  vessel  of  war  shall  be  kept  up  in  time  of  peace  by  any  State,  except  such  number  only  as 
shall  be  deemed  necessary  by  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  for  the  defense  of  such 
State  or  its  trade ;  nor  shall  any  body  of  forces  be  kept  up  by  any  State  in  time  of  peace,  except 


AilTICLES     OF     CONFEDERATION. 

such  number  only  as  in  the  judgment  of  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  shall  bo 
deemed  requisite  to  garrison  the  forts  necessary  for  -the  defense  of  such  State;  but  every  State 
shall  always  keep  up  a  well-regulated  and  disciplined  militia,  sufficiently  armed  and  accoutered, 
and  shall  provide  and  have  constantly  ready  for  use,  in  public  stores,  a  due  number  of  field-pieces 
and  tents,  and  a  proper  quantity  of  arms,  ammunition,  and  camp  equipage. 

No  State  shall  engage  in  any  war  without  the  consent  of  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled, 
unless  such  State  be  actually  invaded  by  enemies,  or  shall  have  received  certain  advice  of  a  reso 
lution  being  formed  by  some  nation  of  Indians  to  invade  such  State,  and  the  danger  is  so  imminent 
as  not  to  admit  of  a  delay  till  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  can  be  consulted;  nor 
shall  any  State  grant  commissions  to  any  ships  or  vessels  of  war,  nor  letters  of  marque  or  reprisal, 
except  it  be  after  a  declaration  of  war  by  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  and  then 
only  against  the  kingdom  or  State,  and  the  -  subjects  thereof,  against  which  war  has  been  so 
declared,  and  under  such  regulations  as  shall  be  established  by  the  United  States,  in  Congress 
assembled,  unless  such  State  be  infested  by  pirates,  in  which  case  vessels  of  war  may  be  fitted 
out  for  that  occasion,  and  kept  so  long  as  the  danger  shall  continue,  or  until  the  United  States, 
in  Congress  assembled,  shall  determine  otherwise.  .  , 

ARTICLE  7.  When  land  forces  are  raised  by  any  State  for  the  common  defense,  all  officers  of  or 
under  the  rank  of  Colonel  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Legislature  of  each  State  respectively  by 
whom  such  forces  shall  be  raised,  or  in  such  manner  as  such  State  shall  direct,  and  all  vacancies 
shall  be  filled  up  by  the  State  which  lirst  made  the  appointment. 

ARTICLE  8.  All  charges  of  war,  and  all  other  expenses  that  shall  be  incurred  for  the  common 
defense  or  general  welfare,  and  allowed  by  the  United  States  in  Congress,  assembled,  shall  be 
defrayed  out  of  a  common  treasury,  which  shall  be  supplied  by  the  several  States  in  proportion 
to  the  value  of  all  land  within  each  State  granted  to  or  surveyed  for  any  person,  as  such  land  and 
the  buildings  and  improvements  thereon  shall  be  estimated,  according  to  such  mode  as  the  United 
States,  in  Congress  assembled,  shall  from  time  to  time  direct  and  appoint. 

The  taxes  for  paying  that  proportion  shall  be  paid  and  levied  by  the  authority  and  direction 
of  the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States,  within  the  time  agreed  upon  by  the  United  States,  in 
Congress  assembled. 

ARTICLE  9.  The  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  shall  have  the  sole  and  exclusive  right 
and  power  of  determining  on  peace  and  war.  except  in  the  cases  mentioned  in  the  sixth  article ; 
of  sending  and  receiving  embassadors ;  entering  into  treaties  and  alliances — provided  that  no 
treaty  of  commerce  shall  be  made  whereby  the  legislative  power  of  the  respective  States  shall  be 
restrained  from  imposing  such  imposts  and  duties  on  foreigners  as  their  own  people  are  subjected 
to,  or  from  prohibiting  exportation  or  importation  of  any  species  of  goods  or  commodities  what 
soever;  of  establishing  rules  for  deciding  in  all  cases  what  captures  on  land  or  water  shall  be 
legal,  and  in  what  manner  prizes  taken  by  land  or  naval  forces  in  the  service  of  the  United  States, 
shall  be  divided  or  appropriated;  of  granting  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal  in  times  of  peace ;  ap 
pointing  courts  for  the  trial  of  piracies  and  felonies  committed  on  the  high  seas,  and  establishing 
courts  for  receiving  and  determining  finally  appeals  in  all  cases  of  captures ;  provided  that  no 
member  of  Congress  shall  be  appointed  a  judge  of  any  of  the  said  courts. 

The  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  shall  also  be  the  last  resort,  on  appeal,  in  all  dis 
putes  and  differences  now  subsisting,  or  that  hereafter  may  arise  between  two  or  more  States 
concerning  boundary,  jurisdiction,  or  any  other  cause  whatever;  which  authority  shall  always  be 
exercised  in  the  manner  following:  whenever  the  legislative  or  executive  authority  or  lawful 
agent  of  any  State  in  controversy  with  another  shall  present  a  petition  to  Congress,  stating 
the  matter  in  question,  and  praying  for  a  hearing,  notice  thereof  shah1  be  given  by  order  of 
Congress  to  the  legislative  or  executive  authority  of  the  other  State  in  controvers)-,  and  a  day 
assigned  for  the  appearance  of  the  parties,  by  their  lawful  agents,  who  shall  then  be  directed  to 
appoint,  by  joint  consent,  commissioners  or  judges  to  constitute  a  court  for  hearing  and  determin 
ing  the  matter  in  question ;  but  if  they  can  not  agree,  Congress  shall  name  three  persons  out  of 
each  of  the  United  States,  and  from  the  list  of  such  persons  each  part}-  shall  alternately  strike 
out  one,  the  petitioners  beginning,  until  the  number  shall  be  reduced  to  thirteen ;  and  from  that 
number  not  less  than  seven,  nor  more  than  nine  names,  as  Congress  shall  direct,  shall,  in  the 
presence  of  Congress,  be  drawn  out  by  lot ;  and  the  persons  whose  names  shall  be  so  drawn,  or 
any  five  of  them,  shall  be  commissioners  or  judges,  to  hear  and  finally  determine  the  controversy, 


SUPPLEMENT. 

so  always  as  a  major  part  of  the  judges,  who  shall  hear  the  cause,  shall  agree  in  the  determina 
tion  ;  and  if  either  party  shall  neglect  to  attend  at  the  day  appointed,  without  showing  reasons 
which  Congress  shall  judge  sufficient,  or,  being  present,  shall  refuse  to  strike,  the  Congress  shall 
proceed  to  nominate  three  persons  out  of  each  State,  and  the  Secretary  of  Congress  shall  strike  in 
behalf  of  such  person  absent  or  refusing;  and  the  judgment  and  sentence  of  the  court,  to  be 
appointed  in  the  manner  before  prescribed,  shall  be  final  arid  conclusive ;  and  if  any  of  the  parties 
shall  refuse  to  submit  to  the  authority  of  such  court,  or  to  appear,  or  to  defend  their  claim  or 
cause,  the  court  shall  nevertheless  proceed  to  pronounce  sentence  or  judgment,  which  shall  in 
like  manner  be  final  and  decisive — the  judgment  or  sentence  and  other  proceedings  being  in  either 
case  transmitted  to  Congress,  and  lodged  among  the  acts  of  Congress  for  the  security  of  the 
parties  concerned ;  provided  that  every  commissioner,  before  he  sits  in  judgment,  shall  take  an 
oath,  to  be  administered  by  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  or  Superior  Court  of  the  State, 
where  the  cause1  shall  be  tried,  "well  and  truly  to  hear  and  determine  the  matter  in  question, 
according  to  the  best  of  his  judgment,  without  favor,  affection,  or  hope  of  reward  ;"  provided,  also, 
that  no  State  shall  be  deprived  of  territory  for  the  benefit  of  the  United  States. 

All  controversies  concerning  the  private  right  of  soil,*claimed  under  different  grants  of  two  or 
more  States,  whose  jurisdiction  as  they  may  respect  such  lands,  and  the  States  which  passed 
such  grants  are  adjusted,  the  said  grants  or  either  of  them  being  at  the  same  time  claimed  to  have 
originated  antecedent  to  such  settlement  of  jurisdiction,  shall,  on  the  petition  of  either  party  to 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  be  finally  determined,  as  near  as  may  be,  in  the  same  manner 
as  is  before  prescribed  for  deciding  disputes  respecting  territorial  jurisdiction  vbetween  different 
States. 

The  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  shall  also  have  the  sole  and  exclusive  right 
and  power  of  regulating  the  alloy  and  value  of  coin  struck  by  their  own  authority  or  by  that  of 
the  respective  States ;  fixing  the  standard  of  weights  and  measures  throughout  the  United  States ; 
regulating  the  trade  and  managing  all  affairs  with  the  Indians  not  members  of  any  of  the  States — 
provided  that  the  legislative  right  of  any  State  within  its  own  limits  be  not  infringed  or  violated; 
establishing  and  regulating  post-offices  from  one  State  to  another  throughout  all  the  United 
States,  and  exacting  "such  postage  on  the  papers  passing  through  the  same  as  may  be  requisite  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  the  said  office ;  appointing  all  officers  of  the  land  forces  in  the  service  of 
the  United  States,  excepting  regimental  officers;  appointing  all  the  officers  of  the  naval  forces, 
and  commissioning  all  officers  whatever  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  ;  making  rules  for  the 
government  and  regulation  of  the  said  land  and  naval  forces,  and  directing  their  operations. 

The  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  shall  have  authority  to  appoint  a  committee  to  sit 
in  the  recess  of  Congress,  to  be  denominated  "a  Committee  of  the  States,"  and  to  consist  of  one 
delegate  from  each  State ;  and  to  appoint  such  other  committees  and  civil  officers  as  may  be 
necessary  for  managing  the  general  affairs  of  the  United  States  under  their  direction;  to  appoint 
one  of  their  number  to  preside,  provided  that  no  person  be  allowed  to  serve  in  the  office  of 
President  more  than  one  year  in  any  term  of  three  years ;  to  ascertain  the  necessary  sums 
of  money  to  be  raised  for  the  service  of  the  United  States,  and  to  appropriate  arid  apply  the 
same  for  defraying  the  public  expenses;  to  borrow  money  or  emit  bills  on  the  credit  of  the 
United  States — transmitting  every  half  year  to  the  respective  States  an  account  of  the  sums  of 
money  so  borrowed  or  emitted ;  to  build  and  equip  a  navy ;  to  agree  upon  the  number  of  land 
forces,  and  to  make  requisitions  from  each  State  for  its  quota,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
white  inhabitants  in  such  State,  which  requisition  shall  be  binding,  arid  thereupon  the  Legis 
lature  of  each  State  shall  appoint  the  regimental  officers,  raise  the  men,  and  clothe,  arm,  and 
equip  them,  in  a  soldier-like  manner,  at  the  expense  of  the  United  States ;  and  the  officers  and 
men  so  clothed,  armed,  and  equipped,  shall  march  to  the  place  appointed,  and  within  the  time 
agreed  on  by  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled ;  but  if  the  United  States,  in  Congress 
assembled,  shall,  on  consideration  of  circumstances,  judge  proper  that  any  State  should  not  raise 
men,  or  should  raise  a  smaller  number  than  its  quota,  or  that  any  other  State  should  raise  a 
greater  number  of  men  than  the  quota  thereof,  such  extra  number  shall  be  raised,  officered, 
clothed,  armed,  and  equipped,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  quota  of  such  State,  unless  the  Legis 
lature  of  such  State  shall  judge  that  such  extra  number  can  not  be  safely  spared  out  of  the 
same  ;  in  which  case  they  shall  raise,  officer,  clothe,  arm,  and  equip,  as  many  of  such  extra  num- 
bor  as  thev  judge  can  be  safely  spared.  And  the  officers  and  men  so  clothed,  armed,  and 


ARTICLES     OF     CONFEDERATION. 

equipped,  shall  march  to  the  place  appointed,  and  within  the  time  agreed  on  by  the  United 
States,  in  Congress  assembled. 

The  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  shall  never  engage  in  a  war,  nor  grant  letters  of 
marque  and  reprisal  in  time  of  peace,  nor  enter  into  any  treaties  or  alliances,  nor  coin  money,  nor 
regulate  the  value  thereof,  nor  ascertain  the  sums  and  expenses  necessary  for  the  defense  and 
welfare  of  the  United  States,  or  any  of  them,  nor  emit  bills,  nor  borrow  money  on  the  credit  of 
the  United  States,  nor  appropriate  money,  nor  agree  upon  the  number  of  vessels  of  war  to 
be  built  or  purchased,  or  the  number  of  land  or  sea  forces  to  be  raised,  nor  appoint  a  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  army  or  navy,  unless  nine  States  assent  to  the  same ;  nor  shall  a  question  on  any 
other  point,  except  for  adjourning  from  day  to  day,  be  determined  unless  by  the  votes  of 
a  majority  of  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled. 

The  Congress  of  the  United  States  shall  have  power  to  adjourn  to  any  time  within  the  year, 
and  to  any  place  within  the  United  States,  so  that  no  period  of  adjournment  be  for  a  longer 
duration  than  the  space  of  six  months;  and  shall  publish  the  journal  of  their  proceedings 
monthljr,  except  such  parts  thereof  relating  to  treaties,  alliances,  or  military  operations,  as 
in  their  judgment  require  secresy;  and  the  yeas  and  nays  of  the  delegates  of  each  State  on  any 
question,  shall  be  entered  on  the  journal  when  it  is  desired  by  any  delegate;  and  the  delegates  of 
a  State  or  any  of  them,  at  his  or  their  request,  shall  be  furnished  with  a  transcript  of  the  said 
journal,  except  such  parts  as  are  above  excepted,  to  lay  before  the  Legislatures  of  the  several 
States. 

ARTICLE  10.  The  committee  of  the  States,  or  any  nine  of  them,  shall  be  authorized  to  execute, 
in  the  recess  of  Congress,  such  of  the  powers  of  Congress  as  the  United  States,  in  Congress 
assembled,  by  the  consent  of  nine  States,  shall  from  time  to  time  think  expedient  to  vest  them 
with;  provided  that  no  power  be  delegated  to  the  said  committee,  for  the  exercise  of  which,  by 
the  articles  of  confederation,  the  voice  of  nine  States,  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
assembled,  is  requisite. 

ARTICLE  11.  Canada,  acceding  to  this  confederation,  and  joining  in  the  measures  of  the  United 
States,  shall  be  admitted  into,  and  entitled  to,  all  the  advantages  of  this  union :  but  no  other 
colony  shall  be  admitted  into  the  same,  unless  such  admission  be  agreed  to  by  nine  States. 

ARTICLE  12.  All  bills  of  credit  emitted,  moneys  borrowed,  and  debts  contracted,  by  or  under 
the  authority  of  Congress,  before  the  assembling  of  the  United  States,  in  pursuance  of  the  present 
confederation,  shall  be  deemed  and  considered  as  a  charge  against  the  United  States,  for 
payment  and  satisfaction  whereof  the  said  United  States  and  the  public  faith  are  hereby  solemnly 
pledged. 

ARTICLE  13.  Every  State  shall  abide  by  the  decision  of  the  United  States,  in  Congress 
assembled,  on  all  questions  which,  by  this  confederation,  are  submitted  to  them.  And  the 
articles  of  this  confederation  shall  be  inviolably  observed  by  every  State,  and  the  Union  shall  be 
perpetual ;  nor  shall  any  alteration  at  any  time  hereafter  be  made  in  any  of  them,  unless  such 
alteration  be  agreed  to  in  a  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  be  afterward  confirmed  by  the 
Legislature  of  ever}r  State. 

Congress  directed  these  Articles  to  bo  submitted  to  the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States,  and, 
if  approved  of  by  them,  they  were  advised  to  authorize  their  delegates  to  ratify  the  same 
in  Congress,  by  affixing  their  names  thereto. 

Notwithstanding  there  was  a  general  feeling  that  something  must  be  speedily  done,  the  State 
Legislatures  were  slow  to  adopt  the  Articles.  In  the  first  place,  they  did  not  seem  to  accord  with 
the  prevailing  sentiments  of  the  people,  as  set  forth  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence ;  and  in 
many  things  that  Declaration  and  the  Articles  of  Confederation  were  manifestly  at  variance.  The 
former  was  based  upon  declared  right;  the  foundation  of  the  latter  was  asserted  power.  The 
former  was  based  upon  a  superintending  Providence,  and  the  inalienable  rights  of  man ;  the  lat 
ter  resting  upon  the  "  sovereignty  of  declared  power ;  one  ascending  from  the  foundation  of 
human  government,  to  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  nature's  G-od,  written  upon  the  heart  of  man : 
the  other  resting  upon  the  basis  of  human  institutions,  and  prescriptive  law,  and  colonial  char 
ters."1  Again,  the  system  of  representation  proposed  was  highly  objectionable,  because  each 


1.  John  Qtv.ncy  Adams's  Jubi'.ee  n:sc<>ur=e, 


SUPPLEMENT. 

State  was  entitled  to  the  same  voice  in  Congress,  whatever  might  be  the  difference  in  population. 
But  the  most  objectionable  feature  of  all  was,  that  the  limits  of  the  several  States,  and  also  in 
whom  was  vested  the  control  or  possession  of  the  crown-lands,  was  not  only  unadjusted,  but 
wholly  unnoticed.  These  and  other  defects  caused  most  of  the  States  to  hesitate,  at  first,  to 
adopt  the  Articles,  and  several  of  them  for  a  long  time  utterly  refused  to  accept  them. 

On  the  22d  of  June,  1778,  Congress  proceeded  to  consider  the  objections  of  the  States  to  the 
Articles  of  Confederation,  and  on  the  27th  of  the  same  month,  a  form  of  ratification  was  adopted 
and  ordered  to  be  engrossed  upon  parchment,  with  a  view  that  the  same  should  be  signed  by 
such  delegates  as  were  instructed  so  to  do  by  their  respective  Legislatures. 

On  the  9th  of  July,  the  delegates  of  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecti 
cut.  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  South  Carolina  signed  the  Articles.  The  delegates 
from  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  and  Maryland  were  not  yet  empowered  to  ratify  and  sign.  Georgia 
and  North  Carolina  were  not  represented,  and  the  ratification  of  New  York  was  conditioned  that 
all  the  other  States  should  ratify.  The  delegates  from  North  Carolina  signed  the  Articles  on  the 
21st  of  July  ;  those  of  Georgia  on  the  24th  of  the  same  month;  those  of  New  Jersey,  on  the  26th 
of  November;  and  those  of  Delaware,  on  the  22d  of  February  and  5th  of  May,  1779.  Maryland 
still  firmly  refused  to  ratify,  until  the  question  of  the  conflicting  claims  of  the  Union  and  of  the 
separate  States  to  the  crown-lands  should  be  fully  adjusted.  This  point  was  finally  settled  by 
cessions  of  claiming  States  to  the  United  States,  of  all  unsettled  and  unappropriated  lands  for  the 
benefit  of  the  whole  Union.  This  cession  of  the  crown-lands  to  the  Union  originated  the  Terri 
torial  system,  and  the  erection  of  the  Northwestern  Territory  into  a  distinct  government, 
similar  to  the  existing  States,  having  a  local  legislature  of  its  own.  The  insuperable  objection 
of  Maryland  having  been  removed  by  the  settlement  of  this  question,  her  delegates  signed  the 
Articles  of  Confederation  on  the  first  day  of  March,  1781,  four  years  and  four  months  after  they 
were  adopted  by  Congress.1  By  this  act  of  Maryland,  they  became  the  organic  law  of  the  Union, 
and  on  the  2d  of  March  Congress  assembled  under  the  new  powers. 


1.  The  following  are  ths  names  of  the  delegates  from  the  several  States  appended  to  the  Articles  of  Confederation  •- 

New  Hampshire,  Josiah  Bartlett,  John  Wentworth,  Jr. 

Massachusetts  Bay,  John  Hancock,  Samuel  Adams,  Elbridge  Gerry,  Francis  Dana,  James  Love  1,  Samuel  Holten. 

Rhode  Inland,  William  Ellery,  Henry  Merchant,  John  Collins. 

Connecticut,  Roger  Sherman,  Samuel  Huntington,  Oliver  Wolcott,  Titus  Hosmer,  Andrew  Adams. 

New  York,  James  Duane,  Francis  Lewis,  William  Duer,  Gouverneur  Morris. 

New  Jersey,  John  Witherspoon,  Nathaniel  Scudder. 

Pennsylvania,  Robert  Morris,  D.miel  Roberdeau,  Jonathan  Bayard  Smith,  William  din-ran,  Joseph  Reed. 

Delaware,  Thomas  McKean,  John  Dickenson,  Nicholas  Van  Dyke. 

Maryland,  John  Hanson,  Daniel  Carroll. 

Virginia,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  John  Banister,  Thomas  Adams,  John  Ha.  vie.  Francis  Lightfoot  Lee. 

North  Carolina,  John  Penn,  Cornelius  Harnett,  John  Williams. 

South  Carolina,  Henry  Laurens,  William  Henry  Drayton,  Jonathan  Matthews,  Richard  Hutson,  Tiiomas  Heyward,  Jr. 

Georgia,  John  Walton,  Edward  Tel  fair,  Elward  L:ing:vorthy. 


II. 


THE     NATIONAL     CONSTITUTION 


the  People  of  the  United  States,2  in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect  Union,  establish  Justice, 


1.  In  1853,  the  writer  made  a -very  careful  copy  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  from  the  original  in  the  State  Department  at 
Washington  City,  together  with  the  autographs  of  the  members  of  the  Convention  who  signed  it.     In  orthography,  capital  letters,  and  punc 
tuation,  the  copy  here  given  may  be  relied  upon  as  correct,  it  having  been  subsequently  carefully  compared  with  a  copy  published  by  Mr. 
Hickey,  in  his  useful  little  volume,  entitled  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  of  America,  etc.,  and  attested,  on  the  20th  of  July,  1846,  by 
Nicholas  P.  Trist,  (  hief  Clerk  of  the  State  Department. 

The  most  prominent  American  writers  upon  constitutional  law.  are  the  late  Justice  Story  and  Chancellor  Kent.  Joseph  Story  was  born  at 
Marblehead,  Massachusetts,  in  September,  1779,  and  was  educated  at  Harvard  University.  He  studied  law  ;  and  soon,  on  entering  upon  his 
practice,  took  a  proiniiie:it  position.  He  was  a  member  of  his  State  Legislature,  and  of  the  National  Congress,  and  was  chiefly  instrumental  in 
effecting  the  repeal  of  the  Embargo  Act  (page  403).  He  was  only  thirty-two  years  of  age  when  President  iM^idison  made  him  an  associate  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  From  that  time  he  discarded  polhics.  In  commercial  and  constitutional  law  he  was  peerless.  Hia 
Commentaries  on  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  published  in  three  volumes,  in  1833,  will  ever  be  a  standard  work.  Judge  Story  died  at 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts  i:i  September,  1345,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years.  His  own  words,  applied  to  another,  may  be  appropriately  said 
of  him  :  "  Whatever  subject  he  touched  was  touched  with  a  master's  hand  and  spirit.  He  employed  his  eloquence  to  adorn  his  learning,  and 
his  learning  t>  give  solid  weight  to  his  eloquence.  He  was  always  instructive  and  interesting,  and  rarely  without  producing  an  instantaneous 
conviction.  A  lo''ty  ambition  of  excellence,  that  stirring;  spirit  which  breathes  the  breath  of  Heaven,  and  pants  for  immortality,  sustained  his 
genius  in  its  perilous  course." 

2.  Previous  to  tha  Involution,  there  were  three  farau  of  gwernmaat  i  i  t'.ie  Cobnie-,,  namely  Charter,  Proprietary,  and  Provincial.    The 


746 


SUPPLEMENT. 


insure    domestic    Tranquility,  provide    for    the    common    defence,   promote 
Objects.  the    general  Welfare,   and    secure   the  Blessings    of    Liberty  to   ourselves 

and    our    Posterity,1    do   ordain   and  establish  this  CONSTITUTION  for  the 
United  States  of  America.  • 

ARTICLE     I. 

SECTION  1.  All  legislative  Powers  herein  granted  shall  be  vested  in  a  Co:i- 
Legislative  Powers,    gress  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  consist  of  a  Senate  and  House  of 

Representatives.2 

SECTION  2.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  composed  of  Members  chosen  every  second 

Year  by  the  People   of  the  several  States,  and  the  Electors  in  each  State 

House  of  Represents  ghall  haye   the  Qualifications  requisite  for  Electors  of  the  most  numerous 

Branch  of  the  State  Legislature.3 

No  Person  shall  be  a  Representative  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the  Age  of  twenty-five 
Years,  and  been  seven  Years  a  Citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  who  shall 
not,  when  elected,  be  an  Inhabitant  of  that  State  in  which  he  shall  be 
chosen.4 

Representatives  and  direct  Taxes  shall  be   apportioned  among  the  several  States  which  may 

be   included  within   this   Union,  according   to    their   respective   Numbers, 

AnportionmentofRep-  which  shall  be  determined  by  adding  to  the  whole  Number  of  free  Persons, 

resentatives.         including  those  bound  to  Service  for  a  Term  of  Years,  and  excluding  IndTans 

not  taxed,  three-fifths  of  all  other  Persons.6     The  actual  Enumeration  shall 

be  made  within  three  Years  after  the  first  Meeting  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and 

within  every  subsequent  Term  of  ten  Years,  in  such  Manner  as;  they  shall  by.  Law  direct.     The 

Number  of  Representatives  shall  not  exceed  one  for  every  thirty  Thousand;   but  each  State  shall 

have  at  Least  one  Representative ;  and  until  such  enumeration  shall  be  made,  the  State  of  New 

Hampshire  shall  be  entitled  to  chuse  three,  Massachusetts  eight,  Rhode  Island  and  Providence 

Plantations  one,  Connecticut  live,  New  York  six,  New  Jersey  four,  Pennsylvania  eight,  Delaware 

one,  Maryland  six,  Virginia  ten,  North  Carolina  five,  South  Carolina  five,  and  Georgia  three.6 

When  vacancies  happen  in  the  Representation  from  any  State,  the  Execu 
tive  Authority  thereof  shall  issue  Writs  of  Election  to  fill  such  Vacancies. 
Xf>e<tJce>>,  how  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  chuse  their  Speaker  and  other  Offi- 

(tppointed.  cers;  and  shall  have  the  sole  Power  of  Impeachment. 

SECTION  3.  The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  composed  of  two 

Nlfrom reac/f State™    Senators  from  each  State;  chosen  by  the  Legislature  thereof,  for  six  Years ; 
and  each  Senator  shall  have  one  Vote.7 

charter  governments  were  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode  Island.  They  had  power  to  make  laws  not  inconsistent  with  those  of  Eng 
land.  The  proprietary  governments  were  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and  Delaware.  Their  governors  were  appointed  by  their  proprietors,  and 
these  nnd  the  proprietors  us  ia!ly  made  the  laws.  The  provincial  were  New  Hampshire,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  and  Georgia.  In  these  the  governor  and  his  council  were  appointed  by  the  crown,  and  these,  with  chosen  representatives  of 
the  people,  made  the  laws. 

The  Union  is  older  than  the  Constitution.  It  was  formed  in  the  first  Continental  Congress  (page  2-28),  by  the  representatives  of  thirteen 
separate  but  not  independent  nor  sovereign  provinces,  for  they  had  ever  been  subject  to  the  British  crown.  Then  the  inhabitants  of  those 
colonies  were  solemnly  leagued  as  one  people,  and  two  years  later  (see  page  i'52)  they  declared  themselves  collectively  independent  of 
Great  Britain,  and  recognized  the  supremacy  of  the  Continental  Congress  as  a  central  government.  See  Curtis's  History  of  the  Constitution,  i. 
3i>,  40.  The  plan  of  independent  Stale  governments  then  adopted  having  failed,  a  national  one  was  formed,  and  the  framers  of  ihe  Constitu 
tion,  to  give  emphasis  to  the  fact,  said  in  the  preamble  of  the  instrument,  "  We  the  people  of  the  United  States,"  instead  of  "  We  the  people 
of  Massachusetts,  New  York,"  et  cetera.  So  argued  the  Supreme  Court.  SBC  W,'ieaton's  S.  C.  Reports,  i.  304. 

1.  Six  objects,  it  is  seen,  were  to  be  obtained,  each  having  a  national  breadth  of  purpose. 

2.  The  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  are  elected  to  seats  therein  f  >r  two  years,  and  they  hold  two  regular  sessions  or  sittings 
during  that  time.     Each  full  term  is  called  a  Congress.     Senators  are  elected  by  the  State  legislatures,  to  serve  for  s  x  yeurs. 

3.  There  is  a  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  or  Assembly,  in  each  State.      Any  person  qualified  to  vote  for  a   member  of  his  State 
Assembly,  may  vote  for  a  member  of  the  National  House  of  Representatives. 

4.  A  person  born  in  a  foreign  country,  may  be  elected  a  representative  after  he  has  been  for  seven  years  a  citizen  of  t'.ie  United  States. 

5.  It  has  been  derided  that  this  does  not  restrict  the  power  of  imposing  direct  taxes,  t  >  States  only.    The  Congress  of  t:>e  United  States 
has  power  to  do  s>,  but  only  for  the  purpose  of  paying  the  national  debts  and  providing  for  the  national  welfare.     See   Kent's    Commentaries 
on  the  Constitution,  abridged  edition,  page  330.     Direct  taxes  had  been  laid  three  times  by  the  National  Congress,  previous  to  the  Great  Civil 
War  that  broke  out  in  1861,  namely,,in  1198,  1813,  and  1815.      The  "other  persons"  here  mentioned  were  slaves.     In  making  the    apportion 
ment,  every  five  slaves  were  accounted  three  persons.     The  Thirteenth  Amendment  of  the  Constitution  (see  page  756)  renders  this  sentence  a 
dead  letter. 

6.  The  apportionment  is  made  as  soon  as  practicable  after  each  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  is  completed.     The  ratio  based  on  the  cen 
sus  df  1790,  was  one  Repivsentatlve  f>>r  every  33,000  persons.     The  ratio  according  to  the  census  of  1860,  was  one  for  every  127,316  persons. 

7.  This  gives  perfect  equality  to  the  States,  in  one  portion  of  the  legislative  branch  of  the  Government.     The  small  States  of  Rhode  Island 
and  Delaware  have  as  much  pow  r  i:i  the  National  Semite  as  the  large  ones  of  New  York  and  Ohio. 


THE     NATIONAL     CONSTITUTION.  ^47 

Immediately  after  they  shall  be  assembled  in  Consequence  of  the  first  Election,  they  shall  be 
divided  as  equally  as  may  be  into  three  Classes.     The  Seats  of  the  Senators 
of  the  first  Class  shall  be  vacated  at  the  Expiration  of  the  Second  Year,  of      Classification  of 
the  second  Class  at  the  Expiration  of  the  fourth  Year,  and  of  the  third  Class  Sena  torn. 

at  the  Expiration  of  the  sixth  Year,  so  that  one  third  may  be  chosen  every 
second  year;1   and  if  Vacancies  happen  by  Resignation  or  otherwise,  during  the  Recess  of  the 
Legislature  of  any  State,  the  Executive  thereof  may  make  temporary  Appointments  until  the  next 
Meeting  of  the  Legislature,  which  shall  then  fill  such  Vacancies. 

No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the  age  of 
thirty  Years,  and  been  nine  Years  a  Citizen  of  the  United  States,2  and  who       Qualification  of 
shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  inhabitant  of  that  State  for  which  he  shall  be  Senator*. 

chosen. 

The  Vice-President  of  the  United  States  shall  be  President  of  the  Senate, 
but  shall  have  no  Vote,  unless  they  be  equally  divided.3  tk^it/MU? 

The  Senate  shall  choose  their  other  Officers,4  and  also  a  President  pro 
tempore,  in  the  absence  of  the  Vice-President,  or  when  he  shall  exercise  the 
Office  of  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  Power  to  try  all  Impeachments:5   When     Senate  a  court  for 
•    •  T->  j-i  i     11  /-\  /»  •  TTTI          trial  of  impeachments. 

sitting  for  that  Purpose,   they  shall  be   on    Oath,    or  Affirmation.     When 

the  President  of  the  United  States  is  tried,  the  Chief-Justice  shall  preside : 

and  no  Person  shall   be  convicted  without   the    Concurrence    of  two  thirds    of  the    Members 

present. 

Judgment  in  Cases  of  Impeachment  shall  not  extend  further  than  to    Judgment  in  cose  of 
removal  from  Office,  and  Disqualification  to  hold  and  enjoy  any  Office  of 
Honor.  Trust,  or  Profit  under  the  United  States :   but  the  party  convicted 

shall  nevertheless  be  liable  and  subject  to  Indictment,  Trial,  Judgment,  and  Punishment,  accord 
ing  to  Law.6 

SECTION  4.  The  Times,  Places,  and  Manner  of  holding  Elections  for  Sen 
ators  and  Representatives,  shall  be  prescribed  in  each  State  by  the  Legis-  Elections  of  Senators 
lature  thereof;  but  the  Congress  may  at  any  time  by  Law  nlake  or  alter  such  ana  KepreMntativc.^. 
Regulations,  except  as  to  the  places  of  chusing  Senators.7 

The  Congress    shall  assemble   at   least  once  in  every  Year,   and  such 

meeting  shall  be  on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  unless  they  shall  by  Law  Meeting  of  'Concretm. 
appoint  a  different  day.8 

SECTION  5.   Each  House  shall  be  the  Judge  of  the  Elections,  Returns,  and  Qualifications  of  its 
own   Members,  and  a   Majority   of  each  shall   constitute  a  quorum  to    do 
Business;  but  a  smaller  Number  may  adjourn  from  day  to  day,  and   may       Organization  of 
be  authorized  to  compel  the  Attendance  of  absent  Members,  in  such  man-  Congress. 

ner,  and  under  such  Penalties  as  each  House  may  provide. 

Each  House  may  determine  the  Rules  of  its  Proceedings,   punish  its 

Members  for  disorderly  Behaviour,  and,  with  the  Concurrence  of  two  thirds^    Rules  of  proceeding. 
expel  a  Member. 

Each  House  shall  keep  a  Journal  of  its  Proceedings,  and  from  time  to  Journal  of  Congress. 
time   publish  the   same,9  excepting  such  Parts  as  may  in  their  Judgment 


1.  This  is  n  wise  provision.     It  leaves  representatives  of  the  people  in  that  branch,  at  all  times,  familiar  wilh  the  legislation  thereof,  an.l 
therefore  more  efficient  than  if  an  mtirely  new  dr legation  should  be  chosen  at  the  end  of  six  years. 

2.  This  was  to  allow  a  foreign-born  citizen  to  make  himself  familiar  with  our  institutions,  before  he  should  be  eligible  to  n  sea:  in  that 
highest  legislative  hall. 

3.  He  is  not  a  representative  of  any  State.     By  this  arrangement,  the  equality  of  the  States  is  preserved. 

4.  Secretary,  cle'k,  sergeant-at-arms,  door-keeper,  and  postmaster. 

5.  The  House  of  Representatives,  it  will  be  observed,  accuse  the  alleged  offender,  and  the  Senate  constitutes  the  court  wherein  he  is  trii-d. 

6.  This  was  a  modification  of  the  British  Constitution,  giving  greater  exclusive  jurisdiction  to  the  National  Judiciary.     In   Great   Britain, 
the  House  of  Commons  accuses,  and  the  House  of  Lords  (answering  to  our  Senate)  tries  the  offender.     The  latter  is  also  invested  with    power 
to  punish  in  every  form  known  to  the  laws,  by  ordering  the  infliction  of  fines,  imprisonments,  forfei  ure  of  goods,  banishment,  and   death. 

7.  This  provision  was  to  prevent  the  mischief  that  might  arise  at  a   lime  of  intense  party  excitement,  when   the  very   existence    of  the 
National  Congress  might  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  State  Legislatures.    The  place  of  choosing  the  Senators  is  where  the  State  Legislate  e.  shall 
be  in  session  at  the  time. 

8.  This  secured  an  nnnual  meeting  of  the  National  Legislature  beyond  the  control  of  State  legislation.     The  second,  or  last  session  of  every 
Congress  (note  3,  page  3t>6),  expires  at  twelve  o'clock  at  noon  on  the  4th  of  March. 

9.  The  object  is  to  preserve,  for  the  use  of  the  sovereign  people,  and  make  public  for  their  benefit,  every  act  of  Congress. 


7-j-S  SUPPLE  MI']  NT. 

require  Secresy;1   and  the  Yeas  and  Nays  of  the  Members  of  either  House  on  any  question  :-.hall, 
at  the  Desire  of  one  lifth  of  those  Present,  be  entered  on  the  Journal.2 

Neither  House,  during  the  Session  of  Congress,  shall,  without  the  Con- 
Adjotirnment  of 

"  Congress.  sent  01  the  other,  adjourn  for  more  than  three  days,  nor  to  any  other  Place 

than  that  in  which  the  two  Houses  shall  be  sitting.3 

SECTION  0.  The  Senators  and  Representatives  shall  receive  a  Compensation  for  their  Service?, 
to  be  ascertained  by  Law,  and  paid  out  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States/1 
Compensation  and    They  shall  in  all  cases,  except  Treason,  Felony,  and  Breach  of  the  Peace,  be 
pHvileff*tqfmember&priviteg&fToi&  Arrest  during  their  Attendance  at  the  Session  of  their   re 
spective  Houses,  and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  same  ;  and  for  any 
Speech  or  Debate  in  either  House,  they  shall  not  be  questioned  in  any  other  place.5 

No  Senator  or  Representative   shall,  during  the  time  for  which  he  was  elected,  be  appointed 

to  any  civil  Office  under  the  Authority  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  have 

Plurality  of  office*     been  created,  or  the  Emoluments  whereof  shall  have  been  increased  during 

prohibited.  such  time;'  and  no  Person  holding  any  office  under  the  United  States,  shall 

be  a  Member  of  either  House  during  his  Continuance  in  office.0 

SECTION  7.  All  Bills  for  raising  Revenue  shall  originate  in  the  House  of 
B i. fix,  it <>tr  originated.  Representatives:  but  the  Senate  may  propose  or  concur  with  Amendments 

as  on  other  Bills.7 

Ever_y  Bill  which  shall  have  passed  the  House  of  Representatives  and  the  Senate,  shall,  before 
it  become  a  Law,  be  presented  to  the  President  of  the  United  States:  if  he 
How  MtttfacctoM      approve  he  shall  sign  it,  but  if  not  he  shall  return  it,  with  his  Objections,  to 
that  House  in  which  it  shall  have  originated,  who  shall  enter  the  Objections 
at  large  on  their  Journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  it.8     If,  after  such  Reconsideration,  two  thirds 
of  that  House  shall  agree  to  pass  the  Bill,  it  shall  be   sent,  together  with  the  Objections,  to  the 
other  House,  by  which  it  shall  likewise  be  reconsidered,  and  if  approved  by  two  thirds  of  that 
House,  it  shall  become  a  Law.     But  in  all  such  Cases  the  Votes  of  both  Houses  shall  be  deter 
mined  by  Yeas  and  Nays,  and  the  Names  of  the  Persons  voting  for  and  against  the  Bill  shall  be 
entered  on  the  Journal  of  each  House  respectively.     If  any  Bill  shall  not  be  returned  by  the 
President   within  ten  Days  (Sunday  excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  presented  to  him,  the 
Same  shall  be  a  Law,  in  like  Manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it,  unless  the  Congress  by  their  Adjourn 
ment  prevent  its  Return,  in  which  Case  it  shall  not  be  a  Law. 

Every  Order,  Resolution,  or  Vote   to  which  the  Concurrence  of  the   Senate   and  House   of 
Representatives  may  be  necessary  (except  on  a  question  of  adjournment), 
ApproraJ  and  reto     shall  be  presented  to  the  President  of  the  United  States;   and  before  the 
j.owers  of  President.   game  shall  take  Effect,  shall  be  approved  by  him,  or  being  disapproved  by 
him.  shall  be  repassed  by  two  thirds  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa 
tives,  according  to  the  Rules  and  Limitations  prescribed  in  the  Case  of  a  Bill.9 

SECTION  8.  The  Congress  shall  have  power — 

Power*  rexted  in  To  lay  and  collect  Taxes,  Duties,  Imposts,  and  Excises;  to  pay  the  Debts 

Cong.-**.  and  provide  for  the  common  Defence  and  general  Welfare  of  the  United 

States:  but  all  Duties,  Imposts,  and  Excises  shall.be  uniform  throughout  the  United  States;  10 

1.  There  are  occasions  when  the  public  good  requires  secret  legislation,  and  a  withholding  fr  .in  the   people  a  knowledge  of  measures  dis 
cussed  and  adopted  in  Congress,  as  in  a  time  of  war,  of  insurrection,  or  of  very  important  diplomatic  negotiations. 

2.  The  object  of  this  is  to   make  a  permanent  record  of  the  votes  of  members,  so  that  the  constituents  of  each  may  know  their  action  <;n 
important  questions.     It  is  a  salutary  regulation. 

3.  This  is  to  prevent  a  majority,  in  either  House,  from  interrupting,  for  more  than  three  days,  the  legislation  of  Congress. 

4.  Formerly  the  members  were  paid  a  certain  amount  per  dav,  with  a  s  ecified  amount  for  each   mile  traveled  in   going   to   and   returning 
from  the  National  capital.     The  present  compensation  is  a  fixed  sum  for  each  Congress,  witli  mileage. 

5  This  was  to  prevent  the  interruption  of  their  duties,  during  the  session  of  Congress,  and  to  give  them  perfect  freedom  of  speech. 

6.'  This  serves  as  a  check  to  the  increase  of  the  power  of  the  executive  over  the  legislative  department  <  f  the  Government,  by  the  means 
of  appointment  to  office.  It  prevents  wide-spread  political  corruption.  A  pe  son  holding  an  office,  when  elected  to  .Congress,  is  compelled  to 
resign  it  before  he  can  t.:ke  his  seat.  ' 

7.  The  members  of  the  Mouse  of  Representatives  are  more  immediately  elected  by  the  people,  and  are  supposed   to  bette  •  understand  the 
wishes  and  wa-its  of  their  constituents,  than  those  of  the  Senate.     The  Senate,  being  the  representative  of  the  equality  of  the  States,   stands 
a«  a  check  to  legislation  that  might  impose  too  heavy  taxation  on  the  smaller  States. 

8.  This  power  is  given  to  the  President  to  arrest  hasty  or  unconstitutional  legislation,  and  to  operate  us  a,  cheek  on  the  encroachment  on  thn 
rights  and  powers  of  one  department  over  another,  by  legislation.     It  is  not  absolute,  as  the  context  shows,  as  it  may  be  set  aside  by  a  vote  of 
two  thirds  of  the  members  r.f  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  who  passed  it. 

9.  This  requirement  is   made  that  Congress   may  not  posa,  with  the  name  of  order,  resolution,  or  vote,  what,  as  a  bill,  the  President  has 
already  retried,  as  his  method  of  returning  a  bill,  with  his  objections,  is  called. 

10.  The  power  c  f  CuneTi-ss  t"  /  uj  find  collect  duties,  &c.,  for  national  purposes,  extends  to  the  D  strict  of  Columbia,  and  t  >   the  Territories 


T  II  E     X  A  T  I  0  X  A  L     CONSTITUTION.  ^4  C) 

To  borrow  Money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States  ;J 

To  regulate  Commerce  with  foreign  Nations,  and  among  the  several  States,  and  with  the 
Indian  tribes  ;2 

To  establish  an  uniform  Rule  of  Naturalization,3  and  uniform  Laws  on  the  subject  of  Bankrupt 
cies4  throughout  the  United  States  ; 

To  coin  Money,  regulate  the  Value  thereof,  and  of  foreign  Coin,  and  fix  the  Standard  of 
Weights  and  Measures  ;  5 

To  provide  for  the  Punishment  of  counterfeiting  the  Securities  and  current  Coin  of  the  United 
States ; 

To  establish  Post  Offices  and  Post  Roads  ; 

To  promote  the  progress  of  Science  and  useful  Arts,  by  securing  for  limited  Times  to  Authors 
and  Inventors  the  exclusive  Right  to  their  respective  Writings  and  Discoveries ;  ° 

To  constitute  Tribunals  inferior  to  the  Supreme  Court ; 

To  define  and  punish  Piracies  and  Felonies  committed  on  the  high  Seas,  and  Offences  against 
the  Law  of  Nations ; 7 

To  declare  War,  grant  Letters  of  Marque  and  Reprisal,  and  make  Rules  concerning  Captures 
on  Land  and  Water ; 

To  raise  and  support  Armies ;  but  no  Appropriation  of  Money  to  that  Use  shall  be  for  a  longer 
Term  than  two  Years ; 

To  provide  and  maintain  a  Navy ; 

To  make  Rules  for  the  Government  and  Regulation  of  the  Land  and  Naval  Forces ; 

To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  Militia  to  execute  the  Laws  of  the  Union,  suppress  Insurrec 
tions,  and  repel  Invasions ; 

To  provide  for  organizing,  arming,  and  disciplining  the  Militia,  and  for  governing  such  Part 
of  them  as  may  be  employed  in  the  Service  of  the  United  States — reserving  to  the  States  respect 
ively,  the  Appointment  of  the  Officers,  and  the  Authorit}7  of  training  the  Militia  according  to  the 
Discipline  prescribed  by  Congress ; 8 

To  exercise  exclusive  Legislation  in  all  Cases  whatsoever,  over  such  District  (not  exceeding 
ten  Miles  square)  as  may,  by  Cession  of  particular  States,  and  the  Acceptance  of  Congress,  become 
the  Seat  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,9  and  to  exercise  like  Authority  over  all  Places 
purchased  by  the  Consent  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  in  which  the  Same  shall  be,  for  the  Erec 
tion  of  Forts,  Magazines,  Arsenals,  Dockyards,  and  other  needful  Buildings; — And  ~,;— ".-- 

To  make  all  Laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  Execution  the  fore 
going  Powers,  and  all  other  Powers  vested  by  this  Constitution  in  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  or  in  any  Department  or  Officer  thereof. 

SECTION  9.  The  Migration  or  Importation  of  such,Persons  as  any  of  the 
States  now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited  b}' 

of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  to  the  States ;  but  Congress  is  not  bound  to  extend  a  direct  tax  to  the  District  find  Territories.  The  stipula 
tion  that  the  taxes,  &c.,  shall  be  uniform  throughout  the;  United  States,  is  to  pie  vent  favors  being  shown  to  oiie  hMate  or  section  of  the  Repub 
lic,  and  not  to  (.nother. 

1.  This  WHS  to  enable  the  Government  to  provide  for  its  expenses  at  a  time  of  domestic  insurrection  or  a  foreign  war,  when  the  sources  i,f 
revenue  by  taxation  and  impost,  might  be  obstructed. 

2.  This  power  was  lacking,  under  the  Articles  of  Confederation.     It  is  one  of  the  most  important  powers  delegated  by  the  people  to  their 
representatives,  for  it  involves  national  development  and  prosperity. 

3.  The  power  of  naturalization  was  possessed  by  each  State  under  the  Confederation.     There  was  such  want  of  uniformity  of  la 


subject,  thatconfusio 
State  is  prohibited 
Attorney-General  of 
4.  Since  the  adopt 
impair  the  obligation 
to  establish  a  uniforr 


was  already  manifested,  when  the  people,  by  the    Constitution,  vested    the   power  exclusively  in    Congress.     Thus    ts 
•om   discouraging   emigration,  or  casting   hinderances  in  the  way  of  obtaining  citizenship.     By  a  recent  decision  of  the 
he  Republic,  every  person  born  within  its  borders  is  entitled  to  the  rights  of  citizenship.     It  is  a  birthright, 
on  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  a  State  has  authority  to  pass   a  bankrupt  law,  provided  such  law  does  nol 

of  contracts  within  the  meaning  of  the  Constitution  (art.  i.,  sec.  10),  and  provided  there  be  no  act  of  Congress  in  fore* 


system  of  bankruptcy  conflicting  with  such  law. 

5.  This  was  to  insure  uniformity  in  the   metallic  currency  of  the  Republic,  and  of  weights  and  measures,  for  the  bene-fit  of  the  people  in 
commercial  operations. 

6.  The  first  copy-right  law  was  enacted  in  1790,  on  the  petition  of  David  Ramsay,  the  historian,  and  others.     A  copy-right,  or  patent-right 
1o  an  invention,  is  given  for  a  specified  time.     A  copy-right  is  granted  for  28  years,  and  a   renewal  for  14   years.     Patents  are  granted  for  IT 
years,  without  the  right  of  extension. 

7.  Congress  has  power  to  provide  for  the  punishment  of  offences  committed  by  persons  on  board  of  an  American  ship,  wherever   that  ship 
may  be. 

8.  Clauses  11  to  1C  inclusive,  define  the  war  powers  of  the  Government,  such  as  granting   licenses  to  privateers  (see  page  377,  and  note  5, 
page  641),  raising  and  supporting  armed  forces  on  land  and  sea,  calling  out  the  militia,  &c.     See  Article  II.  of  the  Amendments  to  this  Con 
stitution.     These   powers,  used  by  the  hand  of  an  efficient  and  judicious  Executive,  are  quite  sufficient.     The  President  cannot  exercise  any  of 
them,  until  the  power  is  given  him  by  Congress,  when  he  is  bound  by  his  oath  to  take  care  that  all  the  laws  shall  be  execu  ed. 

9.  Congress  has  au  hority  to  impose  a  direct  tax  on  the  District  of  Columbia  (note  1,  page  383),  in  proportion  t.)  the  census  directed  by  the 
Constitution  to  be  taken. 


750  SUPPLEMENT. 

the  Congress  prior  to  the  Year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight,  but  a  Tax  or  Duty  may  be 
imposed  on  such  Importation,  not  exceeding  ten  dollars  for  each  Person.1 

The  Privilege  of  the  Writ  of  Habeas  Corpus2  shall  not  be  suspended, 
Habeas  Corjws.       un]ess  wnen   in  Cases  of  Rebellion   or   Invasion   the   public   Safety  may 

require  it. 
Attainder.  No  ~Q{\\  of  Attainder3  or  ex  post  Facto  law  shall  be  passed.4 

No  Capitation,  or  other  direct.  Tax  shall  be  laid,  unless  in  Proportion  to 
Taxes.  tjie  Census  or  Enumeration  herein  before  directed  to  be  taken.3 

No  Tax  or  Duty  shall  be  laid  on  articles  exported  from  any  State. 
No   Preference    shall  be   given   by   &ny  Regulation    of  Commerce    or 

Regulation*  regard-  Revenue  to  the  Ports  of  one  State  over  those  of  another ;  nor  shall  Vessels 
bound  to,  or  from,  one  State,  be  obliged  to  enter,  clear,  or  pay  Duties  in 
another.6 

No  Money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  Treasury,  but  in  Consequence  of  Ap- 

Money,  how  drawn.  prOpriations  made  by  law;  and  a  regular  Statement  and  Account  of  the 
Receipts  and  Expenditures  of  all  public  Money  shall  be  published  from  time 
to  time.7 

No  Title  of  Nobility  shall  be  granted  by  the  ^United  States':    And  no 

Title*  cifnolility     Person  holding  any  Office  of  Profit  or  Trust  under  them,  shall,  without  the 

prohibited.   '       Consent  of  the  Congress,  accept  of  any  Present,  Emolument,  Office,  or  Title, 

of'  any  kind  whatever,  from  any  King,  Prince,  or  Foreign  State.8 

SECTIOX  10.  No  State  shall  enter  into  any  Treaty,  Alliance,  or  Confederation;  grant  Letters 

of  Marque  and  Reprisal;  coin  Money;  emit  Bills  of  Credit;  make  any  Thing 

Power*  of  Stute*       ^ut  g°ld-  and  silver  Coin  a  Tender  in  Payment  of  Debts;  pass  any  Bill  of 

defined.  Attainder,  ex  post  facto  Law,  or  Law  impairing  the  Obligation  of  Contracts, 

or  grant  any  Title  of  Nobility. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  Consent  of  the  Congress,  lay  any  Imposts  or  Duties  on  Imports  or 
Exports,  except  what  may  be  absolutely  necessary  for  executing  its  inspection  Laws :  and  the 
net  Produce  of  all  Duties  and  Imposts,  laid  by  any  State  on  Imports  or  Exports,  shall  be  for  the 
Use  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States ;  and  all  such  Laws  shall  be  subject  to  the  Revision 
and  Controul  of  the  Congress. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  Consent  of  Congress,  lay  any  Duty  of  Tonnage,  keep  Troops,  or 
Ships-of-War  in  time  of  Peace,  enter  into  any  Agreement  or  Compact  with  another  State,  or  with 
a  foreign  Power,  or  engage  in  War,  unless  actually  invaded,  or  in  such  imminent  Danger  as  will 
not  admit  of  Delay.9 

ARTICLE    II. 

Executive,  power  in          SECTIOX  1.  The  executive  Power  shall  be  vested  in  a  President  of  the 
whom  vested.         United  States  of  America.      He  shall  hold  his  Office  during  the  Term  of 

1.  The  object  of  this  clause  was  to  end  the  slave-trade,  or  the  importation  of  negroes  from  Africa,  to  become  slaves  in   the  United  States, 
after  the  first  of  January,  1808.     The  Articles  of  Confederation  allowed  any  State  to  continue  the  traffic  indefinitely,  for  the  States  were  inde 
pendent  of  each  other,  arid  the  organic  law  was  silent  on  the  subject.     The  importation  of  slaves  after  th^  beginning  of  1808,  was  prohibited 
under  severe  penalties  by  ihe  Act  of  March  2,  1807.     Acts  on  the  subject  have  since  been  passed  by  Congress  from  time  to  time.     That  of  18VO 
declared  the  foreign  s'ave-trade  to  be  piracy.     In  July,  1S6-:,  Congress  made  provisions  for  carrying  into  effect  a  treaty  with  Great  Britain  for 
the  suppression  of  the  slave-trade.     A   domestic  slavi-trade  was   kept   up  until  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War,  in  1861.     It  was  Virginia's 
largest  source  of  revenue. 

2.  This  is  a  writ  for  delivering  a  person  from  false  imprisonment,  or   for  removing  a  pe-son   from   one  court  to  another.     The  act  of  sus 
pending  the  privilege  of  the  writ  must  be  done  by  the  Executive,  in  the  cas -s  specified,  under  the  authority  of  an  Act  of  Congress. 

3.  A  deprivation  ot  power  to  inherit  or  transmit  p  operty,  a  loss  of  civil  rights,  &c. 

4.  Declaring  an  act  criminal  or  penal,  which  was  innocent  when  committed. 

5.  This  was  to  secure  uniformity  in  taxes  laid  on  persons  or  on  lands. 

6.  T  •  secure  free  trade  between  the  States,  that  one  might  not  have  an  advantage  over  another,  was  the  object  of  these  two  clauses. 

7.  This  g'ves  to  Congress  the  control  of  the  money  belonging  to  the  Republic,  and  places  it  beyond  the  reach  of  the  Executive. 

8.  This  was  to  secure  equality  of  rights  and  privileges  among  the  citizens,  an.i  to  check  the  bad  effects  of  foreign  influences  in  the  f>rm  of 
aristocratic  distinctions. 

9.  By  this  section  the  people  of  the  several  States  who,  in  conventions,  ratified   the   National    Constitution,  invested   the  Ge  ie-al  Govern - 

peculiar  to  the  municipal  authority  of  a  State,  which  are  essential  to  the  regulation  of  its  internal  affairs  and  the  preservation  of  its  domestic 
institutions  from  interference  by  another  State,  or  by  the  National  Government  in  a  time  ot  domestic  tranqu  llity.  The  National  Governmei.t 
is  hereby  empowered  to  act  for  the  people  of  the  who  e  Republic  as  a  nation.  Having  no  superior,  it  is  sovereign.  See  Story's  Commentariea 
on  the  Constitution,  chapter  xxxv. 


THE     NATIONAL     CONSTITUTION. 

four  Years,1  and  together  with  the  Vice  President,  chosen   for  the  same  Term,    be  elected,   as 
follows  : 

Each  State  shall  appoint,  in  such  Manner  as  the  Legislature  thereof  may  direct,  a  Number  of 
Electors,  equal  to  the  whole  Number  of  Senators  and  Representatives  to 
which  the  State  may  be  entitled  in  the  Congress:  but  no  Senator  or  Repre-  Presidential  electors. 
scntative,  or  Person  holding  an  Office  of  Trust  or  Profit  under  the  United 
States,  shall  be  appointed  an  Elector. 

[The  electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States,  and  vote  by  ballot   for  two  persons,  of 
whom  one  at  least  shall  not  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  State  with  them 
selves.     And  they  shall  make  a  list  of  all  the  persons  voted  for,  and  of  the   ^^li^^how^' 
number  of  votes  for  each ;  which  list  they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  trans-  elected. 

mit  sealed  to  the  seat  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  directed  to 
the  President  of  the  Senate.  The  President  of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the  presence  of  the  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives,  open  all  the  certificates,  and  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted.  The 
person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  shall  be  the  President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority 
of  the  whole  number  of  electors  appointed;  and  if  there  be  more  than  one  who  have  such 
majority,  and  have  an  equal  number  of  votes,  then  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  immedi 
ately  chuse  by  ballot  one  of  them  for  President ;  and  if  no  person  have  a  majority,  then  from 
the  five  highest  on  the  list  the  said  House  shall  in  like  manner  chuse  the  President.  But  in 
chusing  the  President,  the  votes  shall  be  taken  by  States — the  representation  from  each  State 
having  one  vote  ;  a  quorum  for  this  purpose  shall  consist  of  a  member  or  members  from  two 
thirds  of  the  States,  and  a  majority  of  all  the  States  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  In  every 
case,  after  the  choice  of  the  President,  the  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  of  the 
electors  shall  be  the  Vice-President.  But  if  there  should  remain  two  or  more  who  have  equal 
votes,  the  Senate  shall  choose  from  them  by  ballot  the  Vice  President.2] 

The  Congress  may  determine  the  Time  of  chusing  the  Electors,  and  the       Time  of  choosing 
Day  on  which  they  shall  give  their  Votes ;  which  D.iy  shall  be  the  same 
throughout  the  United  States.3 

No  Person  except  a  natural  born  Citizen,  or  a  Citizen  of  the  United  States  at  the  time  of  the 
Adoption  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  eligible  to  the  Office  of  President; 
neither  shall  any  person  be  eligible  to  that  Office  who  shall  not  have  at-   Qualification*  of  the 
tained  to  the  Age  of  thirty-five  Years,  and  been  fourteen  Years  a  Resident  President. 

within  the  United  States. 

In  Case  of  the    Removal  of  the    President   from    Office,  or  of  his   Death,  Resignation,  or 
Inability  to  discharge  the  Powers  and  Duties  of  the  said  office,  the  same 
shall  devolve  on  the  Vice  President4  and  the  Congress  may  by  Law  provide    Resort  in  ca*e  of  his 
for  the  Case  of  Removal.  Death,  Resignation  or  Inability,  both  of  the  Presi-  disability. 

dent  and  Vice  President,  declaring  what  Officer  shall  then  act  as  President, 
and  such  officer  shall  act  accordingly,  until  the  Disability  be  removed,  or  a  President  shall  be 
elected.5 

The  President  shall,  at  stated  Times,  receive  for  his  Services,  a  Compen 
sation,  which  shall  neither  be  increased  nor  diminished  during  the  Period  for    Salary  of  the  Pre^i- 
which  he  shall  have  been  elected,  and  he   shall  not  receive  within  that  dent- 

Period  any  other  Emolument  from  the  United  States,  or  any  of  them.6 

Before  he  enter  on  the  Execution  of  his  Office,  he  shall  take  the  follow-         Oath  of  Office. 
ing  Oatli  or  Affirmation  : 

1  The  Executive  is  a  co-ordinate  but  not  coequal  branch  of  the  Government  with  the  lejris  ative,  for  he   is  the   agent  provt  led  i:i  the  Con 
stitution  for  executing  the  laws  of  a  superior,  the  Congress  or  legislature. 

2.  this  clause  was  afterward  annulled,  and  Article  XII.  of  the  Amendments  to  this  Constitution  was  substituted   for   it.     Originally  the 
electors  voted  by  ballot,  for  two  persons,  one  of  whom,  at  leas1,  should  not  be  nn  inhabitant  of  the  same  State  with  themselves.     The  one  who 
received    the  highest  number  of  votes  was  declared  to  be  President,  and  the  one  receiving  the  next  highest  number  was  declared  to  be  Vice- 
President.     For  nn  example,  see  page  3S& 

3.  See  Amendments  to  the  Constitution,  Article  XII.     By  an  Act  passed  in  1845  (January  23).  the  electors  must  be  chosen,  in  each  State,  on 
the  Tuesday  next  after  the  first  Monday  in  the  month  of  November  of  the  year  in  which  they  are  to  be  elected.     In  the  preceding  portion  of 
this  history,  when  the  election  of  a  President  is  spoken  of,  it  is  meant  that  electors  favorable  to  such  candidates  were  chosen  at  that  time. 

4.  For  examples,  see  p:iges  476,  501,  and  1  -21. 

5.  Provision  has  been  made  for  the  President  of  the  Senate,  for  the  time  being,  or  if  there  shall  be  no  such  officer,  the  Speaker  of  tli3  House 
of  Uepresentat  ves,  shall  perform  the  executive  functions. 

6.  The  salary  of  the  President  was  fixed  by  the  first  Congress  at  $'25,000  a  year,  and  that  of  the  Vice-P:-esident  at  $3,000,  and  such  they  are 
at  present      The  salary  for  each  entire  term  was  so  fixed,  that  the  executive  might  be  independent  of  the  legislative  department  for  it. 


SUPPLE  ME  XT. 

"I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the  Office  of  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  will  to  the  best  of  my  Ability,  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States." 

SECTION  2.  The  President  shall  be  Commander  in  chief  of  the  Army  and 

Duties  of  the  Presi-    ^avy  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  Militia  of  the  several  States,  when 
dent-    •  called  into  the  actual  Service  of  the  United  States;1  he  may  require  the 

Opinion,  in  writing,  of  the  principal  Officer  in  each  of  the  executive  Depart 
ments,  upon  any  Subject  relating  to  the  Duties  of  their  respective  Offices,  and  he  shall  have 
Power  to  grant  Reprieves  and  Pardons  for  Offences  against  the  United  States,  except  in  Cases  of 
Impeachment.'J 

He  shall  have  Power,  by  and  with  the  Advice  and  Consent  of  the  Senate,  to  make  Treaties, 
provided  two  thirds  of  the  Senators  present  concur ;  and  he  shall  nominate, 
His  power  to  make    an(^  by  and  with  the  Advice  and  Consent  of  the  Senate,  shall  appoint  Am- 
treaitex.  appoint  em-  bassadors,  other  public  Ministers  and  Consuls,  Judges  of  the  supreme  Court, 
'  and  all  other  Officers  of  the  United  States,  whose  appointments  are  not  herein 
hitherto  provided  for,  and  which  shall  be  established  by  Law:3  but  the  Con 
gress  may  by  Law  vest  the  Appointment  of  such  inferior  Officers,  as  they  think  proper,  in  the 
President  alone,  in  the  Courts  of  Law,  or  in  the  Heads  of  Departments. 

The  President  shall  have  Power  to  fill  up  all  .Vacancies  that  may  happen 

May  fill  'vacancies,     during  the  Recess  of  the  Senate,  by  granting  Commissions  which  shall  ex 
pire  at  the  End  of  their  next  Session.4 

SECTION  3.  He  shall  from  time  to  time  give  to  the  Congress  Information  of  the  State  of  the 

.Union,  and  recommend  to  their  Consideration  such  Measures  as  he  shall 

Power  to  convene       judge  necessary  and  expedient  ;5  he  may,  on  extraordinary  Occasions,  con- 

Congrex*.  vene  both  Houses,  or  either  of  them,6  and  in/Case  of  Disagreement  between 

them,  with  Respect  to  the  Time  of  Adjournment,  he  may  adjourn  them  to 

such  Time  as  he  shall  think  proper;  he  shall  receive  Ambassadors  and  other  public  Ministers;7 

he  shall  take  Care  that  the  Laws  be  faithfully  executed,  and  shall  Commission  all  the  officers  of 

the  United  States. 

SECTION  4.    The  President,  Vice  President,  and  all  civil  Officers  of  the 

How         ™™aV  le  United  States,  shall  be  removed  from  Office  on  Impeachment  for,  and  Con 
viction  of,  Treason,  Bribery,  or  other  high  Crimes  or  Misdemeanors. 


ARTICLE    III. 

SECTION  1.  The  judicial  Power  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  vested  in  one  supreme  Court, 
and  in  such  inferior  Courts  as  the  Congress  may  from  time  to  time  ordain  and 

establish.      The  Judges  both  of  the  supreme  and  inferior  Courts,  shall  hold 
Judicial  power,  how   their  Qfficeg  dur}n?  gQod  Behaviourj  and  ghalli  at  gtated  Timegj  receive   for 

their  Services,  a  Compensation,  which  shall  not  be  diminished  during  their 
Continuance  in  Office." 


1.  This  was  to  insure  unity  and  efficiency  in  action,  when  foreign  war  or  domestic  insurrection  should  call  for  the  services  of  the  army  and 
navy.  His  large  powers  as  Executive  are  directed  by  constitutional  provisions..  He  is  the  arm  of  the  nation  to  execute  its  bidding. 

'J.  It  is  presumed  that  the  Executive  is  above  the  personal,  local,  or  sectional  influences  that  might  be  brought  to  bear,  in  these,  cases,  on 
the  courts  or  on  legislative  bodies.  The  Executive,  according  to  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  has  power  to  grant  a  pardon  before  trial  or 
conviction.  See  Brightley's  Analytical  Digest  of  the  Laws  of  the  United  States,  page  7,  note  (e). 

3.  The  President  is  presumed  to  be  more  fully  informed  concerning  the  foreign  rela'.ions  of  the   Republic,  and  ihe  fitness   of  men   for.  the 
highest  offices.     The  Senate  represents  the  legislative  department  of  the   Government  in  treaty-making  and  the  appointment  of  high  officers, 
and  is  a  check  on  the  Executive  against  any  encroachments  on  the  rights  of  Congress  in  the  matter. 

4.  This  limitation  to  executive  appointments  is  to  prevent  the  President  from  neutralizing  the  action  of  the  Senate  as  a  co-ordinate  power. 

5.  It  is  the  pract'ce  of  the  President  to  submit  to  Congress,  at  the  opening  of  each  session,  a  statement  of  national  affairs.     This    is   called 
his  Annual  Message.     Washington  ami  John  Adams  read  their  messages  in  person  to  the  assembled  Congress.     Jefferson  first  sent  his  message 
to  them,  by  his  private  secretary.     That  practice  is  still  kept  up. 

6.  The  President,  with  his  better  information  concerning  national  affairs,  can  best  judge  when  an  extraordinary  session  of  Congress  may  ba 
necessary. 

7.  He  may  also  refuse  to  receive  them,  and  thereby  annul  or  prevent  diplomatic  relations  between  the  United  States  and  any  country. 

8.  See   page  368,  and  note  1,  page  369.     Tlrs  section  provides  that  the  Supreme  Court  shall  be  a  co  ordinate  branch  of  the  National  Gov 
ernment,  yet  independent  of  and  distinct  from  both  the  legislative  and  executive  departments.     The  powers   of  the  National  Government,  it 
will  be  seen,  are  threefold,  namely,  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive.     The  first  enacts    laws,  the   second  interprets   them,   and   the   third 
enforces  them.     The  Supreme  Court  consists  of  one  chief-jr.st  ce  and  several  :  ssociute  justices,  who   hold  an    annual   session  at  the  national 
capital,  commencing  on  the  day  when  Congress  meets — first  Wednesday  in  Dc.vmber. 


THE     NATIONAL     CONSTITUTION. 

SECTION  2.  The  judicial  Power  shall  extend  to  all  Cases,  in  Law  and  Equity,  arising  under 
this  Constitution,  the  Laws  of  the  United  States,  and  Treaties  made,  or  which 
shall  be  made,  under  their  Authority; — to  all  cases  affecting  Ambassadors,        TO  what  cases  it 
other  public  Ministers  and  Consuls; — to  all  Cases  of  admiralty  and  mari-  extends. 

time  Jurisdiction; — to  Controversies  to  which  the  United  States  shall  be  a 
Party ; — to  Controversies  between  two  or  more  States ; — between  a  State  and  Citizens  of  another 
State; — between  Citizens  of  different  States;1 — between  Citizens  of  the  same   State  claiming 
Lands  under  Grants  of  different  States,  and  between  a  State,  or  the  Citizens  thereof,  and  foreign 
States,  Citizens  or  Subjects. 

In  all  Cases  affecting  Ambassadors,  other  public  Ministers  and  Consuls,  and  those  in  which  a 
State  shall  be  a  Party,  the  supreme  Court  shall  have  original  Jurisdiction.    In 
all  the  other  Cases  before  mentioned,  the  supreme  Court  shall  have  nppel-     jurisdiction  of  the 
late  Jurisdiction,  both  as  to  Law  and  Fact,  with  such  Exceptions,  and  under       Supreme  Court. 
such  Regulations  as  the  Congress  shall  make. 

The  Trial  of  all  Crimes,  except  in  Cases  of  Impeachment,  shall  bo  by 
Jury ;  and  such  Trial  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where  the  said  Crimes  shall 
have  been  committed ;  but  when  not  committed  within  any  State,  the  Trial       Rules  respecting 
shall  be   at  such  Place   or  Places   as   the   Congress   may   by  Law  have  trials. 

directed.2 

SECTION  3.  Treason  against  the  United  Stafes,  shall  consist  only  in  levy 
ing  War  against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their  Enemies,  giving  them  Aid  and       Treason  defined. 
Comfort.3 

No  Person  shall  be  convicted  of  Treason,  unless  on  the  Testimony  of  two  Witnesses  to  the 
same  overt  Act,  or  on  Confession  in  open  Court. 

The  Congress  shall  have  Power  to  declare  the  Punishment  of  Treason, 
but  no  Attainder  of  Treason  shall  work  Corruption  of  Blood,  or  Forfeiture        How  punished. 
except  during  the  Life  of  the  Person  attainted.4 


ARTICLE    IY. 

SECTION  1.  Full  Faith  and  Credit  shall  be  given  in  each  State  to  the  public  Acts,  Records,  and 
judicial  Proceedings  of  every  other  State.5    And  the  Congress  may  by  general 
Laws  prescribe  the  Manner  in  which  such  Acts,  Records  and  Proceedings       Kigh£*f  °ftef/ate* 
shall  be  proved,  and  the  Effect  thereof.6 

SECTION  2.  The  Citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  Privileges  Privilege*  v'dtieen*. 
and  Immunities  of  Citizens  in  the  several  States.7 

A  person  charged  in  any  State  with  Treason,  Felony,  or  other  Crime,  "w^0 

shall  flee  from  Justice,  and  be  found  in  another  State,  shall  on  Demand  of  Executive  requisition. 
the  executive  authority  of  the  State  from  which  he  fled,  be  delivered  up, "  to 
be  removed  to  the  State  having  Jurisdiction  of  the  Crime.8 

1.  A  citizen  of  the  District  of  Columbia  (note   1,  page  38S)  is  not  a  citizen  of  a  State,  within  the  meaning  of  this  Constitution.    The  Dis 
trict  is  under  the  immediate  control  of  Congress,  and  has  neither  a  legislature  or  governor. 

2.  See  Amendments  to  the  Constitution,  Articles  V.,  VI.,  VII.,  VIII. 

3.  At  the  trial  of  Aaron  Burr  (see  page  39S),  Chief-Justice  Marshall  said:  "Any  combination  to  subvert  by  fo«p  the  Government  of  the 
United  States;  violently  to  dismember  the  Union  ;  to  compel  a  change  in  the  administration,  to  coerce  the  repeal  or  adoption  of  a  general 
law,  is  a  conspiracy  to  levy  war.    And  if  conspiracy  be  carrit-d   into  effect  by   the  actual  employment  of  force,  by  the   embodying  and 
assembling  of  men  for  the  purpose  of  executing  the  treasonable  design  which  was  previously  conceived,  it  amounts  to  levying  w«r." 

4.  The  limit  as  to  forfeiture  applies  only  to  the  real  estate  »t  the  criminal,  which,  at  his  death,  must  be  restored  to  his  heirs   or  assigns 
The  dower  right  of  his  wife  also  remains  untouched.    See  Kent's  Commentaries  on  American  Law,  ii.  464.    This  is  more  humane  than  the 
English  law  of  treason.     It  does  not  punish  the  innocent  wife  and  children  of  a  criminal  on  account  of  his  crimes. 

5.  A  judgment  of  a  State  court  has  the  same  credit,  validity,  and  effect,  in  every  other  court  within  the  United  States,  which  it  had  in  the 
court  where  it  was  rendered  ;  and  whatever  pleas  would  be  good  to  a  suit  thereon  in  such  State,  and  none  others,  can  be  pleaded  in  any  other 
court  within  the  United  States.— Hampton  v.  McConnell,  3  Wheatnn,  234. 

6.  On  the  26th  of  May,  1790,  Congress,  by  act,  gave  effect  to  this  section. 

7.  This  is  a  recognition  of  nationality— the  supreme  rights  of  the  people  as  citizens  of  the  United  States.     It  decrees  the  right  to  all  funda 
mental  privileges  and  immunities  which  any  State  grants  to  its  citizens,  excepting  those  granted  to  corporations,  or  conferred  by  special 
local  legislation.     It  is  intended  to  secure  and  perpetuate  a  friendly  intercourse  throughout  the  Republic.    It  sets  aside  the  erroneous  as 
sumption  that  National  citizenship  is  subordinate  to'State  citizenship. 

8.  This  is  to  aid  the  claims  of  justice,  by  preventing  one  portion  of  the  Republic  becoming  an  asylum  for  the  criminals  of  another 
portion. 


754  SUPPLEMENT. 

No  Person  held  to  Service  or  Labour  in  one  State,  under  the  Laws  thereof  escaping  to  another, 
shall,  in  Consequence  of  any  Law  or  Regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from 

Law  regulating Mrric6  guch  ^^-^  or  Labour,  but  shall  bo  delivered  up  on  Claim  of  the  Party  to 
whom  such  Service  or  Labour  may  be  due.1 

SECTION  8.    New  States  may  be  admitted  by  the  Congress  into   this 

New  States,  how       Union;2  but  no  new  State  shall  be  formed  or  erected  within  the  jurisdiction 

formed  and  admitted.  of  anv  other  State;  nor  any  State  bo  formed  by  the  Junction  of  two  or  more 

States,  or  Parts  of  States,  without  the  consent  of  the  Legislatures  of  the 

States  concerned  as  well  as  of  the  Congress.3 

The  Congress  shall  have  Power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all  needful  Rules 

Power  of  Congress     and  Regulations  respecting  the  Territory  or  other  Property  belonging  to  the 
over  public  lands.     United  States  ;  and  nothing  in  this  Constitution  shall  be  so  construed  as, to 
Prejudice  any  Claims  of  the  United  States,  or  of  any  particular  State.4 

SECTION  4.  The  Constitution  shall  guaranty  to  every  State  in  this  Union 

Republican  govern-   a  Republican  Form  of  Government,5  and  shall  protect  each  of  them  against 
ment  guarantied.      Invasion ;  and  on  Application  of  the  Legislature,  or  of  the  Executive  (when 
the  Legislature  can  not  be  convened)  against  domestic  violence.6 

ARTICLE     V. 

The  Congress,  whenever  two  thirds  of  both  Houses  shall  deem  it  necessary,  shall  propose 
Amendments  to  this  Constitution,  or,  on  the  Application  of  the  Legislatures 
Constitution,  how  to  be  of  two  thirds  of  the  several  States,  shall  call  a  Convention  for  proposing 
amended.  Amendments,  which,  in  either  Case,  shall  j  be  valid  to  all  Intents  and  Pur 

poses,  as  part  of  this  Constitution,  when  ratified  by  the  Legislatures  of  three 
fourths  of  the  several  States,  or  by  Conventions  in  three  fourths  thereof,  as  the  one  or  the  other 
Mode  of  Ratification  may  be  proposed  by  the  Congress  ;7  Provided  that  no  Amendment  which  may 
be  made  prior  to  the  Year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight  shall  in  any  Manner  affect  the 
first  and  fourth  Clauses  in  the  Ninth  Section  of  the  first  Article ; 8  and  that  no  State,  without  its 
Consent,  shall  be  deprived  of  its  equal  Suffrage  in  the  Senate.9 

ARTICLE     VI,;. 

All  Debts  contracted  and  Engagements  entered  into,  before  the  Adoption 
ebts  of  ^lis  Constitution,  shall  be  as  valid  against  the  United  States  under  this 
.  Constitution,  as  under  the  Confederation.10 


1.  This  is  the  clause  of  the  Co.-Mtntion,  on  which  was  based  the  provisions  of  the  Fugitive  S'ave  Law  of  1850.  See  page  501.  It  applied 
to  runaway  slaves  and  apprentices.  Corig,<>ss  gave  effect  to  it  by  an  act  on  the  12th  of  February,  1793,  and  another  on  the  18th  of  September, 
1850.  At  the  time  when  the  Constitution  was  framed,  slavery  existed  in  all  the  States  of  the  Union,  excepting  Massachusetts.  By  the 
operation  of  the  Thirteenth  Amendment  of  the  Constitution  (which  see  on  page  756)  this  clause  has  no  relation  to  any  other  persons  excepting 
fugitive  indentured. apprentices. 

•2.  The  Congress  is  not  compelled  to  admit  a  new  State.     It  ia  left  to  the  option  of  that  body,  whether  any  new  State  shall  be  admitted. 

3.  States  have  been  admitted  in  three  ways :  I.  By  joint  action  of  the  Congress  and  a  State,  by  which  a  portion  of  a  State  has  been  made 
a  separate  commonwealth,  as  in  the  case  of  Vermont,  Kentucky,  Maine,  and  Virginia.     2.  By  an  act    of  Congress,  creating  a  State  directly 
from  a  Territory  of  the  United  States,  as  in  the  case  of  Tennessee.     3.  By  a  joint  resolution  of  Congress  and  a  foreign  State,  such  State  may  be 
admitted,  as  in  the  case  of  Texas. 

4.  This  provides  for  the  establishment,  under  the  authority  of  Congress,  of  Territorial  governments,  which  is  the  first  step  toward  the  for 
mation  of  a  State  or  State!    The  first  government  of  the  kind  was  that  of  the  Northwestern  Territory  (see  page   362),   established  iu  1787, 
and  adopted  by  Congress  under  the  National  Constitution  of  the  7th  of  August,  1789. 

5.  No  other  form  of  government  could  exist  within  the  United  States,  without  peril  to  the  Republic.      By  this  section,  the   National 
Government^  empowered  to  assume  positive  sovereignty  as  to  the  fundamental  character  of  the  State  Government,  leaving  to  the  State  terri 
torial  sovereignty,  as  to  its  municipal  laws  and  domestic  institutions,  so  long  as  they  are  consonant  with  a  republican  form  of  government. 

6.  The  States  are  prohibited  from  keeping  troops  as  a  standing  army,  or  ships  of  war,  in  time  of  peace,  individually;  therefore  it  is  made 
the  duty  of  the  sovereign  power  of  the  United  States  to  protect  the  States  against  invasion  and  "  domestic  violence,"  such  as  treason,  rebel 
lion,  or  insurrection.     When  these  exist  in  any  State,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Na  ional  Government  to  use  Us  power  in  suppressing  it. 

7.  This  articie  effectually  checks  any  fundamental  change  in   the  Constitution,  excepting  in  a  way  which  recognizes  the  source  of  all  true 
sovereignty,  the  PEOPLE,  unless  it  be  by  sudden  and  violent  revolution. 

8.  S«e  section  9,  page  747.    The  adoption  of  the  Thirteenth  Amendment  of  the  Constitution  (see  page   756)  renders  thia  section  a  dead 
letter. 

9.  Here,  again,  is  a  provision  for  securing  the  smaller  States  from  encroachments  on  their  rights  by  the  larger  States. 

10.  This.was  for  the  security  to  the  creditors  of  the  United  States,  of  the  payment  of  debts  incurred  during  the  Revolution.    It  was   9. 
national  and  positive  recognition  of  the  postulate  in  international  law,  that  "  Debts  due  to  foreigners,  and  obligations  to  other  creditors,  sur- 
Tive  a  change  in  the  Government," 


THE     NATIONAL     CONSTITUTION. 


755 


This  Constitution,  and  the  Laws  of  the   United  States  which  shall  be  made  in  Pursuance 
thereof;  and  all  Treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under  the  authority 
of  the  United  States,  shall  be  the  supreme  Law  of  the  Land;  and  the  Judges    Supreme  law  of  the 
in  every  State  shall  be  bound  thereby,  any  thing  in  the  Constitution  or  Laws        land  defined. 
of  any  State  to  the  Contrary  notwithstanding.1 

The  Senators  and  Kepresentatives  before  mentioned,  and  the  Members  of  the  several  State 
Legislatures,  and  all  executive  and  judicial  Officers,  both  of  the  United  States 
and  of  the  several  States,  shall  be  bound  by  Oath  or  Affirmation,  to  support  oath,  of  ichom  requir- 
this  Constitution  ; 2  but  no  religious  Test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a  Qualifi-      ed'  and  what  for. 
cation  to  any  Office  or  public  Trust  under  the  United  States. 3 


ARTICLE    VII. 


The  Ratification  of  the  Conventions  of  nine  States  shall  be  sufficient  for 
the  Establishment  of  this  Constitution  between  the  States  so  ratifying  the 
Same.4 


Ratification. 


DONE  in  Convention  by  the  Unanimous  Consent  of  the  States  present,  the  Seventeenth  Day  of 
September,  in  the  Year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  Eighty-seven,  and  of 
the  Independence  of  the  United  States  the  Twelfth.  IN  WITNESS  whereof  We  have  hereunto 
subscribed  our  Names. 

GEO.  WASHINGTON, 
President,  and  deputy  from  Virginia. 


NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

JOHN  LANGDON, 
NICHOLAS  GILMAN. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 

.NATHANIEL  GORHAM, 
RUFUS  KING. 


CONNECTICUT. 

WILLIAM  SAMUEL  JOHNSON, 
ROGER  SHERMAN. 

NEW  YORK. 
ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

WILLIAM  LIVINGSTON, 
DAVID  BREARLEY, 
WILLIAM  PATERSON, 
JONATHAN  DAYTON. 


PENNSYLVANIA. 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN, 
THOMAS  MIFFLIN, 
ROBERT  MORRIS, 
GEORGE  CLYMER, 
THOMAS  FITZSIMONS, 
JARED  INGERSOLL, 
JAMES  WILSON, 
GOUVERNEUR  MORRIS. 

DELAWARE. 

GEORGE  REED, 
GUNNING  BEDFORD,  JR., 
JOHN  DICKINSON, 
RICHARD  BASSETT, 
JACOB  BROOM. 

MARYLAND. 
JAMES  M' HENRY, 
DANIEL  OF  ST.  THOS.  JENIFER, 
DANIEL  CARROLL. 

Attest : 


VIRGINIA. 

JOHN  BLAIR, 
JAMES  MADISON,  JR. 

NORTH  CAROLINA. 
WILLIAM  BLOUNT, 
RICHARD  DOBBS  SPAIGHT, 
HUGH  WILLIAMSON. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA. 
CHARLES  C.  PINCKNEY, 
CHARLES  PINCKNEY, 
JOHN  RUTLEDGE, 
PIERCE  BUTLER. 

GEORGIA. 
WILLIAM  FEW, 
ABRAHAM  BALDWIN. 


WILLIAM  JACKSON,  Secretary. 


1.  A  clear  and  positive  declaration  of  the  supremacy  of  the  National  Government,  resistance  to  which  is  treason. 

2.  State  officers  are  bound  to  support  the  Constitution  because  they  may  be  required   to   perform  some  service  in  giving  effect  to 
"supreme  law  of  the  land,"  in  other  words,  of  the  Republic. 

3.  This  is  to  prevent  a  political  union  of  Church  and  State,  which  is  always  prejudicial  to  the  best  interests  of  both. 

4.  See  note  1,  page  360. 

48 


that 


756 


SUPPLEMENT. 


AMENDMENTS1 

TO  THE  CONSTITUTION"  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  RATIFIED  ACCORDING  TO  THE 
PROVISIONS  OF  THE  FIFTH  ARTICLE  OF  THE  FOREGOING  CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE     I. 

Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of  religion,  or 

Freedom  in  religion  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof;  or  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech,  or 
press.  of  the  press ;  or  the  right  of  the  people  peaceably  to  assemble,  and  to  peti 

tion  the  Government  for  a  redress  of  grievances.2 

ARTICLE     II. 

A  well-regulated  Militia  being  necessary  to  the  security  of  a  free  State, 
the  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  Arms,  shall  not  be  infringed. 

ARTICLE     III. 

No  Soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace  be  quartered  in  any  house,  without  the 
Soldiers.  consent  of  the  Owner,  nor  in  a  time  of  war,  but  in  a  manner  to  be  prescribed 

by  law.3 

ARTICLE     IV. 

The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses,  papers  and  effects,  against 
unreasonable  searches  and  seizures,  shall  not  be  violated,  and  no  "Warrants 

Search-warrants,  shall  issue,  but  upon  probable  cause,  supported  by  Oath  or  affirmation,  and 
particularly  describing  the  place  to  be  searched,  and  the  person  or  things  to 
be  seized.4 

1.  At  the  first  session  of  the  First  Congress,  begun  and  held  in  the  city  of  New  York,  on  Wednesday,  the  4th  of  March,  1789,  many 
amendments  to  the  National  Constitution  were  offered  for  consideration.  The  Congress  proposed  ten  of  them  to  the  legislatures  of  the  seve 
ral  States.  These  were  ratified  by  the  constitutional  number  of  State  Legislatures  in  the  middle  of  December,  1791.  Another  was  proposed, 
on  the  5th  of  March,  1794,  and  was  ratified  In  1798;  and  still  another  on  the  12th  of  December,  1803,  which  was  ratified  in  1S04.  These, 
with  the  other  ten,  became  a  part  of  the  National  Constitution.  A  thirteenth  amendment  was  proposed  by  Congress  on  the  1st  of  May,  1810, 
but  has  never  been  ratified.  It  was  to  prohibit  citizens  of  the  United  States  accepting,  claiming,  receiving,  or  retaining  any  title  of  nobility 
or  honor,  or  any  present,  pension,  office,  or  emolument  of  any  kind  whatever,  from  any  "person,  king,  prince,  or  foreign  Power,"  without 
the  consent  of  Congress,  under  the  penalty  of  disfranchisement,  or  ceasing  to  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  Slates. 

The  Thirteenth  Amendment  was  adopted  by  Congress  or.  the  31st  of  January,  1865,  and  its  ratification  by  the  requisite  number  of  State 
Legislatures  was  announced  on  the  18th  of  December  following.  A  Fourteenth  Amendment  was  proposed  by  a  joint  resolution  adopted  on 
the  13th  of  June,  1886,  the  object  of  which  was  to  complete  the  work  done  by  the  Thirteenth  Amendment,  by  guaranteeing  to  all  citizens 
an  equality  of  civil  and  political  rights,  and  the  payment  of  the  public  debt ,  also  to  forbid  the  payment,  by  the  general  or  any  State  govern 
ment,  of  any  debt  or  obligation  incurred  in  aid  of  the  rebellion,  or  any  claim  for  the  loss  or  emancipation  of  any  slave.  This  amendment 
was  ratified  by  twenty-two  States  (five  less  than  the  required  number),  when  this  record  closed,  in  May,  1868. 

The  Amendments  to  the  Constitution,  excepting  the  Twelfth,  are  aushoritative  declarations  securing  to  the  people  and  the  several  States 
certain  rights,  against  any  possible  encroachments  of  Congress.  They  form  a  Bill  of  Rights. 

2.  This  article  gives   an   additional   assurance  of  religious   freedom.     See  clause  3d,  Article  VI.,  of  the  Constitution.     It  also  secures  the 
invaluable   right  of  the  freedom  of  speech   and  of  the  press  ;  and  the  privilege    for  the  people  of  making  their  grievances  known  to  the 
National  Government. 

3.  This  is  to  protect  citizens,  in  time  of  peace,  from  the  oppressions  of  military  power,  and  to  secure  uniformity  in  the  rules  for  quartering 
soldiers  upon  citizens  in  time  of  war. 

4.  The  security  of  the  private  citizen  from  an  infringement  of  his  rights  by  public  officers,  herein  guaranteed,  is  in  accordance  with  th« 
English  maxim  that  "  Every  man's  house  is  his  castle."    See  page  212. 


THE    NATIONAL    CONSTITUTION.  757 

ARTICLE     V. 

No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital,  or  otherwise  infamous  crime,  unless  on  a  pre 
sentment  or  indictment  of  a  Grand  Jury,  except  in  cases  arising  in  the  land 
or  naval  forces,  or  in  the  Militia,  when  in  actual  service  in  time  of  "War  or 
public  danger ; l  nor  shall  any  person  be  subject  for  the  same  offence  to  be 
twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or  limb ;   nor  shall  be  compelled  in  any  Criminal 
Case  to  be  a  witness  against  himself,  nor  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due 
process  of  law ;  nor  shall  private  property  be  taken  for  public  use,  without  just  compensation.2 

ARTICLE     VI. 

In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the  right  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial,  by 
an  impartial  jury  of  the  State  and  district  -Herein  the  crime  shall  have  been 
committed,  which  district  shall  have  been  previously  ascertained  by  law, 
and  to  be  informed  of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation ;  to  be  con 
fronted  with  the  witnesses  against  him ;  to  have  Compulsory  process  for 
obtaining  Witnesses  in  his  favour,  and  to  have  the  Assistance  of  Counsel  for  his  defence. 

ARTICLE    VI-I. 

In  Suits  at  common  law,  where  the  value  in  controversy  shall  exceed  twenty  dollars,  the  right 
of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  preserved,  and  no  fact  tried  by  a  jury,  shall  be  other 
wise  re-examined  in  any  court  of  the  United  States,  than  according  to  the  Suits  at  0°™™-™  la™- 
rules  of  the  common  law. 

ARTICLE    VIII. 

Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines  imposed,  nor  _  ., 

cruel  and  unusual  punishments  inflicted.3 

ARTICLE    IX. 

The  enumeration,  in  the  Constitution,  of  certain  rights,  shall  not  be  con-  ., 

Certain  rights  defined. 
strued  to  deny  or  disparage  others  retained  by  the  people.4 

ARTICLE    X. 

The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States,  by  the  Constitution,  nor 
prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States  respectively,  or  to       Bights  reserved. 
the  people.5 

ARTICLE     XI. 

The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  not  be  construed  to  extend 
to  any  suit  in  law  or  equity,  commenced  or  prosecuted  against  one  of  the       Judicial  power 
United  States  by  Citizens  of  another  State,  or  by  Citizens  or  Subjects  of  limited. 

any  foreign  State.0 

1.  In  such  cases  offenses  are  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  military  and  naval  courts-martial. 

2.  These  prohibitions  do  not  relate  to  State  governments,  but  to  the  National  Government,  according  to  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
The  several  States  make  their  own  laws  on  these  subjects. 

3.  These  several  amendments,  concerning  the  operations  of  law  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  courts,  are  all  intended  to  secure  the 
citizen  against  the  arbitrary  exercise  of  power  on  t-he  part  of  the  judiciary. 

4.  That  is  to  say,  because  certain  rights  and  powers  of  the  people  are  not  enumerated  in  the  Constitution,  it  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  they 
are  denied. 

5.  This  is  simply  an  enunciation  of  the  broad  democratic  principle,  that  the  people  are  the  true  sources  of  all  political  power. 

6.  This  is  to  limit  the  judicial  power  of  the  National  courts.    Previous  to  the  adoption  of  this  amendment,  the  Supreme  Court  had  decided 
that  the  power  of  the  National  judiciary  extended  to  suits  brought  by  or  against  a  State  of  the  Republic.     Now,  no  person  has  a  right  to  com 
mence  a  personal  suit  against  a  State,  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  recovery  of  property  seized  and  sold  by  a  State. 


Y58  SUPPLEMENT. 

ARTICLE     XII. 

The  Electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States,  and  vote  by  ballot  for  President  and  Vice 

President,  one  of  whom,  at  least,  shall  not  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  State 
Amendment  respect-      .  ..       ,  •,-,•,-,  , ,    •     -,    -,-, 

ing    the    election    of  with  themselves ;   they  shall  name  m  their  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as 

President  and  Vice  President,  and  in  distinct  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  Vice  President,  and 
they  shall  make  distinct  lists  of  all  persons  voted  for  as  President,  and  of  all 
persons  voted  for  as  Yice  President,  and  of  the  number  of  votes  for  each,  which  lists  they 
shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed  to  the  seat  of  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
directed  to  The  President  of  the  Senate; — The  President  of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the  presence 
of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  open  all  the  certificates  and  the  votes  shall 
then  be  counted; — the  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  for  President,  shall  be  the 
President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  electors  appointed ;  and  if  no 
person  have  such  majority,  then  from  the  persons  Having  the  highest  numbers,  not  exceeding 
three  on  the  list  of  those  voted  for  as  President,  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  choose  imme 
diately,  by  ballot,  the  President.  But  in  choosing  the  President,  the  votes  shall  be  taken  by 
states,  the  representation  from  each  state  having  one  vote ;  a  quorum  for  this  purpose  shall  con 
sist  of  a  member  or  members  from  two  thirds  of  the  States,  and  a  majority  of  all  the  states  shall 
be  necessary  to  a  choice.  And  if  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  not  choose  a  President 
whenever  the  right  of  choice  shall  devolve  upon  them,  before  the  fourth  day  of  March  next  fol 
lowing,  then  the  Yice  President  shall  act  as  President,  as  in  the  case  of  the  death  or  other  .con 
stitutional  disability  of  the  President.  The  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  as  Vice 
President  shal^  be  the  Vice  President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of 
Electors  appointed,  and  if  no  person  have  a  majority,  then  fronfi  the  two  highest  numbers  on  the 
list,  the  Senate  shall  choose  the  Vice  President ;  a  quorum  for7-  the  purpose  shall  consist  of  two 
thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  Senators,  and  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  shall  be  necessary 
to  a  choice.  But  no  person  constitutionally  ineligible  to  the  office  of  President  shall  be  eligible 
to  that  of  Vice  President  of  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE    XIII 

SECTION  1.  Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except  as  a  punishment  for  crime, 
whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  shall  exist  within  the 

United  States,  or  in  any  place  subject  to  their  jurisdiction. 
Slavery  forbidden.  J  *  J  J 

SECTION  2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  Article  by  appro 
priate  legislation. 


I  1ST  IDE 


A. 

Abenakes  Indians,  Tribes  of,  17, 22. 
ABERCROMRIE,  General,  his  expedition,  191. 
Aboriginals  of  A  merica,  9,  33.     Taken  to  England,  5S. 

Acadia,  settlement  of,  SO,  121.  Annexed  to  the  British 
realm,  136.  The  name  of,  changed  to  Nova  Scotia,  132 
Expedition  again st,  185. 

Accohannock  Indians,  20. 

Aceomcrc  Indians,  20. 

Act  of  Supremacy,  75. 

ADAMS  JOHN,  defends  Capt.  Preston,  222.  Member  o 
the  first  Continental  Congress,  588.  Suggests  tin 
appointment  of  Washington  as  Commander-in-Chief 
238.  On  the  Committee  to  draft  the  Declaration  o: 
Independence,  251,  252,  589.  Signer  of  it,  602.  Chair 
man  of  the  Board  of  War,  294.  On  the  Committee  to 
confer  with  Lord  Howe,  257.  Commissioner  of  the 
Treaty  of  Peace,  348.  First  Minister  to  Great  Britain 
849.  'Vice-President,  364.  Ec-elected,  377.  President 
of  United  States,  382,  3S3.  Death  of,  457.  Notices  o: 
883,  589. 

ADAMS,  JOHN  QUINCY,  his  letter  to  Jefferson  on  the 
embargo,  403.  Envoy,  419.  Commissioner  at  Ghent, 
443.  Secretary  of  State,  447.  His  treaty  with  Spain, 
451.  President  of  the  United  States,  454.  Notice  of, 
454. 

ADAMS,  SAMUEL,  219,  221, 227,  234. 

ADAMS,  WILLTAM,  British  Commissioner,  443. 

ADDISON,  E.  C.,  Commissioner  at  Panama. 

Admiralty,  Massachusetts  Board  of,  307.  Continental 
Board  of,  80S. 

Agua  Nueva,  485. 

Aix-la-Cha,pelle,  Peace  of,  133.  Conference  at,  respect 
ing  Cuba,  522, 

Alabama,  State  of,  448. 

Alabama  Indians,  In  the  Creek  Confederacy,  30. 

Alabama,  Confederate  pirate,  641. 

Alabama,  Secession  of,  547.  In  possession  of  Union. 
Army,  605. 

Albany,  144.  Dutch  Fort  and  Store  House  at,  72,140, 
Walloons  at,  73. 

Albemarle,  steam  ram,  704. 

ALBERT,  Prince,  and  the  World's  Fair,  517. 

Aleutian  Islands,  11. 

ALEXANDER,  SIR  WILLIAM,  Earl  of  Stirling,  SO.  See 
Stirling. 

ALEXANDER,  son  of  Massasoit,  124. 

Algerine  Pirates,  381,  444.  445. 

Algiers,  The  United  States  at  war  with,  390,  445. 
Decatur  at,  445.  Peace,  between  the  United  States 
and,  381. 

Algonquin  Indians,  Discovery  of  the,  17.  Their  tribes 
and  territory,  17,  With  Samuel  Champlain,  59.  In 
the  Indian  confederacy  to  exterminate  the  white 
people,  18. 

Alien  Law  qftJie  United  /States,  386. 

Allatoona  Pass,  C99. 

Alleghany  Mountains,  Extent  and  name  of  the,  19. 

ALLEN,  ETHAN,  Colonel,  234.  At  Montreal,  240.  Notice  of, 
240. 

ALLEN,  Colonel,  in  the  Indian  war  in  1S13,  416,  418. 

ALLEN,  Captain,  of  the  brig  Argus,  429. 

Amboy,  New  Jersey. 

AMBRISTER,  EGBERT  C.,  448,  451. 

Amelia  Island,  443. 


America,  Discovery  of,  34.     Origin  of  the  name,  41. 

First   colony  in,   42.      Intercourse   of,   with  the'  Old 

World,  11. 
American  Agriculture,  457.     Association.  228.     Col 

onies,  cost  of,  to  England,  206.     Commerce,  protected 

in  1801,  390,  391.     Manufactures,  447.  System  458  459 

Party,  531. 

AMES,  FISHER,  Notice  of,  880. 
AMHERST,  JEFFREY,  Lord,  his  expedition  against  Louis- 

burgh,  196.     Captures  Ticonderoga,  and  Crown  Point 

199,  200.    At  Quebec,  203.    Notices  of,  196,  199. 
AMIDAS,  PHILIP,  his  expedition  to  America,  55. 
AMITIHA,  General,  481.  Surrenders  Monterey,  484. 
Amsterdam,  Henry  Hudson  sails  from,  59.    Charter  to 

merchants  of,  72, 
Andastes  Indians.  19,  23,  24. 
ANDERSON,  JOHN,  (Major  Andr6),  325. 
ANDERSON,  EOBERT,  Major,  549,  552. 
ANDRE,   Major,  Arnold's  bargain  with,  325.     Captured 

and  executed  ;  memorial  to,  326. 
ANDROS,  SIR  EDMUND,  arrives  at  Boston,  129.      Impris 

oned,  130.     Governor  of  New  York,  147  :  and  of  New 

Jersey,  159,  160.     Usurpations  by,  155,  156. 
Androscoijijin  Indians,  22. 

Annapolis,  The  Continental  Congress  meets  at,  588. 
ANNA  WAN,  Famous  New  England  Indian,  21. 
Antietam.  Battle  of,  639. 
A.NVILLE,  Duke  D.,  138.     See  D'Horville. 
Apache  Indians,  33. 

jtatiicliian.  Jmlians,  Moore's  expedition  against  the 

16D,  170. 

Appalachian  Mountains,  19.     De  Soto  crosses  the.  44. 
Appomattox  Court-House,  719. 
Aquiday  Mand,  Indian  name  of  Ehode  Island,  91. 
AquinuscJdoni,  A  name  given  to  the  Five  Nations.  23. 
ARBUTHNOT,    Admiral,   besieges    Charleston,    809,  310. 

Attacks  the  French  fle 


ARBUTHNOT,  ALEXANDER,  448,  451. 
JO 


OHN,  Governor,  165,  167. 
ARGALL,  SAMUEL,  Captain,  his  piracies,  58.      Captures 
Pocahontas,   70.      Deputy-Governor   of  Virginia,   70. 
Story  of  him  and  Dutch  traders,  72. 
'Argus"  brig,  429,  430. 
'•Ariel"  schooner,  420. 
ARISTA,  General,  at  Matamoras,  481. 
Arkansas  Indians,  32. 
Arkansas,   State  of,    451.    Added    to  the  Union,  469. 

Secession  of,  547,  675. 
ARLINGTON,  Earl  of,  110. 
\RMISTEAD,  Major,  At  Fort  M'  Henry,  437. 
ARMSTRONG,  JOHN,  Genera],  193.  Author  of  the  Newburg 

Address,  349.     Secretary  of  War,  426.    Notices  of,  349, 

426. 

YKMSTRONG,  JOHN,  Colonel,  193. 
irmy,    United   States,  condition  of,   257,   261.       Dis 

banded,  350,  681. 
Army,  British,  in  America,  number  of  men  in  the,  253, 

Sums  granted  for  the,  206.     State  of,  285. 

RNOLD,"  BENEDICT,  Gov.  of  Ehode  Island,  158. 
ARNOLD,  BENEDICT,  General,  at  Fort  Stanwix,  278;  Lake 

Champlain,  234,  261  ;  Penn's  House,  162  <:  Philadelphia, 

287;    Quebec,   wounded,    241.   242;    Kidgefield,    270; 

Saratoga,    282.     Reprimanded    by  Washington,    325. 

Treason  of,  324,  325,  326.     Escapes  to  the  Vulture,  326, 

Depredations  committed  by,  in  Virginia,  330  ;  and  in 

New  England,  340. 


760 


INDEX. 


Articles  of  Confederation,  266,  267,  353,  355. 

ASIIBURTON,  Lord,  472. 

ASHE,  General,  295.     Miss  and  Colonel  Tarleton,  332. 

Ashley  River,  93,  99. 

Assiniboin  Indians,  31,  32. 

ASTOR,  JOHN  JACOB,  his  trading  station,  479 

Athapascas  Indians,  17. 

ATKINSON.  HENRY,  General,  463. 

Atlanta,  665,  700.     Battle  at,  701.  703. 

Atlantic  Cable,  728. 

Atlixco.  Defeat  of  Santa  Anna  at,  497. 

Attainder,  Bill  of,  619. 

Attionandiron  Indians,  23. 

ATTITCKS,  CRISPUS,  221. 

Augusta,  Georgia.  Captured  by  Lee,  336,  337. 

AUSTIN,  ANN,  the  Quakeress,  122. 

AUSTIN,  STEPHEN  F.,  477. 

Austria,  Consul  General  of,  and  Martin  Koszta,  518. 

Autossee,  Ala.,  Battle  at,  428. 

Avalon,  Territory  of,  SI. 

AVERILL,  W.  W.,'  Gen.,  Eaids  of,  660,  697. 

AXEL,  Count,  93. 

AYLLON,  See.  D'Ayllon. 

B. 

BACON,  Lord,  his  expedition  to  New  Foundland,  74. 

BACON,  NATHANIEL,  110,  111,  112. 

BAINBRIDGE,  Commodore,  Protects  Am.  Corn.  390,  391, 

Captured  by  Tripolitans,  391.   Notice  of,  391. 
BALDWIN,  ABRAHAM,  356,  629. 
BALFOUR,  Colonel,  at  Charleston,  337. 
BALTIMORE,  Lord,  152,  209. 
Baltimore,  Md,  Capt.  John  Smith  on  the  site  of,  67. 

Gen.   Eoss  approaches,  436,  437.    Congress  meets  at, 

262.     Massachusetts  troops  attacked  in,  556. 
Ball's  Bluff,  Battle  of,  585. 
Bank,  Of  Massachusetts,  372.     National,  372.    Of  New 

York.  372.     Of  North  America,  329,  372. 
BANKS,  N.  P.,  Gen.,  624.      Commander  at  New  Orleans, 

636,  644,  677,  684,  686. 

Baptists,  the,  compelled  to  pay  fines,  in  Virginia,  110. 
Barbary  Powers,  The  U.  S.  at  war  with,  390. 
BARCLAY,  ROBERT,  Governor  of  New  Jersey,  160. 
BARCLAY,  Commodore,  420.     His  tribute  to  Commodore 

Perry,  423. 

BARLOW,  ARTHUR,  his  expedition  to  America,  55. 
BARLOW,  JOEL,  399. 

BARNEY,  Commodore,  his  flotilla,  436.    Notice  of,  436. 
BARRE,  Colonel,  217,  225,  232. 
BARRON.  Commodore,  401. 
BARRY,  Captain.  308. 
BARTON,  WILLIAM.  Colonel,  271. 
BARTRAM,  JOHN,  210. 
BASSETT,  RICHARD,  356. 
BAYARD,  JAMES  A.,  Envoy,  419,  443,  542. 
Bear  Tribe  of  Indians,  15. 
Beaufort  Island,  98. 

Beaufort,  U.  S.  Army  takes  possession  of,  5S3. 
BEAUMARCIIAIS.  M.,  266. 

BEAUREGARD,  P.  G.,  General,  553,  601,  603,  712. 
BEDELL,  Colonel,  240. 
BEDFORD,  GUNNING,  jr..  356,  629. 
Beekman's  Sicamp,  148. 
BEERS,  Captain,  126. 
BELCHER,  Governor.  136,178. 
Belgium,  Treaty  with,  469. 
BELKNAP,  JEREMY,  Dr.,  57. 
BELL,  JOHN,  Secretary  of  "War,  474,  542. 
Bell,   Church,  removed   from    Deerfleld  to    Caughna- 

waga,  135. 

BELLEMONT,  Earl  of,  194. 
Belt,  "Wampum,  13. 
Bemis"s  Heights,  Battle  of,  2S1. 
BENNET,  RICHARD,  109. 
Bentonville,  Battle  near,  714. 
BERKELEY,  Lord,  95,  159. 

BERKELEY,  SIR  WILLIAM,  98,  103,  110,  111,  112. 
BERKELEY,  Admiral,  4nl. 
Bermuda  Islands, Gates,  Newport,  and  Somers  wrecked 

on  the,  68. 

Bermuda  Hundred,  691. 
BERNARD,  Governor,  220. 
Bethlehem,  La  Fayette  at,  273. 
BEVERLY,  ROBERT,  Major,  112. 
Bible,  the,  The  Statute  book  in  Conn.,  154. 
BIDDLE,  EDWARD.  538. 
BIDDLE,  Captain,  308. 


Big  Bethel,  Battle  at,  562. 

Bill  of  Rights  of  the  Continental  Congress,  228. 

BILLINGE,  EDWARD,  160. 

BILLOP,  Captain,  257. 

BINGHAM,  Captain,  407. 

Birmingham,  Meeting  House,  273. 

Black  feet  Indians,  33. 

BLACK  HAWK,  18, 32.  463. 

Black  Hawk  War,  463. 

Black  Rock  Village,  burnt,  427. 

BLACKSTONE,  WILLIAM,  Rev.,  89. 

Black  Warrior.  Steam  Ship,  519. 

BLAIR,  JOHN,  356,  369. 

BLAKELEY,  Captain,  440. 

BLENNERHASSET,  397. 

BLOCK,  ADRIAN,  72,  82. 

Blockade  Runners,  708. 

Block  House,  Burnet's  192. 

Block  Island,  Origin  of  the  name  of,  87. 

BLOEMART,  SAMUEL,  139. 

Bloody  Creek,  Connecticut,  126. 

Bloody  Marsh,  Florida,  173. 

Bloody  Pond.  190. 

BLOOMFIELD,  JOSEPH,  410. 

BLOUNT,  WILLIAM,  355, 356. 

BLUCHER,  431. 

BLYTIIE,  Captain,  430. 

Board,  of  Admiralty,  See  Admiralty.  Of  Trade,  1S3, 
184.  Of  trade  and  plantations,  134.  Of  war,  appointed 
by  Congress,  294. 

BOLIVAR,  General,  457. 

BONAPARTE,  NAPOLEON,  Emperor,  399.  His  decrees  at 
Berlin,  400 ;  Milan,  402 ;  and  Rambouillet,  406.  Treaty 
with,  386,  603. 

'••Bonhomme  Richard,'1''  307. 

Booksellers  in  fche  American  Colonies,  179. 

BOONE,  DANIEL.  300. 

BOOTH,  WILKES,  Assassin,  720. 

BOSCAWEN,  Admiral,  1S9,  195,  196. 

Boston,  Mass,  Norwegians  explore  the  region  near, 
35.  Founded,  118.  Expedition  from,  to  Port  Royal, 
135,  136.  Revolutionary  proceedings  there,  221. 
Boston,  Port  Bill,  225,  226.  Boston  Neck,  229.  Forti 
fied  by  Gage,  229.  Cannonaded,  247.  Evacuated  by 
the  British,  247. 

BONQUET,  Colonel,  19,  198.  At  Pittsburg,  205.  Notice 
of,  205. 

BOWDOIN,  Governor,  353. 

"  Boxer,"  United  States  Brig,  430. 

BOYD,  Colonel,  295. 

BOYD,  John,  319. 

BRADDOCK,  EDWARD,  General,  184.  Meeting  with  the 
Governors  of  the  Colonies,  185.  Expedition  to  Fort 
Du  Quesne,  136.  Death  of,  136. 

BRADFORD,  WILLIAM,  Governor,  115,  118. 

BRADRORD,  WILLIAM,  Editor  of  the  New  York  Gazette, 
150. 

BRADSTREET,  Colonel,  197,  198.    At  Detroit,  205. 

BRAGG,  General,  632,  634,  633,  663,  665,  666. 

Brandywine,  Battle  of,  273. 

"  Brandywine,'''1  frigate,  453. 

BRANT,  JOSEPH,  290^  291. 

Brashear  City,  634. 

BREARLY,  DAVID,  356. 

Breed's  Hill,  234. 

BRENT.  CHARLES,  459. 

BRE\VSTER,  ELDER,  77,  116. 

BREYMAN,  Colonel,  277. 

Bridgewater,  Battle  at,  433. 

Bristol,  England,  Cabot  sails  from,  46. 

British  Agents  among  the  Indians,  373.  Fleet,  depre 
dations  by  the,  in  the  United  States,  430 ;  and  in  1314, 
436,  437.  Fleet  on  Lake  Champlain,  435.  Claims  to 
Oregon,  479. 

BROOK,  SIR  ISAAC,  General,  411,  414. 

BROOKE,  Lord,  85. 

BROOKE,  Colonel,  437. 

Brookfield,  Connecticut,  126. 

Brooklyn,  New  York,  Walloons  at,  73. 

BROWN,  JACOB,  356. 

BROWN,  JACOB,  General,  at  Chippcvva,  433.  At  Pres- 
cott,  426.  At  Sackett's  Harbor,  426,  432.  Notice  of 
433. 

BROWN,  JOHN,  Raid  of.  538.    Notice  of,  538. 

BROWN,  JOHN,  303. 

BROWN,  Major,  at  Fort  Brown,  432.    Mortally  wounded, 

BROWN,  General,  (British),  336,  337. 


INDEX. 


761 


BROWNE,  JOHN  AND  SAMUEL,  119, 

BUCHANAN,  JAMES,  Secretary  of  State,  478.  Elected 
President,  530.  Notice  of,  530.  Cabinet  of,  532. 

BUCKNER,  General,  596. 

BUENA  VISTA,  Battle  of,  485. 

BUELL,  Don  Carlos,  591,  595,  603,  606,  633. 

Buffalo,  New  York,  burnt,  427. 

BUFOKD,  ABRAHAM,  Colonel,  his  troops  slaughtered  by 
Tarleton,  313. 

Bull,  Brought  to  America  by  Columbus,  41. 

BuWs  Run,  First  battle  of,  56S. 

Bunkers  Hill,  234.     Battle  of,  236. 

Burgesses,  The  Virginia  House  of,  106. 

BURGOYNE  JOHN,  General,  234.  At  Fort  Edward,  276, 
277.  At  Lake  Champlain,  272.  At  St.  John,  271.  At 
Ticonderoga,  275.  Surrenders  at  Saratoga,  231.  Dinea 
with  General  Schuyler,  2S1.  Notice  of,  282. 

BURKE,  EDMUND,  217,  221,  2S2. 

Burlington,  Count  Donop  at,  262. 

BURNET,  PETER  H.,  499.  » 

BUENSIDE,  A MBROSE  E.,  General,  589, 606.  Head  quarters 
of,  607.  Takes  command  of  the  Army,  6S1.  Is  super 
seded,  631,  664. 

BURNS,  ANTHONY,  Fugitive  Slave,  arrest  of,  519. 

BURR,  AARON,  in  Arnold's  expedition  to  Quebec,  241. 
Yice-President,  3SS.  Duel  with  Hamilton,  361,  396. 
Proposed  invasion  of  Mexico,  396.  Tried  for  treason, 
398.  His  conduct  towards  Blennerhasset,  397.  Notice 
of,  397. 

BURRINGTON,  GEOiiGE,  Governor  of  North  Croliana,  171. 

BURROUGHS,  Rev,,  The.  executed  as  a  wizard,  133. 

BURROWS,  Lieut.,  Captures  the  British  brig  "  Boxer," 
432. 

BUSHNELL,  DAVID,  his  torpedo,  252. 

BUTE,  Lord,  213. 

BUTLER,  BENJAMIN,  F.,  483,579,  609.  Commander  of  N'ew 
Orleans,  6 11,  632,  635.  Relieved  of  the  Department  of 
the  Gulf.  636,  688,  691.  Colored  troops  under,  696. 

BUTLER,  JOHN,  Colonel,  278,  290. 

BUTLEK,  PIERCE,  356. 

BUTLER,  WALTER  N.,  291. 

BUTLER,  ZEBULON,  Colonel,  Notice  of,  290. 

BYKON,  Admiral,  305.    Succeeds  Lord  Howe,  292. 


c. 

CABOT,  GEORGE,  444. 

CABOT,  JOHN,  Notice  of,  60. 

CABOT,  SEBASTIAN,  his  commission  from  Henry  VII,  46. 
Sails  for  America  in  1497.  46.  His  second  expedition, 
in  1498,  47.  Discovers  Labrador,  Newfoundland  and 
portions  of  New  England,  41.  Explores  the  coast  from 
Labrador  to  the  Carolinas,  47.  Navigates  the  northern 
coast  of  Hudson's  Bay.  Explores  the  coast  of  Brazil, 
47.  Discovers  the  Rio  de  la  Plata.  47.  Notices  of,  47,  60. 

CADWALADER,  LAMBERT,  Colonel,  355. 

CADWALLADER,  JOHN,  General,  at  Trenton,  263,  268. 

Cahokia,  captured  by  Major  Clarke,  303. 

Cahokia  Indians,  19. 

CALDWELL,  Rev.  Dr.,  334. 

CALDWELL,  JAMES,  221. 

"  Caledonia"  The,  one  of  Perry's  vessels,  420. 

CALEF,  Mr.,  of  Boston,  133. 

CALHOUN,  JOHN  C.,  his  views  of  the  war  of  1812,  409. 
Secretary  of  War,  447.  Vice-president,  454,  459.  No 
tices  of,  458,  459. 

California,  Conquest  of,  487.  Discovery  of  Gold,  497. 
Admitted  to  the  Union,  501.  Excludes  slavery,  499. 

CALUMETS,  Indian,  14. 

CALVEKT,  CHARLES,  153. 

CALVE  RT,  GEORGE,  Lord  Baltimore,  81. 

CALVE RT,  LEONARD,  82,  151. 

Cambridge,  England,  Meeting  at,  respecting  the  Ply 
mouth  Colony"  118. 

Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  founded,  118.  The  college 
founded  at,  121.  Provincial  Congress  at,  230. 

Camden,  New  Jersey,  93. 

CAMPBELL,  WILLIAM,  Colonel.  319. 

CAMPBELL,  Colonel,  (British),  291,  292,  294. 

Camp  Douglas.  Prisoners  at,  710. 

Canada,  Attempted  conquest  of,  131,136.  Pitt's  scheme 
for  conquering,  199.  Measures  for  the  conquest  of, 
203,  204.  End  of  French  dominion  in,  22.  Address  of 
Congress  to  the  people  of,  239.  Proposed  invasion  of, 
194.  Hull's  invasion  of,  410.  Wellington's  troops 
sent  to,  432.  Revolutionary  movement  in,  471,  472. 

Canary  Islands,  Columbus  delayed  at  the,  39. 

CANBY,  E.  R.  S.,  General,  591,  686. 


Canonchet,  Treaty  of  Peace  with,  125.  His  perfidy  and 
death,  127. 

Canonicus,  Narraganset  chief,  21,  90,  91, 115. 

Canterbury,  Archbishop  of,  121. 

Cape  Ann,  colony  at,  116.  Bajador,  36.  Breton,  137, 
138.  Charles,  origin  of  the  name,  64.  Cabot  passes, 
46.  Cod,  origin  ot  the  name,  57.  Farewell,  46.  Fear, 
origin  of  the  name,  55.  Of  Good  Hope,  origin  of  tho 
name,  37.  Henlopen,  93.  Henry,  origin  of  the  name, 
64.  May,  35;  purchase  of,  and  origin  of  the  name.  94. 

Capital  of  the  United  States,  388. 

CARAMELLI,  HAMET,  392,395. 

Carcass,  described,  236. 

CARDON,  Lord,  166. 

CARLETON,  Sir  GUY,  Governor  of  Canada,  873.  At  St. 
John's,  240.  At  Quebec,  241.  His  propositions  for 
reconciliation,  345. 

CARLISLE,  Earl  of.  Commissioner  to  America,  1778,  286. 

Carnifeoo  ferry,  Battle  at,  578. 

Carolina,  Amidas  and  Barlow  off  the  shores  of,  55. 
Colonies  founded  n,  62.  Origin  of  the  name,  50,  55, 
98.  The  colonies  of,  97,  163,  1G4;  Separated,  171. 
Grant  from  Parliament  to,  206.  Opposes  taxation,  223, 

Carolina,  Fort,  98. 

'•Caroline,"  steamboat,  472. 

Carpenter's  Hall,  Philadelphia,  288,  588. 

CARR,  Sir  ROBERT,  123. 

CARROLL,  CHARLES,  of  Carrollton,  252,  602. 

CARROLL,  DANIEL,  356. 

CARROLL,  JOHN,  Archbishop,  354.     Notice  of,  354. 

CARTERET,  Sir  GEORGE,  93,  159.    Purchases  New  Jersey, 

CARTERET,  PHILIP,  Governor  of  New  Jersey,  94,  159. 

Carteret  County  Colony,  98, 164,  165. 

CARTIER,  JAMES,  his  expeditious,  48,49. 

CAKTWRIGHT,  GEORGE,  123. 

CARVER,  JOHN,  Governor,  77,  73.  His  interview  with 
Massasoit,  114.  Death  of,  115.  Notice  of,  73. 

Cascades,  Oregon,  Attacked  by  Indians,  528. 

Casco  Village,  attacked  by  the  French  and  Indians,  131. 

CASEY,  General,  616. 

CASS,  LEWIS,  General,  at  Detroit,  424.  Candidate  for 
the  Presidency,  1848,  498. 

CASTILLON,  General,  deserts"  Colonel  Walker  at  Rivas, 
525. 

CASTINE,  Baron  de,  134. 

CASTINE,  Admiral  Griffith  seizes  the  town  of,  1814,  438. 

Castle  William,  220. 

CASTRO,  General,  487. 

CASWELL,  RICHARD,  356,  588. 

Catawba  Indians.  26,  27.  Allies  of  North  Carolina  Col 
ony,  168,  170. 

Catawba  River,  27. 

Cat  Island,  See  Guanahama. 

Cattle,  First,  in  Connecticut,  86.  Newfoundland  and 
Nova  Scotia,  47. 

Caughnaioaga,  The  church  bell  at,  135. 

Cayuga  Indians,  23,  24. 

Cedar  Mountain,  Battle  at,  624. 

Census,  371,  338. 

Cent,  U.  S  Coin,  372. 

CIIAMPE,  Serjeant,  attempts  to  capture  Arnold,  326. 

CHAMPLAIN,  SAMUEL,  his  expedition,  59.  Discovers 
Lake  Champlain,  59 ;  and  Lake  Huron  59.  His  pub 
lications,  59. 

Champlain,  Lake,  discovered,  59. 

Chancellor sville,  Battle  of,  649. 

Chanco,  106. 

Chandler,  Notice  of,  426. 

CHARLES  I,  of  England,  74, 107, 116. 

CHARLES  II.,  of  England,  109, 110.  His  Gifts  to  Lord  Cul- 
pepper,  and  the  Earl  of  Arlington,  110.  Grants  a  new 
charter  to  Connecticut,  155.  "Declares  the  Massachu 
setts  charter  void,  129.  Makes  judges  independent  of 
the  people,  110.  Reproaches  Governor  Berkeley,  112. 
Gives  New  Netherland  to  his  brother  James,  144. 
Death  of,  113. 

CHARLES  IX.,  of  France,  49,  51.  His  commission  to  Co- 
ligny,  50. 

Charleston,  South  Carolina,  founded,  99,  117.  French 
and  Spanish  expedition  against,  169.  Seige  of,  809, 
311.  Captured  by  the  British,  312.  Evacuated,  348. 
at  Oglethorpe,  100,  703. 

Charlestoicn,  Mass.,  236. 

diarter  of  Liberties,  William  Penn's,  162.  Of  New 
York,  147. 

Chatham,  The  Earl  of,  218.  His  conciliatory  measures, 
231.  His  denunciations  in  the  House  of  Lords,  282. 


762 


INDEX. 


His  letter  to  Havre,  228.  His  opinion  of  the  Conti 
nental  Congress,  228.  Death  of,  2S6.  Notice  of,  217. 
See  Pitt. 

CHASE.  SALMON  P.,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  560.  Notice 
of,  560,  619.  Chief-Justice  of  United  States,  732. 

Chattanooga,  606,  6S2. 

CHAUNCEY,  Commodore,  420,  425. 

CHEESEMAX,  General  Montgomery's  Aid,  242. 


Chepiiltepec,  Battle  of,  1847,  494." 
Cheraw  Indians,^. 


Cheraw  Indians,  20. 

Cherry  Valley  devastated,  290. 

"  Cherub  "  sloop-of-war,  431. 

Cherubusco,  General  Scott  at,  493. 

CHESTNUT,  JAMES,  546. 

&hetapeak6  Bay  explored  by  Captain  John  Smith, 
67.  Gosnold  in  the,  64.  Indians  on  the,  20. 

"  Chesapeake  "  frigate,  401,  429. 

Chester,  Pennsylvania.    William  Pcnn  at.  97. 

Chevaux~de-fr'ise  described,  274.    At  Charleston,  311. 

Chevy  Chase.  233. 

Ojhewing  Tobacco  invented  by  white  people.  14. 

Chicago,  Wigwam  at,  543.    Convention  at,  710. 

Chickahominy  River,  66,  616.     Battle  of  the,  620,  692. 

"  Chickamauga"  Confederate  pirate,  714.  Battle  of, 
666. 

Chickasaw  Bayou,  Battle  at.  643. 

CJiickasaio  Indians,  29,  30,  44. 

Chickasaw  River, 29. 

CUICKELEY,  Sir  HENRY,  113. 

Child,  Scandinavian,  born  on  Ehode  Island,  85. 

GUILDS,  Colonel,  at  Puebla,  494. 

Chimney  Point,  189. 

Chippewa  Indians,  17,  18,  24,  205. 

Chippewa,  Battle  of.  433. 

Choctaw  Indians,  29,  30. 

Chowan  Indians,  23. 

Chowan  Elver,  97. 

Christians,  Indian,  converted  by  French  Jesuits,22. 

Christian  Commission,  723. 

Qhrittina,  in  Deleware,  93. 

CHRONICLE,  WILLIAM,  Mayor,  319. 

Chrysler's  Field,  Battle  of,  427. 

CHURCH  BENJAMIN,  Captain,  1^7.    Death  of.  127. 

Church  of  England  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  110. 
Established  in  Maryland,  154.  In  North  Carolina, 
168.  In  South  Carolina,  169. 

Church  and  State,  in  Massachusetts,  118. 

Churchmen,  persecuted  by  Puritans,  119. 

Cincinnati  Society,  instituted,  352.     Order  of  the,  352. 

Cipher  Writing  of  the  New  York  tories,  309. 

City  Hall  of  New  York,  366.     City  Hall  Park,  148. 

Civilization,  New  period  of,  in  America,  52. 

CLAIBORNE,  WILLIAM  C.  C.,  Governor,  440.  Notice  of, 
441. 

Clans,  Indian,  17. 

CLARENDON,   Lord,  98. 

Clarendon  County  Colony,  98. 

CLAEK,  An  RAH  AM,' 356,  602. 

CLARKE,  GEORGE  K.,  General,  his  operations  in  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia,  314,  315,  319,  336.  His  expedi 
tion  against  the  Indians,  303.  Captures  Kaskaskia, 
and  Cahokia,  303.  Notice  of,  303. 

CLARKE,  Captain,  his  tour  of  exploration  with  Captain 
Lewis,  in  1304,  479. 

CLAY,  GREEN,  General,  at  Fort  Meigs,  418,  419. 

CLAY,  HENRY,  United  States  Commissioner  at  Ghent, 
443.  Nominated  for  the  Presidency,  454.  Secretary 
of  State,  454.  His  compromise  bill,  464.  Nominated 
for  the  Presidency,  478.  Notice  of,  500. 

CLAY,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  486. 

CLAYBORNE,  WILLIAM,  82, 151. 

"  Clermont."  Fulton's  first  steamboat,  399. 

CLEVELAND,  BENJAMIN,  319. 

CLINCH,  General,  467. 

CLINGMAN,  WILLIAM,  611. 

CLINTON,  De  WITT,  416.  His  part  in  the  Erie  Canal,  457. 
Notice  of,  457. 

CLINTON.  Sir  HENRY,  General,  at  Boston,  234,  236.  Joins 
Sir  Peter  Parker,  248.  On  Long  Island,  253.  At  New 
York,  272.  Captures  Forts  Clinton  and  Montgomery, 
283.  At  Monmouth,  287.  His  moonlight  dispatch, 
288.  His  marauding  expeditions,  296.  Succeed-  Howe, 
2S7.  Evacuates  Ehode  Island,  and  proceeds  to  the 
Carolinas,  306,  309.  In  New  Jersey,  320.  Deceives 
Washington,  320.  At  the  Seige  of  Charleston,  809. 
Sends  emissaries  to  the  Pennsylvania  mutineers,  823, 

CLINTON,  JAMES,  General,  at  Tioga  Point,  304. 


CLINTON,  GEORGE,  Governor,  287.  Vice-President,  896 
404,  With  General  Knox,  350.  Notice  of,  350. 

CLYMER,  GEORGE,  356,  602,  629. 

COBB,  HOWELL,  General,  715. 

COCKBURN,  Admiral,  His  marauding  expeditions,  430. 
440. 

Cod,  Fishery,  47, 116. 

CODDINGTON,  WlLLIAM,  91. 

COFFEE,  General,  in  the  expedition  against  the  Creeks, 
428.  Notice  of,  428. 

COFFEY,  Colonel,  675. 

Coins  and  Currency  of  the  United  States,  372.  Copper 
coins,  372. 

COLDEN,  CADWALLAPER,  215. 

COLIGNY,  Admiral,  49,  50.  Sir  Walter  Ealcisrh  studies 
the  art  of  war  with,  52.  The  friend  of  Huguenots,  49. 

COLLETON,  JAMES,  Governor,  166. 

COLLETON,  SIR  JOHN,  98. 

COLLIER,  SIR  GEORGE,  297. 

Colonies,  American,  History  of  the,  51,  52,  104,  174. 
American  population  of  the,  179.  New  England,  pro 
posed  Union  of  the,  121 ;  the  Union  dissolved,  122. 

Colony,  The  earliest  in  America,  42. 

Colorado,  678. 

Columbia,  District  of,  388. 

Columbia  River,  279. 

Columbia,  S.  C.,  Fall  of,  712. 

COLUMBUS,  CHRISTOPHER,  37.  His  voyage  to  Iceland,  37. 
Queen  Isabella  fits  out  a  fleet  for  him,  37.  He  sails 
from  Palos,  39.  His  voyages  and  discoveries,  persecu 
tions  and  death,  41. 

Comanche  Indians,^.    Territory  of  the,  45. 

Combahee  River,  D'Ayllon  at  the  mouth  of,  43. 

Commerce  of  the  American  colonies.  Restrictions  im 
posed  on  the,  212.  American.  381,  382.  390,  391;  Pro 
tected,  391 ;  Injured  by  England  and  France,  400,  401; 
Injured  by  pirates,  453.  Of  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States,  M67. 

Committee  of  Safety  of  Massachusetts,  234.  Com 
mittees  of  Correspondence,  226. 

Como,  Witchcraft  at,  132. 

Company  of  Free  Traders.  96. 

"Concessions,"  The,  of  Berkeley  and  Carteret,  159. 

Confederation,  American  Articles  of,  266,  267,  853,  855. 

Confederation  of  New  Enirlnnd  colonies,  121. 

Confederates,  Finances  of,  679. 

Confederacy,  Excitement  in,  545. 

Congaree  Indians  hostile  to  the  South  Carolina  col 
onies,  170. 

Congress,  First  Continental,  at  Philadelphia,  227,  228. 
Second  Continental.  215,  238;  Appoints  a  Committee 
to  confer  with  Washington,  239;  Measures  of,  245; 
Armed  Marino  of,  807;  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs 
307;  Continental  Naval  Board  of  Marine  Committee, 
and  Board  of  Admiralty  of,  308;  Resolution  on  Inde 
pendence,  and  Committee  on  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  251;  Committee  for  conferring  with  Lord 
Howe,  259;  Sends  an  embassy  to  France  and  to  other 
European  courts,  266;  Rejects  Lord  North's  Concilia 
tory  Bills,  286.  Of  the  United  States,  resolution  of  the, 
to  allow  military  oilicers  half  pay  for  life,  349  ;  Disbands 
the  army,  350 ;  Efforts  of,  at  New  York,  362  ;  Recom 
mends  the  appointment  of  a  day  for  thanksgiving  and 
prayer,  370;  Measures  of  the,  respecting  "Revenues, 
866,367:  Extraordinary  Sessions  of,  475."  Provincial, 
at  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  230;  Makes  salutary 
change  in  postal  arrangements,  507;  Sends  steam  ves 
sels  to  coast  of  China  and  round  Cape  Horn,  515;  Re 
construction  policy  of,  726;  Passes  tenure  of  office  bill, 
729;  Impeaches  the  President,  729,  732. 

Congress  Mexican,  Assumes  provisional  authority,  497. 

"Congress,"  frigate,  414. 

Connecticut,  Origin  and  signification  of  the  word,  85. 
Settlement  of,  62.  Pequod  Indians  in,  21.  History  of 
the  Colony  of,  154_  Constitution  of,  154.  Charter  of, 
155.  Takes  part  In  the  war  against  King  Philip,  155. 
Refuses  to  surrender  its  charter,  156.  Joins  the  con 
federacy  of  colonies,  121.  Grant  to,  from  Parliament, 
206. 

Connecticut  River,  Discovered  by  Block,  72,  82.  Col 
ony  at  the,  85,  86. 

Canonchet,  21. 

CONNOR,  Commodore.  Sails  for  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  480. 
Captures  Tampico,  Tabasco,  and  Tuspau,  485.  At 
Vera  Cruz,  489. 

"Constellation,"  frigate,  382.  Captures  the  frigate  L' 
Insurgente,  385.  Action  of  the,  with  the  frigate  La 
Vengeance,  385. 


INDEX. 


Y63 


Constitution  of  the,  United  States,  "Washington  sug 
gests  a  convention  on  the  subject  of  a ;  history  of 
the,  355 ;  articles  of  the,  359,  360,  361. 

Constitution  of  Government,  Pilsrrim,  78. 

'•'•Constitution,'1'  frigate,  382, 415,  440.  Action  of  the,  with 
the  Guerriere,  414. 

Continental,  Army,  23S.  Congress:  see  Congress. 
Money,  245;  Depreciation  of,  293,  328;  Counterfeited, 
293. 

CONTREC03UR,  M.,  attacks  the  Ohio  Company's  men, 
182. 

Contreras,  Battle  of,  1847,  493. 

Convention  on  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  356.  At 
Albany,  1754, 183. 

CONWAY,  THOMAS,  General,  2S5. 

CONWAY,  HENRY  SEYMOUK,  General,  his  motion  in  Par 
liament,  346,  347. 

COODE,  The  insurgent,  153. 

COPLEY,  JOHN  SINGLETON,  209. 

COPLEY,  LIONEL,  Royal  Governor,  153. 

COPPIN,  Pilot  of  the  Mayflower,  78. 

Copp's  Hill,  235. 

COOPER,  ASHLEY,  Lord,  98. 

Cooper  River.  Origin  of  the  name,  99. 

COKDOVA,  FRANCISCO  FERNANDEZ  DE,  discovers  Mexico, 
43. 

Coree  Indians,  17,  20,  57.  Conspire  against  the  North 
Carolina  settlements,  168. 

Corinth,  Battle  at,  635.    Evacuation  of,  604. 

CORN  BURY,  Lord,  149, 161. 

Cornplanter,  26,  304. 

CORNSTALK  unites  with  Logan  against  the  white  men, 
20.  His  bravery  and  death,  20. 

CORNWALLIS,  CHARLES,  Lord,  on  Long  Island,  253,  254. 
Captures  Fort  Lee,  259.  Pursues  Washington,  260.  At 
New  York,  262.  At  Princeton,  26S.  At  Charleston, 
811.  In  South  Carolina,  818.  At  Sander's  Creek,  815. 
In  command  of  the  British  Army  at  the  South,  315. 
At  Charlotte,  318.  At  Winnsborough,  319.  Suc 
ceeds  Phillips,  380.  Pursues  Morgan,  332.  Abandons 
North  Carolina,  334.  At  Wilmington  and  Petersburg, 
358.  His  operations  in  Virginia,  388.  Surrenders  at 
Yorktown,  841.  His  cruelty,  318.  Notice  of,  318. 

Corpus  Chrifsti  village,  Mexico,  480. 

CORTEZ,  FERNANDO,  his  expedition  to  Mexico,  43.  De 
thrones  Montezmna,  10.  Notice  of,  43. 

CoETOREAt,  GASPER/MS  expedition  to  America,  in  1500, 

COSBY,  WILLIAM,  Governor,  150. 

COSTA  RICA  declares  war  against  Nicaragua,  1S56,  526. 

COTTON,  Rev.  Mr.,  118.    Comes  to  America,  86. 

Cotton,  Cultivation  of,  in  the  United  States,  368. 

Council  of  Plymouth,  117,  120. 

Council  Indian,  how  composed,  16.  > 

"Countess  of  Scarborough"  captured  by  Paul  Jones, 
807. 

Counties,  Origin  of,  73. 

Cowpens,  Battle  of,  831,  382. 

Cows  brought  to  America  by  Columbus,  41.  Taken  to 
Virginia,  68. 

COXE,  TENCH,  369.    Notice  of,  368. 

CRAIG,  Major,  345. 

CRAIK,  Dr..  his  anecdote  of  Washington's  escape  from 
death,  1856. 

CRAMPTKN,  Mr.,  British  Minister,  dismissed,  528,  529. 

Craney  Island,  430. 

CRAVEN,  Lord,  98. 

CRAVEN,  CHARLES,  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  170. 

CRAWFORD,  WILLIAM  H.,  Minister  to  France,  429.  Secre 
tary  of  the  Treasury,  447.  Nominated  for  the  Presi 
dency,  454. 

Creek  Indians,  29,  30, 103, 168,  427,  428,  455, 456. 

Creoles,  Origin  of  the,  41. 

"Crescent  City,'"  steamboat,  512. 

Crimea,  the,  Enlistments  in  American  cities,  for  the 
English  Army  in,  528. 

CllITTENDEN,   GEORGE  B.,  Colonel,  593. 

CRITTENDEN,  WILLIAM  L.,  at  Cuba;  executed,  508. 

CROGIIAN,  Major,  Notice  of,  420. 

CROMWELL,  OLIVER,  155.  His  supposed  intention  to  mi 
grate  to  America,  120, 130.  Opposed  by  Virginia,  108. 
Notice  of,  108. 

Cross  of  St.  George,  144.  Of  St.  Andrew,  144.  Pine, 
erected  by  De  Soto,  44.  Planted  on  the  shore  of  Gaspe 
inlet,  48. 

Crow  Indians,  32,  33. 

Crown  Point,  199.  Cham  plain  at,  59.  Johnson's  expe 
dition  against,  185. 


CRUGER,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  335.   In  South  Carolina,  313 

815. 
Cuba,    Discovery  of,    40.     Fears  of  invasion    of,  508. 

Difficulties  about  settlement  of,  520. 
CULPEPPER,  Lord,  Grants  to  by  Charles  II.,  110. 
CULPEPPER  JOHN,  99.    The  revolt  led  by,  164.     Lays  out 

the  city  of  Charleston,  165. 
Currency,  National,  Of  the  United  States,  372. 
CURTIN,  Governor,  calls  out  Militia,  653, 
CURTIS,  S.  R,,  General.  591. 
CtrsHiNG,  CALEB,  540. 
GUSHING,  THOMAS,  588. 
GUSHING,  WILLIAM,  Judge,  369 
CUSHMAN,  ROBERT,  77. 
"  Cyane" frigate,  440. 

D. 

DACRES,  Captain,  414. 

DADE,  FRANCIS  L.,  Major,  massacred,  467.    Notice  of, 

467. 

Dahcotah  Indians,  31,  32. 
DALE,  SIR  THOMAS,  arrives  at  Jamestown,  with  supplies, 

69.    Governor  of  Virginia,  70. 
DAHLGREN,  Admiral.  6SS.  673. 
Dalton,  Georgia,  Raid  at,  682. 
Dam-ers,  Witchcraft  at,  133. 
DARE,  ELEANOR,  her  daughter  Virginia,  56. 
Dartmouth  College,  178. 
Daughters  of  Liberty,  216.  * 

DAVENPORT,  JOHN,  83. 
DAVIE,  WILLIAM  RICHARDSON,  Colonel,  318,  356.    Envoy 

to  France,  385. 
DAVIS,  JEFFERSON,  Secretary  of  War,   523.     Notice   of 

547,   569.      Elected    President    of   Confederacy,    641. 

Flies  from  Richmond,  718.     Taken  prisoner,  722. 
DAVIS,  JEFERSON  C.,  591. 
D'HANVILLE,  138. 
D'AYLLON,  LUCAS  VASQUEZ,  42. 
DAYTON,  JONATHAN,  856,  629. 
DEANE,  SILAS,  Member  of  the  first  Continental  Congress, 

588.     Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs, 

307,  308.     American  Agent  in  France,  266.     On  the 

American  embassy  to  France,  266. 
DEARBORN,  HENRY,   390.     Commands  the  Army  of  the 

North,  412.     At  York,  Canada,  425.    Notice  of,  410. 
Debt  of  United  States,  679.     In  1868,  734. 
DECATUR,  STEPHEN,  Commodore,  415.     In  the  Mediter 
ranean;  at  Algiers;    at  Tunis,  445.    His  exploit  at 

Tripoli,  notice  of.  392.     Captured,  440. 
Declaration  of  Eights,  215. 
Deerfield,  126.    Attacked  by  Rotiville,  135. 
DE  HART,  JOHN,  588. 
DE  HEISTER,  253,  254. 
DE  KALB,  Baron,  in  the  Southern  campaign,  309,  314. 

Death  of,  316.     Notice  of,  316. 
DELANCEY,  JAMES,  Governor,  183, 185.    Favors  a  Stamp 

Act,  541. 
Delaioarc,  Settlement  of,  92.    Colonies,  144.     Swedes 

in,  62.     Yields  to  the  Dutch,  147.      An  independent 

colony,  159. 

Delaware  Bay,  Verrazani  anchors  in,  48. 
Delaware  Indians,  17,  21,  161, 363. 

DE  LA  WAKR,  Lord,  Governor  of  Virginia,  68.  At  James 
town,  69.     Character  of;  death  of,  69. 
Delft-Haven,  Holland,  Puritans  sail  from,  77. 
DE  MONTS,  58. 
Deseret,  the  country  of  the  Mormons;  signification  of 

the  name,  504. 

DE  SOTO,  FERDINAND,  44, 45. 
D'ESTAING  ;  see  Estaing. 
DETROIT,  Capture  of,  424. 
DEVENS,  CHARLES,  General,  585. 
DE  VRIES,  Captain,  92.    His  plantation,  140. 
DEXTER,  SAMUEL,  389. 
DICKENSON,  JOHN,  Chairman  of  the  convention  on  the 

Constitution  of  the  United  States,  355.     His  letters 

218. 
DIESKAU,  Baron,  Fate  of  his  expedition,  189, 190.   Death 

of,  190. 

Dime,  United  States  coin,  372. 
Dimciddie  Court  House,  717. 
DINWIDDIE,  ROBERT,  Governor,  185.  His  letter  to  St. 

Pierre,  181.     His  independent  companies,  184. 
Directory,  The  French,  383,  384. 
DOBBS,  Governor,  185. 
DobVs  Ferry,  257. 
Dollar,  American,  372. 


764 


INDEX. 


Dominion,  The  Old :  see  Old  Dominion. 

Donelson,  Fort,  Victory  at,  597. 

DONGAN,  THOMAS.  Governor,  147. 

DONIPIIAN,  Colonel,  483,  4S9. 

DONOP,  Count,  at  Burlington,  262.    Death  of,  295. 

DOUGLAS,  STEPHEN  A.,  541. 

Dover,  attacked  by  the  French  and  Indians,  1689,  130. 

DOWNIE,  Commodore,  434.    Death  of,  435. 

Dpaft,  657. 

DRAKE,  SIR  FRANCIS,  56.  At  St.  Augustine,  57.  Dis 
covers  the  tobacco-plant ;  introduces  it  into  England, 
70. 

DRUMMOND,  General,  432,  433.  At  Burlington  Heights, 
433.  At  Fort  Erie,  434. 

DRUMMOND,  WILLIAM,  Rev.,  111.    Executed,  97, 112. 

DUANE,  WILLIAM  J.,  refuses  to  withdraw  the  Govern 
ment  funds  from  the  United  States  Bank,  465. 

DUCHE,  JACOB,  llev.,  228. 

DUDLEY,  JOSEPH,  129. 

DUDLEY,  THOMAS,  117. 

DUNBAR,  Colonel,  186. 

DUN  MORE,  Lord,  237,  243,  5S9. 

DUPONT,  S.  F.,  Commodore,  532,  609,  671. 

DUSTAN,  Mrs,  captured  by  the  French  and  Indians 
134. 

DUTCH,  The,  their  maritime  enterprise,  71.  East  India 
Company  of,  send  a  ship  to  the  Hudson  Kiver,  71. 
Purchase  Manhattan  Island  from  the  Manhattan 
Indians,  21.  Settle  at  New  Amsterdam,  62.  In  New 
Netherland,  aend  a  friendly  salutation  to  the  Massa 
chusetts  Colony,  118.  Their  friendly  intercourse  with 
the  Puritans,  85.  Oppose  Captain  Holmes,  85. 
Purchase  Long  Island,  114.  Claim  jurisdiction  upon 
the  Connecticut,  121.  Settle  in  South  Carolina,  99. 
Take  possession  of  New  York,  147. 

Dutch  East  India  Company,  59,  71. 

Dutch  West  India  Company,  72,  93, 139, 144. 

Dutch  Point,  Connecticut,  85. 


E. 

Eas,le,  American  gold  coin,  372. 

EARLY,  General,  695,  698. 

East  India  Company  send  tea  to  America ;  notice  of 
the,  224. 

East  Jersey,  160. 

EATON,  THEOPHILUS,  Governor.  88,154. 

EATON,  WILLIAM.  Captain,  Consul  at  Tripoli,  392. 

Edda-  Indian,  23. 

EDEN,  WILLIAM,  286. 

Edenton,  North  Carolina,  First  popular  assembly  at,  93. 

Edisto  Island,  609. 

Education  fostered  by  the  Massachusetts  Colony, 
121.  In  the  colonies,  178. 

EDWARDS,  JONATHAN,  210. 

EFFING  HAM,  Governor,  Character  of,  113. 

Elba.  Bonaparte  at,  431. 

Electors  for  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,  361. 

ELIOT,  JOHN,  Eev.,  123. 

ELIZABETH,  Queen  of  England,  51,  76. 

Elizabeth  Islands  discovered,  57. 

Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey,  159. 

ELLBT,  CHARLES,  Jr.,  Colonel,  605. 

ELLIOTT,  SUSANNA,  Mrs.,  305. 

'Ellison's  Mill,  Battle  at,  619,  620. 

ELLSWORTH,  Colonel,  takes  first  secession  flag,  564. 

ELLSWORTH,  OLIVER,  356,  359.  Envoy  to  France,  1799, 
385.  On  the  Judicary  of  the  United  States,  368.  No 
tice  of,  359. 

Elm,  Penn's  Treaty,  96, 161. 

Emancipation,  Proclamation  of,  639,  640,  680. 

ENDICOT,  JOHN,  117. 

England,  see  Great  Britain. 

*'  Enterprise  "  brier,  430. 

"Epervier"  brie,  440. 

Erie  Indians,  19,  23. 

Erie  Canal,  456,  457. 

Erie,  Lake ;  See  Lake  Erie. 

Emucfau,  Battle  at,  428. 

ERSKI'NE,  General,  at  Trenton,  263. 

ERSKINE,  Mr.,  British  Minister  to  the  United  States,  406. 

Esoims  Indians,  143. 

Esquimaux,  Indians,  17,509. 

"  Essex  "  frigate,  414,  430,  431. 

ESTAING,  Count  d\  sent  with  a  fleet  to  Americca,  286. 
His  fleet  disabled  by  a  storm,  289.  In  the  West  Indies, 


292.    Off  the  coast  of  Georgia,  305.    At  the  siege  of 

Savannah,  305.     Notice  oi;  289. 
Estramadura,  Cortez  died  at,  in  1554,  43. 
Etchemin  Indians,  22. 
Eutaw  Springs,  Battle  of,  338. 
EVERETT.  EDWARD.  Mass.,  542. 
EWELL,  General,  617,  654. 
EWING,  JAMES,  General,  at  Trenton,  263. 
Exeter,  New  Hampshire,  founded,  SO. 

F. 


Fftirfidd-,  Connecticut,  88. 

Fair  Oaks,  Battle  at,  619. 

Falls  of  the  James  River,  105,  108. 

Famine  in  the  Virginia  Colony,  69. 

FARRAGUT,  Commodore,  610,  630,  632,  678,  708. 

FAUCHET,  M.,  succeeds  M.  Genet,  378. 

FAULKNER,  Major,  430. 

FAUST,  JOHN,  his  printing  office,  62. 

Fayettemlle,  Engagement  at,  675. 

federalist  Party,  377. 
Federalist,"  The,  361. 

Felucca  Gun-tout,  401. 

FENDALL,  Governor,  153. 

Fenian  Brotherhood,  728. 

FERDINAND  and  ISABELLA,  38,  60. 

FERGUSON,  ADAM,  286. 

FERGUSON,  Captain,  336. 

FERGUSON,  Mrs.,  her  attempt  to  bribe  General  Eeed, 
286. 

FERGUSON,  PATRICK,  Major,  at  King's  Mountain,  1780, 
319.  Death  and  grave  of.  319. 

Fernando  de.Taos,  Massacre  at,  439. 

FERRAR,  NICHOLAS,  107. 

FEW,  WILLIAM,  355,  356. 

Fidelity,  The  Order  of,  352. 

FILLMORE,  MILLARD,  Vice-President,  498.-  President,  501. 
Notice  of,  .501.  Cabinet  of,  502.  Close  of  administra 
tion  of,  512. 

Fine  Arts  in  America,  209. 

Finances  of  the  United  States,  679. 

FISHER,  MARY,  Quakeress,  arrives  at  Boston,  122. 

FISHERIES,  349.  Prohibitory  Act  of  Parliament  respect 
ing  the,  231.  Difficulties  between  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States  respecting  the,  511,  523. 

Fishing  Creek.  27. 

FITZSIMONS,  THOMAS,  356,  629. 

Five  Nations,  The,  History  of,  23.  Captain  John 
Smith's  friendly  relations  with,  67.  Allies  of  Governor 
Winthrop,  131.  Attempts  of  James  II.  to  introduce 
French  priests  among  them,  147.  Their  treaty  of 
neutrality,  135. 

Flag  Culpepper,  243.  Royal,  of  Great  Britain,  144. 
Union,  245.  Of  the  thirteen  stripes,  unfurled  by 
Washington  at  Cambridge,  144. 

Flag,  Secession,  555. 

Flathead  Indians,  33. 

FZtfa?,  American,  206. 

FLEMING,  Captain,  Death  of,  269. 

FLETCHER,  BENJAMIN,  Governor,  149, 156, 164. 

Flint  River,  De  Soto  on  the  banks  of  the,  44. 

Floating  Batteries  described,  201. 

Florida,  Discovery  of;  origin  of  the  name,  42.  Narvaez, 
Governor  of,  43,  44.  Melendez's  expedition  to,  50,  51. 
Oglethorpe's  expedition  to,  172.  Ceded  to  England, 
204.  Restored  to  Spain,  349.  Ceded  to  the  United 
States,  1819,  451.  State  of,  added  to  the  Union,  478. 
Secession  of,  547. 

FOOTE,  A.  II.,  Commander,  595.     Wounded,  605. 

.Forte:— Adams,  874.  Amsterdam,  139.  Andrew,  173. 
Bower,  433.  Brooke,  467.  Brown,  4S1.  Butler,  677. 
Carolina,  51,  98.  Casimir,  142,  143.  Clinton,  283,  324. 
Cumberland,  193.  Darling,  694.  Dearborn,  412.  De 
fiance,  374,  416.  Deposit,  416.  De  Hussy,  677, 
Diego,  172.  Donelson,  595,  Drane,  467.  Du  Quesne, 
27,182,185,186.  Edward,  189,  190,  191, 192,  275.  Erie. 
433,  434.  Fisher,  713.  Forty  Fort,  290.  Frederic*. 
173.  Frontenac,  198.  Gaines,  709.  Galphin,  336. 
George,  on  Lake  George,  193,  414,  425,  426,  42T, 
Geonre,  New  York  City,  248,  351.  Granby,  235.  Gris- 
wold,^  340.  Hamilton,  253.  Harrison.  416,  Hatteras,, 
580.  Henry,  595.  Hindman.  643.  Independence,  20, 
220.  Jackson,  610.  Kins,  467.  La  Fayette.  298,  586. 
Leaven  worth,  483,  486.  Le  Breuf,  131.  Lee,  259.  Ly- 
man,  189.  Mackinaw,  411.  Macon.  607.  Maiden,  410. 
Meigs,  418.  Mercer,  274,  275.  Mifflin,  274.  M'Henry, 


INDPX. 


765 


437.  Mimms,  427.  Monroe,  615,  695.  Montgomery 
283,  Morgan,  438.  Moosa,  172.  Motte,  335.  Moultrie, 
249,  310,  468.  Nassau.  72,  93,  94.  Necessity,  1S3. 
Niagara,  199,  200,  427.  Ninety-Six,  316,  335,  336. 

.     Ontario,  189,  192.      Orancre,  72,  139,  144, 148.     Oswego, 

*  189,  192.  Pembcrton,  643.  Pepperell,  1S9.  Pickens, 
580.  Pillow,  605,  6S2.  Pitt,  193.  Powhatan,  691. 
Presque  Isle,  181.  Prince  George,  335.  Putnam,  283, 
324.  Recovery,  374.  Republic,  617.  St.  Frederick, 
189.  St.  Philip.  440,  610.  Saiidnsky,  419.  Schuyler, 
278.  Simon,  173.  Stanwix,  278.  Steadman,  717. 
Stephenson,  419.  Stoddart,  398.  Sullivan,  249. 
Trumbull,  340.  Venaniro,  181.  Wagner,  673,  674. 
"Warren,  587.  Washington,  258.  Watson,  335,  Wayne, 
374,  416.  William,  173.  William  Henry,  191,  194, 

FORREST,  N.  B.,  Guerilla  Chief,  632,  681. 

FOSTER,  General,  C71. 

Fox,  CHARLES,  his  opposition  to  the  measures  of  Great 
Britain,  282.  His  remark  respecting  the  battle  of 
Guilford,  333. 

Fox,  GEORGE,  visits  his  Quaker  brethren  in  America, 
94  Notice  of,  122. 

Fox  Indians,  17.  Conspire  against  the  English,  205. 
See  Sacs  and  Foxes. 

France,  First  American  embassy  to,  266.  Alliance  of, 
with  the  United  States,  2S3.  Fleet  of  sent  to  America, 
286.  Secret  treaty  of,  with  Spain,  3*6.  Depredations 
by,  on  American  commerce,  382.  Fleet  of,  attacked 
by  Arbuthnot,  330.  War  with  United  States,  385.  Its 
commerce,  401.  Negotiation  with  United  States,  406. 
United  States  Minister  to,  429.  Claims  of  the  United 
States  against,  463. 

France,  Emperor  of,  727. 

FRANCIS  I.,  his  expedition  to  America,  47. 

FRANKLIN,  BENJAMIN,  210.  His  plan  of  Colonial  Confed 
eration,  183.  A  Colonel,  193.  At  Boston,  on  the  sub 
ject  of  the  invasion  of  Canada,  239.  Circulates  in  Eng 
land  the  State-papers  of  the  Continental  Congress,  230. 
On  the  Committee  to  confer  with  Lord  Howe,  257.  On 
the  Committe  to  draft  a  Declaration  of  Independence, 
251,  252.  On  the  embassy  to  France.  Issues  commis 
sions  to  Naval  Onicers,308.  Commissioner  on  the  Treaty 
of  Peace,  348.  The  Pope's  Nuncio  makes  overtures  to, 
respecting  an  Apostolic  Vicar  in  the  United  States, 
853.  Member  of  the  Convention  on  the  Articles  of 
Confederation.  356.  His  proposition  respecting  prayers 
at  the  Convention,  359.  His  account  of  the  father  of 
Cotton  Mather,  134. 

FRANKLIN.  General,  625,  684. 

FRANKLIN,  SIR  JOHN,  Search  for,  509,510, 

Franklin,  Battle  at.  705. 

Frankfort,  Capture  of,  633. 

FRASER,  General,  276. 

FREDERICK  THE  GREAT,  his  opinion  of  Washington, 
269. 

FREDERICK  III,  of  Prussia,  431. 

Fred  ericksburcj,  625.     Battle  of,  631.     Battle  near,  692. 

Free,  Institutions,  Growth  of,  114. 

Freedom,  Ideas  of,  in  Massachusetts,  118. 

FREMONT,  JOHN-  CHARLES,  Colonel,  his  exploits  in  Califor 
nia,  487;  at  Los  Angeles;  at  San  Gabriel;  deprived  of 
his  commission,  487.  Senator  from  California,  499. 
Notice  of,  487.  Explorations  of  515,  574. 

FRENCH,  PARKER  II.,  Colonel,  427. 

French  Colony  on  Sable  Island,  57.  Acadia,  121. 
Possessions  in  North  America,  between  the  Penobscot 
and  St  Croix,  129.  In  Carolina,  55.  Revolution,  877. 
Settlement,  the  earliest  in  the  New  World,  58,  59. 
Spoliations,  468. 

French,  The,  in  Canada,  discover  the  Algonquins,  17. 
First  visit  of.  to  the  Sioux  Indians,  32.  Earliest  Ex 
plorers  of  the  Middle  and  Upper  Mississippi,  31.  Sub 
jugation  of,  in  North  America,  2U4.  Assailed  by  the 
Natchez  Indians,  29  Their  expedition  against  Charles 
ton,  169. 

French  and  Indian  War,  19, 104,  138, 179. 

Frenchtown,  burned.  430. 

Fresh  Water  River,  85. 

FROBISHEU,  SIR  MARTIN,  his  expedition,  52.       The  ship 


used  by,  GO.     Notice  of,  51. 
" 'Frolic,"  brig, 


•is,  415. 
FRONTEN-AO.  M..  Governor  of  Canada,  131.     Burns  Sche- 

nectudy,  480,  181,     Repelled  by  Schuyler,  149. 
FRY.  JOSUITA  A.,  Colonel.  182.     Death  of,  183. 
Fugitive  8late  Lai<\  507,  521,  527. 
FULTON,  ROBERT,  Notice  of.  898,  399. 
"Fundamental  Constitutions?  The,  of  Shaftsbury  and 

Locke,  164.  165, 167. 


Funeral  Ceremonies,  Indian,  15.      Pyre  Algonquin,  15. 
Furs,  Trade  in,  72,  116, 139,  140. 


G. 

GAEDSDEN,  CHRISTOPHER,  Lieutenant  Governor,  312. 

GAGE,  THOMAS,  General,  A  Lieutenant-Colonel  at  the 
battle  of  Monongahela,  186.  Governor  of  Montreal, 
203.  Enters  Boston  with  soldiers,  220.  Governor  of 
Massachusetts,  226.  Sends  his  secretary  to  dissolve 
the  General  Assembly  oi  Massachusetts,  227.  Fortifies 
Boston,  229.  Notice' of,  229. 

GAINES,  EDMUND   P.,  General,  Arrests  Aaron  Burr,  398. 
At  Fort  Erie,  733.     His  expedition  against  the  Semi--1 
noles;  joined  by  General  Jackson,  448.     Assailed  by 
the  Serninoles,  near  Withlacoochee,  467.     Notices  of, 
448,  467. 

GALLATIN,  ALBERT,  Member  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives,  389.  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  390, 406.  -Envoy, 
419.  United  States  Commissioner  at  Ghent,  1814,  433. 

GALLOWAY,  JOSEPH,  260,  583. 

Galveston,  Pirates  and  slave-dealers  at,  443. 

GAM  BIER,  Lord,  British  Commissioner  at  Ghent,  1814 

GANSEVOORT,  Colonel,  At  Fort  Stanwix,  278. 

Garangula,  26. 

GARDINER,  Colonel,  295. 

Gtiftpe  Inlet,  48. 

<"Ga$pe,"  schooner,  223,  310. 

GATES,  HORATIO,  General,  His  appointment  as  Adjutant 
General,  238.  Succeeds  General  Thomas,  261.  Super 
sedes  General  Sehuyler,  277.  At  Bemis's  Heights,  278. 
Burgoyne  surrenders  to,  231.  Chairman  of  the  Board 
of  War,  294.  His  flight  to  Charlotte,  316.  Trial  of, 
330.  Notice  of,  314. 

GATES,  Sir  THOMAS,  63.  At  Jamestown.  Returns  to 
England. 

GEIGER,  EMILY,  337. 

GENET,  EDMUND  CHARLES,  Minister  from  France  to  the 
United  States,  377.  Fits  out  privateers,  377.  Recalled, 
in  1798,  378.  Notice  of,  377. 

GEORGE  I,  of  England,  136,  137. 

GEORGE  II,  of  England,  Accession  of,  137.  Charter 
granted  by,  for  the  proposed  Georgia  Colony,  100. 

GEORGE  III,  of  England.  Accession  of,  212.  His  insan 
ity,  93.  Leaden  statue  of,  at  New  York,  pulled  down, 
252. 

GEORGE,  Prince  of  Denmark,  136. 

'•'•George  Washington"  frigate,  391. 

Georgetown,  Burnt,  430 

Georgia,  Settlement  of,  99.  Colony  in.  founded  by 
Oglethorpe,  62.  Colony  of;  origin  of  the  name,  100. 
Invaded  by  the  Spaniards,  172.  Receives  Parliamentary 
aid,  209.  Claims  of,  to  Cherokee  lands,  461.  Contro 
versy  in,  concerning  the  Creek  lands,  455,  456.  Seces 
sion  of,  547.  Quiet  in,  673. 

GERARD,  M.,  French  Minister  to  the  United  States,  287. 

German*  in  North  Carolina,  168. 

GERRY,  ELBRIDGE,  356.  Envoy,  885.  Vice-President,  497. 

GERMAINE,  GEORGE,  Lord.  282,  345. 

Germantown,  Battle  of.  275. 

Gettysburg,  Battle  of,  655. 

GIBSON,  C.  W.,  Major,  683. 

GIDDINGS,  Major,  at  Ceralvo.  486. 

GILBERT,  EDWARD,  499. 

GILBERT,  SIR  HUMPHREY,  52,  63.  His  expedition  to 
America;  notice  of,  52. 

GILBERT,  SIR  JOHN,  63. 

GILBERT,  RALEIGH,  63. 

GILMAN,  NICHOLAS,  3.^6,  629. 

GILMORE,  Q.  A.,  General,  607,  673, 

GIST,  General,  347. 

Glendale,  Battle  at,  621. 

Gloucester,  Virginia,  fortified  by  Cornwallis,  340. 

Goats,  The  first,  taken  to  Virginia,  63. 

GODFREY,  THOMAS,  209. 

GODYN,  SAMUEL,  92,  139. 

GOFFE,  WILLIAM,  The  regicide  judge,  123, 126. 

Gold,  Thirst  for,  in  the  Virginia  Colony,  67.  Dis 
covery  of,  California,  497. 

Golden  Circle,  Knidits  of,  656,  6S7.  710. 

Goldsboro\  Raid  on,  671.     Battle  at,  714. 

Goldsmiths  among  the  Virginia  colonists,  67. 

GORE,  CHRISTOPHER,  222. 

GEORGES,  SIR  FERNANDO,  63,  79, 129.  Associated  with 
John  Mason,  79. 

GOBIIAM,  NATHANIEL,  356,  359. 


766 


INDEX. 


GOSNOLD,  BARTHOLOMEW,  57,  63,  65.  His  discoveries; 
his  fort,  57.  Death  of,  65. 

GOULDBOURNE,  HENRY,  British  Commissioner  at  Ghent, 
443. 

GOURGES.  DOMINIC  DE,  Surprises  and  captures  Fort  Car 
olina,  51. 

Government,  Three  forms  of,  in  America,  211. 

GRAFFENREID,  Count,  163. 

GRANT,  JAMES,  Colonel,  204. 

GRANT,  General,  (British),  253.     His  reply  to  Eall,  262. 

GRANT.  ULYSSES  S.,  General,  595,  makes  vigorous  pre 
parations  for  ascending  the  Tennessee  river,  601,  634, 
642.  Begins  sie^o  of  Vicksburg,  645,  666,  678.  Coin- 
man  der-in  -chief,  6*1,  639,  690,  69'2,  693,  71  6,  719.  Farc- 
(  -well  address  of,  723.  Placed  in.  charge  of  the  War 
Department,  730. 

GRASSE,  Count  de,  339,  340. 

GRAVES,  Admiral,  340.  ' 

GRAY,  SAMUEL,  killed  at   Boston,  by  Preston's  men,  221. 

GRAYSON,  WILLIAM,  355. 

Great  Britain  acknowledges  the  Independence  of  the 
United  States,  348.  Non-intercourse  with  the  United 
States,  399.  Injures  the  commerce  of  the  United 
States,  401.  Navy  of,  414.  At  war  with  the  United 
States,  409  ;  Treaty  of  Peace.  443.  Claims  of,  to  terri 
tory  in  North  America,  17,  63,  ISO,  478,  479.  Royal 
standard  of,  144.  Ill  feeling  against,  511.  Friendly 
relations  with  disturbed,  526.  Her  sympathy  with  re 
bellion,  561.  Demands  return  of  Mason  and  Slidell, 
588. 

Great  Horseshoe  Bend,  General  Jackson  at  the,  1841, 
428. 

Great  Kanawha,  River,  Battle  at  the,  19 

GREEN,  ROGER,  97. 

Green  Bay,  Indians  on  the  western  shores  of,  18. 

GREEN,  CHRISTOPHER,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  of  Rhode 
Island,  275. 

GREENE,  NATHANIEL,  General,  appointed  Brigadier- 
General,  238.  At  Fort  Lee,  259.  At  Trenton,  259.  Ac 
companies  La  Fayette  to  Rhode  Island,  289.  At 
Springfield,  320.  Succeeds  Gates;  his  operations, 
330.  "Joins  Morgan  at  the  Yadkin;  his  retreat  from 
Virginia,  332.  Opposes  Cornwallis  at  Guilford  court 
house,  333.  Pursues  Cornwallis  ;  at  the  battle  of 
Hobkirk's  Hill;  his  letter  to  M.  Luzerne,  334.  At 
the  siege  of  Fort  Ninety-Six,  336.  Pursues  Stewart, 
337.  At  the  battle  of  Eutaw  Springs,  338.  Receives 
intelligence  of  the  capture  of  Cornwallis,  345.  Takes 
possession  of  Charleston,  347. 

GEEENE.  ZECHARIAII,  Rev.,  252. 

Greenville,,  Treaty  of,  in  1795,  24. 

GRENVILLE,  GEORGE,  Author  of  the  Stamp  Act,  221. 

GRENVILLE,  SIR  RICUARD,  his  Expedition  to  America,  55, 
56. 

GrenviUe,  Georgia,  213. 

GREY,  General,  his  Marauding  Expedition,  290. 

GREY,  Captain,  of  Boston,  479. 

'GRIDLEY,  RICHARD,  Engineer  of  the  Continental  Army, 
138,  190,  198.  234. 

GRIERSON,  Colonel,  Raid  of,  645. 

GRIER.  Mrs.,  Judge  Henry's  account  of,  241. 

GRIFFITH,  Admiral,  at  Castine,  428. 

GRIJALVA,  JUAN  DE,  his  Expedition  to  Mexico,  43. 

Groveton,  Battle  near,  626. 

Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  Treaty  of,  521. 
Guanahama,,  The  place  of  Columbus's  first  landing  in 
America,  40. 

GUDRIDA,  Wife  of  a  Scandinavian  Navigator,  35. 

GUESS,  GEORGE,  a  native  Cherokee,  invents   an  alphabet 

of  his  language,  28. 
Guilford,  Battle  of,  333. 
Gun-boats  of  the  United  States,  401. 

"GUSTAVUS  ADOLPUUS,"  The  assumed  name  of  Arnold, 

92,  325. 
GWLNN,  WILLIAM  M.,  Senator,  499. 

H. 


Corpus,  Suspension  of  writ  of,  656. 
Harries  Bluff,  643. 
HAKLUYT,  RICHARD,  63. 
HALE,    SIR    MATTHEJV,  condemns   persons    accused    of 

witchcraft,  132.      ' 

HALE,  NATHAN,  Captain,  executed,  258. 
"  Half-  Moon?  The.  48,  59,  71. 
HALLECK,  H.  W.,  General,  595.  591,  623,  625,  653. 
HAMILTON,  ALEXANDER,  General,  Washington's  favorite 

Aid  and  Secretary,  360,  361.     Member^  of  the    Con 


vention  on  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  1787,  356. 
Signer  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  One 
of  the  authors  of  "  The  Federalist,"  361.  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  370;  his  financial  Reports,  370,  371. 
His  Scheme  respecting  Public  Lands,  372.  His  dis 
agreement  with  Jefferson,  374.  His  duel  with  Burr, 
396.  Notice  of,  360. 

HAMPDEN,  JOHN,  85.  His  supposed  intention  to  migrate 
to  America,  120. 

HAMPTON,  WADE,  General,  410,  427. 

Hampton  Roads,  The  British  fleet  in,  430.  Armament 
in,  582.  A  naval  force  in,  613. 

Hancock,  JOHN,  at  Salem,  230.  Gage's  purpose  to 
hang  him,  234.  Leads  troops  to  Rhode  Island,  289. 
BHs  Sloop  ''  Liberty,"  220.  Notice  of,  230,  231. 

HANCOCK,  General,  654,  6S9. 

HANSFORD,  CHARLES,  executed,  112. 

HARDY,  Commodore,  430,  437. 

Harlem  Heigld\  Washington  at,  257. 

Harlem  Plains,  Skirmish  at,  258. 

HAEMER,  General,  his  Expedition  against  the  Indians, 
373. 

Harper's  Ferry,  Insurrection,  438.    In  1861,  557,  629. 

HARPER,  JOHN,  A.,  409. 

HARRINGTON,  JONATHAN,  222. 

HARRIOT,  his  u  Report  on  the  new  found  land  of  Vir 
ginia:"  notice  of,  55,  56. 

Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania,  National  Convention  at,  458. 

HARRISON,  BENJAMIN,  at  Boston,  239. 

Harrison's  Landing,  622. 

HARRISON,  WILLIAM  HENRY,  at  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe, 
408.  Commands  the  army  of  the  North-east,  412. 
His  Expedition  against  the  Indians,  416.  At  Fort 
Meigs,  418.  Attacks  Maiden.  423.  President  of  the 
United  States;  his  administration,  473.  Death  of, 
475.  Notice  of,  473. 

Hartford,  Connecticut,  88.     Convention  at,  444. 

HARTLEY,  DAViD,j34S. 

HARVARD,  EHENEZKE,  22,  373. 

HARVARD,  JOHN,  Rev.,  121. 

Harvard  College,  121, 17S. 

HARVEY,  SIR  JOHN,  107, 165.     Impeached,  207 

HASLETT,  Colonel,    Death  of,  269. 

Hatteras  Indians,  20,  55,  167. 

Hatter  as  Inlet,  Fight  at,  579. 

Havana,  The  body  of  Columbus  removed  to,  41. 

Ilaverhill,  Massachusetts,  134. 

HAVILAND,  Colonel,  203. 

Havre-de- Grace,  Maryland,  82,430. 

HAW-LEY,  JESSE,  456. 

HAYNE,  ISAAC,  Colonel,  337. 

HAYNE,  ROBERT  Y.,  463,  464. 

HAYES,  J.,  General,  696. 

IIAZZARD,  W.  W.,  his  plantation,  173. 

Head  of  Elk,  Maryland,  340. 

HEALD,  Captain,  412. 

HEATH,  SIR  ROBERT,  97,  93. 

HEATH,  WILLIAM,  General,  238.  In  the  Highlands,  259. 
At  Peekskill,  260.  In  New  Jersey,  264,  265. 

HECKEWELDER,  his  History  of  the  Indian  Nations,  33. 

Heights  of  Abraham,  202. 

HEINTZELMAN,  General,  619. 

Hell  Gate,  New  York,  navigated  by  Block,  72. 

HENDERSON,  General,  483. 

HENDRICK,  Death  of,  190. 

HENRY,  Prince,  of  Portugal,  patron  of  navigators,  36. 

HENRY  IV.,  of  France,  his  edict  of  Nantes,  166. 
HENRY  IV.,  of  Castile  and  Leon,  38. 
HENRY  VII.,  of  England,  46. 

HENRY  VIII.,  of  England,  defies  the  Pope;  Defender 
of  the  Faith,  75.  Revival  of  an  obsolete  statute  of, 
221.  Punishes  witchcraft,  132. 

HENRY,  PATRICK,  member  of  the  First  Continental  Con 
gress,  228.     His  eloquence,  237.     His  regiment  at  the 
battle  of  the  Great  Bridge,  243.     Member  of  the  Con 
vention  on  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  356.    De 
clines  the    appointment    of   Envoy  to  France,  385. 
Notice  of,  214. 
HENRY,  Judge,  241. 
HERKIMER,  General,  At  Oriskany,  278. 
HERRERA,  President,  481. 

Hessians,    the,  account    of,  246.     Marauders,  296,    297. 
Capture  of,  at    Trenton,  by  Washington,  263.      With 
Burgoyne,  281. 
HEYIS,  PETER,  92,  94. 
Hi-a-wat-ha,  Legend  of,  23,  24. 
Hichittie  Indians.  30. 
HIGGINSON,  Rev.  Mr.,  117.    Death  of,  lia 


INDEX. 


767 


High  Hills  ofSantee,  337. 
Highlander's  in  Georgia,  171. 

HILL,  A.  P.,  General,  619,  693. 

HILL,  D.  If.,  General,  619,  620, 671. 

Hilton  Head,  704. 

HINDMAN.  T.  C.,  637. 

HINMAN,  Captain,  308. 

Hi-o-ka'-too,  Seneca  Chief,  25. 

Hobkirk's  Hill,  Battle  of,  334. 

Hoboken,  Slaughter  of  Indians  at,  141. 

HOBOMOK,  a  famous  New  England  Indian,  21 

Hochelaga,  Cartier  at,  43. 

HOKE,  General,  704. 

HOOD,  J.  B.,  General,  700,  702,  705. 

HOOKER,  J.,  General,  616,  622,  629.  Placed  in  command 
of  the  army,  631,  647.  Eesigns  command  of  the  army, 
658,  667,  668,  701. 

HOOKER,  THOMAS,  Rev.,  his  colony,  86. 

HOLBORNE,  Admirai,  194. 

Holland  *  Expedition  from,  to  America,  71,  72.  War  with 
England,  147,  327. 

HOLMES,  Admiral,  201. 

HOLMES,  WILLIAM,  Captain, 85. 

HOPKINS,  EDWARD.  Governor,  88,155. 

HOPKINS,  EZEK.  first  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Amer 
ican  Navy,  308. 

HOPKINSON,  FRANCIS,  Notice  of,  2S5. 

HOPKINSON,  JOSEPH,  author  of  '•  Hail  Columbia,"  285. 
'•  Hornet,"  sloop  of  war,  414,  428,  429. 

HORRY,  Colonel,  §36. 

Horse,  The  first  taken  to  Virginia,  63.  Colnmbns  takes 
horses  to  America,  41.  Taken  from  Cuba  to  Florida  ; 
their  fate,  44.  Taken  by  De  Soto  to  Florida,  44. 

HOTIIAM,  Admiral,  292. 

Housatonic  Indians,  189. 

House  of  Burgesses,  Virginia,  the  beginning  of  the, 
106. 

House  of  Representatives  of  Massachusetts  Colony,  122. 

HOUSTON,  WILLIAM,  356. 

HOUSTON,  WILLIAM  CHURCHILL,  356. 

HOUSTON,  General,  at  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto.  478. 

HOWARD,  JOHN  EAGER,  Colonel,  at  the  battle  of  the  Cow- 
pens,  332. 

Ho  WAT:  i).  Admiral,  57. 

HOWARD,  O.  O.,  General,  701,  703. 

HOWE,  GEORGE,  Lord,  Notice  of,  197. 

HOWE,  RICHARD,  Lord,  at  Boston,  247.  At  New  York, 
252.  Prepares  to  attack  New  York ;  paroles  General 
Sullivan ;  asks  Congress  to  appoint  a  Committee  of 
Conference,  257.  His  letter  to  Washington,  253.  Meets 
the  Committee  appointed  by  Congress,  257.  In  Rari- 
tan  Bay,  287.  His  Meet  disabled  by  a  storm  in,  289. 

HOWE,  ROBERT,  General,  244,  292,  298.  Suppresses  the 
mutiny  at  Pompton,  329. 

HOWE,  SIR  WILLIAM,  General,  202,  234,  235.  At  Quebec, 
202.  At  New  York,  252.  His  Proclamation,  260. 
Perplexes  Washington,  278.  At  Brandy  wine,  273.  At 
Elkton,  173.  Attempts  to  entice  Washington  from 
his  encampment,  183.  Knighted,  after  the"  battle  of 
Brooklyn,  273. 

Huamantla,  Battle  of,  494. 

HUDSON,  HENRY,  Captain,  his  glowing  account  of  his 
discoveries,  71.  Fate  of,  59. 

HUGER,  Colonel,  defeated  by  Tarleton,  311. 

Huguenots,  the,  Persecution  of,  in  France,  166.  Ad 
miral  Coligny,  the  friend  of,  49.  In  North  Carolina, 
163.  In  South  Carolina,  166.  Influence  of,  in  Amer 
ica,  52. 

HULL,  ISAAC,  Commodore,  414. 

HULL,  WILLIAM,  General,  410,  411. 

HULSEMAN,  Chevalier,  510.     Letter  of,  517. 

HUMPHREY,  ALEXANDER,  80. 

HUMPHREY,  JOHN,  117. 

HUNT,  Captain,  kidnaps  Indians,  74. 

HUNTER,  ROBERT,  Governor,  150. 

"  Hunters  Lodges,'1''  472. 

HUNTER,  General,  593,  608,  672,  673. 

Huron,  Lake:  see  Lake  Huron. 

HURON,  KING,  dies  in  France,  49. 

Huron  Indians,  21,  23.     With  Samuel  Champlain,  59. 

Huron-Jroquois  Indians,  22-26.  Their  territory,  23. 
Their  Language,  12. 

Huron  County, "invaded  by  the  Five  Nations,  24. 

HUTCHINSON,  Governor,  222.  His  famous  "Letters"  224, 
225. 

HUTCHTNSON,  Captain,  126. 

HUTCHINSON,  ANNE,  Mrs.,  SO,  91,  120.     Murder  of,  141. 

HutcMnton  Controversy,  S3. 


Iceland,  34,  85. 

Ile-aux-Noix,  2^3. 

Illinois  Indians,  17,  18, 19.  Invaded  by  the  Sacs  and 
Foxes,  18. 

Illinois,  Territory  and  State  of,  390,  448. 

Impeachment  of  Andrew  Johnson,  732.  Verdict  given, 
733. 

Independence,  American,  General  desire  for,  in  1776 
250.  War  for,  229.  Asserted  by  the  Committee  of 
Conference  with  Lord  Howe,  257.  Acknowledged  by 
Great  Britain,  348. 

Indians  alliances  against  the  Colonies,  124.  Chiefs 
dine  with  Governor  Winthrop,  118.  Confederacy 
against  South  Carolina.  170.  Presents  received  from 
Great  Britain,  206.  Religion,  15.  Treaties  362  363 
Treaty  of  Peace,  374. 

Indians,  The,  11.  Resemblance  of,  to  Asiatics,  11.  Ac 
count  of  the  Aboriginal  tribes  of,  12.  Employments  of 
•women  among,  12,  13.  Extreme  Western,  32,  33. 
Population  of,  in  the  United  States,  32.  Their  plan 
to  exterminate  the  white  people;  slaughter  of,  106. 
Troublesome  in  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory, 525. 

Indian  War,  462. 

Indies,  the,  Columbus's  voyage  in  quest  of  a  western 
passage  to,  34.  The  trade  of,  monopolized  by  the 
Italian  cities,  36. 

Indigo,  American,  206. 

Industry,  private,  Effects  of,  in  Virginia,  and  in  Ply 
mouth,  70. 

INGOLDSBY,  RICHARD,  158, 150. 

Intolerance  in  Massachusetts,  118,  119,  123.  In  Mary 
land,  New  York,  and  New  England,  132,  133. 

"  Intrepid^''  The,  Tripolitan  vessel,  392. 

Iowa  Indians,  32. 

loica,  State  of,  added  to  the  Union,  478. 

Iron  chain  across  the  Hudson,  824. 

Iroquois  Indians,  24,  31. 

IRVIN,  Colonel,  at  Agua  Frio,  486. 

lu VINE,  WILLIAM.  355. 

ISABELLA,  Queen,  Sister  of  Henry  IV.,  of  Castile  and 
Leon,  38.  Columbus's  personal  interview  with,  33. 

Italian  Cities,  their  monopoly  of  the  trade  of  the  In 
dies,  36. 

luka  Springs,  Battle  near,  634. 

IXARD,  General,  Succeeds  Wilkinson,  432.  Notice  of, 
434. 

J. 

JACKSON,  AITDREW,  General,  anecdote  of  him,  when  a 
boy,  314.  The  mother  of,  314.  His  confidence  won  by 
Burr,  397.  His  expedition  against  the  Creeks,  in  1813, 
423.  Storms  Pensacola,  438.  At  New  Orleans  483 
439.  His  treaty  with  the  Creek  Indians,  433.  His 
expedition  against  the  Seminoles,  443.  Captures  Pen 
sacola,  451.  Subdues  the  Seminoles.  30,  464,  459,  461. 

JACKSON,  STONEWALL,  673,  624,  625,  629. 

JACKSON,  T.  J.,  617. 

JACKSONVILLE,  Attack  on.  608. 

JACKSON,  JAMES,  Notice  of,  347, 348. 

JACKSON,  ROBERT,  314. 

Jacksonborcnigh,  South  Carolina  Legislature  at,  838. 

Jalapa,  Generals  Scott  and  Twiggs  at,  489,  490. 
V.WES  I,  of  England,  Character  of;  persecutes  Puri 
tans,  76.  His  proposal  to  contract  for  the  whole  crop 
of  tobacco  in  Virginia,  107.  His  acts  of  usurpation  in 
Virginia,  107.  Death  of,  116.  Patents  granted  by, 
63.64. 

JAMES  II,  of  England,  Accession  of;  his  character,  113, 
147.  Oppressive  measures  of,  129.  His  arbitrary  pro 
ceedings  respecting  the  Jerseys,  160.  Driven  into 
exile,  162. 

Jameson  River,  Origin  of  the  name,  64.  English  navi 
gators  enter  the,  20,  61.  Indians  on  the,  17. 

JAMES,  Colonel,  326. 

Jamestown,  Virginia,  founded,  166.  Origin  of  the 
name,  64.  Cultivation  of  tobacco  at.  70.  Famine  at, 
saved  by  Pocahontas,  69;  saved  by  Chanco,  106.  Na 
thaniel  Bac*on  at,  111.  Destructio'n  of,  by  Bacon,  112. 

James  Island,  Fight  at,  674. 

Japan  opened  to  United  States  trade,  511.  Sends  Em 
bassy  to  United  States,  512. 

JASPER,  Sergeant,  249, 305. 

''•Java,"  frigate,  415. 

JAY,  JOHN,  one  of  the  .authors  of  the  Federalist,  861. 
Commissioner  on  the'  Treaty  of  Peace,  348.  First 


768 


INDEK 


Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States.  369.  Special  En 
voy  to  Great  Britain,  379.  His  treaty,  379,  3SO.  Notice 
of,  379. 

JEFFERSON,  THOMAS,  on  the  Committee  to  draft  the  De 
claration  of  Independence,  251.  Tarleton's  attempt  to 
capture,  339.  Commissioner  on  the  Treaty  of  Peace, 
34S.  Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs.  370.  His  disagree 
ment  with  Hamilton,  374.  His  remarks  respecting 
Algerine  piracies.  3S1 ;  and  on  Coins  and  Coinage,  372. 
Vice-President,  3S3.  President,  388,396.  Hisembanro, 
402,  403.  His  account  of  Logan,  26.  Death  of,  457. 
Notice  of,  3SS,  3S9. 

JEFFKEYS,  Colonel.  112. 113. 

JENNINGS,  Colonel,  416. 

JENIFER,  DANIEL,  of  St.  Thomas,  256. 

Jersey,  Giant  from  Parliamen4-  to,  206.  "West,  139. 
Union  of  the  Jerseys.  161. 

Jersey  Prison-Skip,  259. 

JESSUFF,  Bashaw  of  Tripoli,  392. 

JESUP,  THOMAS  S.,  at  Fort  Dade ;  notice  of,  46S. 

Jesuits,  the,  Origin  of,  130.  Missionaries,  ISO.  Their 
influence  over  the  Indians,  22,  130. 

JOHN,  Kins:  of  Portugal,  his  expedition  to  America,  47. 
Names  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  37. 

"John  Adam*."  frigate,  438. 

JOHNSTON,  ALBERT  SYDNEY,  594. 

JOHNSON,  ANDREW,  appointed  provisional  Governor  of 
Tennessee,  599.  Elected  Vice-President,  710.  Sworn 
as  President,  720.  Cabinet  of,  720.  Sketch  of,  721. 
Total  disregard  of  the  interests  'of  freedmen,  725.  Pro 
claims  civil  Avar  at  an  end,  727.  Vetoes  bill  for  negro 
suffrage,  728.  Impeachment  of,  732.  Pronounced  not 
guilty;  733. 

JOHNSTON,  JOSEPH  E.,  616,  618,  645,  698. 

JOHNSON,  ISAAC,  and  Lady  Arabella,  118. 

JOHNSON,  SIR  JOHN,  278.  373. 

JOHNSON,  SIR  NATHANIEL,  Governor,  169. 

JOHNSON.  RICHARD  M.,  Colonel,  424.  Vice- President,  469. 

JOHNSON,  ROBERT,  Governor,  171. 

JOHNSON,  THOMAS,  nominates  Washington  as  Com 
mander-in-chief,  238. 

JOHNSON,  SIR  WILLIAM,  his  exploit  against  Dieskau,  190. 
His  expedition  against  Crown  Point,  185,  189.  Ac 
companies  Prideaux  to  Fort  Niasara,  200.  At  the  bat 
tle  of  Quebec.  203.  Notice  of,  278. 

JOHNSON,  WILLIAM  SAMUEL,  356.  556,  629. 

JOHNSTONE,  GEORGE,  Commissioner  to  America,  286. 

Jonesboro\     Capture  of,  702. 

JONES,  JOHN  PAUL,  Commodore,  His  exploits  306,  307. 
Sails  for  Holland.  307.  His  fleet,  308.  Congress  pre 
sents  a  sold  medal  to,  308.  Notice  of,  306. 

JONES,  SIR  WILLIAM,  decides  against  UieDuke  of  York's 
claim  to  New  Jersey,  160. 

JONES,  Captain,  of  the  sloop  "Wasp."  415. 

Judiciary       the  United  States,  368,  369. 

JUMONVILLE,  M.,  Death  of,  183. 

Jury,  Trial  by,  established  in  the  Colony  of  Virginia, 
106. 


KANE,  ELIRIIA  KENT,  Explorer,  Sketch  of,  509. 

Kansas,  Territory  of,  518.  Open  to  slavery,  526.  Legis 
lature  of.  528.  Violence  and  bloodshed  in,  529 

Kansas  Indians.  20,  32. 

Kaskaskiti  Indiana,  19. 

Kaskaskia  captured  by  Major  Clarke,  303. 

Kayingehar/a  Indians,  23. 

KBANB,  General   439. 

KEARNEY,  STEPHEN  W.,  Colonel,  at  Santa  Fe.  486.  At 
San  Gabriel,  487.  Notice  of,  486. 

KEARNY,  PHILIP,  619.     Death  of.  627. 

"Kearsarcie"  American  man  of  war,  708. 

Kegs.  Battle  of  the,  285. 

KEITH, SIR  WILLIAM,  advises  Stamp  Act,  541 

KENDALL,  AMOS,  Postmaster-General,  470. 

Kenesaw  Mountain.  699. 

Kennebec,  Sir  John  Popham  at,  63. 

Kensington.  Philadelphia,  96. 

Kent  Mand,  82. 

KENTON,  SIMON,  joins  Major  Clarke,  303. 

Kentucky  added  to  the  Union,  377.  Confederates 
obtain  foothold  in,  593.  Lost  to  Confederates,  598. 
In  possession  of  Union  Army,  605. 

KEPPEL.  Admiral,  185. 

Kettle  Creek.  Skirmish  at,  295. 

KEY,  FRANCIS  S.,  437. 

Kickapoo  Indians,  17, 18. 


KIDD,  Captain,  149. 

KIEFT,  SIR  WILLIAM,  Governor,  140, 141. 

KILPATRICK,  General,  651,  6S8,  702. 

KING,  RUFITS.  356.  American  Minister  at  London,  401, 
404,  446.  Notice  of,  396. 

King  George's  War,  136. 

KING  PHILIP,  21.  Arouses  the  New  England  tribes 
against  the  English.  22.  His  hostility  to  the  White 
Men,  125.  His  war  of  extermination,  126, 127.  Death, 
22,  128.  His  son,  sold  as  a  slave,  128. 

King's  Mountain.  Major  Ferguson  at,  819.  Battle 
of,'319. 

Kingston,  New  York.     Burned,  283,  297. 

King  William's  War,  134. 

Kipp's  Bay,  258, 

KIRKLAND,  SAMUEL,  Rev.  Missionary  to  the  Six  Na 
tions;  Notice  of,  25,  26. 

Kittaning.     Chastisement  of  the  Indians  at,  193. 

Knisteneaux  Indians,  17. 

KNOWLTON,  Colonel.     Death  of,  258. 

Know-Nothings,  529. 

KNOX,  HENRY,  General.  Takes  possession  of  Fort 
George,  350,  351.  At  Washington's  last  Interview 
with  his  oflicers,  352.  Secretary  of  War,  370.  Notice, 
350. 

Knoxvitte.    Saved,  671. 

KNYPHAUSEN,  General.  At  Brandywine.  273.  At 
Springfield,  320.  At  Westchester,  259.  At  New  York, 
309. 

KONOSCHIONI.    The  name  of  the  Five  Nations,  23. 

KOSCIUSZKO,  THADDEUS,  336.    Notice  of,  336. 

KOSSUTH,  Louis.    Visit  of,  510. 


Labrador.  Discovered  by  Cabot,  46.  Coast  of,  ex 
plored  by  Weyrnouth,  58. 

La  Colle.    Battle  at,  432. 

Laconia.     Territory  of,  79,  80. 

LA  FAYETTE,  General.  His  first  interview  with  Wash 
ington,  272.  At  Brandywine,  272,  453.  At  Bethle 
hem,  273.  At  Monmouth,  288.  In  Rhode  Island,  -289. 
Obtains  aid  from  France,  for  the  American  cause,  306. 
His  return  from  France,  321.  In  Virginia,  330,339. 
Pursues  Cornwallis,  339.  Visits  the  United  States, 
453.  Lays  the  corner-stone  of  a  monument  to  De 
Kalb,  316.  Notice  of,  273. 

Lake  Champlain.    Eiscovered,  59. 

Lake  Erie.     Battle  near,  190.     Indians  on,  19. 

Lake  Huron.     Discovered,  59.     Indians  on,  17. 

LAMB,  JOHN,  Colonel,  242,  270. 

Lancaster,  Massachusetts.    Burnt,  127. 

Lander,  Gen.,  651. 

Lands.  Public,  of  the  United  States,  372.  Indian, 
ceded  to  the  United  States,  24. 

LANE,  RALPH,  Governor,  55. 

LANE,  General.     At  Pu<?bla,  494. 

LANGDON,  JOHN.  356,  629. 

Languages,  Indian,  12. 

LANSING,  JOHN  J.,  356. 

LA  PLACE,  M.,  234. 

LATHROP,  Captain,  126. 

LAUDONNIERE.     His  expedition  to  America,  50. 

LAURENS,  HENRY.  Commissioner  on  the  Treaty  of 
Peace,  348. 

LAURENS,  JOHN,  Colonel,  329.     Death  of,  348. 

LA  VEGA,  General,  4S2,  483. 

LAWRENCE,  Governor.     Expedition  against  Acadie,  1S5. 

LAWRENCE,  JAMKS,  Captain.    Notice  of,  429. 

LAWRNECE,  RICHARD,  Colonel,  111.     Executed,  112. 

"  Lawrence?  ship,  420. 

LEAR,  TOBIAS,  Colonel.  Consul-General  in  the  Mediter 
ranean,  395.  Compelled  to  purchase  his  freedom,  445. 

LEDYARD,  WILLIAM,  Colonel,  340. 

LEE,  ARTHUR.     American  Ambassador  to  Franco.  266. 

LEE,  CHARLES,  General.  A  Captain  at  Ticontleroga, 
wounded.  197.  Major-General,  238.  At  Boston,  239. 
At  New  York,  248.  At  North  Castle,  259.  At  Mon 
mouth,  288.  His  letter  to  Wayne,  298. 

LEE,  CHARLES.  Attorney-General,  1796,  383.  Notices 
of,  248,  2SS. 

LEE,  HENRY,  General.  His  exploit  at  Paulns's  Hook, 
94,  293.  With  General  Marion,  335.  At  Fort  Ninety- 
six,  337.  Suppresses  the  Whiskey  Insurrection,  378. 
His  funeral  oration  on  Washington,  337.  Notice  of, 


INDEX. 


769 


LEE,  ROBERT  E.,  General.  533,  563,  619,  623,  631,  643, 
652,  690,  718.  Surrender  of,  719. 

LEE,  RICHARD  HENRY.  His  Resolution  on  American  In 
dependence,  250,  251.  Notice  of,  250. 

LEE,  W.  H.  F.,  General.     643. 

LEISLER.  JACOB,  Governor,  131,148. 

LKITCH,  Major.     Death  of,  253. 

LE  MOYNE,  JAMES,  50. 

Lenni  Lenape  Indians,  17,  20,  21. 

LEON,  PONCE  DE,  General.     At  Braceti,  488. 

"Leopard  "  frigate,  402. 

XESLIE,  General,  332.    At  Charleston,  347. 

"  Levant"  sloop-of-war,  440. 

LEVI,  M.     Successor  to  Montcalm.  203. 

LEWIS,  ANDREW,  General.    Notice  of,  244. 

LEWIS,  Colonel.     At  Frenchtown,  416,  418. 

LEWIS  and  CLARKE'S  Expedition,  395. 

Lewislon,  Delaware,  92,  94,  430. 

Lewiston,  New  York.     Burnt,  427. 

Lexington.    Battle  of,  232,  233. 

Leyden.  Netherlands.     Puritans  at,  77. 

Libby  Prison,  662.     Plan  to  blow  up,  688. 

"  Liberty  "  sloop,  220. 

Liberty -pole.    At  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  79. 

Ligonia.    Agricultural  settlement  of,  80. 

LINCOLN,  ABR'AHAM.  Sketch  of.  543.  Elected  President, 
544.  Inaugurated,  551.  Calls  for  troops,  560.  Deliv 
ers  Emancipation  Proclamation,  640.  Visits  City 
Point,  720.  Re-elected,  710.  Murdered,  720. 

LINCOLN,  Earl  of,  113. 

LINCOLN,  BENJAMIN,  General.  At  Boundbrook,  270. 
Commands  the  Southern  Army,  204.  At  Charleston, 
296.  Besieges  Savannah,  30o.  At  Charleston,  309. 
Surrenders  to  Clinton,  311.  At  the  siege  of  Yorktown, 
342.  Suppresses  Shay's  Rebellion,  853.  Notice  of.  295. 

"  ISInsurgente, "  frigate.  Captured  by  " Constellation" 
335. 

"  Little  Bell"  sloop  of  war,  407. 

LittJe  Rock,  Arkansas,  675,  676. 

Little  Wabash.     Major  Clarke  at  the,  303. 

LIVINGSTON,  EDWARD.  Author  of  the  penal  code  of 
Louisiana,  451.  His  defense  of  General  Jackson,  443. 
Notice  of.  451,  452. 

LIVINGSTON,  ROBERT.     Patroon,  149. 

LIVINGSTON  Robert  R.  His  connection  with  Robert 
Fulton,  399.  Notice  of,  366. 

LIVINGSTON  WILLIAM.  His  Address  to  the  Anjrlo- Amer 
ican  Colonies,  228.  Member  of  the  Convention  on  the 
Articles  of  Confederation,  356. 

LLOYD,  THOMAS,  162. 

LOCKE,  JOHN.  His  ''Fundamental  Constitutions,"  99, 
164. 

London  Company.  Send  Henry  Hudson  on  an  expedi 
tion  to  America,  59.  Send  Captain  Newport  to  lioan- 
oke  Island,  64.  New  charter  of  the.  68.  Third  char 
ter  of  the,  70.  Dissolved,  81,  106, 107.  Crystal  palace 
in,  51 6. 

LONG  STREET,  JAMES,  General,  619,  620,  652,  667,  670,  689, 
717. 

LOGAN.  JOHN.    Mingo  Chief,  20,  26,  27, 

Long  Island,  59.  Granted  to  the  Earl  of  Stirling,  144. 
Battle  of,  254. 

Long  Inslad  Indians,  21, 141. 

Long  Island  Sound,  Explored  by  Captain  Block,  72. 

Long  Parliament,  The,  152.  Confirms  the  charter  of 
Rhode  Island,  157. 

Lords  of  Trade,  134. 

IS  Orient,  Naval  expedition  fitted  out  at,  308. 

Lookout  Mountain,  Events  at,  663.    Battle  of,  668. 

Los  ANGELOS,  Stockton  and  Fremont  take  possession  of, 
437. 

Lottery  authorized  by  Congress,  293. 

LOUDON.  Lord,  191, 192, 193,  194. 

Loins  XIV.,  of  France,  revokes  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  166. 
James  II.,  of  England,  flees  to  the  court  of,  130.  Ac- 
knowledses  Charles  Edward,  as  king  of  England,  134. 

Louisburi,  Captured,  136, 138, 196. 

Louisiana,  Ceded  to  France  in  1SOO;  sold  to  the  United 
States,  by  Napoleon,  204.  Territory ;  State,  451.  Ad 
mitted  to  the  Union,  409.  Secession  of,  547.  Opera 
tions  in,  644. 

Louis  PHILIPPE,  Driven  from  the  throne  of  France,  510. 

LOVELI,  MANSFIELD,  General,  609. 

LITDLOW,  Captain,  Death  of,  429. 

LITDWELL.  PHILIP,  165, 167. 

Lundy's  Lane,  Battle  of,  433. 

Lutherans.  Persecuted  and  slaughtered  by  Melendez,  51. 

LUZEBNE,  M.,  General  Greene's  letter  to,  334 


LYFORD,  Persecuted  by  the  Pilgrims,  119. 
LYMAN,  General,  At  Fort  Edward,  189, 191. 
LYON,  NATHANIEL,  General  572,  573,  506. 


M. 

MCCLELLAN,  GEORGE  B.,  General,  562,  563.  Takes  com 
mand  of  U.  S.  Army,  571,  535,  612,  613,  620.  Retreat 
of,  621.  Wants  more  men,  623,  62S.  Relieved  of  his 
command,  631. 

MCCLERNAND,  JOHN  A.,  General,  596,  643. 

McCooK,  A.  McD.,  General,  594,  701. 

M'CLURE,  JAMES,  In  Convention  on  the  Articles  of  Con 
federation,  356. 

M-CLURE,  General,  At  Fort  George,  427. 

M-CREA,  JANE,  277. 

McCoim,  General,  600. 

McCiiLLOCK,  BEN.,  General,  573. 

MCDONALD,  DONALD  and  FLORA,  243. 

McDoiiGALL,  General,  At  Peekskill,  270.  Secretary  of 
the  Continental  Board  of  Admiralty,  80S. 

MCDOWELL,  CHARLES,  At  King's  Mountain,  319. 

MCDOWELL,  IRVING,  567,  618. 

McPiiERSON,  General,  643. 

M-HEXRY,  JAMES,  356,  334. 

MACOMB,  General,  At  Plattsburgh,  notice  of,  434. 

MACDOXOUGH,  Commodore,  Notice  of.  434,  435. 

MADISON,  JAMES,  356.  One  of  the  authors  of  the  Feder 
alist,  361.  His  view  of  the  Revenues  of  the  United 
States,  367.  Secretary  of  State,  390.  President  of  the 
United  States,  404,  415.  Notice  of,  405. 

MAG  AW,  Colonel,  At  Fort  Washington,  258. 

MAGOFFIN,  Governor,  encourages  secession,  575. 

MAGRUDER,  Colonel,  562. 

Maine,  Discovered,  53.  Indian  tribes  of,  127.  Settle 
ment  of,  80,  122.  A  part  of  Massachusetts  until  1320, 
129.  A  State,  452.  Boundary  of,  452. 

Maize,  The  first  that  was  found  by  Miles  Standish,  115. 

Malr-ern  Hills,  Battle  of,  622. 

Manchester,  Burnt,  427. 

Manliattan  Indians,  21. 

Manhattan  Island,  Sold  to  the  Dutch  by  the  Manliattan 
Indians,  21.  Purchased  by  Minuit,  139.  Origin  of  the 
name,  43.  The  fort  at  the  southern  extremity  of,  72. 

MANLY,  Captain,  303. 

M<tnahoaa  Indians,  17. 

Manaxxas,  Evacuated  by  the  Rebels,  612. 

MANNING,  JOHN,  The  traitor,  147. 

Mansfield,  Battle  near,  684. 

MANSFIELD,  Lord,  His  decision  respecting  slavery,  533. 

MANSFIELD,  Captain.  481. 

MANSON,  M.  D.,  General,  633. 

MANTEO,  Indian  Chief,  Lord  of  Roanoke,  55,  56. 

Manufactures,  American,  177,  178,  216,  447,  458. 

Mariana,  Territory  of,  79. 

Marine  Committee  of  Congress,  308. 

MARION,  General,  204.  In  South  Carolina,  314.  Exploits 
of,  317,  318,  319,  320,  333.  Refuses  to  drink  wine,  317. 
His  first  appearance  at  Gates's  camp,  318.  Anecdote 
of  him  and  a  British  officer  at  Charlestown,  320.  His 
camp  destroyed,  320 ;  his  brigade  defeated,  in  his  ab 
sence,  345. 

MARKHAM,  WILLIAM,  96, 161, 162,  163. 

Marlborougn,  Massachusetts,  Burnt,  127. 

Marriage  Contracts,  Restraints  on,  by  Andros,  130. 

MARSH,  Colonel,  Expedition  against  Port  Royal,  135. 

MARSHALL,  JOHN,  Envoy  to  France,  335.  Announces  the 
death  of  Washington,  336.  Administers  the  oath  of 
office  to  President  Monroe,  446;  Adams,  454,  401.  No 
tice  of,  351. 

Martha's  Vineyard,  Discovered,  57,  53.  Christian  In 
dians  at,  123. 

MARTIN,  ALEXANDER.  In  the  Convention  on  the  Articles 
of  Confederation,  356. 

MARTIN,  LUTHER,  In  the  Convention  on  the  Articles  of 
Confederation,  $56. 

"  MARY  JOHNSON,"  the  assumed  name  of  Arthur  Lee, 
266. 

Maryland,  settlement  of,  80-82.  Origin  of  the  name  of, 
81.  Roman  Catholic  colony  in,  62.  The  Seneca  Indi 
ans  make  war  upon  the  colonists,  82,  110.  Declaration 
of  Rights,  in  1639,  151.  Civil  war  in,  Toleration  Act ; 
an  asylum  for  persecuted  Churchmen  and  Puritans, 
15iL  Colonial  government  of;  civil  war  in,  152. 
History  of,  151. 

MASON,  GEORGE,  in  the  Convention  on  the  Articles  of 
Confederation,  356. 


INDEX. 


MASON,  JOHN,  merchant  and  naval  commander,  79. 
Governor  of  Portsmouth,  England,  80.  Controversy 
of  the  heirs  of,  129. 

MASON,  JOHN,  Captain,  exterminates  the  Pequods,  87, 88. 

MASON,  JAMES  K.,  author  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law, 
521.  Confederate  Commissioner,  587.  Eeturns  to 
England,  589. 

Massachusetts  Indian*,  22. 

Mas9(tchti86ttS,  settlement  of,  62.  History  of,  114. 
Colony;  charter,  117.  Character  of  the  colony,  119; 
rapid  irroutli  of  the  colony,  creates  alarm  in  England, 
120.  Fortifications  in,  121.  Joins  the  confederacy  of 
colonists,  121.  Government  of;  commerce  of,  with 
the  West  Indies,  122.  Growth  of  the  colony,  129. 
Controversy  of,  with  the  heirs  of  Georges  and  Mason, 
129.  A  royal  province,  132.  Cost  of  settling,  209. 
Early  legislation  of,  175.  Grant  from  Parliament  to, 
20r>.  Assembles  view  of  taxation,  219.  A  flotilla 
fitted  out  by,  in  299.  Board  of  Admiralty  of,  307.  Re 
bellion  in,  353. 

M ASS  ASOIT,  chief  of  the  Wampanoags,  90.  Sachem,  114, 
115.  His  sons,  21, 124. 

MATHER,  COTTON,  133.     Notice  of,  134. 

MATTHEWS,  SAMUEL,  Governor  of  Virginia,  109. 

MATTHEWS,  General  (British),  297,  820. 

Mauritius,  the,  Origin  of  the  name,  71. 

MAVERICK,  RlcilARP,  123. 

MAAVIIOOD,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  at  Princeton,  263. 

MAXIMILIAN,  Emperor  of  Mexico,  death  of,  728. 

MAY,  CORNELIUS  JACOBSEN,  First  Director  of  New 
Netherhmd,  73. 

MAY,  JACOBUS,  Captain,  Captures  General  La  Vega,  482. 

"May-Flower?  Puritan  vessel,  77. 

MEADE,  GEORGE  B.,  General.  621,  622.  Takes  command 
of  the  army,  653,  659,  681,  692. 

Meckleribury  Declaration  of  Independence,  237. 

Medal.  Presented  by  Congress  to  Washington,  after 
the  battle  of  Germantown,  275;  to  General  Wayne, 
298;  to  the  captors  of  Andre  827.  Struck  by  Louis, 
XIV.,  after  the  repulse  of  Phipps,  131. 

Me.d/ord,  Massachusetts  Burned,  127. 

MEDICI,  LORENZO  I>E,  Ves]fmcius'ls  letter  to,  41. 

Meeting  lionise.  First, at  Hartford,  Connecticut,  86. 

Mehf.rrin  Indians,  23. 

MKIGS,  Colonel.  271. 

"  Melampiw"  ship,  401. 

MELEXPE/.  PEDRO,  Governor  of  Florida,  50,  51. 

Memorial  1<>  Parliament,  Livingston's,  215. 

Memphis,  GS3. 

MENDO/.A.  Cardinal,  38,  45. 

Menomonee  Indians,  17,  19. 

M  K u. ER,  HUGH,  General,  192.  259.    Notice  of,  2G9. 

MERGER,  JOHN  FRANCIS.  356. 

MEREUITH,  WILLIAM  M.,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
499. 

METACOMET:  see  King  Philip. 

Mctainoi-a*.    General  Ampudia  at,  481. 

Mexico,  Origin  of  the  name,  593.  Civilization  and  the 
arts  in,  43!  Burr's  proposed  invasion  of,  396.  War 
with,  4-<i.  The  City  of,  494.  Treaty  of  Peace,  497. 

Miami  Indians,  17,  24.  25.  Treaty  with  the,  403.  Their 
territory,  19.  Conspire  against  the  English,  17G3, 
205. 

MIANTONMOII,  Narraganset  Sachem,  21,  87,91.,  125. 

MICANOPY,  Head  Sachem  of  the  Seminoles,  466. 

Michigan,  Peninsula,  Indians  on  the,  18.  Territory, 
396.  State  of,  admitted  to  the  Union,  469. 

Michigan  India  UK,  19. 

Micm.ac  Indians,  22. 

Middle  Plantations,  The,  111. 

MIFFLIN,  THOMAS,  General,  254,  257,  268,  356.  His  ad 
dress  to  Washington,  notice  of,  352. 

MILBORNE,  Deputy  Governor,  134, 148.     Executed,  148, 

MILLER,  Colonel,  Defeats  Tecumsch,  near  Brownstown, 
411.  At  the  battle  of  Lnndy's  Lane,  433. 

Mill  Spring,  Victory  at,  594. 

Mine  River,  Abatis  on,  GGO. 

Minetaree  Indians,  31,  32. 

Min.fjo  Indians.  23.     Logan,  the  Mingo  Chief,  20. 

Minqua  Indians:  see  Mohawk  Indiana. 

MINON.  General,  Driven  from  Santillo,  486. 

Minxi  Indians,  Their  territory,  21. 

Mint,  Of  the  United  States,  372.  373. 

MINUTE  PETER,  Governor,  85,  93, 139. 

Mixt-Ji  ian*a,  The,  at  Philadelphia,  285.  / 

Mishairan,  The  foundation  of  Charleston  laid  at,  117. 

Mississagues  Indians,  17,  205. 

Mississippi,  Territory,  3S8.     State  admitted  to  the  Un 


ion,  448.    Session  of.  547.    In  possession  of  the  Union, 
605. 

Mississippi  River,  Events  beyond,  684.  Valley  of,  591. 
War  in,  5C5. 

Missouri  Indians,  32. 

Missouri,  11.     State,  448, 452,  576.    Raid  into,  677.    Lost 
to  Confederates,  598. 
Missouri  Comjjromise"  The,  452.    Repeal  of,  526. 

MITCHELL,  ORMBSY  M.,  606. 

MITCHELL,  Colonel,  432. 

Mobile,  The  British  repulsed  at,  438,  708.  Fleet  at,  709. 
Surrender  of,  716. 

Mobilian  Indians,  29,  31. 

Mohan-k  Indians,  21,  23.  Active  enemies  of  the  Ameri 
cans,  26.  Hi-a-wat-ha's  address  to  the,  24.  Refuse  to 
join  King  Philip,  127.  At  New  Amsterdam,  141. 
Claim  sovereignty  over  the  Riverlndians,  141.  Allies 
of  Colonel  Williams,  190.  Join  St.  Leger,  278. 

Mohawk  Valley,  Devastation  of  the,  290. 

Mohegan  Indians,  17,  21,  85,  86. 

Molinos  del  Rey,  Battle,  494. 

MONCKTON,  Colonel,  185,  201.     Grave  of,  283. 

Money,  Continental,  245.  The  first  coined  in  the  United 
States,  122. 

Monitor  and  Merrimack,  Contract  between,  614. 

MONK,  General,  98. 

Monmouth,  New  Jersey.     Battle  of,  287. 

Monecan  Indians,  17. 

MONROE,  JAMES,  His  treaty  with  Great  Britain,  401. 
President  of  the  United  States,  446.  Re-elected  Presi 
dent,  453.  "Monroe  doctrine,"  448.  Notice  of,  446. 

MONROE,  Colonel,  At  Fort  William,  Henry,  194. 

MONROE,  Major,  At  Point  Isabel,  481. 

Montagues  Indians,  17. 

Mont  auk  Indians,  21. 

"  Montank"  Monitor,  672. 

MONTCALM,  MJARQUIS  i>E,  192, 194.    Notice  of,  120,  202. 

Montgomery^ Ala,  Surrender  of,  715. 

Monterey,  Battle  of,  484. 

MONTEZ0MA,  10.     Hifl  deputation  to  Cortez,  43. 

MONTGOMERY,  JOHN,  Governor,  150. 

MONTGOMERY,  Colonel  (British).  In  the  Cherokee  coun 
try,  204. 

MONTGOMERY,  RICHARD,  General,  238,  241.  Assaults 
Quebec,  242.  Notice  of,  240. 

MONTGOMERY,  Commodore,  Takes  possession  of  San 
Francisco,  487. 

Montreal,  Origin  of  the  name,  48.  Surrender  of,  in 
203. 

MOORES,  General,  435. 

MOORE,  JAMES,  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  168,  170. 

MOORE,  Colonel,  168. 

Morar-nrns  and  La  Fayette,  after  his  being  wounded  at 
Brandy  wine,  274. 

MORGAN,  JOHN  H..  Guerrilla  Chief,  632,  658,  661,  688. 

MORGAN,  DANIEL,  General,  at  Quebec,  242.  At'Saratoga 
282.  At  the  Cowpcns  831.  Notice  of,  831. 

MORGAN  WILLIAM,  457. 

MORGAN  Colonel,  At  Acua  Frio,  486. 
lorocco,  War  of  the  United  States  with,  1801,  390. 

mormon*  The,  499,  504.     Their  movements,  537. 

moRRis,  GOUVERNEUR,  185,  856.  His  remarks  on  Coins 
and  Currency,  372.  His  part  in  the  Erie  Canal,  457. 
Notice  of,  304. 

Morris  Island,  673. 

MORRIS,  LEWIS,  First  Royal  Governor  of  New  Jersey, 
161. 

MORRIS  ROBERT,  Supplies  Washington  with  money,  at 
Trenton,  263.  Aeent  pf  Marine;"  his  privateers,  308. 
His  National  Bank,  329.  At  the  Convention,  on  the 
Articles  of  Confederation,  356.  His  views  of  harmonis 
ing  the  money  of  the  United  States,  372.  Notice  of, 
264. 

MORRIS,  ROGER,  Notice  of,  259. 

MORRIS,  Commodore,  His  exploit  on  the  Penobscot 
River,  438. 

MORRIS,  Major.  Death  of,  269. 

Morristoicn,  New  Jersey.  Washington's  winter  quar 
ters  at,  269,  306.  Sufferings  of  the  American  troops  at, 
306. 

MORSE,  S.  F.  B.,  Sketch  of,  507,  508. 

MOTTE,  RKBECCA,  Notice  of,  335,  336. 

MOULTRIE,  General,  204,  295.     Notice  of,  249. 

Mount  Hope  Bay,  A  Scandinavian  child  born  on  the 
shore  of,  35. 

Mount  Independence,  276. 

Mount  Vernon,  Leonard  Calvert  at,  82. 

Mumfordsville,  Battle  at,  633. 


INDEX. 


771 


Murfreesboro\  Battle  at,  638,  706. 
MURRAY,  General,  201,  203. 
MURRAY,  W.  V.,  Envoy  to  France,  385. 
Muskogee  Indians,  29. 

N. 

Nahant,  57.    Captain  Block  at,  72. 

Nansemond  Riser,  Settlement  on  the,  97. 

Nantes,  The  Edict  of,  166. 

Nanticoke  Indians,  Allies  of  the  Five  Nations,  17,  20. 

Nantucket,  Discovery  of,  57.    Christian  Indians  at,  123. 

NAPOLEON:  see  BONAPARTE. 

Narraganset  Indiana  21,  22,  86.  Propose  to  exter 
minate  the  white  people,  87.  Treaty  of  Peace  with 
the,  125.  Join  King  Philip,  127. 

Narraganset  Say,  Penetrated  by  Captain  Block,  72. 

NARYAE/,  PAMPIIILO,  Governor  of  Florida,  43,  44. 

NASH,  Governor,  330. 

Nashville,  Tenn.,  Evacuation  of,  599.  Threatened,  632, 
705. 

Natchez  Indians,  29,  30.  Population  of,  31.  Language 
of  the,  12. 

National,  Bank  of  the  United  States,  372.  Currency, 
372. 

Naunibeag  Colony,  117. 

"Nautilus"  brig,  414. 

Na va) o  Indian s.  488. 

Naval  Stores,  Imported  from  America  into  Great  Bri 
tain,  206. 

Naval  Engagement  in  Charleston  Harbor,  672. 

Navigation  Act,  The,  109,  123,  177. 

Navy,  American,  Origin  of  the,  245,  246,  382.  Kank  of 
Comman  ders,  308.  State  of,  407,  414,  445. 

Ironclads.  595.     Ships  of,  636. 

Navy,  British,  206,  445. 

NEAL,  Captain,  Death  of,  269. 
*  Nebraska,  Territory  of,  518.    Opened  to  Slavery,  526. 

Negro  Plot,  in  New  York,  150. 

Negro  Slaves  :  see  Slaves. 

Negro  Troops,  Medal  for,  596. 

NEILSON,  .JOHN,  356. 

Neosho  Indians,  24. 

Neutral  Indians,  23. 

Nevada,  Becomes  at  State,  765. 

New  Amsterdam,  Meeting  of  Dntch  deputies  at,  in  143. 

New  Berne,  N.  C.,  Battle  at  606.    Seige  abandoned,  705. 

New  Brunswick,  Origin  of  the  name  of,  58.  Boundary 
of,  472. 

Newburg  Addresses,  349. 

Newcastle,  Delaware,  93,  14-3.    William  Penn  at,  96. 

New  England  Indians,  17,  22,  Invaded  by  the  Five 
Nations,  24. 

New  England,  Scandinavians  visit  the  coast  of,  34.   Ex- 

?lored  by  Captain  John  Smith.     Origin  of  the  name, 
i.     Proposed  union  of  the  colonies  of,  in  121.     Popu 
lation  of,  in  1675,  126.  Effects  of  King  Philip's  War  in 

New  Era^  Gunboat,  682. 

Newfoundland,  Portuguese  settlement  in,  47.  Seen 
by  Cabot,  46.  Cod-fishery  at,  discovered  by  Cabot,  47. 
Visits  to,  by  early  navigators,  52. 

New  France,  The  name  given  by  Verazzani  to  the  re 
gions  discovered  by  him,  48. 

New  Hampshire,  Origin  of  the  name,  SO.  Settlement 
of,  62, 122.  A  royal  province.  SO,  129.  Grant  to.  206. 

New  Haven  Colony,  121,  127,  154. 

New  Jersey.  Origin  of  the  name,  159.  Wampum  manu 
factured  in,  13.  Swedes  in,  62.  Founded,  93,  159. 
Sale  of,  by  the  Duke  of  York,  144.  The  Dutch  take 
possession  of,  147.  Discontents  in  159.  Invaded  by 
Matthews,  320.  History  of  the  colony  of,  159. 

New  London,  Burnt  by  Arnold,  340. 

New  Madrid,  Evacuated  by  the  Confederates,  600. 

New  Mexico,  A  Territory  of  the  United  States,  497,  501. 
Claims  of  Texas  to  portions  of,  499.  Petition  of,  for  a 
civil  government,  499. 

New  Netherland,  72.  73.  Founded  139.  Given  by 
Charles  IE.  to  the  Duke  of  York,  113, 144. 

New  Orleans,  Ceded  to  Spain,  204.  Battle  of,  439. 
Naval  battle  at.  610.  Fearful  panic  in,  Gil. 

NEWPORT,  CHRISTOPHER,  Captain.  65,  G8. 

Newport,  Rhode  Isla,nd,  43.  Ternay's  fleet  at,  321. 
Tower  at:  see  Tower. 

New  Rochelle,  Mrs.  Hutcheson  takes  refuge  at,  120. 

Newspapers,  in  the  American,  colonies ;  in  the  United 
States,  179. 


New  Sweden,  93, 143. 

New  Windor,  Washington  head-quarters  at,  328. 

New  York  City,  Dutch  settlement  at,  62.     Origin  of,  72, 

144.     Expedition  from,  to  Canada,  181.    Colony  at,  139. 

The  Dutch  taken  possession  of,  147.    Evacuated,  850. 

Great  fire  at,  471.      Crystal  Palace  in,  516.    Eiot  in, 

657. 
New  York,  History  of  the  Colony  of,  139.     Grants  from 

Parliament  to,  206.     General  Knyphausen  at,  309. 
New  York  Bay,  48,  57. 
Nezperce  Indians,  33. 

Niagara  Falls,  Battle  at,  433.    Village  at,  burnt,  427. 
Niagara  Frontier,  Shirley's  expedition  to  the,  185, 189 
'•'.Niagara''''  ship,  425. 
Niantic  Indians,  87. 
Nicaragua,  State  of,  522. 
NICHOLSON,  FRANCIS,  Governor,  148, 171. 
NICHOLSON,  Colonel,  136. 

NICOLA,  Colonel.    His  letter  to  Washington,  349. 
NICOLAS,  Father,  Ku moves  the  Church-'bell  from  Deer- 
field,  135. 

NICOLLS,  PacnARD,  Colonel,  123,  144. 
Ninety-six,  Origin   of   the  name,  335.      Siege  of,  by 

Greene,  336. 

NINIGBET,  21.    At  New  Amsterdam,  141, 142, 154, 155. 
Nipmuc  Indians,  22,  125. 
Norfolk,  Virginia,  244,  297. 
North  Carolina,    Secession  of,  547.     Events  in,  704. 

Sherman's  inarch  through,  712. 
NORTH,  Lord,  His  Conciliatory  Bills,  2S6.    The  news  of 

the  capture    of  Coruwallis,  845.    Retires  from  oflice, 

345.     Notice  of,  224. 

North-Eastern  Boundary  Question,  476. 
North  Carolina,  98.     Colony,  167.     Opposed  taxation, 

223     Joins  the  Confederacy,  371. 
North  Castle,  The  American  camp  at,  259. 
Northjiehi;  Connecticut,  126. 
Northman,  34, 35. 
North  Point,  Battle  of,  437. 
North  Vi'rgina,m. 
North  Went  Territory.  363-. 
Norridgewock  Indians,  22. 
Nottoway  Indians,  23. 
Nova  Scotia,  58,  132, 136.    Origin  of,  80.     Portuguese 

settlement  in,  47. 
Nova  Causarea,  93. 
Nueces,  The,  General  Taylor  at,  481. 
Nullifiers  of  South  Carolina,  463. 
Number  'Ten  Island,  599.    Capture  of,  604, 

0, 

Oconee  River,  28. 

Oaracock  Inlet,  54. 

Ogdenslmrg,  Capture  of,  425. 

Ogeechee  River,  23. 

OGILVIE,  Captain,  at  Queenstown.  413. 

OGLETHORPE,  JAMES  EDWARD,  General.  His  voyage  to 
America,  100.  Founds  Savannah,  62,  100.  His  first 
interview  Avith  the  Indians  at  Savannah,  30.  His 
colony,  171.  Meets  Chiefs  in  Council.  103.  His  con 
test  with  the  SpaTiiards,  172.  Notice  of,  99. 

O'HARA,  General,  At  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  342. 

Ohio  Company,  The,  Organized,  363.  George  II.'s 
grant  to,  181. 

OJEDA,  Accompanies  Vespucius,  41,  60. 

Old  Dominion,  The,  Origin  of  the  name,  109. 

Omaha  Indians,  32. 

Oneida  Indians,  23.  Favor  the  Americans,  in  the 
Eevolution,  26.  Hi-a-wat-ha's  address  to  the,  24. 

OPECHANCANOUGH,  66.  Captures  Captain  John  Smith, 
106.  Hostile  to  the  VirgiMa  Colony,  103. 

ORD,  General.  635. 

Orders  in  Council,  400,  402. 

Oregon  Indians,  33. 

Oregon  Territory,  33.  British  claims  to,  479.  Settle 
ment  of  the  boundary  question,  497. 

Orphan  House,  Whitfield's,  171,  172. 

Osage  Indians,  32. 

OSCEOLA,  466,  4G8. 

Ostend  Circular,  520. 

OSWALD,  RICHARD,  English  Commissioner  on  the  Treaty 
of  Peace,  343. 

Osicego,  192.     Battle  at,  in  1814,  432,  433. 

OTIS,  JAMES,  207,  208,  212,  213,  219.     Notice  of,  212. 

Otoe  Indians,  32. 

Ottawa  Indians,  17.     Attempt    to    exterminate    the 


772 


INDEX. 


white  people  in,  18,  205.  Aid  the  French  against 
the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  18.  Their  war  with  the  Five 
Nations,  18,  26. 

Outagamie  Indians.    See  fox  Indians. 

Oyster  Point,  South  Carolina,  99,  166. 

Oyster  River,  incursion  of  French  and  Indians  at,  134. 


P. 


PACKENHAM.  General,  at  New  Orleans,  439,  440. 


PAINE,  THOMAS,  his  "  Common  Sense,"  250. 

Palo  Alto,  battle  of,  482. 

Palos,  Columbus  sails  from,  34,  39,  40. 

Pamunkey  Indians,  111. 

Panama,  Commissioners  at,  457.    Railroad  in,  522. 

Panuco  River,  the  followers  of  De  Sota  at  the,  45. 

Paper  Blockades,  444. 

Paper  Money,  issued  by  Massachusetts,  122,  132. 

PAPINEAIT,  Louis  JOSEPH,  472. 

PAREDES,  General,  succeeds  Herrera,  481. 

Paris,  treaty  of  peace  at,  204,  348.  The  allied  armies 
enter,  431. 

PARKER,  SIR  PETER,  248.  261. 

Parliament,  its  Act  of  Supremacy,  75.  Its  appropria 
tion  to  Georgia,  100.  Grants  by,  during  the  Seven 
Years1  War  in  America,  206. 

Passamaquoddy  I>idians,  22. 

PATERSON,  WILLIAM.  356,  359. 

Patroons.    Account  of  the,  139. 

PAULDING,  JOHN.  326. 

Paulus's  Hook,  94. 

PAUW,  MICHAEL,  94,  139. 

Pavonia,  territory  of,  94. 

Pawnee  Indians,  33. 

Pawtucket  Indians,  22. 

PAYNE,  General.  416. 

"Peace-  Makers"  in  Pennsylvania,  162. 

Peace-  Party,  of  1812,  410. 

Peace,  Treaty  of  ,  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  497. 

Pea  Ridge,  battle  of,  592,  635. 

"  Peacock,"1'  brier,  42!),  440. 

PEARCE,  Colonel,  at  York,  Canada,  425. 

Pearl  River,  29. 

Peers  of  England,  cannot  be  arrested  for  debt,  150. 

PEIROE,  E.  W.,  General.  562. 

"  Pelican,"'1  sloop  of  war,  430. 

PEMBERTON,  JOHN  C.,  6-12. 

Pemaquid  Point.  80,  131.  Capture  of  the  garrison  at, 
130,  134. 

Pensacola,  abandoned  by  the  Confederates,  609. 

PENPLETON,  NATHANIEL,  356. 

"Penguin?  brig,  440. 

PENN,  WILLIAM,  his  charter  from  Charles  II.;  purchases 
part  of  New  Jersey,  95.  His  voyage  to  America,  his 
government,  96.  Ilis.  ad  vice  to  the  Duke  of  York, 
respecting  an  assembly  of  Representatives,  147.  His 
purchases  of  parts  of  New  Jersey,  160.  His  arrival  in 
Pennsylvania;  his  treaty  with  the  Delaware  Indians, 

161.  His  Charter  of  Liberties  ;  his  return  to  England, 

162.  Deprived  of  his  provisional  government;    his 
rights  restored  in  ;  returns  to  England,  163.    Philadel 
phia  founded  by,  162.    Suggests  a  Union  of  the  Colo 
nies,  183.    Involved  in  debt,  209.    His  sons,  163.    No 
tice  of,  95. 

Pennacook  Indians,  22. 

Pennsylvania,  origin  of  the  name,  96.  .Swedes  in,  62. 
History  of  the  Colony  of,  161.  Mutiny'  of  the  troops 

Penotfscot  Indians,  22. 

Pensacola,  Florida,  storing,  438.    Captured,  451. 

Peoria  Indians,  19. 

PEPPEEELL,  WILLIAM,  137. 

Pequod  Indians,  21,  86,  87. 

PERCY,  GEORGE,  Acting-Governor  of  Virginia,  68,  69 

PERRY,  Commodore,  expedition  to  Japan,  500. 

Perryville,  battle  near,  634. 

PERRY,  OLIVER  H..  Commodore.   Ilis  exploits,  423, 

His  expedition  against  pirates,  453.     Notice  of,  423. 
PERRY,  M.  C.,  Commodore,  captures  Tampico,  Tabasco, 

and  Tuspan,  485. 

Petersburg,  attack  on,  691.    Seige  of,  693,  717. 
Perth  Amboy,  New  Jersey,  origin  of  the  name,  160. 
PETERS,  HUGH,  86,  119. 

PETERS,  RICHARD,  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  War,  294. 
Petrels,  seen  by  Columbus  and  his  crew,  39. 


Philadelphia,  founded,  162. 

"Philadelphia"  the,  391.    Decatur's  exploit  in  firing 

the,  392. 
PHILIP  II.,  of  Spain,  his  measures  against  the  French 

Protestants  in  America,  50. 
PHILIP,  King;  see  KING  PHILIP;  notice  of,  124. 
PHILLIPS,  Genera!,  joins  Arnold ;  death  of,  330. 
PHILLIPSE,  MARY,  Miss,  259. 
PHIPPS,  SIR  WILLIAM,  his  expedition  against  the  French, 

131.    At  Quebec,  131.    Sent  to  England,  132. 
"Phcebe,"  frigate,  431. 
Piankeshaw  Indians,  17, 19. 
PICKENS,  General,  295,  314,  315,  319.    At  Ninety -six,  336. 

Notice  of,  337.  > 

PICKERING,  JOHN,  member  of  the  Convention  on  the 

Articles  of  Confederation,  356. 
Picture  Writing,  Indian,  13. 

PIERCE,  FRANKLIN,  in  the  army  in  Mexico,  493.     Inau 
gurated  President,  512.    Notice  of,  513. 
PIERCE,  WILLIAM,  in  the  Convention  on  the  Articles  of 

Confederation,  356. 
PIGOT,  General,  289,  335. 
PIKE,  ALBERT,  notice  of,  592. 
PIKE,  ZEBULON  M.,  notice  of,  425. 
'•'•Pilgrims,'1''  The;  voyage  of  to  America,  77,  78.   Names 

of;  fabulous  story  of,  78.    Salutation  of,  by  Samoset, 

114. 

PILLOW,  GIDEON  J.,  566,  596. 
Pilot  Knob,  687. 
PIXCKNEY,  CHARLES,  in  the  Convention,  on  the  Articles 

of  Confederation,  1787,  356. 
PINCKNEY,  CHARLES  COTESWORTII,  in  the  Convention  on 

the  Articles  of  Confederation,  356.    Envoy  to  France, 

1797,  3S5.     Candidate  for  the  Presidency,  388,  396,  404. 

Notice  of,  385. 
Pine  Tree  Money,  122. 
PINKNEY,  WILLIAM,  His  Treaty  with  Great  Britain,  400. 

Notice  of,  401.y 
Pipe  of  Peace,  Indian,  14. 
Piscataqua,  Letters  from  the  King's  commissioner  at, 

118. 
Piracy,  The  Earl  of  Bellemonfs  elforts  to  suppress, 

149.     In  the  West  Indies,  149. 
PITCAIRN,  Major,  232. 
PITT  WILLIAM,  195.     His  views  of  taxation,  217,   544. 

His  scheme  for  conquering  Canada,  199.     Resigns  his 

office  as  Prime  Minister,  213.    Notice  of,  217.    See 

CHATHAM. 

PITT  WILLIAM,  the  younger,  367. 
Plain*  of  Abraham,  201,  202,  241. 
Planetarium,  Rittenhouse's,  210,  269. 
Plattsburg  Bay,  Naval  action  in, 435.     ' 
Pleasant  Hill,  Battle  near,  685. 
Plymouth   Colony,   Its    Government,  116.     Joins  the 

Confederacy  of  Colonies,  121. 
Plymouth  Company,  63,  64.     Explore  North  Virginia, 

73.     Employ  Captain  John  Smith,  new  charter  of  the, 

1620;    superseded   by  the   Council  of  Plymouth,  74. 

Consent  to  the  establishment  of  a  Puritan  Colony  in 

North  Virginia,  77. 
Plymouth,  Council  of,  74. 
Plymouth  Rock,  79. 
POCAHONTAS,  The  story  of,  66.     Guardian  angel  of  the 

Virginia  colony,  69.      Captured  by  Captain   Argall; 

baptized;  marries  John   Rolfe,  70.    John '  Randolph, 

decended  from,  404.    Portrait  of,  66. 
"  Poietiers,"  ship,  415. 
Point  Comfort,  64. 
Point  Isabel,  481. 

Point  Pleasant,T}\e  ShaWnoese Indians  subdued  at,  19. 
Pokonet  Indians,  22. 
POLK  JAMES  K.,  President  of  the  United   States,  473. 

Proclaims  Peace  with  Mexico,  497.     Notice  of,  478, 

479. 

POLK,  BISHOP,  General,  631. 
POLK,  LEONIDAS,  General,  566,  577. 
POMEROY,  BETH,  General,  19S,  238. 
Pompton,  New  Jersey  troops  at,  328,  329. 
PONCE  DE  LEON,  Juan.     Discovers  Florida,  42,  43. 
430.  f^ONTiAC,  Ottawa  Chief,  18,  204,205. 

Pope,  The,  His  Apostolic  Vicar  in   the  United   States, 

353.     Bulls  of,  46. 

POPE,  JOHN,  General,,  591,  600,  623,  624. 
POPHAM,    GEORGE,    Member    of   the  Plymouth   Com 
pany,  63. 

POPHAM,  Sir  JOHN,  At.  Kennebec,  73.     Death  of,  74. 
Popular  Rights,  in  Virgina.  112,  113. 
Population,  Of  the  American  colonies,  179.     Increase 


INDEX. 


773 


of,  in  the  United  States,  447,  448.      Of  Indian  Tribes, 
81,  32. 

"Porcupine"  schooner,  420. 
POKEY,  Secretary  of  Virginia,  97. 
PORTER,    DAVID,    Commodore,    430.       His  Expedition 

against  pirates,  453.     Notice  of,  431,  609,  642. 
PORTER,  FITZ  JOHN,  619,  620. 
Port  Hudson,  635,  Surrender  of,  646. 
Port  Royal,  Nova  Scotia.      Founded,  58.     Seized  by 

Phipps,  131.     Expedition  against,  135,  136. 
Port  Royal,  South  Carolina.     Oglethorpe  at,  100.    Lore 

Cardon  settles  at ;  claimed  by  the  Spaniards,  166. 
Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire.     Founded,  80. 
Portugal,  Claims  of,  against  the  United  States,  468. 
Portuguese,    Settle  in  Newfoundland  and  Nova  Scotia, 

47. 
Porto  Rico,  Exploring  voyages  to,  41.    Ponce  de  Leon 

Governor  of;  his  return  to,  42. 
Post  Office  of  the  United  States,  373.  507. 
Potomac,  Army  of  The ;  losses  in,  679,  571,  647,  623. 
Potomac  River,  blockade  of,  584. 
POTTER,  Colonel,  Death  of,  269. 
Pottowatomie-  Indians.  17,  18.    Conspire  against  the 

English,  205. 

POTTS,  ISAAC,  and  General  "Washington,  285. 
POUTRINCOURT,  M.     At  Port  Royal,  Nova  Scotia,  53. 
POWHATTAN,  65.     His  history,  20.     His  eldest  brother, 
66.     His  daughter,  Pocahontas,  20,  66.     His  hostility, 
Ms  friendship,  70.     Death  of,  106. 
Poiohatan  Indians,  17,  20, 107, 108. 
Poiohatan  River,  64. 

Prayer,  At  the  Continental  Congress,  228.  At  the  Con 
vention  on  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  359.  Mac- 
donough's  435. 

PREBLE  JEDEDIAII,  GeneraJ,  230. 
PREBLE,  Commodore,  In  the  Mediterranean,  391. 
PRESOOTT,  General  (British),  Captured;  exchanged  for 

General  Charles  Lee,  261,  271. 
PEESCOTT,  WILLIAM,  Colonel,  234,  235,  236.     Notice  of, 

234. 

"President"  frigate,  407,  414,  440. 
Press,  Freedom  of  the,  restrained  by  Andros,  130. 
PRESTON,  Captain,  221,  222. 

PROVOST,   AUGUSTINE,   General.      In   East  Florida,   in 
294.     At  Brier  Creek,  295.     Prepares  to  invade  South 
Carolina,  296. 
PREVOST,  Sir  GEORGE,  General,  Succeeds  General  Brock, 

416.     At  Sackett's  Harbor,  42(5.     At  Plattsburg,  434. 
PRICE,  Colonel,  In  New  Mexico,  4S9. 
PRICE,  STERLING,  General,  566,  591,  676. 
PEIDEAUX.  General,  199,  200. 

Prince  of  Orai^.,  The,  Friendly  to  America,  266. 
Princeton,   New  Jersey,   Captured  by  Cornwalls,  260. 

Battle  of,  269. 

" Princeton"  steamer,  475. 

PRING,  MARTIN,  His  Expedition  to  America,  58,  73. 
Printing,  Effects  produced  by  the  art  of,  62.     Forbid 
den  in  New  York,  by  James  It.,  147.     In  the  Ameri 
can  colonies,  prohibited  by  "William  III.,  153. 
Printing  Press,  The  Frst  established  in  Virginia  114. 
Prison  Ship,  Jersey,  259. 
Privateering,  149.  *  Account  of,  246.    Privateers  fitted 

out  by  Robert  Morris,  308 ;  and  by  M.  Genet,  337. 
Private  Judgment,  Doctrine  of,  at  "Plymouth,  116. 
PROCTOR,  General,  416.  At  Fort  Meigs,418,  419.  Routed, 

424. 

"  Prophet,"  The,  408. 

Protestant,  Origin  of  the  word,  62.      Reformation,  62. 
Feeling  aroused  in  England,  by  the  cruelties  of  Me- 
lendez,  52.     French  Protestants  in  Carolina,  55.    Prot 
estantism  in  England,  75. 
Providence  Plantation,  91. 
Providence,  Rhode  Island.      Founded,  90.      Burned, 

127. 

Public  Lands  of  the  United  States,  872. 
Pueblo,  The  City  of.     Captured  by  General  Scott,  490. 
PULASKI,  Count,  274.     Notice  of,  305. 
Pulaski  Fort,  taking  of,  603. 
Pulpit  Rock,  Lookout  mountain,  669. 
Puncah  Indians,  32. 

Puritans.  75,  76.  Friendly  intercourse  of  the,  with  the 
Dutch,  35.  Of  Massachusetts  colony,  118.  Settle  in 
New  Netherland,  143. 

PUTNAM,    ISRAEL,  General,  194,  234,  235,   238.     In  the 
French  and  Indian  "War,  198.    Enters  Boston,  247.    On 
Long  Island,  253.      At  the  house  of  Roger  Morris,  259. 
His  exploit  at  Greenwich,  297.    -Notice" of,  253. 
PUTNAM,  RUFUS,  General.    Notice  of,  363. 


PUTNAM,  H.  P.,  Colonel,  674. 

PYLE,  Colonel,  Defeated  by  Colonel  Henry  Lee,  333. 


Quaboag,  Englishmen  slain  at,  126. 

Quakers,  Origin  of  the  name,  94.  Their  tenets,  123. 
In  Pennsylvania,  94.  In  Massachusetts  Bay,  122.  In 
North  Carolina,  168,  231.  In  New  Jersey,  160.  Com 
pelled  to  pay  fines,  110.  Persecuted,  94/122,  123. 

Quaker  Hill,  Battle  of,  290. 

Quebec,  Algonquin s  at,  17.  Founders  of  74.  Military 
operations  at,  201.  Surrender  of,  to  General  Murray, 

"  Quebec  Act,"  The,  225. 

QUEEN  ANNE,  of  England,  134.     Queen  Anne's  War,  135. 

Queenstown,  Battle  of,  413,  414. 

QUINCY,  JOSIAII,  Defends  Captain  Preston,  222. 

Quinipiac  Creek,  83. 

QUITMAN,  General,  483,  494.     Notice  of,  494 

Quon-eh-ta-cut,  or  Connecticut,  85. 


E. 


Raisin  River,  417. 

RALEIGH,  Sir  WALTER,  Studies  the  art  of  war,  under 

Coligny,  52.      Introduces  tobacco  into  England,   70. 

Historical  error  respecting.  100.     Notice  of,  55,  56. 
Raleigh  Tavern,  The,  226, 

RALL,  Colonel,  With  his  Hessians  at  Trenton,  262 
RAMSAY,  DAVID,  Notice  of,  312,  617. 
RANDOLPH,  EDWARD.  129. 
RANDOLPH.   EDMUND,  356,  359.      Attorney  General  of 

the  United  States,  369. 
RANDOLPH,  JOHN,  Notice  of,  403,  404. 
RANDOLPH,  PEYTON,  228. 
Rank,  Of  American,  Naval  and  Military  commanders, 

soa 

RAPEL.TE,  SARAH,  78. 
Rappahannock  Station,  battle  of,  659. 
Rappahannock  River,  explored  by  Captain  John  Smith, 

Raritan  Indians,  140. 

RATCLIFFE,  President  of  the  Plymouth  Colony,  65. 

RAWDON,  Lord,  on  the  Santee  River  ;  at  Sanders' s  Creek, 
315.  At  Hobkirk's  Hill,  381.  Embarks  for  England, 
337. 

READ,  GEORGE,  356. 

Rebellion,  preparations  for,  550. 

Red  Cross  of  St.  Georare,  144. 

Red  River,  campaign  of.  '644.     Expedition  to,  684. 

Red  River.  De  Soto's  followers  wander  among  tributary 
streams  of  the,  45. 

Reformation,  the  Protestant,  62.    Effects  of  in  France, 
49. 
Regulators,'1'1  the,  223. 

Rehoboth,  Rhode  Island,  founded,  89. 

RENO,  General,  killed,  628. 

Republican  Party,  the,  377. 

Republicanism  in  Maryland,  152. 

Representatives  in  Congress,  3<>6. 

Resaca  de  la  Palma,  battle  of,  482. 
Retaliation,'1''  schooner,  captured,  385. 

Revenue  of  the  United  States,  333. 

SEVERE,  PAUL,  232. 

Revolution,  American,  history  of  the,  207.  The  Shaw- 
uoese  aid  the  British  in  the,  19.  The  Lenni-Lenapes 
join  the  British,  21.  Officers  and  soldiers  of  the.  nro- 
Vided  for,  453. 

Revolution,  English,  of  1633, 1G2. 
HETT,  Colonel,l69. 

Rhode  Island,  explored  by  Scandinavians,  35.  Origin 
of,  89,  91.  Founded.  62,  119.  Origin  of  the  name,  91. 
Seal  of,  91.  Colony  of,  proposes  to  join  the  Confed 
eracy  of  Colonies,  121.  Historg*^157.  Charter  of, 
158.  Refuses  to  be  included  in^Phiecticut  Colony, 
155.  Religious  toleration  in,  151.  Persecution  of 
Roman  Catholics  and  Quakers  in,  158.  Sir  Peter 
Parker  at,  261.  Evacuated  by  the  British,  306.  Joins 
the  Union,  371.  State  Constitution  of,  157,  447. 

RIALL,  Genera],  atChippewa,  433. 

"iiBAULT,  JOHN,  sails  with  Huiruonots  for  America,  50. 
Fate  of  him  and  his  party,  50,  51. 

Rice,  origin  of  the  culture  of,  in  South  Carolina,  167. 

Richmond,  McClellau  turns  back  from,  621.    Events  at, 


774 


INDEX. 


679.  Seige  of,  693.  Campaign  against,  693.  Evacua 
tion  of,  7 IS. 

EIEDESEL,  Baron,  with  Bnrgoyne,  281. 

EILEY,  General,  Governor  of  California,  499. 

Ring,  presented  by  Winthrop  to  Charles  II.,  155. 

KINGGOLD,  Major,  482. 

EINGGOLD,  Captain,  his  expedition,  415. 

Rio  del  Norte,  Coronada's  expedition  to  the  head  waters 
of  the,  45. 

Rio  Grande,  4SO,  4S1.  Boundary  of  the  Aztec  Empire, 
10,  678. 

EIPLEY,  General,  at  Fort  Erie,  in  1S14,  433. 

EISINGII,  Governor,  143. 

EITTENHOUSE,  David.  210,  211. 

Elver  Indians,  140,  141. 

EOANOKE,  Lord  of.  56. 

Roanoke  Island,  55,  64.    Attack  on,  90.  ' 

EOBB,  WILLIAM,  at  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain,  319. 

EOBERTVAL,  Lord,  his  expedition  to  New  France ;  arrives 
at  Newfoundland;  his  second  expedition,  1549,  49. 

EOBINSON,  JOHN,  Eev.,  at  Leyden,  77.  His  remark 
respecting  Standish's  slaughter  of  Indians,  115,  116. 
His  family  join  the  Plymouth  colonists,  116. 

EOCIIAMHEAU,  Count  de,  arrives  at  Newport,  321.  His 
first  interview7  with  Washington,  323.  At  Dobbs's 
Ferry,  339.  At  Yorktown,  341.  Notice  of,  839. 

EOCHE,  Marquis  de  la,  57. 

Rockets,  used  in  war,  described,  437. 

EOCKINGHAM,  Marquis  of,  217. 

EODNEY,  CAESAR,  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States, 
406. 

EOLFE,  JOHN,  marries  Pocahontas,  70. 

EOGEKS,  C.  E.  P.,  Commodore,  407,  60S. 

EOGERS,  Major,  194.  His  expedition  against  the  St. 
Francis  Indians,  200. 

Roman  Catholics,  auricular  confession  of,  38.  Punish 
witchcraft,  132.  Found  a  colony  in  Maryland,  62,  81, 
151,152.  Persecuted  by  Puritans,  119;  and  in  Mary 
land,  New  York,  and  New  England,  131,  132,  154. 
Provincial  offices  in  New  York  filled  by,  147.  The 
prevalence  of  their  faith  in  Lower  Canada,  203.  Par 
liamentary  concessions  to,  225. 

EOQUE,  FRANCIS  DE  LA,  see  EOBERTVAL. 

EOSE,  Mr.,  British  Envoy  to  the  United  States,  402. 

EOSECRANS,  W.  S.,  General,  503.  084,  C37,  662,  665. 

Eoss,  General,  486.     Death  of,  437. 

Roxbury,  Massachusetts,  founded,  118 

EOUSSEAU,  General,  706. 

Royal  Standard  of  England.  144. 

EUGGLES,  TIMOTHY.  190,  215. 

Rum,  Indians  supplied  with  by  the  Dutch,  140. 

Ersn,  BENJAMIN,  Dr.,  his  letter  to  General  Wayne,  298. 
Notice  of,  250,  251, 

EUSSEL,  JOHN,  United  States  Commissioner  at  Ghent, 
443. 

EUSSELL,  LORD  JOHN,  512. 

Russia,  England's  first  maritime  connection  with,  47. 
Vassalage  in,  63.  The  Emperor  of  enters  Paris,  431. 
Treaty  of  the  United  States  with,  469. 

EUTH«BFOR»,  General,  295. 

EUTLEDGE,  EDWARD,  on  the  committee  to  confer  with 
Lord  Howe,  257. 

EUTLEDGE,  JOHN,  in  Convention  on  the  Articles  of  Con 
federation,  856,  859.  Defends  Charleston,  310.  His 
proceedings  after  the  capture  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  345. 
Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
869.  Notice  of,  310. 

Ryswiek,  the  treaty  at,  134. 


S. 

Sacs  and  Foxes,  17, 18. 

/St.  Aiif/iiftHne,  Florida,  Ponce  de  Leon  lands  near,  42. 
Eibault's  expedition  arrives  at,  50.  Founded,  51. 
Spanish  militaj^jost  at,  61.  609. 

Ft.  Aurjustine.  4^R'<>.  General  Twisrgs  at,  493. 

St.  dair,  Genenfr275.  Ills  expedition  against  the,  In 
dians,  1791,  874. 

AV.  Croi.r  Hirer,  De  Monts  at  the,  58. 

St.  Domingo,  discovery  of,  bv  Columbus,  40.  Exploring 
voyages  to,  41.  D'Ayllon  dies  at,  43.  The  body  of 
Columbus  removed  to,  41 

St.  Francis  Indians,  Major  Eogers's  expedition  against 
the,  200. 

St.  John's,  Newfoundland.     Gilbert  at,  52. 

St.  John's  River,  named  by  Eibault  u  Eiver  of  May,"  50. 


St.  Lawrence  River,  origin  of  the  name,  48.  Indians  on 
the,  32. 

ST.  LEGER,  Colonel,  in  the  Mohawk  Valley,  278.  Invests 
Fort  Stanwix,  278. 

St.  Mary's,  Florida,  pirates  and  slave-dealers  at,  448. 

St.  Mary's,  Maryland,  151.  Founded;  legislative  As 
sembly  convened  at,  82. 

ST.  PIEREE,  M.  DE.  Governor  Dinwiddie's  letter  to,  181, 
1S2. 

St.  Regis,  General  Wilkinson  at,  427. 

Salem,  Massachusetts,  colony,  117.  The  General  As 
sembly  of  Massachusetts  meets  at,  226,  227.  Witch 
craft  at,  132,  133. 

Salem,  New  Jersey,  origin  of  the  name,  95. 

Salmon  Falls,  village  attacked  by  the  French  and  In 
dians,  131. 

Saltillo,  General  Wool  and  Colonel  Doniphan  at, 484, 488. 

SALTONSTAIT,,  SIR  EICIIARD,  117,  118. 

SAMOSET  salutes  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  114.  Teaches 
Stan  dish  how  to  cultivate  Indian  corn,  115. 

San  Antonio,  483,  493. 

Sanitary  Commission,  723. 

Sanders's  Creek,  battle  at,  315. 

SANDYS,  SIR  EDWTARD,  77,  105. 

Sun  Gabriel,  battle  at,  4S7. 

San  Juan  d'  Vlloa,  Castle  of,  489. 

San  Luis  Potosi,  485. 

San  Salvador,  see  Guanahama. 

SANTA  ANNA,  ANTONIO  LOPSZ  DE,  477,  485,  486,  489,  490. 
Sketch  of,  514. 

*  Saratoga"  ship,  435. 

SARGENT,  WINTHROP,  363. 

Sasco  Swam 2),  88. 

SASSACUS,  Pequod  Sachem,  21,  87,  88. 

SASSAMON,  JOHN,  124. 

SAUNDERS,  Admiral,  201. 

Savannah  Indians,  30. 

Savannah,  Georgia,  founded,  62, 101,  103.  Siege  of,  305. 
Evacuated  by  the  British,  348,  703. 

SAY-AND-SEAL,  Lord,  85. 

Saybrook,  Connecticut,  settlement  at,  86.  Andres's  ex 
pedition  to,  147.  Colony  at,  154. 

SAYLE,  WILLIAM,  his  colony  ;  death  of,  98. 

SAYRE,  STEPHEN,  Chatham's  letter  to,  228. 

Scandinavian,  Voyaces,  34.  Child  born  at  Ehode  Is 
land,  35. 

Schenectaday,  Desolated,  131,  143. 

SCIIOFIELD,  J.  M.,  General,  685,  705,  713. 

Schoharie  Valley,  Devastation  of,  290. 

Schools,  Established  in  Mass.,  121. 

SCIIUYLER,  PHILIP,  General,  Conveys  to  Albany  the  re 
mains  of  Lord  Howe,  197.  At  He  awe  Noix,  240.  At 
Fort  Edward,  276.  Superseded  by  Gates,  277.  Notice 
of,  239,  240. 

"  Scorpion"  The,  One  of  Commodore  Perry's  vessels, 
420. 

SCOTT,  DRED,  Fugitive  Slave,  decision  concerning,  532. 

SCOTT,  WIN-FIELD^  General,  At  Fort  George,  426.  Cap 
tures  Fort  Erie,  433.  His  mission  to  remove  the 
cherokees;  his  expedition  against  the  Seminoles,  467. 
On  the  Canada  frontier,  in  Maine,  472.  Plan  of  his 
Mexican  campaign,  4S3.  At  Vera  Cruz,  485,  489.  At 
Cerro  Gordo,  4S9,  490.  At  Cherubusco,  1847,  493. 
At  Chepultepec,  494.  At  Mexico,  494,  495.  Nomin 
ated  President  of  the  United  States,  513.  Notice  of, 
4S5,  507. 

SBABURT,  SAMUEL,  Bishop  of  Connecticut,  354. 

SEARS,  ISAAC,  232. 

SEAVER,  EBENEZER,  of  Massachusetts,  409. 

Secession,  Authors  of,  .540, 

SEDGWICK,  General,  650.     Killed,  690. 

SEDGWICK,  THEODORE,  Address  of,  516. 

Sedition  Law  of  the  United  States,  386. 

Seekonk  River,  89,  90. 

Seminole  Indians,  Subdued  by  General  Jackson,  SO. 
Deputations  of,  448,  466.  Treaties  of  the,  with  the 
United  States,  468. 

SEMMF.S,  EAPIIAEL.  Captain  of  "Alabama,"  641,  707. 

Seneca  Indians,  23,110.  Eed  Jacket  Chief  of  the  14. 
At  Genesee  Flats,  304.  Conspire  against  the  English, 
205.  Hi-a-wat-ha's  address  to  the,  24. 

"  Serapis,"  ship.     Captured  by  Paul  Jones,  807. 

Settlement,  Era  of,  in  North  America,  61. 

Seven  Years'  War  in  America,  179.  Cost  of  the,  204, 
206. 

Seven  Pines,  Battle  of,  619. 

SEVIER,  JOHN,  At  King's  Mountain,  319. 

SEWARD,  WILLIAM  H.,  CSd. 


INDEX. 


775 


Shackamaxin,  Pennsylvania,  96. 
"Shades  of  Heath,"  The,  891. 

SUAFTESBURY,  Earl,  of,  98,  99.    His  "Fundamental  Con 
stitution,"  164. 
"Shannon*'  frigate,  429. 

SHARPE,  Governor,  184,  185. 

SHAW,  ROBERT  G.  Jr.,  Colonel,  674. 

Shawmut,  Massachusetts,  89,  US.  The  site  of  Boston, 
visited  by  Standish,  115. 

Shawnoese  Indians,  17,  19.  Join  the  French,  in  the 
French  and  Indian  "War,  19.  Aid  the  British,  19.  Con 
spire  against  the  English,  205.  Treaty  with  the,  3C3. 

SHAYS,  DANIEL,  353. 

SHEAFFE,  General,  416.     At  York,  Canada.  425. 

SHELBY,    ISAAC,  Governor,   At  King's    Mountain,   319. 

Sanctions  Hopkin's  Expedition  against  the  Indians, 
416.  Declines  the  appointment  of  Secretary  of  War, 
447.  Notices  of,  417, 423. 

Shelly,  Gloucester  County,  Virginia.  66. 

Shenandoah  Valley,  6S9.     Campaign  in.  697,  652. 

SHERIDAN  PHILIP  1L,  General,  690,  692,  697. 

SHERMAN  ROGER,  On  the  Committee  to  draft  the  Declar 
ation  of  Independence,  251.  In  Convention  on  the 
Articles  of  Confederation.  356. 

SHERMAN,  T.  W.,  General,  582. 

SHERMAN,  W.  T.,  General,  599,  609,  642,  669,  6S1,  699, 701. 
His  march  to  the  sea,  703,  705,  712. 

SHIELDS,  General,  In  Mexico,  493.     Notice  of,  493. 

Shiloh,  Battle  of,  602. 

Ships,  Raleigh's  56.  The  class  of,  used  by  the  early  ex 
plorers  of  America,  60. 

SIIIPPEN,  EDWARD,  General  Arnold  marries  the  daughter 
of,  324. 

SIIIPPEN,  Captain,  Death  of,  269. 

SHIRLEY,  WILLIAM.  Governor,  J137,  18-1,  185.  His  Ex 
pedition  against  Niagara,  185,  189;  and  against  Acadie, 
185.  Succeeds  Braddock;  Governor  of  the  Bahamas, 
191. 

SIIUBRICK,  Commodore.  With  Colonel  Kearney,  at 
Monterey,  4S7. 

SHUTE,  Governor,  136. 

SIBLEY,  II.  B.,  593. 

SICKLES,  DANIEL,  650. 

SIEYES,  The  Abbe,  386. 

SIGEL,  General.  573,  691. 

Silk,  Culture  of,  in  Georgia,  100. 

SILLIMAN,  General,  At  Ridgefield,  270. 

Silver,  Bullet,  containing  Clinton's  dispatch  to  Bnrgoyne, 
283.  Coins,  the  first,  in  the  United  States,  122. 

SIMCOE,  Colonel,  339. 

Sioux  Indian*,  31.  32. 

Six  Nations,  Origin  and  History  of  the.  26.  The  British 
Government  advises  the  colonies  to  secure  the  friend 
ship  of  the,  1S3.  Neutrality  of  the,  192,  193.  Their 
treaties  of  friendship,  191),  363.  Join  Amherst,  203. 
Sullivan's  Expedition  against  the,  303,  304. 

SKENE,  PHILIP,  275. 

Skenesborough,  or  Whitehall,  276. 

Slaves,  The  nativis  of  America  used  as,  by  Columbus, 
41.  Indians  sold  as,  74.  Sold  to  the  Virginia  planters, 
by  the  Dutch,  105.  Commencement  of  negro  slavery 
in  South  Carolina,  98.  Labor  by,  general  in  Georgia, 
174.  In  XV w  Kiurhnid  and  other  colonies.  177.  Slave- 
ships  fn.m  Af.-i.-a  M  Savannah.  17!,  Tn  flic  Tinted 
States,  :;V1.  Debate*  on  slavery  in  Conirress.  4. ".-_'. 
Charles  Fenton  MerceT  8  llfSUlUCwn^HSclaWll^  ffte 
slave-trade  to  be  piracy,  593.  The  Ashburton  treaty, 
respecting  slave-trade,  472.  Excluded  from  California, 
499.  Reopening  of,  535. 

SLEMMKR,  Lieut,  580. 

SLIDELL,  JOHN,  Confederate  Commissioners,  585,  587. 
Returns  to  England.  589. 

SLOAT,  Commodore,  Captures  Menterey,  437. 

SLOCUM,  II.  W.,  General,  703. 

SLOUGIITER,  HENRY,  Governor,  148. 

SMIBERT,  JOHN,  Artist,  Introduces  portrait-painting 
in  America,  158. 

SMILIE,  JOHN,  Member  of  the  Committee  of  Congress, 
on  the  War  of  1812,  409. 

SMITH,  A.  J.,  687. 

SMITH,  C.  F.,  596. 

SMITH,  E.  Kirby,  632. 

SMITH,  JOHN,  Captain,  63.  His  voyage  to  America; 
President  of  the  Jamestown  colony,  65.  Captured  by 
Indians;  saved  by  Pocahontas,  66.  Remonstrates 
against  gold-digging;  leaves  Jamestown  in  disgust. 
His  explorations  and  travels,  67.  Returns  to  England, 
68.  His  popularity  with  the  Indians,  69.  Employed 


by  the  Plymouth  Company ;  captured  by  a  French 
pirate  74.  Offers  his  services  to  the  Puritans,  77.  The 
Indian  capturer  of  106.  His  History  of  Virginia  65 
Notice  of,  (55. 

SMITH,  JOSEPH,  founds  Mormon  sect,  504. 

SMITH,  T.  KIKBY,  684. 

SMITH,  PERSIFER  F.,  General,  at  Contreras,  493. 

SMITH,  SAMUEL,  General,  at  FortMifflin,  275.  Notice  of, 
436. 

SMITH.  W.  F  ,  General,  692,  682.  . 

S.IYTH,  ALEXANDER,  General,  414. 

Snake  Indians,  33. 

SNOKKE,  the  child  of  Gudrida,  35. 

So  MI:  us.  SIR  GEORGE,  68. 

••  SoiiH'i'x"  the.  one  of  Commodore  Perry's  vessels,  420. 

Soiwra,  Colonel  Fremont  at,  in  1846,  4S7. 

Sons  of  Libert*/,  political  associations,  215.  Of  Massa 
chusetts,  233.  Of  New  York.  248. 

SOTIIEL,  SKTH,  Governor,  165,  167. 

Southampton,,  England,  Puritans  sail  from,  77. 

South  Carolina,  Catawbas  in,  27.     Colony,  163.     Occu- 

Pied  by  the  British,  in  1780,  813.  Secession  of,  546. 
)uiet  in.  672. 

South  Mountain,  battle  of,  628. 

South  Ilicer,  or  Delaware  River,  94. 

South  Sea,  ori trin  of  the  name,  42. 

South  F/>Y///m/,  63,  68. 

Spain  cedes  the  Floridas  to  England,  204.  At  war  with 
England  ;  secret  treatv  of,  with  France,  3o6  Treaty 
of,  with  the  United  States,  381,  451.  Difficulties  with, 
519. 

Sjmniards  claim  Port  Royal,  166.  Menace  South  Caro 
lina  settlements,  167.  Moore's  expedition  against,  169. 
Contests  of,  with  Oglethorpe,  172. 

Spanish  voyages  and  discoveries,  36-45. 

Specie  payments,  suspended,  471. 

"Speedwell,"  Puritan  ship,  77,  115. 

SPENCER,  JOSEPH,  General,  238,  289. 

Spottfojfcania  Court  House,  battle  at,  689. 

SPRAIGHT,  RICHARD  DOBBS,  356,  534,  629. 

Spring,  at  Shawmut,  118.  Williams's,  at  Providence, 
Rhode  Island,  90. 

Si> riii t/fi 'eld  Indians,  127. 

Springfield,  Connecticut,  86,  127. 

Springfield,  New  Jersey,  skirmish  at,  320,  321. 

SQUANTO,  Indian  Chief,  74, 114. 

Stamp  Act,  the,  becomes  a  law,  213.  Fate  of,  in  Ameri 
ca,  215.  Repealed,  217. 

STANTON,  EDWARD  M.,  attempted  removal  of,  730. 

STANDISH,  MILES,  Captain,  78,  115. 

STARK,  JOHX,  General,  198,234,  277. 

Star-Spangled,  Banner,  origin  of  the,  437. 

States,  State  Rights  Doctrine,  463,  464.  Approve  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  bill,  536.  Disapprove,  536. 

State  Banks,  the  public  funds  distributed  among  the, 
470. 

STEELE,  General,  676,  686. 

STEPHENS,  ALEXANDER  H.,  548.     Arrest  of,  722. 

STEPHENS,  SAMUEL,  Governor,  98. 

STEUBEN,  Baron,  in  Virginia,  333.  Pursues  Cornwallis, 
339.  Notice  of,  291.  " 

STEWART,  Commodore,  440. 

STKWART,  Colonel,  at  Orangeburg,  337.  Pursued  by 
Greene,  337,  338. 

STEVENS,  General,  death  of,  627. 

STEWART,  J.  C.  B.,  General,  619,  690. 

STIRLING,  Lord,  General,  144,  2*8,  254,  261.  His  skirmish 
with  a  corps  under  Cornwallis,  272.  Notice  of,  254. 

STIRLING,  Colonel  (British),  259. 

Stockbridge  Indians,  187. 

STOCKTON,  ROBERT  F.,  Commodore,  takes  possession  of 
Los  An.gelos;  at  San  Gabriel,  487.  Notice  of.  4>7. 

STODDERT'  BENJAMIN,  first  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  382, 
389. 

STONEMAN,  General,  648. 

STONE,  WILLIAM,  Governor,  152. 

Sl<>iiin(iton,  Commodore  Hardy  at,  437. 

Stono  Indians,  depredations  by  the.  in  the  Carol inas, 
165. 

Stony  Creek,  skirmish  at,  426. 

Stony  Point,  capture  of,  297,  298. 

STOUGIITON,  Captain.  8S. 

Streets  of  PJiiladelphia,  origin  of  the  names  of,  162. 

STREIGHT,  A.  D.,  Colonel,  662. 

STRICKER.  General,  at  Baltimore,  437. 

String,  Wampnm,  13. 

STRONG,  CALEB,  356. 

SFUEGIS,  General,  683. 


776 


INDEX. 


SITYVESANT,  PETER,  Governor,  93,  141,  142.  Captures 
Swedish  forts;  chastises  the  Esopus  Indians,  143. 

Sub-Treasury  Scheme,  471,  475. 

Sugar  Bill,  the,  213. 

SULLIVAN,  JOHN,  General,  238.  At  Brooklyn,  253.  Pa 
roled,  257.  Succeeds  General  Charles  Lee:  joins 
Washington,  201.  At  Trenton,  202.  At  Brandywine, 
273.  Supersedes  General  Spencer,  289.  At  the  battle 
of  Quaker  Hill,  290.  His  expedition  against  the  Six 
Nations,  303,  304.  AtTioga  Point ;  at  Chernung,  304. 

SUMNKR,  General,  C15,  621. 

Sultan,  the,  Mary  Fisher's  mission  to,  123; 

SUMNER,  JETHKO,  General,  337. 

Sr.MTEi:,  THOMAS,  General,  in  South  Carolina,  314.  On 
the  Catawba;  at  Hanging  Rock,  315.  At  Fishing 
Creek,  316.  Returns  to  South  Caroline,  1780,  319. 
The  South  Carolina  Gamecock,  319. 

/Burnt er,  Fort,  first  gun  fired  at,  553. 

Susquehanmi  Indians.  17, 110. 

SUTTER,  Captain,  of  California,  gold  discovered  near  the 
mill  of,  in  1S4S,  497. 

Sttfttnvey,  King  Philip  attacks  the  men  of  Plymouth  at, 
12o. 

Swamp  Angel,  the,  674. 

Swedes  seize  Fort  Casimir,  142.  Subjugated  by  the 
Dutch,  143.  In  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  62. 

Swedish,  Colony  in  America,  92.  Fortresses,  captured 
by  Stuyvesant,  143.  West  India  Company,  93. 

Swine,  taken  to  America,  44;  to  Newfoundland  and 
Nova  Scotia,  47,  53;  to  Virginia,  68. 

Sycamores,  at  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  90. 

SYMMES,  JOHN  CLEVES,  363. 

Syracuse,  New  York,  great  Council  Fire  at,  23. 


T. 

Tabaco,  Yucatan,  70. 

Talladega,  battle  at,  428. 

u  Tallahassee"  Confederate  privateer,  714. 

Tallushatchee,  General  Coffee  at,  428. 

Tamarona  Indians,  19. 

Tampa  Bay,  De  Soto  lands  at,  44. 

Tampico,  Captured  by  Commodore  Conner,  485. 

TANEY,  ROGER  B.,  Chief  Justice,  Removes  the  Govern 
ment  funds  from  the  United  States  Bank,  465.  Ad 
ministers  the  oath  of  office  to  President  Van  Buren, 
470  ;  to  President  Harrison,  474  ;  to  President  Taylor, 
499.  Sketch  of,  533. 

Tariff  Bill,  Of  1828,  459,  463,  464.  Modifications  of  the, 
476,  477,  497. 

TARLETON,  Colonel,  Loss  of  his  cavalry  horses  on  Cape 
Hatteras,  309.  Defeats  Colonel  Hucer,  311.  His 
slaughter  of  Buford's  troops.  313.  At  Sanders's  Creek, 
316.  At  Fishing  Creek,  316.  At  the  Cowpens,  331. 
Notice  of,  816. 

Tarnation,  Without  representation,  is  tyranny,  104, 165, 
211,212.  AVilliam  Pitt's  opinion  of,  217.  Views  of  in 
the  Carolinas.  164,  165;  and  in  Massachusetts,  219. 

TAYLOR,  BAYARD,  Poem  of,  557. 

TAYLOR,  DICK,  677. 

TAYLOR,  ZACHARY,  General,  Succeeds  General  Jesup  in 
the  Seminole  war,  468.  His  army  of  occupation,  4SO. 
At  Point  Isabel.  4S1.  Captures  Matamoras.  483.  At 
Monterey,  4S4;  Victoria,  485;  Buena  Vista,  486.  Map 
of  the  region  of  his  operations,  486.  President  of  the 
United  States,  1849,  490.  Death  of,  501.  Notice  of, 
498. 

TAYLOR,  General,  622. 

Tea,  Tax  on  by  the  British  Government,  222.  De 
struction  of  at  Boston,  225. 

TECUMTIIA,  20, 4<iS,  411.  Defeated  by  Colonel  Miller,  411. 
Rouses  the.  Southern  tribes  of  Indians,  427.  Death, 
425.  Notice  of,  424. 

Te  Deum,  The,  Sung  after  victories  and  deliverances, 
265. 

Tennessee,  Secession  of,  547.  Persecution  of  Union 
men,  575.  Lost  to  Confederates,  51)8.  In  possession 
of  the  Union  Army,  60S.  Events  in,  661.  Restored 
to  the  Union,  727. 

Tenure  of  Office,  Bill  of,  729. 

TKUXAY,  Admiral,  His  fleet  at  Newport,  321.  His  death, 
339. 

TERRY,  A.  II.,  Admiral,  713. 

Territory,  Indian,  Claimed  by  England,  17.  Southwest 
of  the  Ohio,  372.  Territorial  Government  of  the 
United  States,  362.  "  The  Territories,"  96. 

Texas,  Retained  by  Spain,  451.    Annexation  of  to  the 


United  States,  477,  478.    State  Constitution  of,  479. 

Claims  of,  499.    Secession  of,.547.     Expedition  for  the 

recovery  of,  678. 
Thames  River,  Connecticut,  Discovered  by  Block,  72, 

87.     Mohegan  Indians  on  the,  21. 
Thames  River,  Canada,  Battle  on  the,  424. 
Thanksgiving  and  Prayer,  Congress  recommends  the 

appointment  of  a  day  for,  370.     National,  after  the 

Peace  of  1814,  144. 

THAYENDANEGA  :  see  BRANT,  JOSEPH. 
THOMAS,  GEORGE  II.,  General,  594,  663,  665,  705. 
THOMAS,  JOHN,  General,  238.      In  Canada;    Notice  of, 

243. 

THOMAS,  LORENZO,  Appointed  Secretary  of  War,  731. 
THOMPSON   BENJAMIN,   Colonel,  Count    Rumford ;    and 

notice  of,  346. 

THOMPSON,  Colonel,  At  Sullivan's  Island,  249. 
THOMPSON,  DAVID,  His  colony  of  fishermen,  79. 
THOMPSON,  M.  JEFF.,  Guerilla  Chief,  676. 
THOMPSON,  WILLEY,  General,  His  expedition  to  Florida, 

1834,  466.    Death  of,  467. 

THOMSON,  CHARLES,  Secretary  of  the  Continental  Con 
gress  ;  Congress  presents  an  urn  to  his  wife.  228. 
THORNTON,  Captain,  At  the  Rio  Grande,  481,  482. 
Thoroughfare  Gap,  625. 
TIIURY,  M.,  The  Jesuit,  130. 
Ticonderoga,  Samuel  Champlain  at,  59.    Abercrombie's 

Expedition  against,  196.    Ruins  of.  197.    Captured  by, 

Allen  and  Arnold,  238. 
"  Tigress,"  schooner,  420. 
Tinicum  Island,  93. 
Tippecanoe,  Battle  of,  408. 
Tobacco,  Its  use  among  the  aboriginals,  14.    Introduced 

into  England,  70.    A  circulating  medium  in  Virginia, 

105.    James  I.  proposes  to  contract  for  the  whole  crop 

of,  in  Virginia,  107.     Culture  of,  at  Plymouth,  116. 
Tobasco,  Cortez  lands  at,  43.    Captured  by  Commodore 

Perry,  485.    , 
To -MO-CHI-CHI,  Creek  Sachem ;  his  speech  to  Oslethorpe, 

103. 
TOMPKLNS,  DANIEL  D.,  Governor,  412.     Vice-President 

of  the  United  States ;  notice  of,  446. 
Tonomy  Hill.  Rhode  Island,  125. 
Torpedoes,  673. 
Tories,  In  the  Carolinas,  309.     The  term  Tory  explained 

226. 

TOTTEN,  Colonel,  at  Vera  Cruz ;  notice  of.  489. 
TOWNSIIEND,   CHARLES,   Chancellor  of  the   Exchequer, 

218. 

TOWNSHEND,  General,  201.     At  Quebec,  201-203. 
TREAT,  ROBERT,  Governor,  156. 
Treaties,    Indian,   362,  363.     Treaty  of  peace  between 

Gr£at  Britain  and  the  United  States,  443,  444.     Treaty 

between  Spain  and  the  United  States,  451. 
^  Trent"  British  steamer. 
Trenton,   New    Jersey,   Captured  by   Cornwallis,   260. 

Battle  of.  262. 

Tri-Mouniain,  or  Boston,  113. 
Tripartite  Treaty,  The,  513. 
Tripoli,  The  United  States  at  war  with,  390,  391.    De- 

catur  at,  445. 
"  'Jrij>]H>"  sloop,  420. 
TRIST,  NICHOLAS  P.,  United  States  Commissioner  to  treat 

for  peace  with  Mexico,  494. 
TROUP,  Governor,  456. 
TRUMBULL,  JONATHAN,  notice  of,  324. 
TRYON,  Governor,  223.     Driven   from   New   York,  248. 

At   Compo,  270.     Atrocities  committed  by,  270,  271. 

His  marauding  expeditions,  296. 

TUCKER.  President  of  the  New  Jersey  Convention,  260. 
Tun  /*,  The  United  States  at  war  with,  1801,  390.    De- 

catur  at,  445. 
TUPPER,  General  416. 

Tuscarora  Indians,  20,  23.    Defeated  by  the  Caroli 
nians  ;  Join   the  Five  Nations,  25.     Conspire  against 

the  North  Carolina  settlements,  168. 
Tiiftpan,  captured  by  Commodore  Perry,  4S5. 
TWIGGS,  General,  483,  489.     At  Cerro  Gordo,  489,  490. 

At  St.  Augustine,  493.    Notice  of,  493. 
TYLER,  JOHN,  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  473. 

Succeeds  President  Harrison ;  Notice  of,  475. 


U. 

Uchee  Indians,  their  territory  and  language,  12,  28. 
UNCAS,  Mohegan  Chief,  87.    His  rumor  against  the  Nar- 
ragansetts,  155. 


INDEX. 


777 


UNDERHILL,  JOHN,  Captain,  87, 141. 

Union  Flag,  144. 

Unitarians,  persecuted  in  Maryland,  82,  151. 

United  States,  Confederation,  articles  of,  266,  2C7,  353, 

355.     Constitution,  355.     Mint,  873,  373.     Post-office, 

373.    Navy,  origin  of.  382.    Commerce,  331,  382.    Non- 
intercourse    with    Great   Britain,    399.      Injured    by 

England  and  France,  400,  401,  by  pirates.  453.     Bank, 

446.      Oposed    by   President  Jackson,  462,   465,  466. 

Government    in    great  danger,   627.     Treaties  with 

Great  Britain,  848,  380,  443  ;  France,  3S6;  Russia,  469;      Walloons,  arrive  at  Manhattan,  in  73. 

Spain,  381  ;  Belgium,  469:  Mexico,  497;  Algiers,  381;     Walnut  Springs,  484. 

Tripoli,  395;   Maini   Indians,   463.    Wars  :—  England,  j  WALPOLE,  ROBERT,  213. 

409;  France,  385;    Mexico,  480,  522;    Morocco,"  390 ;  j  WALTON,  GEORGE,  in   Convention   on  the  Articles   of 

Tripoli  and  Tunis,  390;    Algiers,  390.     Claims  of  the,  I      Confederation,  356. 

against   France   and   Portugal,  463.    Dispute  of   the,  \  Wampanoag  Indians,  22, 114, 124. 

with  Great  Britain  respecting  Oregon,  405,  406,  479,  i  WANCHESE,  Indian  chief,  55. 

War,  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  235.     Of  the  Austrian 


WADSWOETH,  General,  killed.  6>9. 

WALDRON,  Major,  Death  of,  130. 

WALKER,  Governor,  165. 

WALKER,  SIR  HOVENDON,  at  Boston,  136. 

WALKER,  WILLIAM,  Colonel,  his  military  operations,  523, 

524,  525. 

WALKER,  Captain,  of  the  Texan  Rangers,  481,  482. 
WALLACE,  SIR  JAMES,  223. 
WALLACE,  Louis,  General,  590,  633,  695. 
Wafl  a-  Walla  River,  Battle  at  the,  528. 


pop 
Unite 


480.     Exploring  expeditions  return  to,  476.      Indian 
filiation  of,  32. 

liied  Stales,  debt  of,  678.    Finances  of,  673.    Debt  in 

1868,  734. 

"  United  States'1'1  frigate.  382,414,415. 
Utah,  499.     Territory  of,  537. 
Utrecht,  Peace  of,  136. 

V, 

VALENCIA,  General,  at  Contreras,  493. 

VALLANDIGHAM,  CLEMENT  L.,  656,711. 

Valley  Forge,  Washington  in  winter  quarters  at,  234. 

Valparaiso,  Naval  action  at.  431. 

VAN  ,<UREN,  MARTIN,  Secretary  of  State-,  461.  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States,  464.  President,  469. 
Notice  of,  469. 

VAN  DAM,  RIP,  158. 

VAN  DORN,  MARCH,  Earl,  592. 

VANE,  HENRY,  86.  Governor;  favors  Anne  Hutchinson, 
120. 

VAN  Ho RNK,  Major,  411. 

VAN  RENSSELAE'P.,  SOLOMON,  Colonel,  413. 

VAN  EENSSELAER,  STEPHEN,  Goncral,  commands  the 
Army  of  the  Centre,  412,  413.  Notice  of,  412. 

VAN  EENSSKLAER.  KILLIAN,  139. 

VAN  TWILLER,  WOUTER,  139. 

VAN  WART,  ISAAC,  326. 

VARNUM,  JAMES  M.,  General,  855. 

VASCO  DE  GAM  A,  passes  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  in  37. 

VANBREUIL,  Governor-General  of  Canada,  203. 

VAPGHAN,  JOHN,  General,  burns  Kingston,  253,  297. 

VELASQUEZ,  expeditions  to  Mexico,  43, 

Vera  Cries,  its  fortress;  capture  of,  by  General  Scott,  489. 

VERGENNES,  Count  do,  his  dissatisfaction  respecting  the 
Treaty  of  Peace,  348. 

Vermont,  added  to  the  United  States,  in  1791,  371. 

Verplanck's  Paint,  captuieof  the  fortress  at,  297. 

VERAZZANI,  JOHN,  his  expedition  to  America,  47. 

Versche  River,  or  Connecticut  River,  82. 

Vesper  Hymn,  sung  by  Columbus  and  his  crew.  39. 

VESPUCIUS,  AMKPVICUS,  account  of,  40,  41.  Visits  the 
West  Indies,  and  South  America,  41.  Discoveries  by, 
60. 

Vicksburg,  635  642.  Assault  on,  645.  Surrender  of, 
646,  681. 

VICTORIA,  General,  477. 

VILLIERS,  M.  de,  183. 

Vincennes.  Captured,  and  re-captured,  1779,  303. 

"  Viper"1'-  brig,  414. 

Virginia,  Origin  of  the  name  of,  55.  Capes  of,  59. 
North,  63.  South,  63,  68.  First  settlement  of,  62. 
The  colonists  of,  subdue  the  Shawnees,  at  Point  Pleas 
ant,  19.  Lord  De  la  Warr,  governor  of,  68.  Famine 
in,  69.  Representative  Assembly  in,  71,  105.  Tobacco 
a  circulating  medium  in.  105.  Opposes  Cromwell ; 
invites  Charles  II.  to  be  king  of  Virginia,  109.  The 
Seneca  Indians  make  war  upon,  110.  Response  of  the 
Burgesses  of,  to  Jeffries,  113.  Militia  of,  counties  and 
parishes  of,  114.  Takes  measures  against  the  French, 
182, 183.  Grant  from  Parliament  to,  206.  Lord  Dun- 
more  driven  from,  243.  The  Virgina  Plant,  359.  Se 
cession  of,  547. 

"  Vimen"  brig,  414. 

Volunteers,  call  for,  554. 

Voyages  and  Discoveries,  Spanish,  36-45. 

u  Vulture  "  sloop-of-war,  826. 

w. 

WADSWORTH,  Captain,  156, 157. 


Succession,  137.    See  United  States. 

War  Civil,  end  of,  553,  721. 

WARD,  ARTEMAS,  General,  in  the  French  and  Indian 
War.  198.  His  appointment  as  General,  230,  234,  238. 
At  Boston,  239.  Enters  Boston,  after  its  evacuation, 
247, 

WARNER,  SETII,  Colonel,  234,  240, 176, 277. 

WARREN,  JOSEPH,  Dr.,  232, 233. 

WARREN,  Admiral,  137, 138, 191. 

WARREN,  General,  660. 

WARWICK,  Earl  of.  85. 

Warwick,  Rhode  Island,  burned,  127. 

WASHBURN,  C.   C.,  General,  678. 

Washington  City,  burned  by  General  Ross,  1S14,  436. 
The  Seat  of  Government  of  the  United  States,  388. 
Addition  made  to  the  capitol  at,  509.  In  great  dan 
ger,  558.  Plans  for  the  capture  of,  623.  In  great 
peril,  625. 

WASHINGTON,  GEORGE,  Bearer  of  Governor  Dinwiddie's 
letter  to  M.  St.  Pierre,  181.  Colonel  Fry's  Lieutenant, 
in  the  French  and  Indian  War,  182.  At  Great  Mead 
ows,  183.  Resigns  his  commission,  184.  Braddock's 
Aid,  in  the  battle  of  Monongahela;  his  wonderful 
escape  from  death,  186.  With  General  Forbes  against 
Fort  Du  Qucsne,  198.  Member  of  the  first  Conti 
nental  Congress,  1774,  588.  Commander-in-chief  at 
Cambridge,  238.  Causes  the  Declaration  of  Indepen 
dence  to  be  read  to  each  of  his  brigades,  252.  His  return 
from  Long  Island,  254,  257.  At  Harlem  Heights,  257. 
Exposure  at  Kip's  bay,  at  the  house  of  Eoirc-r  Morris. 
259.  Crosses  the  Delaware,  260.  Captures  Hessians 
at  Trenton  ;  invested  with  the  power  of  Military  dicta 
torship,  264.  His  victory  at  Princeton,  208.  Opinion  of 
his  exploits  in  New  Jersey,  expressed  by  Frederic  of 
Prussia,  269.  Perplexed  by  Howe;  his  first  interview 
with  La  Fayette,  272.  Crosses  the  Schuylkill,  274.  At 
White  Marsh,  283.  Pursues  Clinton  at  White  Plains, 
Middlebrook,  288.  Disapproves  of  a  proposed  invasion 
of  Canada,  294.  At  Valley  Forge,  274,  284.  Scheme 
for  superseding  him,  285.  At  Monmouth,  2S7.  Called 
by  the  Indians,  "Town  Destroy;"  Cornplanter's  Ad 
dress  to,  304.  In  winter  quarters  at  Morristown,  306. 
Fits  out  armed  vessels  at  Boston,  307.  Lieutenant- 
General  of  the  French  empire  ;  his  first  interview  with 
Rocharnbeau,  323.  Reprimands  Arnold,  325.  Proposes 
to  attack  New  York,  339.  Writes  deceptive  letters  to 
General  Greene,  at  Yorktown,  340,  341.  At  New 
York,  after  the  capture  of  Cornwallis,  346.  Suppresses 
the  general  discontent  in  the  army,  349.  Quells  the 
mutiny  of  the  Pennsylvania  troops,  350.  Nicola's  let 
ter  to  him,  349.  His  Farewell  Address  to  his  com 
panions  in  arms,  850,  and  his  farewell  to  his  officers, 
851,352.  Resigns  his  commission;  President  of  the 
Cincinnati  Society,  852.  President  of  the  Convention 
to  revise  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  856.  President 
of  the  United  States;  his  administration  864.  His 
journey  to  New  York,  364,  365.  Takes  the  oath  of 
office,  366.  His  tour  through  the  northern  and  eastern 
States,  1789,870.  His  Farewell  Address  to  his  country 
men,  382.  Retires  to  Mount  Vernon,  383.  Death  of, 
386,  387.  Lee's  Funeral  Oration  on,  387.  Bonaparte's 
tribute  to,  387,  383.  Tribute  to,  by  the  British  ftet 
388. 

WASHINGTON,  MARTHA,  notice  of,  386. 

WASHINGTON,  WILLIAM  AUGUSTINE,  Colonel,  834.  No 
tice  of,  *31. 

Washington  Territory,  480, 513. 

"  Wasp,"  sloop,  414,  415,  440. 

WATSON,  Colonel,  on  the  Pedee,  320. 

Waterford,  Henry  Hudson  at,  59. 


778 


INDEX. 


WAYNE,  General,  surprised  by  General  Gray.  274.  Cap 
tures  of  the  Pennsylvania  troops,  323.  Pursues  Corn- 
wallis,  339.  At  Savannah,  346.  His  Expedition  against 
the  Indians,  874.  Crushes  the  Lenni-Lenapes,  21. 
Notice  of,  298. 

WEBB,  General,  194. 

WEBSTER,  DANIEL,  Secretary  of  State,  474,  502.  His 
negotiation  with  Lord  Ashburton,  472. 

WEBSTER.  FLETCHER,  Announces  the  death  of  President 
Harrison.  475. 

WBBSTKB,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  334. 

WEBSTER,  Captain,  at  Saltillo,  436. 

WEITZKL,  GODFREY,  General,  713.  Entered  Richmond, 
718. 

"  Welcome,"1*  ship,  96. 

WELLINGTON,  Lord,  enters  Paris,  431. 

WELLS,  Colonel,  one  of  chief  leaders  against  the  savages, 

416. 
Welsh  Indians,  32. 

WEKYSS,  Major,  at  the  Broad  River,  319. 
Weroicorotnocco,  Virginia,  66. 

WESLEY,  John,  Rev.,  in  Georgia,  171. 

WEST  JOSEPH,  his  colony,  98. 

Westchester,  New  York,  General  Knyphansen  at.  259. 
Western  Viryina,  admitted  as  a  State,  561.     Struggle 
to  get  possession  of,  578.     Close  of  Campaign  in,  579 
660. 

Went  Indies,  The,  Voyages  of  Columbus  and  Vespucius 
to.  40,  41.  Trade  of,  3(57. 

Weat  Jersey,  Remarkable  law  enacted  bv  the  Assembly 

of,  160.     * 
Westo-ns  Colony,  115. 

Went  Point,  New  York,  Arnold  appointed  to  the  com 
mand  of,  325. 

WEYMOUTII  GEORGE,  Captain,  58. 

Weymoutli,  Massachusetts,  burned,  127. 

Whalebodt  Warfare,  308. 

WHALLEY,  EDWARD,  Regicide  Judge,  123. 

WHEKLEK,  Captain,  126. 

WHEELOCK,  Rev.  Dr.,  his  School  at  Lebanon,  25. 

WHEELWRIGHT,  JOHN,  Rev.,  founds  Exeter,  80.  Favors 
the  religious  views  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson.  120. 

Whiff  and   Tori/,  explanation  of  the  terms,  226. 

Wnii'PLE  ABRAHAM,  Commodore,  223.  His  flotilla, 
notice  of,  310. 

WJiisky  Insurrection,  The,  37S. 

WHITE,  JOHN,  Governor,  56,  57. 

WHITE,  PEREGRINE,  the  first  English  child  born  in  New 
England,  78. 

WHILE,  Colonel,  on  the  Santee  River,  311. 

WIIITEFIELD,  GEORGE,  Rev.,  in  Georgia,  171. 

White  Plain,^  New  York,  Washington  at,  253. 

Wife,  price  of  a,  in  Virginia,  in  1620,  105, 

Wilderness,  The,  689.    'Battle  of,  690. 

WILKES,  Commodore,  his  Expedition,  476,  477.  Takes 
Mason  and  Slidell  prisoners,  537. 

WILKINSON,  JAMES,  General,  sent  by  Gates  with  a 
verbal  message  to  Congress,  282.  His  Expedition 
against  the  Indians,  374.  ~  Burr's  associate.  396.  With 
General  Dearborn,  810.  Succeeds  Dearborn ;  his  , 
operations,  426.  At  Prescott,  426,  427.  At.  St.  Regis  ; 
at  French  Mills,  427.  At  Plattsburg,  432.  Notice  of, 
426. 

WILLETT,  Colonel,  278. 

WILLIAM  III.,  and  MARY,  accession  of,  130,  143.  Their 
war  with  France,  130.  William  prohibits  printing  in 
the  American  colonies,  153.  Interested  in  Captain 
Kidd's  Expedition,  149. 

William  and  Mary  College,  178. 

WILLIAMS  DAVID,  cne  of  the  captors  of  Andre,  326. 

WILLIAMS,  EPIIRAIM,  Colonel,  death  of,  190. 

WILLIAMS,  JAMES,  Colonel,  at  King's  Mountain,  319. 

WILLIAMS,  JOHN,  Rev.,  captured  by  Indians :  fate  of  his 
wife,  135. 

WILLIAMS,  OTIIO  H.,  Colonel,  318. 

WILLIAMS,  ROGERS,  87,158.  Founder  of  Rhode  Island, 
89,119,  Persecuted,  119.  Pacifies  hostile  Indians  at 
Si-w  Netherland.  141.  Notice  of,  89. 

William's  College,  founded,  190. 

Will  id  HI*  s  Spring,  90. 

William  fiburg,  Virginia,  111.     Battle  of,  616. 

WILLMOT,  Captain,  death  of,  348. 

WILSON  JAMES,  in  Convention  on  the  Articles  of  Con 
federation,  356,  359.  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  369. 


NStafi 


WILSON,  Rev.  Mr.,  Saltoustall's  letter  to,  118. 

WILSON,  ROBERT,  Ensign,  342. 
Wilxon*8  Creek,  battle  at,  574. 
Wtitwyck,  Indians  massacre  the  inhabitants  of.  148. 

WINCHESTER,  General,  416,417.    Notice  of,  413. 

WINDER,  General.  426.     At  Bladensburg,  43(5. 

WINGFIELD,  EDWARD  M.  His  conduct  toward  Captain 
John  Smith  ;  deposed,  C5. 

Winnehuijo   Indinas  conspire  against  the  Ensli.sh,205. 

WINSLOW,  EDWARD,  Governor,  "85,  I.NJ.  Received  by 
Massasoit,  114,  Cows  and  a  bull  imported  by,  116. 
His  letter  to  Governor  Winthrop,  142. 

WINSLOW,  JOHN  A.    Captain  of  the  Kearsage,  703. 

WINSLOW,  JOHN,  General,  185,  191. 

WINSTON.  JOSEPH.  Colonel,  at  King's  Mountain,  319. 

Winter,  severe,  of  1777-1778,  284. 

WINTHROP,  JOHN,  Governor,  117,  113.  His  expedition 
against  Canada,  131.  Applies  to  Charles  11.  for  a  new 
charter,  155.  Indian  chiefs  at  the  table  of,  118.  No 
tice  of,  118. 

Winy  aw  Bay,    La  Fayette  lands  on  the  shore  of,  273. 

Wisconsin,  admitted  to  the  Union  in  1S4S,  497. 

WISE,  HENRY  A.,  539   56  '. 

Wissagmset  Settlement,  115, 116. 

Witchcraft,  \\\  Massachusetts,  132,133. 

WOLFE,  JAMES,  General,  196:  199,  200.  At  Quebec,  201. 
Death  of;  monument  to,  202. 

Wolf  en  Cove,  202.  241. 

Wolfe's  Ravine,  202. 

Women,  Indian,  condition  of,  14,  15.  The  first  two  on 
the  James  River,  67.  A  hundred  and  fifty,  become 
wives  of  Virginia  planters,  71.  No  white,  in  Virginia, 
in  1619;  ninety  sent  by  Sandys,  in  1620;  sixty  "sent, 
in  1621. 105.  (See  Wife.*) 

WOODFORD,  General,  244,  311. 

WOODHITLL,  NATHANIEL,  General,  193,  254. 

WOOL,  JOHN  ENLIS,  General,  413.  At  Monclova;  at 
Parras.  484.  At  Braceti,  433.  At  Saltillo,  489.  No 
tice  of,  484,  526J617 

Wool.  Means  us£d  to  prevent  the  scarcity  of,  in  Amer 
ica,  216. 

WOOLSEY,  Captain,  432. 

WOOSTER,  DAVID,  General,  238,  243,  271. 

WORDEN,  JOHN  L.  Lieut.,  672. 

WORTH,  WILLIAM  J.,  General,  at  Monterey,  483.  At 
Saltillo,  434.  At  the  Castle  of  Perote,  490.  At  Mex 
ico.  494.  Notice  of.  493. 

Writs  of  Assistance,  212. 

Wyandot  Indians,  23,  24.  Cede  their  lands  to  the 
United  States,  24.  Conspire  against  the  English,  1763, 
205.  Treaty  with  the,  363. 

Wyandot  Count;/  invaded  by  the  Five  Nations,  24. 

WYATT,  SIR  FKANCIS,  106.  108. 

Wyiming  Valley,  devastation  of.  in  1778,  290,  291. 

WYTHE,  GEORGE,  in  Convention  on  the  Articles  of 
Confederation,  356. 


Y. 


YALE,  ELISIIA,    Benefactor  of  Yale  College,  178. 

Yale  College,  15S,  178. 

Ydmacraw  Bluff,  100, 103. 

Yamasee  Indians,  30, 168, 170. 

Yankee  Doodle,  the  National  Song,  220. 

YATES,  ROBERT,  in  Convention  on  Articles  of  Confed 
eration,  356. 

Yazoo  City,  683. 

Yasoo  River      De  Soto  on  the  banks  of  the,  44. 

YEAMENS,  SIR  JOHN,  98. 

YEARDLEY,  GEORGR,  Governor,  70,  107.  His  Represent 
ative  Asscmblv,  105 

YEO,  SIR  JAMES,  482. 

YORK,  Duke  of,  94.  His  American  possessions,  129. 
Sells  New  Jersey,  159. 

Yorktown,  Virginia,  fortified  by  Cornwallis.  340.  Sur 
render  of,  341,  342,  345. 

Youngstoion  burnt,  427. 

z. 

ZENGER,  JOHN  PETER,  Editor  of  the  New  York  Weekly 

Journal,     arrested,  150. 
ZOLLICOFFEK,  FELIX  K',  575,  577.    595 


OVERDUE. 

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